Dear Doves,
 
I have read the Hunger Games trilogy.  I do not think that children under middle school age should be exposed to it.  Nevertheless, it has been marketed to kids much younger.  The book is definitely captivating and a "good read".  You will want to know what happens next.  That being said, here are some of the issues that arise out of it that would/should concern Christians:
 
    1.  The Mockingjay is a genetic hybrid.  In this series, there are many genetic hybrids and all are horrible and evil....."except" for the mockingjay.  It is the emblem being used on the pin that is worn.  It is a genetic hybrid that later mated with the mockingbird (a genetic "cross") and it sings and repeats what is sung to it.
 
    2.  A totalitarian government uses hunger to keep its colonies (States) under control and the "games" are a "reminder" of their rebellion.
 
    3.  The "games" are a lottery whereby the GOVERNMENT randomly chooses children from 12 -18 to compete to the death in an "arena-like" situation (different worlds are created for combat) once a year.   The children are the "sacrifice" to the GOVERNMENT.
 
    4.  This series is about REBELLION.  It is about sacrifice.  It is about survival at any and all costs.  It is about growing up and changing.  It is about honor.  It is about helplessness and courage.
 
One can see many Christian concerns arising in this series.  The central character comes from the "energy source" (coal mining) section and she is represented by "flames" in her wardrobe.  Each "district" has a primary role/function and there are 12......There "were" 13.  Thirteen is the colony with the nukes and it is the one that "arises again" to take control of the rebellion.
 
This trilogy would prove a very interesting source of commentary for these end times.  And yes, it is supposed to America's future.  It is written as such.
 
Melissa C.
 
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"About the time of the end, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, & insist on their literal interpretations, in the midst of much clamor & opposition."
                                               --Sir Isaac Newton,  Christian & Father of modern science
 
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day."
                                               --Josephus (Historian), Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3 (90 A.D.)

1 Thess 4:17    "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
 
2 Tim 3:16  "All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
 
Isa 6:8  "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me. "
 

    "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor, he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared." - Cicero, 42 B.C.

http://harvestreno.org/messages.asp
 
ETERNITY IS A LONG TIME TO BE WRONG