Like most things in our culture that once seemed pretty innocent, reading for the serious believer is now something that is done with care and caution. The entertainment industry and media are filled with evil—and books, magazines, blogs, and news-papers are not exempt. There was a time when many main-stream writers were producing content that was more wholesome than some things Christians are writing today. As a result of our nation’s shift in world-view, wholesome literature has become marginalized, and is now a niche market.The biggest problem though, is not necessarily that there is evil in books, magazines, blogs and news-papers. There is evil in real life, so obviously this is reflected in any honest literature. The problem we are running into, is that evil is alternately either glorified, or construed to be good.

Let me explain: What I mean by evil being glorified, is there are certain activities written about, that are traditionally considered immoral. The writer does not remove the activity from the category of immorality. What he or she does instead, is make it look glamorous and tasty to our carnal nature. The unspiritual person is compelled to mock the moral code. They simply follow the path set before them in whatever form it has come. This has been going on since time immemorial, but has definitely increased with the decline of our nations morals.

A bigger problem is construing evil to be good. And it is done with great success these days. With this strategy, evil is written about as if it is the most natural thing. No hint of rebellion. This is fully matured evil that has graduated the need to be glamorized.

As Christian writers, we have an opportunity to fill a void—in peoples’ lives and in the market. Some people consume garbage simply because of the ease of access. We can make ourselves available to create quality content, for the betterment of those who read.

We have an opportunity to exemplify a life of excellence. (click here for an article on this) It is fully possible to write compelling content, without forsaking our God given morals. We can tell stories that glorify the Godly passions we have been given, and there is nothing preachy about painting evil in an evil light and good in a good light. It is the most natural thing. And we are all told to write in a way that mirrors reality while being entertaining (talking to fiction writers here). So yes this means it is necessary to write about evil, but the reality is, it is evil.It is not good and we have no obligation to paint it that way, or to be politically correct in our description of it.

If you are a Christian writer, or a consumer of literature, let me know your thoughts on this.