Should I read Harry Potter books?

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Reading these books showed me what perseverance does in the face adversity.

Surely, persevering when facing adversity is profitable. Especially when someone else who may be going through adversity sees me persevering and they too persevere through their adversity.
 
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lonegreywolf20 said:
Reading these books showed me what perseverance does in the face adversity.
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lonegreywolf20 said:
after I read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, which is after I read through the whole Drizzt series which is 30 books long.
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Indeed. Going through those 30 books must have been nothing short of an Odyssey…You sir, are a mountain of patience and perseverance. I have no doubt in taking your word for it! [Looking at my own library, sincerely, I’m sometimes left wondering what the point of it all is.]
 
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Ad hominem.

Is that charitable and is that what reading pious books causes one to do?
 
lonegreywolf20 said:
Ad hominem.

Is that charitable and is that what reading pious books causes one to do?
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It was not an Ad hominem (no sarcasm and no irony). It was sincere. Whoever reads a lot of books does have perseverance. Reading is an exercise and requires some effort - especially at the outset, before it becomes an habit. And I’m not discussing taste. Reading is, in fact, an exercise in itself. Good gymnastics for the mind.
 
lonegreywolf20 said:
Is that charitable and is that what reading pious books causes one to do?
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Well, this is a big thing - at least for me. I read tons of books until I became completely disillusioned with literature. Until I found Catholic books. And today, I don’t regret having read a bunch of captious and even dangerous authors (I don’t know about HP or any other of the non-Catholic books mentioned in the thread). I only regret not having read the Catholic books earlier. Because it were those Catholic books that gave me the indispensable tools to analyze everything else in the light of morals. And without those tools of moral analyses one can be left quite defenseless against certain authors and ideas.
 
Literature is an art form. Like all art forms, its best when it depicts the beauty in the world and in the nature of mankind. The Harry Potter series emphasizes themes such as love and self-sacrifice, forgiveness and redemption, looking for the good in others, the importance of family, courage in the face of adversity, hate, and the threat of danger/death, the dangers of holding onto anger, the dangers of being obsessed with power, and lots of other moral issues that fall into the category of “sanctity”. I think it’s also worth mentioning that unlike so many of the other fictional worlds that young people read about (many of which are marketed as “the real world”) the Harry Potter universe presents an extremely positive portrayal of the strong, traditional family and the protagonist always has multiple competent adult role models he can rely on.
 
Seems like people have lost their minds.

OP! You know Harry Potter novels are the invention of one writer, J.K. Rowling? She’s currently a nonsensical Tweeter, but she is an amazing author! All of the HP books stem from her imagination. You know magic is bad, you know we ought not to practise it, you also know that if you read it and raise children up in a Catholic home you will explain the difference of it all, to them.

Read what you want. Just know your faith. If you know your faith, the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, you have nothing to worry about.
 
This thread is making me laugh. Here’s my insignificant little opinion. I read the books as a freshman/sophomore. I enjoyed them, read the second longest one in about four hours. However, I haven’t read them in about two years, as I started wishing magic of the sort that’s in the books was real. (Imagine the food out of nowhere y’all. Seriously. Or never having to clean the kitchen.) I grew enough to realize that was having a detrimental effect on my faith by making me think God wasn’t enough to suffice. It depends on your maturity level, I don’t think anyone under 16 should read them unless they’re exceptionally mature. And even then, I don’t particularly approve of reading about magic or anything of the sort, as I feel like it can cause discontent. With little kids, lighthearted fairies and tinker bell is sweet and no different than Santa Claus or the tooth fairy, imagination is good for them. But stuff like Harry Potter isn’t very innocent with the amount of people who die in every book, and other questionable things. OP, I would say no, don’t read them, simply because of my experience with being drawn into these books a little too deeply…I’m rambling here because I’m lacking in sleep but hopefully this made some sort of sense.
 
adgloriam said:
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Bruised_Reed:
But certainly anyone who would make the staggering claim that the rank and file of the Nazi party were all possessed is not the kind of person I would trust to give a critical evaluation of the evidence.
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Here comes a very interesting part of the logic governing. There is a difference between “possessed” and “tempted”. And, looking at certain “social structures” of power and governance: there is little doubt left they are entirely Godless. Up to what extent the “prince of this world” holds power and influence over those structures and the persons constituting them is up for speculation: But you’ll know them by their fruits. And there is no short amount of evil going about.
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It is very well-known that Hitler and the Nazi party were occultists.

