Evil Harry Potter

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Seriously, have you ever even met a witch? I find their beliefs absurd, but voodoo dolls? Those are Afro-carribean, and many of the practitioners of voodoo are at least nominally Christian (their beliefs are syncretic).

When I read the HP series, I found the message to be the value of friendship, the awkwardness of adolescence and above all else doing what is right, regardless of personal cost or risk. There’s also an anti-racist message. The Death Eaters despise muggles (humans without magical powers), and one of the main characters, Hermione, has muggle parents and is subject to mistreatment.

The magic is central, obviously, but really it’s no worse than what you’ll find in many Medieval stories. My complaint is that, unlike the supernatural powers in Tolkien’s work, which are inherent to a being’s stature, the magic in HP seems bolted on. It’s a plot device stuck on to a pretty traditional form of English adolescent storytelling.
 
Which version? My last personal experience was first edition AD&D during the previous century.
 
whatistrue said:
Which version? My last personal experience was first edition AD&D during the previous century.
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No idea; I’ve only ever played one brief campaign. Been listening to a hilarious live play podcast lately and it’s giving me the hankering to play again.
 
yes, I agree. there is an allergy to anything that smacks of
the Dark side among most Evangelical and Mainline Churches.
We need MORE exposure to the other side rather than less.
How can we reach this upcoming generation if we don’t know
WHERE they’re coming from??
 
Honestly I don’t know why someone had written a Catholic story of that nature. Sure, no spellcasting, but come on, there’s Satan and demons, and priests and saints. There’s some darn good fodder than for a more Christian variant.
 
niceatheist said:
When I read the HP series, I found the message to be the value of friendship, the awkwardness of adolescence and above all else doing what is right, regardless of personal cost or risk. There’s also an anti-racist message. The Death Eaters despise muggles (humans without magical powers), and one of the main characters, Hermione, has muggle parents and is subject to mistreatment.
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These are the themes I emphasized when my daughter was reading the books. The witchcraft was secondary to all of these. Although I did once hear her say lumos before turning on a light switch in the bathroom 😉
 
niceatheist said:
the magic in HP seems bolted on. It’s a plot device stuck on to a pretty traditional form of English adolescent storytelling.
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I have never read more than a page or two of any of the books, and I only watched one of the movies, but that was my impression, too. It’s a British school story, in the genre that dates back at least as far as Tom Brown’s Schooldays in the 1850s, with some added magic, largely for comic effect, along with the punning, joky names such as Slythering, Diagon Alley (diagonally), and Dumbledore (double door).
 
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Just a couple of points… I will second those who said it may be well the Guardian is not reporting the full truth behind all this, this won’t be unusual for this newspaper as it is always reporting anti-catholic/christian articles. Secondly , Pope Benedict’s words count more than the average Joe to me, at the bottom of the article it said regarding Harry Potter books… when he was still a cardinal in 2003, “subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly’. Best err on caution before poo pooing, there may be no real magic I don’t know or care to know, but ‘subtle seductions in the minds of those growing up’ some seem quick to dismiss things.
 
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Here’s a very nice nuanced essay on the controversy of Christian parents wanting their children to avoid Harry Potter. Perhaps too nuanced for some. 🤣
A highlight:
The foundation of my church is the Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments (although there are innumerable versions of the Protestant Bible available, references cited in this article are taken from the King James Version). This book forms the underlying basis for all our beliefs. Two very important beliefs concern children and the occult. In our faith, the spiritual education of children is considered crucial. This stems largely from attention to Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Because those of my faith believe that casual exposure to the occult through media sources such as television, movies, games, and books can desensitize a Christian to the sinful nature of such beliefs and practices, any exposure is commonly prohibited. This includes reading books that portray the occult in a positive light.
Séances and witches are one thing if you believe they are “just pretend”; they’re quite another if you believe they’re real. Despite the fact that we agree with others on such points as the horror of the Salem witchcraft trials, we bring a different view to the table: believing that innocent people were unjustly persecuted, tortured, and killed does not belie the fact that we believe witches are real. Not that anyone’s ready to start drowning and hanging anyone, of course — but witchcraft is as real to us as any other religion. Consequently, one of the most antagonizing responses one can give in responding to a challenge based on these beliefs is to say, “But they (demons, witches, etc.) aren’t real!” They may be very real to the person who is challenging the material.
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Hunting Down Harry Potter: An Exploration of Religious Concerns about Children's Literature. By: Gish, Kimbra Wilder, Horn Book Magazine, 00185078, May/Jun2000, Vol. 76, Issue 3
 
Hollywood spends billions of dollars to sell somebody’s ideas and beliefs into the hearts and minds of society. Coca Cola does the same. Why?.. to get results in terms of the purchase of their product.

Harry Potter does the same thing and quite skilled at it. The knowledge of the O’ Cult by the script-writers is quite telling when you compare it to the testimony of those who have come out.

Children are being sold ideas way beyond anything they can process with caution.

By the way, you must be thinking of the Wizard of Oz kind of witch. Today they are much more stealthy and attractive to everyone. They can quote scripture, lead a small group bible study and all kind of things. Yet in secret they conjure demons and seek power. They don’t care if your Church is Catholic, Protestant, or other.
 
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You know, maybe there is something magical going on. These Harry Potter threads just won’t die!
 
Remember the old slogan, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” It’s J.K. Rowling’s agents that are constantly dreaming up new rumors and then starting new threads to “discuss” them.
 
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Agreed. I didn’t find them scary, but well written and enjoyable.

As to dark, when I recommend them, on another board, as I often do, I have to add that the local on-board priest (a good guy) advises against them.
 
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