Harry Potter

[Tom317]

Honestly that is your opinion, and you can do with it what you want.

Thanks.

If you do not agree then don’t go to a movie or don’t send your kids. That is your right.

Thanks.

It is a fine line determining whether a movie can be seen by a person that can discern the good from the bad and whether one is totally morally objectionable. Just because a movie may not agree with church teaching doesn’t make it morally objectionable.

I never said it did.

A well informed person and a person well grounded in the faith can view movies they rate with a ‘L’. For good reason (i.e. scholarly research, etc.) they can even view those with a ‘M’. As for youth in the end it is up to the parents to review what their kids are seeing and not the job of anyone else.

Yep, parents need to know what is going on. Few Catholics are well informed, they take that site as being from the Bishops, it is not.

Personally I haven’t seen any online reviews from a Catholic perspective that are better then the USCCB.

I agree, yet other reviewers are not sanctioned by the USCCB, and that sanctioning means the reviews have got to be right everytime.

As I said before the USCCB reviews are a good starting point, just that, not the end all and be all of movie reviews.

I disagree…yet as you said to me: “Honestly that is your opinion, and you can do with it what you want.”

 

[Tom317]

I think you are quite wrong here. Have you read the books? I find that they have a very true and realistic view of good and evil in regards to human beings. It is not a dualistic view, which is wrong, where things are just black and white. The book Chamber of Secrets sums it up quite well by saying that it is our actions that make us who we are, that determine whether we follow the path of good or of evil. How is that blurring the lines? It actually seems to be a very accurate and Catholic understanding to me.

In my opinion, the books are full of christian morality. I highly recommend them.

Okay, that is your view, I have in the past fought against the books and the films and my kids are not allowed to read/view them. Each person has a conscience and must make choices.

 

[Verita]

Okay, that is your view, I have in the past fought against the books and the films and my kids are not allowed to read/view them. Each person has a conscience and must make choices.

Have you read the books?

 

[Tom317]

Have you read the books?

It is a bait-and-switch tactic to ask that question.

Did you write the Bible?

 

[Verita]

It is a bait-and-switch tactic to ask that question.

Did you write the Bible?

It’s not a tactic. I’m asking you an honest question. I’m going to take your refusal to answer the question as a no.

 

[Tom317]

It’s not a tactic. I’m asking you an honest question. I’m going to take your refusal to answer the question as a no.

Assume as you wish, yet never think your assumptions are sound.

Now, did you write the Bible, or were you there when it was written?

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

Pax vobiscum!

I honestly cannot believe how uptight some people are about the HP books. I am reading them right now myself and I think they are very good. As shocking as some of you may find this, the books have not made me abandon my faith for black magic and dreams of being a wizard. Nor has that happened to ANYONE I know who reads or has read them.

Tom, calm down. The books are not bad for kids…and from the way you have talked about them and your answers to Verita, it sounds as if you are arguing against them without ever having read them. My 13 year old brother is a big fan of the books to (as well as my 17 year old brother) and he is not wanting to become a wizard either. Fantasy books use magic in them. Bottom line. It’s part of a story and it makes the books interesting. Just like all the other fantasy books I read…they all use magic in different ways for different reasons that make the stories and characters interesting. As far as all these “bad” things in the books, at the end of the third book (if anyone hasn’t read it, this will be a spoiler), Harry decides to grant mercy to the man who betrayed his parents (and got them killed) rather than let him be killed. He is then commended for showing mercy and is told that is just what his father would have done.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[mlchance]

Hello everybody! I just have one little question to ask. I was wondering if seeing the Harry Potter movies would be wrong.

If boring, poorly written, and poorly acted movies are wrong, then, yes, every single Harry Potter movie is very wrong indeed.

– Mark L. Chance.

 

[Verita]

Assume as you wish, yet never think your assumptions are sound.

Now, did you write the Bible, or were you there when it was written?

Ah well, when information is denied sometimes one has to make an educated guess. It is my view that you would not refuse to answer unless you had something to hide. Either that or you’re just being stubborn and disagreeable. I think my assumption is the kinder.

Now, I would contend that your question is the one which is baiting since you already know the answer. No, I did not write the Bible, nor was I there when it was written. I do read it. Now, what has that to do with anything? Come, trap me in the intended web of logic.

