You remember that post with the link to the anti-HP site?

[ScottieBears MiaKitty]

I tried to find it, but couldn't. So, I'm sorry about bringing this up without posting it in the original thread, but I'm ever so excited.

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Edit:Here is the link to the thread with the site.

Thread link

and this is the site:

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/hpmain.html

Thank you to Katie for finding it!

If you will recall, I mentioned that I sent an email to the site about their reviews of the books, and said that I had pointed out a few huge flaws in their reasoning in a fairly intellegent manner (something I'm sure they're not too used to, considering the writing abilities of most teens... *shudders*). Someone asked me if I would post the email, and I said I couldn't find it. Well, today, deep within the archives of my computer, I unearthed it! I'm not sure who asked to read it, but I thought it might be interesting to post. Read on, if you like...

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If you truly believe in God, and if you are a true Christian, you will care enough about what I have to say to read all of this, even though you don't agree with my views.

My name is Amelia Morris, and I am a fan of Harry Potter. I began to read your article on the Sorceror's Stone, but was unable to complete it, because of my horror at your accusations. I was hoping that you at least had real proof that the books were inappropriate to read. I was wrong. All you have done is taken the simplest of matters and turned it into something far more than it really is. For example, your point on the silver blood upon the Bloody Baron ghost's clothes...

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E. The Bloody Baron is the Slytherin Resident Ghost "Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood ... 'How did he get covered in blood?', asked Seamus ... 'I've never asked', said Nearly Headless Nick." [p. 124] We find it highly interesting that, later in the book, when the Evil Lord Voldemort is supposedly killing the unicorn in the Forbidden Forest, the color of the blood of the unicorn is silver!

If you had actually read the books and paid attention to what they said, you would know that everything about a ghost's appearance is silver. The blood on the Bloody Baron is silver because he is a ghost. It has nothing to do with what the blood is from. It could be from anything.

I'm not saying it's ok that the ghost had bloodstains, because it is evident that he got them in a violent manner, which is wrong. But you were foolish to make this statement. From what I can tell, you lack even the most basic understanding of what really goes on in these books. You show this even more with your bit about the non-magical characters.

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Rowling consistently depicts people who do not practice Witchcraft in most obnoxious terms. They are depicted as being really, really dumb, boring, and living a life not worth living . We share these examples, below, with you so you can appreciate the truth of this statement. Uncle Vernon was also the only Muggle quoted in the book as being really opposed to Witchcraft; therefore, when readers see how stupid, ugly, and boring Vernon is, they get the idea that all people who are opposed to Witchcraft must be as stupid, ugly, and boring as Vernon is.

Hermione Granger, one of the three main heros of the story, is a muggle-born witch, and her parents, though they only appear for a brief moment in Chamber of Secrets and say nothing, are portrayed to be very kind, undestanding people. They are both dentists, which implies that they are intellegent. Lily Potter, Harry's mother, is a muggle-born as well. Her parents were also understanding and kind people. They were happy for their daughter, though they had known nothing of the magical world previous to her Hogwarts acceptance letter. They accepted her for who she was. In contrast, all witches and wizards who are against muggles, or see them all in such a fashion as you have mentioned, are then villians of the story. Voldemort's mission is to destroy the non-magical society. Dolores Umbridge, who was introduced in 'The Order of the Pheonix,' was not a Death Eater, but she was strongly against anyone who was not a pureblood wizard. These characters are the ones hated by the readers.

You seem to have tried to find the worst in these books, claiming that they are doorways to hell. I see them differently. They're just books. They do not claim to be anything else. If you are trying to find a hidden meaning, then try this on for size; they are against racism. The whole storyline is a war between a group of power-hungry racists, and the people who represent, to me, what Christianity is supposed to be. A group of people who know the truth (in the books, that there are witches and wizards; in reality, that there is a God, and that Jesus died for our sins) and are accepting of those around them who are in the dark (in the books, the muggles who know nothing of the magical world; in reality, those who follow someone other than God, or have no religion). Perhaps you should try to see the bright side of things, rather than trying to condem something without any understanding of it's true nature.

