> For me, when people ask "have you read it?" my response is that I have read many reviews, done my research, and decided that it would not be pleasing to God.
On the account of not being an 11-year-old girl, I haven't read Twilight books either. I've done my research and I can safely say the book doesn't look like it's my cup of tea. I've read the reviews and they say I shouldn't waste my time reading it either. But I personally refuse to say if it's crap or not until I've read it... which in good likelihood won't happen. Until such unlikely event, I'll shut up.
So, I elect not to pass a judgement and just avoid the whole discussion. You, on the other hand, do pass a judgement on the book without reading it.
> If it is a book, such as The Shack or the DaVinci Code, which twists the truth about the character of my God I would absolutely never read it.
The purpose of the art is to communicate the artist's feelings and ideas to the viewers and provoke an emotional reaction. Hence, art isn't always beautiful or even agreeable. Another purpose of the art (not applicable to all art, in my opinion), is to provoke thoughts and discussion, and you can't always do that by being nice. Without controversy, there's rarely any good discussion, even if the controversy is a positive in nature (as in parodies).
A god who can't take criticism from us puny mortals is not a god worth worshipping.
> People who ask that question are typically trying to catch you, because then they reply that if you haven't read it you cannot make an intelligent assessment. Hogwash!
Why is it hogwash? People have the full right to catch people who have strong opinions on things they don't understand. Besides, making an unintelligent assessment isn't bad - making uninformed assessments is far far worse.