W@H: Unintended Consequences

From Crooks and Liars, via PersonalFailure. La Familia, also known as a brutal drug cartel in Mexico, apparently uses Wild at Heart as part of its indoctrination process. That’s kinda-sorta freaky, I’d say… Fortunately for everyone involved, I have a crack team of researchers who are fluent in Spanish to do some real digging. Okay, fine, I have big a. You might remember him from the comments. If you don’t read the comments, shame on you. This is one of those places where I’m almost entirely sure that you can’t actually blame John Eldredge for his message being taken to the extreme. For one thing, the Spanish title of Wild at Heart is Salvaje de Corazon. The translation for this is something close to "Brutal in Heart." The word is close to “savage,” big a assures me, but the meaning is closer to “brutal.” That’s not quite the message Eldredge was going for with the original title. At least, I assume. He’s also helpfully worked through a Spanish-language article for me. Apparently the sales pitch is that they’re creating a society of real men in god’s own intended image. Also, drug trafficking is an act of valor. This is one of those situations where it’s absolutely not the author’s fault that his work is used in unexpected ways. The Crooks and Liars link makes it seem that Eldredge’s work has created the situation in La Familia. My assumption would be that Eldredge simply offers a convenient external ideology. I’m assured by big a that the Spanish source I dug up says the same thing. Either way, this doesn’t take Eldredge off the hook for writing terrible stuff that can be taken the wrong way by misogynistic meatheads. But he didn’t create La Familia. Not by a long shot. What we see with La Familia is a cult crossed with a street gang. It’s a truly horrifying concept. Remember, though, that both types of organizations tend to be able to create themselves without outside help to begin with…