Regarding the cogent evidence against the Potter novels, I and others have adduded this many times on these boards, including the present thread. Men may not agree with that evidence but they should not state that no evidence is ever provided, only “generalised statements”. That is rather disengenuous and unfair. If you want specific refutation of the pro-Potter argments then I have given these many threads over the couple of years. Moreover, whilst it is true that many have given superficially plausible rebuttals to my and others arguments, that is hardly the same as a compelling refutation demonstrating the falsity and error of my whole position.
First, it is offensive to claim that our consciences are defective because we do not share the same viewpoint. This is a major backbone of your argument, and yet the only proof you have of our consciences being ‘defective’ are that your opinion must be correct concerning a matter that the Church does not rule one way or the other on. You give reasons why consciences in general may be ‘defective’ or ‘warped’ but cannot provide evidence that ours, or any other Potter readers’, is in such a state. You claim this is a ‘logical deduction’ but actually use it as a premise.
Secondly, you argue that the books are ‘culturally unwholesome’ but cannot provide any evidence from the texts as such. That is what we mean when we ask for specifics. You also made comparisons to the Nazis (really?), but don’t see the parallels between the Nazis and the evil side in the Harry Potter series, and it is the good guys who are fighting, in a moral fashion, these injustices.
Third, you get on about these occult symbols and ‘lore practices’ in Harry Potter, but neither you nor anyone else can explain why those symbols are perfectly acceptable in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. You can read the thread for various examples of these instances in their works.
Fourth, again with this idea of us being ‘duped’ when you have not laid out any reason why you should consider us as such. And again, the fact that you compare Harry Potter to the Nazis and those who support Harry Potter as the Germans who accept these evils. My question is ‘Where is the evil in the Harry Potter series? Where is the threat against my moral beliefs from reading any fantasy/sci-fi fiction?’. Yes, there are bad guys who are clearly portrayed as being evil, but there are not evil, malicious, or sinful themes in the book. The themes are about virtue, justice, righteousness, and truth - things all Catholics, Christians, those of other religions, and non-believers alike can agree we need more of. But just because others believe in these virtues do not make them any less Catholic, and that is a very important point.
Fifth, again implying that our beliefs do not follow out to our actions, and that we are poor examples of Catholics, not to mention the suggestion (albeit implicit) that we are one of the reasons for the secularization of the world. All this because we read fictional books.
Lastly, when we ask for specific evidence, we mean real life facts about the evils caused directly by the series, or citations from the text citing anti-Catholic ideas. And if there is evidence on ‘other threads’ from some time in the past, please link to them or at least cite the name so we can read this, because this thread has not contained that. And while you claim our ‘superficial’ and ‘plausible’ arguments don’t serve as proof, not one of those against the series has been able to ‘scratch the surface’ against our arguments outside of their own opinions or the opinions of others. Following this logic, you could never convince an atheist to believe because they would say your arguments can’t be proven with hard evidence, even though you have provided a valid, logical response to every objection they have.
PS (edit): I only included the final paragraph, but my arguments, for the most part, follow your paragraphs established above from the post I am quoting.
