Harry Potter?.......( Is it bad?)

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All experience is potentially one of learning.
According to a neuroscientist I know there is some evidence that the hippocampus does not distinguish between real and unreal. It is possible therefore that when employing memory in our day to day lives we may err.

What we see, hear and otherwise experience has deep effects on our thoughts and behaviour and it is important to exercise prudence in what we mentally digest.

Harry Potter might appear to be harmless fun to a mature mind but that is not the market it was aimed at.

Our kids are our future. How do we best raise saints?
 
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Seagull said:
If Father Ripperger - says it’s evil - and Rowley dabbles with the Occult
I put my money on - what he says - NOT Hollywood.
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What he claims has been disproven time and time again. Some of the ones he makes towards “spells” are inherently preposterous–anyone with a basic understanding of Latin would realize just how ridiculous it is. Rowling is also a practicing Christian and many of her uses of Latin are modeled after the remnants of Latin we find in Mass and science.

I mean, if you want to listen to someone who made an assessment before the series was complete and without reading a significant part of the books, go right ahead. That’s how books like Huck Finn get banned…but whatever floats your boat.
 
Oh yes there is. I used to practice witchcraft. I may not have been able to fly.on a broom stick, but one can inflict misfortune on others through witchcraft. There’s a reason spell casting is a sin.
 
Lee1 said:
All experience is potentially one of learning.
According to a neuroscientist I know there is some evidence that the hippocampus does not distinguish between real and unreal. It is possible therefore that when employing memory in our day to day lives we may err.

What we see, hear and otherwise experience has deep effects on our thoughts and behaviour and it is important to exercise prudence in what we mentally digest.

Harry Potter might appear to be harmless fun to a mature mind but that is not the market it was aimed at.

Our kids are our future. How do we best raise saints?
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So how many of the Harry Potter hating parents allow Dora or Thomas the Tank Engine or have a whole to-do about Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy?

To be honest, I have a much harder time with the mental gymnastics required to have a preschool/early gradeschool child believe in Santa (ie NOT st. Nick but Santa) but then tell a later gradeschool child they can’t read Harry Potter because they can’t tell truth from fiction. Now, whose’s fault is that? :roll_eyes:

When I was very small 3-4 I remember having a vivid dream that my doll had to go to the hospital. I was convinced it was real. Eventually, I was corrected.

But I also grew up with Thomas, Sesame St., Winnie the Poo, Double Dare, Are You Afraid Of The Dark and eventually Narnia, LOTR, Harry Potter. I realized Santa was fake at the age of 4 in Kindergarten when the naughty rich kids got way more than all of the poor kids who were amazing people. Children suffer when their parents lie…it’s up to a parent to clarify and keep the child grounded in what is reality and what is pretend.
 
We don’t live in a void, we are what we digest.

Our spiritual development is more important than our mortal lives here since we are promised that eternal spiritual life is a possibility. Therefore since if we take that seriously we could actually achieve great things not only in this life for everyone but the next we ought to nurture our young with that firmly in mind.

Santa clause, the Easter bunny etc are lies of course. I told my children the same things and then told them gently that it was all false when they were older. What effect did that have?
What if I’d told them about only religious aspects of these festivals instead, there would still be mystery and wonder but it would have been true. What would have been the effects of that I wonder?

Okay, some might see that as diminishing life in some ways but when so many people struggle with belief in God, who is real, often due to an underlying knowledge that some stuff we are told by elders and authority figures is actually false, telling children the truth about things would help them greatly in the future.

I’m not advocating telling them the truth about everything of course, children still have to be protected carefully according to their capacity to understand.
 
I personally feel it’s an excellent morality tale wrapped in a fantasy exterior.

The magic powers aren’t gained by invoking spirits or making pacts, they’re simply something a child is born with, an innate ability which can be nurtured.

So long as you understand the differences between this fantasy version of magic, and actual real-world witchcraft, I don’t think there’s a problem.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
So long as you understand the differences between this fantasy version of magic, and actual real-world witchcraft, I don’t think there’s a problem.
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There’s the problem.

Harry Potter and ideas like it are just mental toys, but some toys are dangerous to play with and some people who do not have prior knowledge can get hurt.
 
Lee1 said:
There’s the problem.

Harry Potter and ideas like it are just mental toys, but some toys are dangerous to play with and some people who do not have prior knowledge can get hurt.
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I agree, but that’s true of anything. Even pious devotions can be dangerous to people who don’t know how to do them properly, or where to draw the line. (Self flagellation, for example, or extreme fasting, etc.)
 
