Harry Potter: Evil Plot to Destroy Souls?

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Margarite

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What do you all think of the Harry Potter series?
Do you hate it and think it should be banned by the Church like the Da Vinci Code?
Do you think that it leads kids to do evil?
Do you think it has ties to the occult?
Do you think that JK Rowling saying Dumbledore is gay proves this?
Did you see Dumbledore acting or in any way showing that he was gay in any of the books?

OR

Do you find it to be a fun story for all ages?
Do you find the story to be Christian?
Do you find it to be neither Christian nor evil?
Do you recommend it?
Do you find JKRowling saying Dumbledore can be ignored?
Did you see Dumbledore acting or in any way showing that he was gay in any of the books?

I personally really like the HP stories. I love Hermione and Dumbledore is just like Gandalf. I like all the stories and have read them multiple times (except for the 7th, which is my favourite). But I know many people who think they are evil. What I want to know is: Is there anyone who has read all 7 books and still thinks they are evil?
 
Well, being a witch is evil, hence going to witch school would be
evil. I wouldn’t read 7 books worth of something that would be evil,
I wouldn’t even read one. Some people don’t think being a witch
is evil. They think you can be a nice witch. I think they should
look up “witch” in the dictionary…
 
I’ve read a few of them and I think there harmless no more evil than Lord of the Rings.

Heck I’ve met people that think Star Trek and Star Wars are evil.
 
I have read all of them. I don’t think they’re evil. I do think that many of the scenes, and the characters, are portrayed in a very ‘secular’ way (and I don’t mean just the witchcraft). I think that J.K. has so ‘changed around’ her original ideas to cater to and also to ‘confound’ her fans at times that it has resulted in the series overall, especially after the first 3 books, deteriorating. As a parent of (now grown) children, Book 5 (dubbed by my kids “Harry’s So-Called Life”) due to its ANGST as evidenced by ALL CAPS through most of the book and the (Spoiler ALERT) extinction of a character simply to ‘have somebody die’. . .marked a real slide. Book 4 had many difficulties but most COULD have been far more successfully resolved than she actually wound up doing because she ‘changed’ her storyline, eliminated the original plots for some (involving Molly’s ‘muggle cousin’) and substituted new characters and plot line instead, etc.

At the end, I felt saddened that what could have been a GREAT series had become a ‘successful’ series instead, that it ‘pandered’ to the ‘cultural issues’ of today rather than staying, where it began, dealing with the ‘timeless’ type of issues which are part of all true GREAT STORYTELLING.

Vignettes of a few characters’ who did ‘grow’ (Neville), some excellent ‘settings’ (Hogwarts), will be fondly remembered by me. Most everything else will be considered as a ‘coulda been a contender’ or a sad waste.

Of course, just my opinion.
 
Haven’t read any of them, not interested I’m afraid, don’t have the time to read that sort of stuff.

I’ve read a lot about the Saints, and the Bible, and DIY books, but HP don’t interest me.

As for witches, I don’t think there are good and evil witches, ( theyre all evil ) black or white, they all have strange rituals, which is contary to the Glory and Praise which is only for God.

"I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not have strange gods before me".
 
I’ve read all of the Harry Potter books, and while I cannot say that I loved them or that they were my favorites, they were pretty good.

It always irritates me when people insist that there’s something evil about those books… there really isn’t. And at least read a chapter to give it half a chance, for goodness’ sake! If kids are going to do evil, then they’re already going to do evil; reading a book that is very obviously fictional is not going to inspire them. And while it does have the loosest of ties to the occult in that it is partially framed in the tradition of European witchcraft, it should be perfectly obvious that the spells and curses recited by the characters are fiction. For one, they’re Latin… most European witches don’t use Latin, and the Latin that JK Rowling uses is silly and/or very easy. It doesn’t matter in the least that Dumbledore was (allegedly) gay, because a) he’s fictional, b)there was no discernable mention of even the slightest of homosexual intentions or actions in the books, and c) just being gay is not evil. I mean, I’m a gay Catholic that studied Latin for four years… I think I would have picked up on the evil if there were any!

I do think it’s a fun story for most ages. Not really young kids, since it might scare them… Voldemort’s a pretty bad fellow… I’d say seven and older is good. It gets kids interested in reading. I don’t find that story to be explicitly Christian, but it could be used that way, certainly… explore the way that evil consumes and controls people like Voldemort took over Quirrel in the first book, for example. I do recommend it for people who like an exciting read or want to get their kids to read. I certainly think that Dumbledore’s sexuality can be ignored… he’s not even seen a remotely sexual capacity at all… he’s the headmaster, and he’s too busy (and I think too heartbroken) to pursue any relationship.
 
The last book in the series had many Christian messages, and it would not take a rocket scientist to spot them.
Are they the greatest books ever written? No, far from it. But I did enjoy them, and no, I don’t see anything remotely evil about them.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
As a parent of (now grown) children, Book 5 (dubbed by my kids “Harry’s So-Called Life”) due to its ANGST as evidenced by ALL CAPS through most of the book and the (Spoiler ALERT) extinction of a character simply to ‘have somebody die’. . .marked a real slide.
Click to expand...
No, it wasn’t simply to have somebody die. Don’t you get it? He was being an example for Harry. Did you not notice HOW he died? What was promised to him prior and how HE DEFEATED DEATH!!! AND, note, it was the character we know HAD to have been religious at some point who shows Harry how to do it. Think of all the suffering in life and humility he had to endure. He is not dead so much as he is free!!!
 