 

[child_of_God85]

I’ve read the books as pure entertainment. I don’t read it to get info on witchcraft (I don’t believe in witchcraft as it is, and I think anyone who does seriously needs the head examined). So if your reading it or watching the movies just for the purpose of being entertained, then there shouldn’t be a problem with it.
Granted, there are better written fantasy novels out there. The Harry Potter series canbe witty and funny, but I have read better. If you want to read a really good, and really well written book, then go for something like Lord of the Rings or Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

 

[child_of_God85]

Assume as you wish, yet never think your assumptions are sound.

Now, did you write the Bible, or were you there when it was written?

Just a question, but what is your opinion of the works of Tolkien?

 

[Verita]

Tom, calm down. The books are not bad for kids…

I agree. But Tom would probably be shocked to hear that my three year old daughter does pretend to be Harry Potter sometimes. (She also pretends to be Po the Teletubbie, Elmo, Annie from Little Einsteins and many other characters.) She also knows how to say “Expecto Patronum” and “Avada Kedavra”.

 

[CathCentrist]

I’ve grown to love these movies and have been getting the itch to buy all the books in print and read them!

 

[Tom317]

Pax vobiscum!

I honestly cannot believe how uptight some people are about the HP books. I am reading them right now myself and I think they are very good. As shocking as some of you may find this, the books have not made me abandon my faith for black magic and dreams of being a wizard. Nor has that happened to ANYONE I know who reads or has read them.

Tom, calm down. The books are not bad for kids…and from the way you have talked about them and your answers to Verita, it sounds as if you are arguing against them without ever having read them. My 13 year old brother is a big fan of the books to (as well as my 17 year old brother) and he is not wanting to become a wizard either. Fantasy books use magic in them. Bottom line. It’s part of a story and it makes the books interesting. Just like all the other fantasy books I read…they all use magic in different ways for different reasons that make the stories and characters interesting. As far as all these “bad” things in the books, at the end of the third book (if anyone hasn’t read it, this will be a spoiler), Harry decides to grant mercy to the man who betrayed his parents (and got them killed) rather than let him be killed. He is then commended for showing mercy and is told that is just what his father would have done.

In Christ,
Rand

I disagree, I think the books contribute to an overall increasing lukewarmness of many Christians…it makes no difference if you disagree because HP has won the day anyway. My views about HP have no impact on anyone but my own family, and I will NOT and have NOT allowed my children to read or view them.

I look at it like the frog place in a pan filled with cool water, when the water is lowly turned-up the frog is cooked without knowing it, whereas a frog will leap away from boiling water. HP is similar to that, Christian hearts and minds are being ever so slowly cooked.

BTW, I am perfectly calm, but thanks for caring.

 

[Tom317]

Just a question, but what is your opinion of the works of Tolkien?

I commented on that earlier in thre thread.

 

[Tom317]

I agree. But Tom would probably be shocked to hear that my three year old daughter does pretend to be Harry Potter sometimes. (She also pretends to be Po the Teletubbie, Elmo, Annie from Little Einsteins and many other characters.) She also knows how to say “Expecto Patronum” and “Avada Kedavra”.

Not shocked at all.

 

[Tom317]

Ah well, when information is denied sometimes one has to make an educated guess. It is my view that you would not refuse to answer unless you had something to hide. Either that or you’re just being stubborn and disagreeable. I think my assumption is the kinder.

Now, I would contend that your question is the one which is baiting since you already know the answer. No, I did not write the Bible, nor was I there when it was written. I do read it. Now, what has that to do with anything? Come, trap me in the intended web of logic.

Make all the assumptions you want, but you know what assuming does.

 

[Verita]

I’ve grown to love these movies and have been getting the itch to buy all the books in print and read them!

Go buy them today! The books are far better than the movies. Though the movies are very faithful, they just don’t have time to include all the great stuff from the books.

 

[estesbob]

I agree. But Tom would probably be shocked to hear that my three year old daughter does pretend to be Harry Potter sometimes. (She also pretends to be Po the Teletubbie, Elmo, Annie from Little Einsteins and many other characters.) She also knows how to say “Expecto Patronum” and “Avada Kedavra”.

Make sure she does not have a wand in her hand wheh she “Avada Kedavara” I dont think Dementors are allowed in the United States(it was in the Patirot Act) so i dont think she will have much use for the “Expecto Patronum”

 

[estesbob]

Go buy them today! The books are far better than the movies. Though the movies are very faithful, they just don’t have time to include all the great stuff from the books.

Ageed. good movies GREAT BOOKS!