Alright, it’s time to talk about Keeper of the Lost Cities. And if you know what that is and have been keeping up with the series, you probably know what this article will be about. I’m guessing most of you do, but for those who haven’t heard of the series, Keeper of the Lost Cities (KOTLC) is a middle-grade fantasy series by Shannon Messenger. It’s got eleven books so far (including 8.5 and 9.5), and its largest fan base is probably teenage girls, many of whom have been reading it since childhood. The series has readers from lots of backgrounds and ideologies—including many conservative Christians, attracted by the fact that, unlike many other books, the series has mostly stayed clear of Leftist and LGBTQ agendas. At least, until the latest book, 9.5. In this book, a woman mentions her “wife”, a man talks about his “husband”, and someone brings the main character’s attention to it, leading him to call homosexuality “cool”. This half-page or so of content, spread throughout the 400+ page book, has sparked outrage in the Christian community. Readers lament that Shannon has betrayed them, and Goodreads is filled with their one-star reviews, most of which mention only the LGBTQ content. Many Christians are reacting with shock and rage, as if Shannon has sinned against them personally. And to those of you who are thus disappointed: I get it. It doesn’t feel great when your favorite series caves to an agenda you oppose, especially when they’re someone you expected more from. But while the agenda being pushed isn’t right, reacting to it as if you’ve been personally slighted is immature and, in many ways, unfounded.

In fact, this reaction is a bit hypocritical. As Conservatives, many of us like to perceive ourselves as mentally tougher than the left; instead of cancelling people, we react proportionally to the situation, and allow others to think their own thoughts. And yeah, overall, the right side of the aisle is probably a lot better at disagreeing wisely. But still, much of the Christian Right seems to think having God on their side means they have a right to react however they want whenever their views are opposed—something that’s become quite clear during the KOTLC controversy. While many of the reviews are understandable and logical (sharing thoughts about how it’s unnecessary to give this content to children, or how it wasn’t necessary and was clearly pushing an agenda), the majority express something that looks a lot like the cancel culture often practiced by certain Leftists, recoiling at the sight of disagreement and viciously cancelling those who express other opinions. The reviews say things like, “I will never buy another KOTLC book. You’ve lost a fan. I’m SO MAD.” (paraphrases of actual reviews; I won’t quote them directly for the privacy of the writers).. While it’s understandable to be uncomfortable with different levels of content, the many conservative Christians refusing to finish the series simply out of anger are following in the footsteps of the parts of the Left so often criticized. Yes, we should fight these ideologies, and we should do so in a way that cares more about Truth than whose feelings we might hurt, but if we don’t want to stoop to “their” level, we have to fight fair.

But it’s not just a moral issue. It’s a practical one, too: we’ll never change the culture if we can’t stand the sight of anything we disagree with. Imagine a battlefield doctor who faints at the sight of blood. On one hand, he’s got something right: when a person’s blood is visible, something bad is usually happening. This upsets him, and his aversion is understandable. But he won’t save many lives if he spends his days running from patient to patient and passing out as soon as he reaches each one. He needs to calm down, toughen up, and remain cool and clear-headed in the face of emergency. If he controls his intense emotional reactions, he can be an effective doctor and save lives. Similarly, we as Christians can continue to acknowledge the wrongness of Shannon’s view without flying off the handle when we encounter it. We don’t want to be comfortable with sin, per se, but we want to remain comfortable and capable in the face of sin, so we can work to stop it. We can’t retake the culture by isolating ourselves.

Many would argue that these reactions are just a form of righteous anger against those rebelling against God. And on the one hand, Shannon is doing something wrong, and it’s okay to be angry. Angry that this corruption exists in the world, angry that people go against the design of the Father (and try to spread this messaging to children). And it’s okay to feel hurt for a little while; it’s understandable. But feeling personally offended (and doing nothing to fight that feeling), that’s the problem. That’s the immature, hypocritical part. Because Shannon Messenger doesn’t owe us. Yes, what she’s doing is wrong. But she didn’t sign any contract saying she wouldn’t offend Christian readers. She’s not trying to hurt or slight her fans, only sinning against God. Treating everything as a personal slight isn’t the way to go through life.

This rage against the latest  KOTLC book makes sense, and it might make us feel good about ourselves, but it’s hypocritical. In indulging it, we’re taking the worst aspects of the Left into ourselves, and destroying our chances of changing the culture. Shannon owes us nothing, and although it’s not right to hide from cultural conflict in the interest of being nice, it’s also not right to let our feelings take control or to react with immaturity. Plus, the series’s subtle messaging of “you can do whatever you want, all authority is misguided and should be thwarted, and your main goal in life should be serving yourself” is just as bad as the half-page-long, awkwardly-written support of homosexual lifestyles. As the Christian Right, we should think a bit before we get offended, and analyze what we read on a more complex level than “is it gay?”.

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