This is a transcription of part of a Generations with Vision broadcast titled "Romance Novels for Our Daughters." Bold emphasis is added.
Kevin Swanson - “I think this Christian fiction is taking off.”
Dave Buehner - “Well, and Kevin I also think that what we’re seeing here is a subset of Christian fiction, what we call the Christian romance, but there’s other kinds of Christian romance. There’s a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve seen lately, directed at young men, that talks about knights and chivalry and the stories—the romance of the virtue and going to war, rather than the morality of it. These narratives seem to want to get people brought into a setting—a setting they don’t live in, where they can ostensibly be virtuous by living through some other character…”
Kevin Swanson - “As you know, Dave, people get into fiction because real life is often considered somewhat boring, or they escape into it because real life is a pain. Now, Dave, I would say that real life is not a bore… By saying that life is boring, they’re using the wrong word. In other words, they’re lying about life. Life is not boring at all. Now, life may be challenging, and we may want to escape real life because life has challenges that are a hundred times more difficult, that cause a thousand times more tension, than what you read in a romance novel! See, Dave, I’d say you’re turning your life into a boring, escapistic venture when you’re constantly taking the escape routes off the highway of reality.”
Dave Buehner - “As I like to put it, Kevin, did you ever notice when you watch one of those reality shows on TV, the people you’re watching are never watching TV? Why is their life more interesting than yours? Because you’re watching the TV. Just a thought.”
Kevin Swanson - “That’s right, you watch somebody on a reality show on television, and why is their life more interesting than yours? Because they’re not watching a stupid reality show on the television right now! They’re living life!”