I will not pretend to know what was going through J.K. Rowlings head when she wrote these stories. I have no idea if she understands the implications you have found, if they are true, or if she was simply writing. However, I think it is incredibly idiotic of you to have tried to create these accusations to further your own ideas.

The Christian faith is supposed to be about acceptance, and not judging people for their sins, or interests, or beliefs. Unfortunatly, in today's society, many so-called 'Christians' are judgemental, harsh people who spend more time condemming people for their sins than trying to help them. You are one such group. You make it sound as though anyone who reads these books is a sinner, simply because they are interested in the subject.

I am a Christian, and I know that Jesus died to save me. I know I am going to heavan, and I don't appreciate you telling me that reading one of my favorite book series' is wrong. I read them for enjoyment, not because I am trying to learn about witchcraft, or because I am interested in becoming a witch.
James 4:12 "But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"

 

[PadfootsPet]

Go you Mia! Very well put!  

[KatieInTheBox]

Very well written, you made your point well, and you give supporting facts, good job. You should be proud of that e-mail Scotties, no matter the response. You handled it like an adult. Which even for an adult is hard to do. mrgreen I'll look for the thread and post a link here when I find it. 3nodding

Edit: Here is the link to the thread with the site.

Thread link

and this is the site:

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/hpmain.html  

[SuzelovesJamesPotter]

Mia, that was amazing. I completely agree. Great job!  

[KimCL]

I could'nt have put it any better,

great job!  

[LadyHealingHands]

Me four! Well, said, Mia!

 

[gerp91]

I agree with every single thing you said!!! I am a Christian myself and so is JK Rowling. They are making her out to be some kind of Witch that is trying to brainwash kids into thinking doing spells is okay. I was reading the site and it was making me so mad that I wanted to scream. Like you said, they are taking the smallest little things and turning it into something totally different than what was intended. Way to Go!! You did an excellent job!!!!!!!!!!!  

[Kirby_Komatose]

I know it's a bit late, but I just found this...

Those bone-heads!!! scream

First off, they are just trying to make money by selling what looks like cheap-quality stuff. If they really wanted to spread the word for God, they'd do it for free! So it's quite obvious it's all a sham. It's sad really, how people are even dirtying God's name to make money.

Second, they have no idea/proof of what they're talking about!!! Nowhere in the books does it say to follow Satan or God sucks or whatever, not even in subliminal messages!

Honestly, I think it all depends on how you look at something. Someone who wants to believe HP is evil will look for bad things and their minds will blow the tiniest thing way out of proportion. Others, like myself, know when we come across a good piece of literature, even if it is a bit different (not in a bad way though, obviously).  

[SuzelovesJamesPotter]

I totally agree with you Kirby. My grandma doesn't like it because well I don't know. They think we are all going to try and turn to witchcraft. It's really quite stupid. I mean come on now. Teenagers are reading, isn't that what they want us to do?  

[ScottieBears MiaKitty]

I was looking at the list of House Points and saw that I'd been given some for this, and I wanted to say thank you to Katie for nominating me. I never got a chance to see the responses after I posted this because of computer issues, so seeing it in the HP thread took me by surprise! Thank you guys for saying all those nice things about it, it makes me happy to know that some people appreciate my protesting of what's wrong.

My father once did something that makes me want to laugh it's so stupid. When OotP came out he bought it for me immediatly, right? He wanted to score brownie points with me I guess. But my uncle Craig bought me the first book of the Left Behind series, which is a Christian fiction series. My father came in my room one day and saw me reading OotP and yelled at me for reading 'that filth' and asked why I couldn't read something productive like Left Behind. You can't buy your kid a book and then get mad at her for reading it!  

