Sparkly Vampires are Still Evil

Or, I suppose, to those of us who are fans of traditional vampire tales, especially evil. Because vampires don't sparkle, dammit! Evangelist Pat Robertson agrees, though to be fair Robertson has accused just about everything in the modern world of being evil at one time or another - not just the usual targets like gays and pagans, but also non-Christians, foreign leaders, hate crime laws, feminists, and the list goes on. Stephanie Meyer's frosting of sparkly goodness on the age-old myth of the vampire was not enough to fool this devout holy man. No, Robertson recently shook his disapproving finger at the Twilight franchise, claiming that its fans were inviting demonic possession.

Responding a a viewer question about whether the series promotes witchcraft, Robertson recounted a story of demon possession told to him by a friend. According to Robertson, the demon in question “had permission” to possess a young girl because she had been enticed by the timeless love story of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. “It opened the door to demonic power. Yes, I think those vampire movies are evil,” said Robertson. “There are no vampires. The whole thing is demonic.”

At least I'll say he's consistent. Fluffy Wicca gets the same treatment. I do think it's kind of interesting to juxtapose (A) there are no vampires with (B) the whole thing is demonic. I guess what I can take away from those two statements is that Robertson has moved beyond condemning real things and moved on to imaginary ones. One wonders whether anyone could be an honest member of his congregation and manage to avoid all the things he condemns. Not only do you have to be Christian, straight, chauvinistic, and jingoistic, but you can't have an imagination either.

Then again, maybe he's just trying to save the world from Cullenism. That, at least, strikes me as a worthy goal.