Thank you for your very informative posts.

God bless you. 🙂
 
well calling some hypocrite express well in your sight ,placing your legs in two boats and serving two masters is ok to you,millions of children who are led astray by such books doesn’t matter to you? children are innocent, perverting their tender minds,who do not yet know what is make believe and what real,this definitely compromise the Christian values to the core.such hp stuff should be avoided.
 
Francis said:
millions of children who are led astray by such books
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Source?
Francis said:
children are innocent, perverting their tender minds,who do not yet know what is make believe and what real
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If they are that young, they should not be reading Harry Potter.
Francis said:
,this definitely compromise the Christian values to the core
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How so? There are deliberate Christian themes throughout the books, particularly the last. JK Rowling is an Anglican.
 
Francis said:
well calling some hypocrite express well in your sight ,placing your legs in two boats and serving two masters is ok to you,millions of children who are led astray by such books doesn’t matter to you? children are innocent, perverting their tender minds,who do not yet know what is make believe and what real,this definitely compromise the Christian values to the core.such hp stuff should be avoided.
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If you’ll actually read my posts, I have not called anyone a hypocrite. I did make one suggestion for spiritual reading; if that’s hypocritical, what does that say about you?

Anyone old enough to read Harry Potter is old enough to know the difference between reality and fiction. Children who don’t know the difference should not be allowed to read any fiction, and that is the responsibility of their parents. Not you.
 
@angel12 my sincere apologies it was Allegra.well hp kind of stuff is always against faith and morals which Catholic should avoid ,nothing good can come from such books.you can always differ
 
am not against JK Rowling but the books she has written which is against faith and morals.you cannot take good fruit from a bad tree? can you? even if she is a Catholic doesn’t matter.
 
Do you have any proof that “millions are led astray by such books”?

And do you have any examples that have not already been discredited on this thread that she has written books against faith and morals?
 
I am curious. Have you read the Harry Potter books? What parts exactly do you believe are “against the faith and morals”?
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Well, @Francis quoted the catechism on magic, sorcery, the occult, and divination. And, some of those are Harry Potter themes!!! Now, that Harry Potter fans claim subtle distinctions of definition going “WAY BEYOND” the catechisms definitions (as the dominican in the vid goes about lengthily and out of his way to demonstrate) - is well beyond the average layman - or his duties and obligations.

So, in a nutshell, the keywords are there - and the catechism condemns the keywords commonly denominating practices in Harry Potter.

It is, in a way, for the avreage joe-catholic, more prudent to condemn HP than it is reckless. [At times, HP fans do the poorest of jobs at clarifying why suddenly keywords of the catechism are left suspended in their application.] And perhaps those HP fans, being proponents, have the burden of proof laid upon them. For, doubtlessly, if the works they uphold are good then why do those works - inherently- sow confusion and discord?
 
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oldgraymare2 said:
It is very well-known that Hitler and the Nazi party were occultists.
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You are quite right @oldgraymare2 I knew about it and had in the meanwhile forgotten about it.

Occult practices within the SS hierarchy are of public knowledge and I seem to recall Stalin was keen on horoscopes (the communist opposed to religion goes, also, without saying).

God bless.
 
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After reading through all this, I’m feeling the need to read them all again. Honestly, the theme of the books is friendship loyalty and integrity in the face of evil, the background of magic is just that background. I loved the books, but I certainly didn’t go out and try my hand at witchcraft.

My daughter read them when they first came out and she didn’t run around the house yelling spells at the dog or her parents. I see no harm in reading them as long as you know they are fantasy. Certainly, I would have conversations with children about the dangers of real magic. The spells in the books are definitely NOT real.
 
Well, esteemed @(name removed by moderator). The burden of proof is upon those laying the claim. Let me return the question, I will be happy to read your answer.

If anything, some difference must exist, I read an article by Edoardo Rialti (that apparently got published in L’Osservatore Romano) and I like his reasoning. His article does address, better than I could, the distinctions you ask about.

And as for the record, I don’t read that sort of literature. For my Ethnic background has a century old deeply ingrained culture of not appreciating magic themes of any sort, and here parents frequently tell their children if they develop an interest in it:“Those fairy-tales are anglo-saxon nonsense”. No such thing exists in our culture- doubtlessly a fruit of being an age-old Catholic society.
 
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