[ScottieBears MiaKitty]

KatieInTheBox

Very well written, you made your point well, and you give supporting facts, good job. You should be proud of that e-mail Scotties, no matter the response. You handled it like an adult. Which even for an adult is hard to do. mrgreen I'll look for the thread and post a link here when I find it. 3nodding

Edit: Here is the link to the thread with the site.

Thread link

and this is the site:

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/hpmain.html

I'm putting the link in the first post of the thread if that's ok. For anyone who wants to read it, that way it's right there.  

[KitaAmaya]

I think you had several wonderful arguments Mia, and I'm quite disappointed in the critic's lack of understanding, which you didn't fail to attack.

I think that the best argument against Harry Potter, that I've heard, is the fact that people--and there have been quite a number of them--have become so addicted and obsessed with the movie that they fantasize about such a world (hence the roleplaying). This could end up actually swallowing up having God as #1.
I think that this is the most sound argument ('cause you can't disprove it and it's a general truth about almost anything).

However, I've also heard arguments that the characters are bad role models. For example, Dumbledore, a fairly enjoyed character is gay, and homosexuality is looked down upon when God burns up Sodom and Gomora (spelling?), accusing them of homosexual behavior.

I am a Christian, like I stated before, and don't get me wrong, I really, REALLY like Harry Potter, but I think the best way to enjoy Harry Potter, or really anything, is being wary of its downsides and its ugliness. Agreed?
By the way, has anyone noticed any similarities between Harry Potter and Jesus in their "hero journey" and so on?  

[Chikamio]

I'll be honest, I came across this thread quite accidentally. I don't visit the guild as much as I used to, for the simple reason that I have very limited online time. But something struck me about this thread, so I decided to read it.

I love Harry Potter. As such, I’ve been thinking. So many people think that Potter is stupid, or a waste of time, or even just for “10 year-olds” as an old enemy put it to me. But to me, Potter is a childhood friend. I grew up with Harry, reading about him, being transported to his world every time I picked up a book, regardless of whether I had read it before or not.

If our generation can unify around one thing, why not Potter? This series, this marvelous series, had taught us so much. It had taught us morals, the bond of love and family even through the darkest of times, and much more. To be quite honest, this series (speaking only slightly biased here) has achieved what I have seen no other, except for maybe Star Wars (though in books, it still tops)(yes, I am addicted to SW as well): Young, Elderly, Middle-Aged, Parents, Children, Teenagers have all stood in lines for HOURS. Just to get one book. (Well, one at a time.)

Harry has been monumental, with themes such as war, death, fanaticism, evil…love.

I’ve seen children as young as six years old stand in line for hours, and then churn through hundreds upon hundreds of pages out of love for a book. That is devotion, being passionate about something. And you gotta have passion. Without it, life is dull and hardly worth living.

As a child, I used to read under the covers, and out loud to my friends the words of the Potter books. It brought me many lifelong friends. It gave me a bond to my sister. It inspired me to write, and to read much more.

It is amazing to me that this book has gotten so much horrid publicity, because it teaches through the central idea of witchcraft. So what, is my question. I mean, people overlook the fact that many stories that teach us our morals use the media of witchcraft or magic. I mean, Little Red Riding Hood? A wolf can’t talk, nor can it eat someone and then have them be cut out still whole.

Cinderella? Fairy godmothers, hello? Mice turning into horses, pumpkins into carriages? Do you see these stories being criticized for magic?

For godssakes, the Three Little Pigs?! A wolf blowing down Houses that the Pigs built? First of all, PIGS CANNOT BUILD HOUSES!! Wolves cannot blow house down. Pigs cannot plan to get said wolf back. Overall, it’s an impossible story that still teaches us the moral of planning ahead and being intelligent. But do you see it being criticized for magic or anything like that? No, you don’t.

Anyway, I’m off track. I’m just trying to say that…*sighs* I guess that…Deathly Hallows was the end of an era for me. I mean, it’s like losing a family member or a close friend. Goodbye is hard to say, and I feel bad for the people who come to the book five, ten, fifteen years from now. Or even 12 months from now. Because they won’t know the joy of being a significant part of this extraordinary phenomenon. They won’t get to feel the anticipation of waiting, or savoring the feel of having the next piece of the puzzle in your hand.

