Is Fantasy Evil?

One of the things that have interested me as a young girl was always fantasy things to read and watch. My favorite movie was the Little Mermaid and Sabrina the Teenage Witch quickly became my favorite television show. Though I did not like Peter Pan, I did love Tinkerbell. It only made sense that I would still hold an interest for stories similar to these.

Of course as a child, my mother did not seem to mind my taste in movies and television, but my tastes expanded as I grew older. I embraced the world of fantasy, not even once asking myself if it was evil. I saw television for what it was- television. My mother saw it as the Devil.

I had begun watching Roswell- a show about teen aliens living on earth and Charmed, which is a show about three witches fighting evil. What harm do these shows bring to Christians? I believe there is no harm, however not all Christians believe the same way I do.

Shows such as Charmed and Roswell, are said to pull a Christian from God rather than bring he or she to God. Of course this makes me question whether people have a tendency to take television as reality. I see fantasy for what it is- fantasy.

Christian Music fading?

Christian music seems to be fading into the background, even to many Christians. Through the years,
and with the love of Christian music, I have noticed that many artists are disappearing to "do their own thing".
Don't get me wrong, these are passionate artists- but they are moving to dreams much much too big for a Christian
label's grip.

The first artist I would to mention is Stacie Orrico. Recognize this name from MTV? She is good, but she seems to be
keeping her profile low in the celebrity world. Her audience seems to be mostly Christian, but why are so many atheists
drawn to her message board? As a member of this forum, I can say that alot of members haven't even heard her name before.
Either way, Stacie quit Christian music to be a missionary in the real world of music. I remember a few years ago that
Stacie wanted to reach others who do not know about God. Being in a Christian contract meant that she would have to sing
what her label wanted her to because of guidelines. Also, how was she to reach others when an unbeliever is not likely
to pick up her CD in a Christian bookstore?

Another band to name is Everlife. They wanted to reach out and sing from their hearts. Restrictions from their record label drove them to land a spot with Disney. An already young audience, Everlife tore into the hearts of many more; but they managed to keep their old fans from the days of TRI. A strong leash from the record label seems to drving Christian music to death hole... but not the message.

Switchfoot was a Christian band who now wants to be called "a band that sings Christian music". Why? These bands want to remain "cool" enough for teens to pick up and listen to their music. It seems to work, as far as I know Switchfoot was rather popular a few years back. Although it cannot be dying out as much as one may seem to think. Former Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell just recorded a Christian album last year and Country star Randy Travis (my all time favorite country singer) recorded several albums.

This is the main problem with Christian music. It is isolated into its own genre and own place. Missionary artists like
Orrico only hit it big with a few songs and then fade out. Has Orrico lost her touch? Why don't I see promotions for her new album? I cannot answer any of those questions, but I can say that I do not know many Christian music fans- even in the small church world I had grown up in.

In high school, it was easier to see many other Christian music fans, mainly because alot of these kids were not allowed
to listen to much else. It's status? I would call it unpopular. Why is my music unpopular, you ask? Hmmm... I have been the odball, spending money on Christian Cds while my little sister spent hers in American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch. People around me don't fancy Christian music. I have just begun to figure out why. Christian music rarely has a message other than praise God.Teens and young adults my age tend to not like the lack of differing messages in the lyrics. My sister once told me, "It sounds stupid" But why? Really

Christian music offers every style I can think of. Audio Adrenaline offers fun and serious Rock N'Roll, Stacie Orrico has a few pop albums and a new R&B one. Randy Travis offers country, The Benjamin Gate and SuperChik offers a totally different style of their own.There are more artists I can't even begin to name out there, so why don't know very many fans? People label Christian music as unreal. Its not music to people. My sister has told me that its all about the same thing- God. Well, what excatly do people expect it to be about? The world calls for sex, love, money and drugs... in todays music, I only see a handful of artists who acually sing from the heart. People tend to not want God in their music... or in their lives. But to me, God is life.