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Julianna
Guest
You’ve got that right…scare tatics and pure paranoia
npatrol:My husband and son are going to see the latest. I loved Edgar Allen Poe as a teenager. Harry Potter is fiction.
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npatrol:My husband and son are going to see the latest. I loved Edgar Allen Poe as a teenager. Harry Potter is fiction.
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Julianna
Guest
It is “FICTION”.
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Daizies
Guest
I read through this whole thread, mud slinging included, with much interest. As a person seeking to become Catholic I was curious to know what people believes about Harry Potter. What follows is from personal experience, and I do not have articles, citations or whatever to back me up, so please bear in mind my opinion is from personal experience and I do NOT consider myself an expert.
I should begin by saying that I think many of you have not been exposed to secular culture to the extent I and others have been. Not to say that is a bad thing, for being steeped in the Church and the Scriptures is what we all should strive for. However, this might lead some people to be unable to see the inherent danger in some things to people who do not have a strong faith background.
I have read five of the Harry Potter novels. I personally found them a source of stumbling, as a person with a history in occult practices, and I personally know others who have the same problem. Maybe someone who has a stronger faith may not stumble, that is not for me to say. But to say that there is nothing wrong when they can cause others to stumble is also incorrect. If we look at the example of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 8, although he is speaking of meat offered to idols, we can apply the same principle to this situation.
vs 11-12 “So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”
Many of you seem to be able to read these books without stumbling. Wonderful. But perhaps before you vehemently decry those who are opposed to them perhaps you need to consider people who have issues in these sorts of areas, where reading Harry Potter will cause them to stumble and fall into sin.
Just my humble opinion.
I should begin by saying that I think many of you have not been exposed to secular culture to the extent I and others have been. Not to say that is a bad thing, for being steeped in the Church and the Scriptures is what we all should strive for. However, this might lead some people to be unable to see the inherent danger in some things to people who do not have a strong faith background.
I have read five of the Harry Potter novels. I personally found them a source of stumbling, as a person with a history in occult practices, and I personally know others who have the same problem. Maybe someone who has a stronger faith may not stumble, that is not for me to say. But to say that there is nothing wrong when they can cause others to stumble is also incorrect. If we look at the example of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 8, although he is speaking of meat offered to idols, we can apply the same principle to this situation.
vs 11-12 “So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”
Many of you seem to be able to read these books without stumbling. Wonderful. But perhaps before you vehemently decry those who are opposed to them perhaps you need to consider people who have issues in these sorts of areas, where reading Harry Potter will cause them to stumble and fall into sin.
Just my humble opinion.
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Rascalking
Guest
Oh, be careful Julianna. You that could lead to a vortex of pure evil!You’ve got that right…scare tatics and pure paranoia
My husband and son are going to see the latest. I loved Edgar Allen Poe as a teenager. Harry Potter is fiction.
(have a great time!
)
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distracted
Guest
i think this means they are constrained by God’s laws
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distracted
Guest
have you?
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hawkeye
Guest
Never had a desire to read HP books, but I do know evil can enter by the most subtle charming ways…
" Eat the Apple " smiles satan, "you will not die " err ! yes we will…and we are…
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takers
Guest
I think you’re ‘humble opinion’ is just fine.
Personally, I believe that reading or not reading Harry Potter is up to the individual’s decision (or the parent’s in the case of a minor). If you’re hesitant on whether HP can lead toward negative influences then I highly recommend researching what other Christian and Catholic authors/theologians/etc have stated. Unfortunately, you’ll find conflicting viewpoints (some saying HP leads to evil things others saying HP leads one towards good or even Godly things). I believe that when you read these excerpts one or the other will resonate with you and help you to come to a conclusion. (Whatever that conclusion may be.)Do I believe you have to read the books to decide whether you want you and/or your children to read them? No. However, I also believe that if you want to debate the merits of HP and its evil/good stance you need to have read the books to be able to fully culminate an arguement for or against the books. Debate seems to be more fully ‘debateable’ when both parties are intimately familiar with the topic, as opposed to only being able to use what ‘so and so’ said.
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Reservoir_Dog
Guest
And whatever you do, don’t read a book or watch a movie about actual history and real world evil that’s magnitudes worse and far more seductive than HP.
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Daizies
Guest
If your sarcasm is aimed at me, I can assure you I know a lot more of “real world evil” than you could possibly imagine.
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Rachel_1
Guest
It’s too bad that you got all of this out of my one little statement. Nothing like having someone put all sorts of words in your mouth eh? I’ll pray for you.You are assuming that people like myself and others who have posted don’t spend time focusing on Jesus and that wouldn’t be right because we do but we also enjoy reading other stuff as well. I and other posters have repeatedly stated that Harry Potter does not depict actual witchcraft. It is fantasy magic. I am a devout Catholic who takes my faith seriously and I find it VERY disturbing that some of these posters on here assume that if someone likes Harry Potter then they can’t be a good, practicing, and devout Catholic. That is wrong. It is false and it also gives false witness.