But it’s not really goodbye, is it? The fandom won’t die off so easily. We're proof of that, don't you think?

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll address my main concern. Even here, even in this thread, there's bias. Against those of my people.

Complete Honesty here: I'm Pagan. I was born and raised pagan, continuing from a long line of druidic families. Spells, spirits, bell, book and candle are all part of my life, have been ever since I was a tiny child.

My first memory is the scent of dragon's blood and incense. I learned to call lightning as a child. Seeing shadows and the Darker things in life was never hidden from me; I was never told that it was just my imagination, or that I was hallucinating. I learned that God could be found in the warm, gentle summer's rain. I rode storms, flying high on the energy of nature; learned that when I had no one else, I could lean on the Mother of All: Earth. I am fonder of plants than of animals, animals more than humans and individual people more than society.

I am not crazy.

And I know that those of us pagans or druids in this guild, however few or many of us there might be, do not agree with those bigots who insist on prosecuting this book series. I may not agree with Christianity, but I dislike hypocrites even more. And these critics strike me as fanatics. As the bad sort of fanatic. As hypocritical people who are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, that they have to tear down a child's beloved fictional series just to make themselves feel important.

And I just wanted to say, that even though so far in this thread I've yet to see someone stand up for my own beliefs, and those of the people like me and my sister, Thank You to those of you who are standing up for our beloved series.

Love always to my Guildmates,
Kagumi Pheonix  

[AmethystDragon81]

*reads the part about what many of today's "Christians" are* Brava, brava, bravissima! I applaud you immensely! You said it wonderfully! As a Christian, Harry Potter-loving person I agree with all that you said. A comment on the Bloody Baron. Did we not learn that the Bloody Baron, after slaying the one he loved, killed himself because of his deed? This knowledge lets us know, as does the knowledge of all ghosts being silvery, that the Bloody Baron's clothing had silver blood on it not because he slew a unicorn, but because he committed homicide, then suicide. I'm not saying either of these things are good, but it shows the morons that wrote the anti-Harry Potter thing are utterly ignorant of much of the content of the books. I say they simply went through the books, found passages that sounded condemning, then took them out of context, and gave them bad meanings.

On Harry Potter being against racism... if you think about it, although J.K. may not have intended the parrallel there is a strong one between Hitler and Voldemort, between the Jews and Muggleborns. If Harry Potter is bad for being about defeating a Dark Lord who wants the "perfect wizarding community" then I suppose those who opposed Hitler and his quest to purge the world of Jews and all who were not what he thought was the "perfect race" were bad. Oh, people say "but that is different". I say no it is not. Harry Potter has taught children that this stuff is bad. So dang what if it uses fantasy, magic, and evil things. The Chronicals of Narnia series has fantasy creatures, a bad witch, and magic in it yet everyone calls it one of the greatest Christian series'! I think that is a BIT hypocritical, people! If you can accept ONE series that has magic in it, why can you not accept another?

I have said my piece on this for the time being. If I think of more maybe I'll add it.  

[ScottieBears MiaKitty]

To Chikamio, I'm not sure what I am now qualifies as being a Christian. I mean, I believe in God and Jesus, but I don't think you have to be a Christian to be rewarded in the afterlife, I just think you have to be good. I can't believe in a God who would cast someone into hell for having a different belief system. Sometimes I wish I had been raised Pagan, because I have several friends who were, and they are some of the most understanding people I know. Iwish I could know that peace and serenity that they do, instead of the constant reprimands that remind me that I am always sinning no matter what I do, which is what I lived with when I was younger, due to my father's idea of what being a true Christian is.

To Midnight, I wrote the email before DH was released, so we still didn't know how he got the stains. For all we knew, he could have been gutting an animal for dinner and been stabbed in the back at the time I wrote it. the stains were, at the time, not evidence of wrongdoing.