I am not one to spend much time here but this might be of interest to others.
Revisiting the Christian fantasy novels that shaped decades of conservative hysteria
Demons, angels, and elite liberal conspiracies: Frank Peretti’s books sound like today’s headlines.
A sinister schoolteacher steadily grooms kids in their care to accept liberal indoctrination, ultimately leading to the takeover of young minds by shadowy forces. All the while, the teachers are backed by a larger, high-powered conspiracy to control the government, the educational system, and the national media — all in the name of evil leftists battling the ongoing culture war.
That rhetoric might sound like sheer fantasy, but it’s increasingly becoming
the dominant worldview of many right-wing US conservatives, especially white evangelicals. It’s also the literal plot of two novels by Christian fantasy author Frank Peretti,
This Present Darkness (1986) and its sequel
Piercing the Darkness (1989). Although not household names to many, these are very likely two of the most culturally influential novels in recent history.
Though they flew under the mainstream radar, especially relative to the bestselling
Left Behind series that followed them a few years later, Peretti’s novels were formative and fundamental in a way the
Left Behind books never were. They went viral in the pre-internet era,
selling millions of copies and spreading through word of mouth across churches all over America. It’s easy to see why: The
Darkness duology arrived at the peak of
Satanic Panic, when, as Peretti later wrote, “demons — and their doctrines — were gaining a weird, glassy-eyed respect from the popular culture.” Peretti envisioned a new kind of Christian fiction that visualized and vivified his idea of modern spiritual warfare: Angels and demons engaged in very real, literal battles for humanity, often just out of sight of their impassioned human charges.
Peretti’s angels and demons are humanized and captivating. The angels are all tall, hot, witty, and sophisticated, the demons are brutish and calculating; all are dedicated to their metaphysical Pokémon battle for saints. Meanwhile, prayer and faith, at both an individual and collective level, function as a kind of angel Gatorade, juicing their battery packs and helping them find the strength to defeat the enemy. These books essentially transform Christians into crucial NPCs helping their favorite video game avatars defeat increasingly awful, powerful enemies. The prize? Nothing less than the souls of mankind.
If that sounds gripping and immersive, now pair it with the other half of Peretti’s plot: an international conspiracy fueled by evil New Age practitioners using seemingly innocuous tools, like yoga, self-help psychology, and environmentalism, to indoctrinate the masses....
Demons, angels, and elite liberal conspiracies: Frank Peretti’s books sound like today’s headlines.
www.vox.com