Blog: Why is There Such a Double Standard in Christian Media?

This topic comes from my critique of the Millie Maven trilogy by Ted and Rachel Dekker that I wrote a few weeks ago. In reading some of the Amazon reviews, I noticed one disgruntled reader lamenting the fact that so many Christian parents will allow their kids to read that trilogy, but absolutely forbid them from reading books like Harry Potter because of the presence of witchcraft in the story, even though Millie Maven is ten times more harmful to a child’s faith than Harry Potter is. While I know many Christian parents will disagree with this stance, I absolutely agree with it and will use these two books – one advertising itself as Christian, one advertising it to be secular – to highlight one of the biggest problems in Christian media and that is the glaring double standard.

Let’s start with the plot differences between Harry Potter and Millie Maven. One covers up the occult practices and beliefs as the truth while the other calls it as it is, and Millie isn’t actually an orphan since her mom is still alive. That’s it. Those are the only major differences.

Time for the similarities. Both Harry and Millie are being raised by their abusive aunt and uncle when a guide finds them, tells them that they’re special, and whisks them away to a magical school where they learn how to use their magic that is drawn on from the inside. Heck, even the colors on the medallions and house badges are the same.

But why is one considered acceptable to most Christian moms while the other isn’t? The reason why is because while Harry Potter is obviously better written and better thought out in every way possible than Millie Maven, J.K. Rowling didn’t advertise it as Christian and try to make the magic sound like it was from God. Are there some parallels to what is said about Jesus’ character in the Gospels shown in the character of Harry Potter? Yes. But it isn’t an overtly Christian book. If you think that it is and can be used to present the Gospel to people, I think you’re wrong, but that’s your interpretation of the book and should be seen as a mark of how great an author J.K. Rowling is that she didn’t spell everything out for the reader.

Ted Dekker, on the other hand, did advertise it as Christian, putting a ham-fisted analogy for his version of Jesus into the plot and covering up all the occult aspects of the medallions and “The Great Teacher” as simply being “spiritual gifts” and “the inescapable truth.” In fact, if you go to his website or read his books, he obviously promotes himself as Christian as well as his books. Because of this pandering, his books have a built-in fan base of millennial, luke-warm, “Christian” moms who are looking for good books for their kids, but only want their kids to read “Christian” books that are clean and don’t have anything objectionable in them, which makes their options very limited. Authors know this and can exploit it, making a pretty penny off of it and earning recognition in Christian circles.

This, unfortunately, is an example of how if you just slap the Christian label on something, it doesn’t matter how terrible a writer you actually are. It will probably be put on a shelf in Mardel’s somewhere as long as it panders to the correct audience.

Your book is a steamy, spicy romance? Just make the hero/heroine a goody-two-shoes, self-insert, “Christian” simp/airhead whose goal is to “fix” the non-Christian love interest via various methods, add a few vague references to what’s actually said in the Bible, change your bio to say that you’re a Christian, and bippity-boppity-boo, it’s a book for Christian women trying to stay pure. (And yes, this is something I, my family, and some other friends from church have actually seen. Just go to your local Mardel’s and look for the romance section. The books look just as bad as the stuff you would find at your Target or Walmart’s book section.)

Or what if your book has occult practices such as trying to contact supernatural entities, divining the future, or using magic? Just say the entity is an angel, the magic is simply a gift from the Holy Spirit, and the hero/heroine is a Christian trying to convert someone with his/her gifts and it’s once again considered acceptable for Christians to read. For this reason, I am convinced that had J.K. Rowling taken her books to a Christian publishing company and had done this, she would probably be super popular in that crowd, but no one in the secular world would ever know her name.

On the flip side, if you put any of that in a book that’s secular, your book will (rightfully) be labeled as too occult or too raunchy.

This post isn’t meant to bash on Christians and make them all look like hypocrites, nor is it to say that all Christian writers are bad. This post is simply meant to highlight the problem that is the double standard in Christian media and the reason why it’s a problem is because 1). It allows for mediocrity in an art form that should glorify God but villainizes anyone who -though making a case for or presentation of the Gospel – steps out of the normal formula and 2). It encourages Christians to do things that are condemned in the Bible so long as someone is able to slap the “Christian” label on it.

An example of a Christian book written by a Christian man that would never be published today is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Written as a satirical story told from the demon Screwtape’s point of view, it warns Christians of the different ways that temptation can come into their lives and draw them away from their mission. It’s an incredible book that I would recommend anyone to read, but the reason why it wouldn’t be published by a modern Christian publisher is because it doesn’t follow the general formula and worse, it makes you think about your faith and what might be derailing you, two things that might push customers away.

In conclusion, there are two steps that Christians should take to ending this double standard. The first step is to stop settling for mediocrity and actually read what the Bible says. Not settling for mediocrity will push authors to write stories that are actually good and reading what the Bible says will ensure that you can spot the overt or more subtle instances of bad theology scattered throughout the plot. The second step is for Christian publishers to stop being so scared of losing people by putting something out there that they might not agree with. This is something that I mentioned before in regard to why Christian media in general is so bad, but it’s especially applicable here. Making people think isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s something that more people should be trying to do. Will it potentially offend some people? Yes. But spreading the actual truth of the Gospel (not the “God is whoever I want him to be,” version of the Gospel) through a story that doesn’t fit the standard box is more important than trying to appeal to everyone.

Until next time,

M.J.