Harry Potter

[Teen_Catholic]

I've been on other Catholic forums and encounter lots of people who think that Harry Potter is an acceptable book for Catholics. I disagree and believe strongly that Harry Potter is evil. What are your thoughts on this?

[Sarah147]

Bad bad bad.

Witchcraft, demonic written all over it. I don't care that it gets kids reading and helps their imagination. Not at the risk of their souls. NOT for Catholic/Christians.

Edited December 12, 2010 by JoyfulLife

[CatherineM]

Oh yeah, it would be horrific to allow my kids to read a story about loyalty, good versus evil, and an underlying theme that you have a choice between doing what's right, and what's easy.

We also need to stop reading the Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and I guess pretty much all Sci Fi really.

[peach_cube]

I've read all of them. Didn't see any problems. You can always twist things to meet a specific agenda, but I just don't see it. I am however, a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy.

[Sarah147]

The world needs to quit feeding these kids that all that witchcraft and magic is just "fantasy" and "fun" when it's really REAL and demonic. And that true power is in Christ Jesus, and in the Gospels.

[quote]
[font="Georgia"][size="5"]Harry Potter and anti-Christian bigotry
[/size][/font][size="-1"]July 18, 2007
[/size][font="Palatino, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, serif"]By Linda Harvey[/font]




The message that screams from these pages for [u][color="#009900"]children[/color][/u] to absorb is that these despicable people who object to "magic" are worthy of the worst scorn. And that's mostly what they [u][color="#009900"]receive[/color][/u] throughout the Potter books.

Our children quickly figure out that Muggles equate to traditional conservatives. And who are the most fervently "anti-magic" in real-world America? Christians. If kids don't get this right off, the mainstream media's frequent, negative caricatures of Christians will connect the dots for them. Might this be one more clue to explain the rise in virulent anti-Christian sentiment in recent years?

. . . .

What they don't get is more and more teens are seriously into "wicca" and paganism, actually experimenting with rituals of a supernatural nature. Many teens say their interest was initially sparked by reading Harry Potter books.

. . . .



Is a little entertainment worth imbedding some very unfaithful ideas in the heads of children? Sorcery is named specifically in Scripture as a violation of God's law (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Galatians 5:20 and elsewhere), and it's not a joke. Besides, Harry does not think like a Christian in many other ways. He nurses and feeds grudges against his relatives and his rivals at school, and revenge is portrayed as justifiable.

The author also does not maintain a light-hearted tone, but her clever and comic elements blend into nightmarish scenes of slithering snakes, kids trapped underwater, blood sacrifice, severed limbs and even the death of a schoolmate. This "bait-and switch" storytelling should raise red flags for discerning parents.

[url="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56715"][url="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56715"]http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56715[/url]
[/url]World Net Daily
[/quote]

Edited December 13, 2010 by JoyfulLife

[CatherineM]

I do find it interesting that those who are most vehemently against Harry Potter, have never cracked open a single one of the books.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1292203947' post='2192444']
I do find it interesting that those who are most vehemently against Harry Potter, have never cracked open a single one of the books.
[/quote]

Yup.

And the commentary against Harry Potter is complete rubbish. I'm sorry. But it's ridiculous. And would never pass in an advanced English course.

I'm sorry... I just really don't understand how one can claim it's anti-Christian. The presence of magic is hardly enough (as shown through other 'acceptable' stories- Narnia, LOTR, etc) to condemn it. And frankly, one cannot deny the deeply Christian themes within the story... that love is the most powerful magic of all, laying down one's life for others, good triumphs over evil.

Harry isn't perfect. He's very human and he struggles. He's very real. But in the end, he learns the real lesson: That love always wins and is stronger than any magic whatsoever. He learns what it means to sacrifice himself for others.

[Selah]

Avoid it at all costs, Muggles. You will be supporting Voldemort himself if you read them.

I shouldn't even be mentioning it to Muggles. croutons, I hope Kingsley Shacklebolt won't read this. He's not Catholic anyhow, he's...Pentacostal, I think. I think? Anyhow, avoid at all costs, Muggles.



[quote]The world needs to quit feeding these kids that all that witchcraft and magic is just "fantasy" and "fun" when it's really REAL and demonic. And that true power is in Christ Jesus, and in the Gospels.[/quote]


You know I love you dear, but I don't quite think you know what magic, true occult magic is. If you did, you'd chuck it out as fiction and silly nonsense. I know, I use to dabble in the stuff. It ain't Harry Potter.


Oh, and you're all Muggles. HA! Silly Muggles.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Selah

[elizabeth09]

Imagination is really good, because then you can imagin what the charaters might look like.

[Brother Adam]

It is fundamentalist and unreasonable to call the Harry Potter literature intrinsically evil. Actually getting involved in the occult is evil, but Harry Potter is not. The Catholic Church has certainly never condemned Harry Potter as morally evil, the USCCB even rates it A-II, not O for morally offensive. If you do not like the films or books, that is fine, I personally do not like them - the writing is horrid, and most of the films bore me, however just calling them evil is not going to help anything or anyone. As Catherine said, if you are going to ban Harry Potter because it has magic in it, you are going to have to ban most books.

