Harry Potter. Sin or no?

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She’s revealed a lot of things about the characters and many have not gone over well. If she wanted to have more impact she might have chosen a character like Sirius Black. He was good from the start but falsely accused. Dumbledore was always a bit of a dodgy character.
 
casslean said:
What is so terribly wrong with the fact that she created a good person who was gay?
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Because certain people feel this ramming LGBT down their throats.
Just like certain people feel that the Christians are ramming their religious beliefs down their throats.
 
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True. Many fans see him as being truly immoral in how he manipulated those around him, especially Harry. Everyone is just a pawn on his game board. That being said, Rowling always intended him to be benevolent, though flawed.
 
You don’t know any of that. You’re making assumptions, and making them in a way that casts JKR into the most negative possible light.

It also has no bearing whatsoever on the actual book.

Perhaps you should try practicing a little bit of charity.
 
casslean said:
Perhaps you should try practicing a little bit of charity.
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Mayhap you are right

But as a fan it was not a lot of fun to spend money on the books and movies, and try to convince my Even More Conservative friends that they had nothing to fear from enjoying Harry Potter only to be proven wrong.
(In my Even More Conservative friends’ defense, they never threw this up to me, although they could have.)

And JKR is now in the process of producing a movie trilogy, set in the same universe, around Grindlewald (Dumbledore’s crush). It will remain to be seen if these movies are as clean as the original series.

I simply don’t trust her anymore as a writer of children’s stories and don’t think I ever will.

But I still hold to my original contention that the books, as written, were sexually squeaky-clean.
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
But I still hold to my original contention that the books, as written, were sexually squeaky-clean.
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I will agree to this as well. The problem is the Militant Conservatives will demonize anything not written by a Catholic. They will knick pick it apart. Just like the Liberal Media does when they report on Republicans…
One side claims bias against the other, but fails completely to see the bias on their end.
 
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Yes, I too will be very disappointed if a young Dumbledore is depicted in a non-celibate manner in the new movies. His book character doesn’t seem to have any peers - there’s no one who is his equal magically or socially. The idea of him being romantically paired seems nonsensical.
 
Would you glorify Satan with magic books in your house? “just for fun” right? If you wouldn’t play around with a quogi board, why would play a movie that shows magical spells and darkness rather than the light? “Good magic”… Yeah, satan can feel good alright. I use to be a huge fan of LOTR, and though I never tried magic, (though I did dabble in the third eye stuff cause of dark music) I can tell you glorifying wizards in any form is darkness. Especially saying a wizard represents Jesus… That’s ridiculous. Satan cannot cast out satan. This is how the devil tricks us into glorifying his kingdom. Now I’m not gonna say it’s a sin… But one should question who are they glorifying when being mesmerized and entertained by your friendly neighborhood magician?
PAX
 
Right. Grindelwald was the only other wizard he encountered who equaled his genius and magical competency… his only peer. If they try to make it into an obviously homosexual drama in the new movies I’ll definitely be disappointed.
 
JesusReigns said:
But one should question who are they glorifying when being mesmerized and entertained by your friendly neighborhood magician?
PAX
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Just. Wow.

I would hope and pray you are kidding here, but I fear you may actually be as ruled by fear as you sound in this post. Jesus told stories – we call them parables – where each character represents something it is not… unless you are actually going about on four legs, covered in fluffy wool, and saying “baa-a-a-a” to everyone you meet.

Our creativity is a gift from God, and used in a right way, it can absolutely bring Him honor and glory, and even win souls for Him – through beautiful works in the visual, performing, and literary arts. But a work of art does not have to be literal in order to represent the Truth of God.

Rejecting entire works of literature because they contain heroes with a title you randomly associate with evil is a very narrow perspective indeed.

It is not as though Harry Potter is some party animal who is doing drugs, sleeping around, using everyone for his own gain, and that sort of thing. The character is a troubled youth who has suffered ten years of abuse and neglect, only to discover he was born of a magical race. There is no such thing as a magical race, so this is clearly fiction.

HP goes on to struggle with right and wrong – sometimes getting it very wrong – and grows into a young man of virtue who is willing to give up everything, living in discomfort, hunger, danger, isolated from his community, to put an end to an evil force, even willingly laying down his life.

The story is a classic tale of good and evil – nothing more, nothing less.

If you also have trouble with LOTR, then it makes sense that you cannot see HP – or perhaps any fantasy fiction (such as The Chronicles of Narnia) – as anything other than a tool of evil.

Personally, I find this incredibly sad.