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My middle daughter is 16. When she was about 6 or 7 years old she brought home one of those Scholastic Books order forms from school. She really, really, really wanted a book of spells from the Disney show “Wizards of Waverly Place.” Her little brother got in on it, too.

I kept saying no. I didn’t want to spend the money on buying more ‘stuff’ we didn’t need.

Finally she said, “I promise not to use the spells on anyone!” :hugs:
 
We do have qualified people in the clergy who can advise and help with those things.

Most people would agree that there nothing wrong with fiction. Nothing wrong with compromising when it comes to lying. Nothing wrong with compromising when it comes to sex, partying, drinking etc etc.

Most people in the world are like this, now look at the world.
What does that tell you?
 
There is nothing wrong with Harry Potter. It’s set in a fictional world with fictional characters and fictional spells. None of it is real or has any influence on reality.
 
Lou2U said:
None of it is real or has any influence on reality.
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That’s good to hear. I notice you are an agnostic? So that implies that you don’t think God is real, and so you’d say that God and Christianity has had no influence on this real world of ours?
 
Lee1 said:
That’s good to hear. I notice you are an agnostic? So that implies that you don’t think God is real, and so you’d say that God and Christianity has had no influence on this real world of ours?
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I was referencing the spells and world that Harry Potter is set in. Apologies, I should have been clearer.
 
Question: Do you hold those views with Fantasy books overall or is it just Harry Potter. (And I would be curious of it’s the former to know of any exceptions.)
 
I honestly believe that everything we read and witness has an effect on us. I think that we should be very careful what we allow into our minds. Not scrupulously! Just good housekeeping.
 
Lee1 said:
We do have qualified people in the clergy who can advise and help with those things.

Most people would agree that there nothing wrong with fiction. Nothing wrong with compromising when it comes to lying. Nothing wrong with compromising when it comes to sex, partying, drinking etc etc.

Most people in the world are like this, now look at the world.
What does that tell you?
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That most people don’t know what they’re talking about.

That fact doesn’t make those things inherently bad though. That’s the question. Is there anything about the stories which is, in and of itself, bad? Given that I believe that magic within stories is not a sign of inherent badness (Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc.), I see nothing wrong with Harry Potter’s portrayl of magic either.

In fact, I honestly find Rowling’s world to be very Christian. There is a great deal of black and white. There is good, and evil; a dichotomy many authors try to shy away from nowadays. The main drives of the villains are real drivers of villainy in the real world (greed, pride, extreme prejudice…), and the main villain’s greatest source of evil is his absolute lack of Love for anything. The heroes are faithful friends, the main character and the people surrounding him all understand sacrifice. It makes profound statements about the impacts of war, and shows that the violence of war can happen to anyone. (I’m still made about Remus and Tonks…). It even delves into the often sudden and unexpected nature of death, (Sirius’ death.) and the fact that trying to overcome death is folly. (Basically the entire point of books 5-7)

If you look beyond the magic and allow yourself to examine the story, there is abundant good to be found in those books which can enrich anyone’s life. Are there better sources? Sure. But that doesn’t make these books bad.

I know people can abuse the source material and that it can influence weak minds and wills, but that is, as I said, true of anything. If I’m wrong, then I hope God will show me that, but I don’t believe I am, and I can’t wait to read those stories with my son.
 
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I have in the past followed everyone else in this regard but I think we should be more aware of what we’re doing now. Especially if we sincerely want to see real human progress. Perhaps it’s nearing the time when we put away our toys and listen to Our Father.

I can imagine a fantasy book based on Christianity that is wholesome and innocuous being acceptable. One promoting Christian virtues. I don’t think it should contain demons however, I don’t like encountering those even in the Bible.
 
Fine. You may get a great deal of enjoyment from reading and introducing these ideas into the minds of your grandchildren, what will they get?

However when I read the Bible I am not nor ever have been at any age want to buy a magic wand and cast spells. Nor dwell on witchcraft or imagine ghosts inhabit my wardrobe etc etc.

The Bible does have some scary content but it generally inspires a want to be Holy. Maybe the test is, does it bring us nearer to God or neutral or away.

If people don’t change we will have the world we deserve.
 
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Seagull said:
If Father Ripperger - says it’s evil - and Rowley dabbles with the Occult
I put my money on - what he says - NOT Hollywood.
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With all due respect to Fr. Ripperger, neither he nor anyone else has provided any proof that Rowling “dabbles with the Occult.”
 
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