Now I’m hardly one to complain about people drawing on fiction as a basis for their spirituality. But…
A cult of devotees has sprung up based on the teen-vampire-porn-without-the-sex Twilight books.
Blogger (and fan of the series) Amanda Bell writes:
She also gently observes:
While religion and spirituality are a first-hand and very personal experience, and others who formulate their own principles and guidance to help them maneuver through and stay afloat in this challenging, frustrating, and sometimes depressing thing we call life are often praised for their individualism and bravery, the Cullenists might be stretching it a little.
I think the key thing here is not that these people work with fiction in search of meaning – it’s that they insist their mythos is real. That whole it’s-just-a-metaphor thing eludes them. Just like any religion, of course.
And for Valen’s sake, couldn’t they at least draw on a less shite mythos?
(The original post which the above quotes draw on is here, with an update after their fandom went into inevitable meltdown here. The latter would indicate the characters are possibly being used more as Loa than full-blown deities, which could work… but without looking harder on the now-closed forum, it’s hard to tell. I suspect this one could run and run…)
Congratulations, you broke my brain. But don’t worry, I wasn’t using it much today.
They must be kidding. Have they not heard that there is no God but the Lord Cthulthu and Lovecraft is his prophet?
Nah, there are no gods but the Flying Spaghetti Monster pantheon (I’m a polytheist pastafarian).
Seriously though, yes it’s taking it literally that’s the problem, and using the book as the source of the commandments instead of working out their own credo and ethos.
Oh and there are plenty of religions that don’t take stuff literally (Wicca and Unitarianism and the Radical Faeries immediately spring to mind, though there may be others).
Great site! Keep up the good work!