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Reservoir_Dog
Guest
No… no… not one of these …
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Daizies
Guest
One of what? Perhaps you would care to explain what you mean by that.
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Reservoir_Dog
Guest
No, not really. Why?
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Daizies
Guest
I give up, I should have known better than to talk to anyone in forums, even people who claim to follow God. All I was trying to do was explain to people that what is benign for them can be bad for others, and yet all people can do is resort to personal attacks. I really should have known better than to even try.
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Musicadmirer
Guest
Daizies, I support your testimony. The majority may not, but you spoke your piece and hopefully it will give others who are involved in the occult the courage to break away from anything that is influenced by it.
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Mumbles140
Guest
Yes, as I have stated in many of my previous posts throughout this thread. Have you?
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Mumbles140
Guest
I do not intend to put words in your mouth, but I think I can make a general statement based on your original response and its correlation to other similar arguments throughout this thread.It’s too bad that you got all of this out of my one little statement. Nothing like having someone put all sorts of words in your mouth eh? I’ll pray for you.
I am sure you had no intention of implying what was taken from your post, but I can see how it comes off to others, myself included. Throughout this debate, those supporting the books have cited the books and other sources to back our beliefs. But the opposition, who have not read the book, have made references that we are dabbling in the Occult, are openly and actively sinning, and even that we are bad Catholics.
So when you stated that you would rather spend time focusing on Christ than watching witch craft movies, that seems to be in line with the other statements made. The truth is we are all Catholics, several of us are traditionalists who attend the EF of the Mass, others are devout Catholics attending the OF. And even though Christ is in our hearts and minds at all times, we do have activities that aren’t Church related.
Do you ever watch TV that isn’t EWTN? Ever see a movie not about Christ or the saints? Ever read a book that wasn’t religious? These activities are not sinful, so we choose to read books and watch movies about virtuous, fictional, magical (in the sense of Narnia’s magic, but that’s okay because it’s intended to be understood as Christian) school children who fight against evil and prejudice. As I stated before, I’m don’t believe it to have been your intention, but it could easily have been understood that way.
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Mumbles140
Guest
I can see how someone who has had a history in the Occult, or at least any sort of lingering curiosity in the past, could use Harry Potter as a path back to their former ways. But that is for someone who already has the inclination towards it, and our debate hasn’t focused on that. It has focused on the fact that reading Harry Potter will not lead someone, specifically a practicing Catholic, to the Occult. We have all admitted that the Occult is real and it is dangerous. But we have all read the books and have determined for ourselves that the ‘witch craft’ (to use the phrasing of others) contained in the books is nothing like actual Wiccan practices, nor does it intend to be.
Furthermore, I would like to remind you that the OP ‘called out’ those Catholics who supported the books as ultimately being too lost and blind to see the issues. We posted our responses, and were informed that every opposing poster (until you) had never read any of the books or seen the movies, and were citing sources from priests and religious who had also never read the books or seen the movies. However, when a Bishop is quoted as saying it isn’t Harry Potter that’s leading youth into the Occult, and that it is actually isolation from the Faith, they didn’t want to discuss his quotes, but still continue with the previous citations.
Our biggest issue is that posters who have no concept of the actual content in the books are throwing jabs without providing support. One poster actually accused the books based on search results for “harry potter wiccan” - literally, just the search results, not even a scholarly article. We all encourage open debate, but we have been bombarded with pot shots that don’t have any support given, and yet we have maintained civility. So please don’t accuse us of ‘vehemently descrying’ those who were on the offensive first and have continually rejected our pleas to provide support.
I’m not trying to force Harry Potter on anyone, but some people have come dangerously close (and others have crossed the line) to insulting good Catholics because they read Harry Potter. We obviously support the right of someone not to read it, but we ask that a person shouldn’t condemn it without any knowledge of the matter. Even their sources don’t have intimate knowledge of the content. I mean to say nothing against a priest, but at the end of the day, it is his personal opinion and in no way binding.
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Rachel_1
Guest
I didn’t read the entire thread, I simply stated my opinion, and stand by it. I didn’t say anything about you or any other individual, but about me. If others want to personalize my statement, there’s not much I can do about that. I didn’t come into this thread to debate, as I stated originally.
I watch one show on TV, Biggest Loser, that’s it. Movies, typically no, I pretty much either watch a Christ or Saint related movie, my library consists of Catholic books- currently on my desk I have “The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross” and "“The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila vol 2”. I literally would rather focus on Christ or His Saints
I guess I feel good in = good out ~shrug~- Status