But I know Our Lord made each of us with specific gifts and understandings for His purposes and not our own. I work in the creative arts, and use those gifts to bring glory to God. Perhaps Our Lord needs you to do things that are more concrete and less immersed in creativity and imagination.

Interestingly, I’m writing a novel this month (participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time!) and it has some fantastical elements in it. I wonder if you would be able to appreciate the story as a morality tale, or if you would just see dragons and condemn my story because the dragons aren’t “evil” and the main characters aren’t trying to kill them (a la St Michael).

God bless us each in the work He has given us!
 
Hello. I appreciate the reply here. I would agree, creativity is a work of God. I myself am writing an adventure novel and plan to write many more stories. Its not that wizards are in the story that concerns me. What concerns me is our glorification of magic arts in american culture on the big screen and in other arts. As for harry potter the spells used in it clearly have me in detest. Id rather agree to disagree on that one. But i personally was a fan of LOTR. representing jesus is AWESOME, i have no problem with that. But when a wizard represents Jesus, thats too far. The whole story has a good chance of portraying the Bible and other tales of the Faith, however, when you say that magic can be used as a good force…thats a subliminal danger. Just like star wars. People say “Oh its a story of evil and good”. Yes, from a pagan perspective. In the ying yang ideology, light and darkness are in the same world and are part of balance. I could understand one saying “Oh look, good forces versus evil forces”. But if you pay attention these films glorify paganism. They talk about feeling the force around you. They say the Force can be used for good or evil. Notice there is no differentiation. The power of God cannot be used for darkness, only good. The power of satan cannot be used for good, only darkness. I dont mean to sound hateful or legalistic, but the man of God must be careful at what he glorifies. BTW i hope he blesses you with inspiration to make good novels!! We need more clean and good messaged stories these days 🙂

Peace
 
God bless your work as well! We do indeed need more intelligent and good-messaged stories these days.

Are you familiar with Adventures in Odyssey, a radio show produced by Focus on the Family. My son grew up listening to those stories – he turns 14 next week and still listens to at least one episode everyday, and even discussed them with me sometimes. There is some excellent and thought-provoking storytelling there.

May Our Lord send His Holy Spirit to guide all artists who seek to do His will!
 
Gertabelle said:
God bless your work as well! We do indeed need more intelligent and good-messaged stories these days.

Are you familiar with Adventures in Odyssey, a radio show produced by Focus on the Family. My son grew up listening to those stories – he turns 14 next week and still listens to at least one episode everyday, and even discussed them with me sometimes. There is some excellent and thought-provoking storytelling there.

May Our Lord send His Holy Spirit to guide all artists who seek to do His will!
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I was traumatized when Mr. Wittaker died. ('94) Obviously, he didn’t die in the series but the actor died and they had to find a new one. It was really never the same. I tuned in with my niece and the newest “Wit” isn’t bad. If your son is 14 then he was only 6 when the “middle” Mr. Wittaker ran and might not even remember him.

I was also disgusted when they had a plot that was exactly the same as the Simpsons. Yeah, I was way too young to be watching the Simpsons–but I knew “Side Show Bob’s” voice and having the exact plot line was really disturbing to me, even as a child.

Oddesey is fairly Catholic-safe…there are occasional non-Catholic teachings…but many of the “filler” programs they break to are REALLY bad. Does your son catch it online or on the radio?
 
Tolkien was pretty clear that while LOTR (and really his entire mythos) were fundamentally Catholic, they were not allegory. He was quite specific on that point, that nothing in LOTR was allegorical (at the time of LOTR’s release, it was viewed as an allegory of WWII).

As to Gandalf’s identity, he is a Maiar, a lesser order of angel. What exactly happened to Gandalf after his “death” in Moria in his struggle with the Balrog (another angelic, well properly demonic being) was something that Tolkien did muse about in writings that were released after his death. Tolkien suggested that Illuvatar (that is the name of God in the Silmarillion/LOTR mythos) directly intervened at that point, restoring Gandalf and enhancing him.

This is largely to explain that while when the Valar first sent the Istari (wizards) to Middle Earth, they came in the form of aging men and were forbidden from certain actions, most importantly that their own native angelic powers were muted, as they were intended to be guides and advisers in the struggles against Sauron, and not Powers in their own right. When Gandalf returns, those restrictions seem to have been lifted (apparently by God himself, and not by the Valar), and thus he is permitted to display the fullness of his angelic might, and in the final struggle becomes the commander of all the forces united against Sauron.

Sorry for the digression. I was (and obviously still am) a huge Tolkien fan, own all the books, including the writings not published during his lifetime.
 
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