Harry Potter is a lot like talk radio and Fox News. What I mean is the majority of people who are against them never have listen to or read them. :yup: This has been my experience.
 
stanmaxkolbe said:
Harry Potter is a lot like talk radio and Fox News. What I mean is the majority of people who are against them never have listen to or read them. :yup: This has been my experience.
Click to expand...
That’s true. I had a negative opinion of them before we read them. Now, I just think they are an entertaining read–though, I don’t like all the dating in the later books.

Though, lots of very well respected Catholics in the media have come out against them…

Maybe it depends on the kids reading them. My kids have read alot of Children’s fantasy literature and I think they received it in that light. And they have had a fair amount of catechesis in the faith.

Perhaps a child who hasn’t read many of this genre and has no faith formation might be attracted by the occult because of this series. 😦
 
I love the book series. Great stories, great settings, great hero’s journey. Harry started learning about life and choices in book one and never stopped learning and growing.
He makes great friends who help fight his foes and stand by him.
The best of all is the message : be willing to give your life to fight for the greater good and defeat evil.
I vote two thumbs up:thumbsup: 👍
 
OMG… not this AGAIN!!

Harry Potter is, at best, Christian allegory, and at worst, harmless entertainment.

Personally, I love the books and so do my kids.

People who think Harry Potter is evil because it has magic in it… do you feel the same about the Narnia books? The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series? Roald Dahl books? How about Star Wars, because a lot of what they do by harnessing and controlling “the Force” looks like magic to me… Greek and Roman mythology, much of which is included in Catholic home school curricula as part of Western Civ studies… how far do you go with this?

Are you going to forbid your children reading the story of Saul, the Isrealite king who consulted the witch?

Never mind that the Harry Potter stories aren’t really about magic. Magic is a literary device that removes Harry into a place and the company of people that will help him learn and prepare, hone the skills and strengths he needs, to play the role he must, make the sacrifice he is called to. I think people who don’t understand that do not have the subtlety required to really understand any literature. The story, at its heart, is that of a young man who can save his whole world by choosing to sacrifice himself, and his journey to making that choice. Sounds pretty Christian to me!
 
The witchcraft in HP is not parallel to real-world sorcery. It is an ability that some are born with and some are not.

It is “occult” only in that it is hidden from the mainstream culture because the mainstream culture would be unable to cope with it. They would attempt to force it to be used irresponsibly.

It is not calling upon spirits of any kind to bend the laws of nature; rather they study how their natural abilities obey the broader laws of a broader nature that encompasses the nature that we are all familiar with.

If instead of the words, “witch,” and “magic,” Rowling had used “ballplayer” and “stuff” (as in ‘that pitcher has good stuff’), then we would none of us be upset.

This “magic” is entirely different from the kind of magic that is out-of-bounds for Christians.
Having said that, Steven Greydanus makes a very interesting comparison between Rowling’s use of magic and that of Lewis and Tolkein. You can find it easily on decentfilms.com

Regards,
Joe
 
After admitting that I’m a convert to the Harry Potter fan camp, before I read them, I based my opinion on:
  1. well respected Catholics in the media who were very negative on Harry Potter
  2. a story from a friend in which she heard a preteen asking a librarian for a book on witchcraft. The Library asked her if she was reading Harry Potter and the girl said yes. This made me think that it was a common practice for librarians to get this request.
  3. seeing my 6 and 3 year old playing “witch” just from watching the commercial for the movie
I just wanted to point out that people have some genuine concerns.

Before we read Harry Potter, my kids had read the Narnia series, the Tolkien books, other miscellaneous children’s fantasy like the Princess and the Goblin, so I thought that they wouldn’t be drawn into the occult by reading it. But, I do think some kids without much faith formation and who haven’t read other fantasy fiction might be drawn into exploring the occult.

Now my kids have read the *Harry Potter *series. We’ve enjoyed them.
 
The real soul-destroying evil is the dumbing down of Western culture that has made it possible for drek like Harry Potter to get published in the first place and then made into mind-numbing films in the second place.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
Another Harry Potter thread? By gum, it’s been awhile! 😃

I don’t think I’d call the series “evil”. I don’t think it compares to Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia, but it is much better than a lot of the other fiction that is out there today.
 
Harry Potter is explicitly Christian. My favorite book on the subject is this one. And that was written before the release of the seventh book, which is the most explicitly Christian of any of the books. Heck, it quotes the Bible twice!
 
I have not read any of the books as I am too busy to read much fiction but I have thoroughly enjoyed the movies. The theme of self sacrafice is very evident and makes it “good” in my eyes. I get tired of the “It’s all about me” tendancies of many of today’s books and movies.
 
While the books do not specifically teach anything remotely Christian or anti-Christian, there is a common universal ethic of good versus evil which prevails in the books, allowing for the characters to learn other universal traits such as hope, humility, even charity and personal sacrifice.
 
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