[ThePenciledOne]

Well, personally the magic used in Harry Potter isn't even on the same level as say Lord of the Rings and Narnia, but I won't digress any further.

I recently blogged about Harry Potter. I won't deny that the books are entertaining, I mean I read all seven, but now that is all they are cheap entertainment at best.

My post narrows at some of the qualms some have with Harry Potter and I draw up some issues that most I don't think really look at. Otherwise, I can't stand the films either.
[url="http://thepenciledone.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/a-magical-subtly/"]
A Magical Subtly[/url]

Edited December 29, 2010 by ThePenciledOne

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Selah' timestamp='1292206456' post='2192449']
Avoid it at all costs, Muggles. You will be supporting Voldemort himself if you read them.

I shouldn't even be mentioning it to Muggles. croutons, I hope Kingsley Shacklebolt won't read this. He's not Catholic anyhow, he's...Pentacostal, I think. I think? Anyhow, avoid at all costs, Muggles.

Oh, and you're all Muggles. HA! Silly Muggles.
[/quote]
awesome.

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1293606630' post='2194885']
Well, personally the magic used in Harry Potter isn't even on the same level as say Lord of the Rings and Narnia, but I won't digress any further.

I recently blogged about Harry Potter. I won't deny that the books are entertaining, I mean I read all seven, but now that is all they are cheap entertainment at best.

My post narrows at some of the qualms some have with Harry Potter and I draw up some issues that most I don't think really look at. Otherwise, I can't stand the films either.
[url="http://thepenciledone.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/a-magical-subtly/"]
A Magical Subtly[/url]
[/quote]
your blog is hard to read. lol.

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1293608086' post='2194890']
your blog is hard to read. lol.
[/quote]

Get glasses. (jk)

Want me to repost a couple sections here? In quote? haha

[Lil Red]

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' timestamp='1293608269' post='2194891']
Get glasses. (jk)

Want me to repost a couple sections here? In quote? haha
[/quote]
i was wearing my glasses

[TeresaBenedicta]

“If everyone were given a wand the world would be strangely similar. Because nearly everyone, and not just because you’re Harry Potter fans, would want to use it for good, to have fun, to look after their friends and family. But a small number would think, ‘What’s in it for me?’ And that’s the dark side of human nature, which remains the same whether you have a wand or not. We’d have exactly the same problems. Cruelty. Bigotry. Oppression. That’s what Harry’s fighting against. Not magic." J.K. Rowling

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1293637689' post='2194924']
i was wearing my glasses
[/quote]

Alright..... : )

[quote]

I used to really enjoy Harry Potter. I was an avid reader when I was twelve up until the last book came out while I was in high school. After setting the series down over the years, after I have grown and looked back upon the premise of the story, I am honestly ashamed I was so enraptured by it. This is not some playful view I am taking just to fight the majority in society that do enjoy Harry Potter, which is fine. I am only speaking up for why I do not enjoy the books any longer, and exactly what I find wrong with them.
First thing to mention is how the series is incredibly dark. Dark, I use in this sense is that there are very few things within the books that give a glimpse of joy. Most of the time there are only grim tidings or death strewn about, with small victories to be had. Sure death is a part of life, but it is more or less over used throughout the books. The darkness that pervades the books is apparent not only through the villains, but through the heroes themselves.

The main character, Harry Potter is the key figure within in the books. Yet, all of J.K. Rowlings' story lines have 'the ends justify the means'. So, ethically the books are flawed. Harry and the rest of his companions break all sorts of rules throughout the course of the plots, which in the end all of the rule-breaking is only waved off.

Maybe I seem to be a bit of a prude with those last couple of paragraphs, but how many books are that redeeming that the characters are rule breakers. I will not deny that the Potter books are a good story, and Rowlings is a wonderful writer, but the content and themes of her books are incredibly poor. The sad part for me is that Harry Potter is spoken of more than some other pieces of literature that should be held to a higher degree of esteem then Potter. The books are really just fiction, that captures the imagination, which is fine, books are supposed to do that. The last part of Harry Potter that really captures a pinch with me is of much more sinister nature.[/quote]

[quote]

The key part of the Harry Potter universe is the magic that is inherent in it. Magic is seen as something that makes life easier, and is used by the villains to gain power. Given the nature of Rowlings world, it is clear that magic is a part of it, but the thing is that often readers become confused by the underpinnings of spells and the like. Magic used in the real world, is not something to be messed with.

That might sound overtly suspicious, but there was a reason things started to get a little crazy when Ouija boards were big back in the 70s and 80s. You generally do not want to mess with the otherworldly, or even get near it. And coming from my own Catholic background, demons play through such things. Spiritual warfare, when concerning magic, gets very real. Otherwise, this is just a brief explanation without going into detail within the books.

[/quote]

[Lil Red]

haha, thanks! i just have a hard time reading white lettering on a dark background. guess i'm getting old. *walk of shame*

[ThePenciledOne]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1293665164' post='2195011']
haha, thanks! i just have a hard time reading white lettering on a dark background. guess i'm getting old. *walk of shame*
[/quote]

haha no problem at all!!!!

Sorry for giving you a hard time. : )

[tinytherese]

From http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/magic.html The film critic is an orhtodox Catholic.

[Teen_Catholic]

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