Harry Potter?

[CompSciGuy]

My son is only six weeks old at the present, but when he is old enough I plan to enjoy Harry Potter with him. It’s a wonderful story. Most of the witchcraft is disney-style magic, not voodoo or anything like that. The dark wizard stuff is, of course, dark, but it falls into that same category. If a person is opposed to Harry Potter for the witchcraft then they ought to be opposed to Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia as well, for the same reasons.

The thing that I will probably counsel my child about while reading it is the way that the kids interact with each other. There is a strong theme of Harry and Ron wanting to “get even” with Malfoy, a sort of glorification of revenge and a theme of “hate your enemies and laugh when they fall on their face.” This is not consistent with Christian teaching and parents should talk to their kids about it when reading the books together.

 

[CompSciGuy]

No dog in the fight, but this reminds me of the Dungeons & Dragons controversy from growing up in the 80s. Man I loved that game and cartoon.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/Dungeons_and_Dragons_DVD_boxset_art.jpg

My dad became a born-again evangelical Christian in 1976 and the D&D controversy was at its height in his early years of faith. I remember how much he warned about it growing up. I even remember an Adventures in Odyssey episode about it, where Dr. James Dobson did an opening talk for parents warning about the subject matter.

 

[Sarcelle]

Even Tolkien and Lewis are not spared in the eyes of some Fundamentalists.

I have read a blog where a fundamentalist labeled Tolkien as a hell bound Roman Catholic.

 

[GEddie]

Even Tolkien and Lewis are not spared in the eyes of some Fundamentalists.

I have read a blog where a fundamentalist labeled Tolkien as a hell bound Roman Catholic.

That may just be the Fundamentalist aversion to the Catholic Church more than anything about him.

 

[Memaw]

That may just be the Fundamentalist aversion to the Catholic Church more than anything about him.

Why are we letting Harry Potter and Star Wars overshadow this Holy celebration of Our Lord’s birth??? God Bless, Memaw

 

[Memaw]

My dad became a born-again evangelical Christian in 1976 and the D&D controversy was at its height in his early years of faith. I remember how much he warned about it growing up. I even remember an Adventures in Odyssey episode about it, where Dr. James Dobson did an opening talk for parents warning about the subject matter.

I have a nephew that got very involved in it and is now in his mid 40’s and still has a troubled mind because of it. He lives in a fantasy world of some sort. No one can reason with him. At one time before he got involved in it he was a good college student and had a bright future ahead of him. The girl he was planning to marry finally broke off with him and that only made him worse. Please keep him in your prayers as well as all others involved in this sort of dangerous stuff. You may not know for years, the harm it can do to your children. God Bless, Memaw

 

[GEddie]

Why are we letting Harry Potter and Star Wars overshadow this Holy celebration of Our Lord’s birth??? God Bless, Memaw

May the force be with you.

And also with you

Lighten up everybody and breathe!!!

Happy New Year!

ICXC NIKA

 

[GEddie]

My condolences about your nephew, M.

I hadn’t noticed that both messages were from you.

ICXC NIKA

 

[SilverLight]

Love it! I read it and sometimes my mother read it to me before bed.

 

[Mongo]

I think the last movie is better than the last book, but the last book was kind of big and sloppy. I think they stopped editing Ms. Rowling around book 5.

I haven’t seen every one of the movies, but a number of them are way too scary for little kids. And for me, too!

I agree about books 5 and 6. They seemed like filler just to get to book 7. I liked the last book though.

 

[runningdude]

I couldn’t find any old threads on this.

Do you let your kids read/watch Harry Potter? The new illustrated version has just been released. I know that my son, a reluctant reader, would love it. However, I also remember that the pastor at the Catholic school my kids used to attend said that parents should not let their kids read it (I’m guessing it’s because of the witchcraft, but Father didn’t really specify).

What do you all think?

There is nothing sinful about *fantasy *witchcraft. It is only when one believes that the real world can be manipulated with secret powers that “witchcraft” is sinful.

God created the universe, all that is seen and unseen. He revealed the scripture to us, and this tells us everything we need to know about the “unseen”. There are no secrets omitted from scripture. No magic powers, no talismans, no crystals. No curses, spells, or incantations. None of these exist!

To pursue the witchcraft is to pursue a lie, and to deny the truth as revealed by God. That is the simple, and primary, reason that pursuit of the occult is sinful.

However, Harry Potter is a fantasy universe where magic is simply a fact of nature. There would be nothing inherently sinful about a hypothetical Harry Potter using his natural abilities. As a natural gift, the origin of these powers would be God himself!

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

There is nothing sinful about *fantasy *witchcraft. It is only when one believes that the real world can be manipulated with secret powers that “witchcraft” is sinful.

God created the universe, all that is seen and unseen. He revealed the scripture to us, and this tells us everything we need to know about the “unseen”. There are no secrets omitted from scripture. No magic powers, no talismans, no crystals. No curses, spells, or incantations. None of these exist!

To pursue the witchcraft is to pursue a lie, and to deny the truth as revealed by God. That is the simple, and primary, reason that pursuit of the occult is sinful.

However, Harry Potter is a fantasy universe where magic is simply a fact of nature. There would be nothing inherently sinful about a hypothetical Harry Potter using his natural abilities. As a natural gift, the origin of these powers would be God himself!

