Imagine that you were the president of a Religious Right organization that was, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, among the most influential political operations in the nation. Since then, the organization has drastically constricted and lost nearly all of its relevance. As such, as president of said organization, you are constantly on the lookout for ways to make an impact and announce to the world that you are, in fact, still a group to be reckoned with.
How would you go about trying to do that?
Well, if you are Roberta Combs of the Christian Coalition, you do so by announcing that you want to see the Twilight series banned because the books are luring the nation's teens into the occult:
Meanwhile, conservative Christian organizations that sought to ban the Harry Potter books because they're about wizards and witches are divided about criticizing Twilight.
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, which called for a ban on the Potter series, says she's considering a similar campaign against Twilight because even though it's pro-abstinence, it's also pro-vampires.
She says vampires are definitely not good role models, and she blames Hollywood.
"We can let our voices be heard, and anytime you do that you have an effect one way or another," Combs says. "These Twilight books are very disturbing books for family values. Teen marriage is not the standard, but the part that is more troubling is the vampire. It's just not normal for young people to idolize a vampire."
If Combs' mission is to ensure that the Christian Coalition remains a laughingstock ... well, mission accomplished.
