I was amused to read this Telegraph article – Buffy the Vampire Slayer slaying church attendance among women, study claims.
[A report] says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books.
… The report’s author, Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, said: “In short, women are abandoning the church.
“Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
First, any woman who leaves the church because a TV show makes another faith look enticing wasn’t that knowledgeable or devout a Christian in the first place:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:27-28
Second, given how incorrect the representation of Christianity is in entertainment, it’s a safe bet that they’re portraying Wicca incorrectly too.
But the bottom line is that Buffy could do her worst and still not top what we Christians do to drive people away from church. Now, “church” is obviously not the same thing at all as “the faith” and given the condition of the average Christian church, I don’t blame people for leaving. It’s hard to find a good church, and harder still to maintain one. We’re sinful, selfish, self-centered creatures and any time you get a bunch of us together, there are going to be problems. Churches (especially modern churches, as opposed to Acts 2 churches) have a tendency to compound that because members pretend they’re above such things. Still, churches do much for our sanctification. It’s not just a matter of getting good biblical teaching and partaking in corporate worship, which is obviously critically important, but churches provide challenges and a unique atmosphere for us to serve, forgive, and grow in Christ. That in turn helps equip us to minister to an unbelieving world.