I agree with parts of this and strongly disagree on others. I really enjoyed HP. Well the first three books and movies anyway. CS Lewis, Tolkien etc. but I also disagree with the idea of intent is the only sinful action with magic. Certainly the church believes in the idea of sacred objects and blessing them. I have a few first class relics myself. So it would only stand to reason that the opposite may be true. Regaurdless of intent we also believe in the cursing of objects as well. No sane Catholic would display some cursed item of a dubious nature on thier home. (Think the icon from the exorcist). We also have good accounts of something as innocent as a children’s game ouiji can be harmful regardless of intent. So while hp might not fall into those categories one would have to be wary of say some Latin phrase used as a spell summoning the devil or a demons name. In fact in both blessings and cursings, visions and possetions names are indeed powerful! That is why the exorcists asks for it.

I also have s problem with your last paragraph, many biblical magicians and current psychics have some sort of natural ability. ( though I would say the vast majority do not). But biblically we know that the Egyptian magicians power is not disputed. We also know it was not of God.

 

[Andrea_Day]

I couldn’t find any old threads on this.

Do you let your kids read/watch Harry Potter? The new illustrated version has just been released. I know that my son, a reluctant reader, would love it. However, I also remember that the pastor at the Catholic school my kids used to attend said that parents should not let their kids read it (I’m guessing it’s because of the witchcraft, but Father didn’t really specify).

What do you all think?

The preaching friars have an very well done and simply explained video about why Harry Potter is just fine for most Catholic kids.

youtube.com/watch?v=OrX_qrm9XYA

 

[Andrea_Day]

Hoo boy!

Haven’t seen one of these in awhile!

I’ll just start the popcorn now!

Now that I’ve outed myself as a Harry Potter fan and a Catholic…I’m signing off to watch the fireworks go off.

How does Harry Potter elicit such strong reactions in Christian circles? It is bemusing.



Pass the popcorn please! :bounce:

 

[GEddie]

Hmmm.

I’m not into fantasy per se; detest vampires and the like, and don’t share the love of worlds set 400 or more years ago. I liked HP very much because of its insertion of a world within the modern world, something not often seen or expertly done.

Most fantasy that I can think of uses magic as a plot element. Why all the burning on HP?

As I may have said before, nobody’s going to learn magic from it.

ICXC NIKA

 

[tomarin]

My dad became a born-again evangelical Christian in 1976 and the D&D controversy was at its height in his early years of faith. I remember how much he warned about it growing up. I even remember an Adventures in Odyssey episode about it, where Dr. James Dobson did an opening talk for parents warning about the subject matter.

This would make a nice scenario for a movie.

 

[tomarin]

I’ve been trying to get my son who is 9 (almost 10) more into reading and have considered the Harry Potter books but he doesn’t seem interested (he enjoyed The Hobbit and the Narnia series as long as I read them to him). Not having read Harry Potter I’m not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed by his lack of interest.

 

[Aggie414]

I enjoyed the books and the movies – more so the movies because I saw those before actually reading the books.

I think it is appropriate for children at certain ages. I think it is an excellent starting point for a discussion on world history. I especially see a correlation between Nazi Germany and the movie – Hitler despised anyone who wasn’t Aryan, Voldemort hated anyone who wasn’t pure “witch.” I think it’s a way for children to visualize a history lesson in a way that they can understand and speak about with their parents.

 

[runningdude]

I agree with parts of this and strongly disagree on others. I really enjoyed HP. Well the first three books and movies anyway. CS Lewis, Tolkien etc. but I also disagree with the idea of intent is the only sinful action with magic. Certainly the church believes in the idea of sacred objects and blessing them. I have a few first class relics myself. So it would only stand to reason that the opposite may be true. Regaurdless of intent we also believe in the cursing of objects as well. No sane Catholic would display some cursed item of a dubious nature on thier home. (Think the icon from the exorcist). We also have good accounts of something as innocent as a children’s game ouiji can be harmful regardless of intent. So while hp might not fall into those categories one would have to be wary of say some Latin phrase used as a spell summoning the devil or a demons name. In fact in both blessings and cursings, visions and possetions names are indeed powerful! That is why the exorcists asks for it.

I also have s problem with your last paragraph, many biblical magicians and current psychics have some sort of natural ability. ( though I would say the vast majority do not). But biblically we know that the Egyptian magicians power is not disputed. We also know it was not of God.

The Christmas season teaches us all to be kind to reflect God’s love and mercy. God’s power is the only true power. Any other power is a lie.

We know that some forms of foretelling the future are blessed; the prophets and Maji, who visited the boy child this evening, are testament to this. They certainly did not sin by using this gift, whether natural or divine.

Satan’s greatest power is lies. It is simply untrue that humans have any secret powers, and that is why the occult is sinful. It seeks to reveal information alleged to be hidden from the Gospel’s. No such information exists! To seek the occult is to loose faith in the Gospel!

Satan might tempt the fool who invokes the occult, granting the odd wish or too, but this is Satan lying about a false human ability. However, demonic manipulation is not why the occult is sinful; the occult is sinful because it is a lie. Manipulation is a predictable, although rare, consequence of a sin.

This consequence is not limited to the occult. All sin at some point involves a lie. The risk of sin is not external demonic forces, but interior indifference to the truth of our Lord Jesus.

“Do you hear what I hear?”

 

[tomarin]

I have lots of comics in the house and my elder son is interested but not enough to read them himself. Whereas my younger son actually does spend lots of time reading comics on his own, sometimes ones I bought for myself.