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 Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 10:19 am
Now, I know half the earths population likes Harry Potter. I despise it totally, but for a good reason. It says in the Bible that all magic belongs to the devil, so no magic can be used for good. In Harry Potter, it states that wizards can be evil and good. You'll probably say, "So, magic isn't real!", but it is real! The devil uses it, and it is not right for kids to think that if there was magic it could be used for good, because it can't. What do you all think?
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 3:10 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 6:09 pm
I think I'm probably one of the people thats on the, "Its just a book...who really cares" side of the issue...i haven't read them, but i've seen the movies...My two cousins have read them and really enjoyed the books...they are christians as well...I guess its just all how you look at it...I see it as a really interesting set of stories that inspire imagination, curiousity and happiness...*shrugs*
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 7:35 pm
I must admit, I have read the books and I enjoyed them, but I won't say anything more to defent them. It is very sad, because my friend's older sister started using witchcraft because of these books and I decided I didn't want to read them anymore after I heard this.
I've realized using evil for good is wrong , and witchcraft is evil. Why is it evil? It turns us away from god, and anything that turns us away from god is evil. Though J. K. Rowling probably didn't intend this, these books can encourage use of witchcraft.
That is my opinion. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 7:51 pm
I'm not saying this is true, and this is just something the crazy kids at my school said, but they say J.K. think that Satan will kill God. Just typing that makes me feel weird. Creepy....
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 9:33 pm
And were did these kids hear this? I kind of have a feeling it's just a rumor. I mean, it might be true, and if it is it's another reason not to read these books. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:36 pm
Here's the thing: I like Harry Potter. I've like it since I was eight, and I knew, even then, that it wasn't real. I don't believe in magic, hence, I don't believe that magic could be used for good. As long as Children reading the books know that magic isn't real, the issue of whether they think magic can be used for good or not is irrelivent. For the record: I was not a Chirstian when I read the first three books. But now, after being born again, I still read the books, I'm still the geek that stands in line at the book store or the theater. (I do the same thing with Star Wars, and no one has challenged me on that, even though it could be viewed as just as bad as Harry Potter. I'd also like to point out that Lord of the Rings contains magic, as does the Narnia series, but they don't get a bad rep because the authors of these books were Christians.) Heck, I want to be a pastor, and I read Harry Potter. I've talked about it with people from my Youth Group, I actually took the book with me on a retreat, and no one minded, because it can be seen in a Christian light.Yes, you heard me. It can. One link: Sunday School Lessons from Harry Potter^I admit that this one is a little thin, but it's very short, and does make some excellent points, though, to understand it, you will have had to read the books. I also encourage you to find a copy of the book Faith Journey Through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogne with Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings by Russell W. Dalton. It is almost 200 pages, but it explains many views on the topic, and supplies evidence both for and against these myths. ^^ A qoute from the above (my comments are in blue): Special Section: Dangers along the Path, pg 159 THe Harry Potter stories in particular have been the focus of a great deal of attention, as the children in the stories are learning to be witches and wizards... Do the Harry Potter stories encourage witchcraft? There are several reasons why it is difficult to claim they do. First of all, the author, J.K. Rowling, addamantly denies that this is her goal, and there is a good readson to believe her. Rowling has been the victim of slanderous and completely unfounded rumors (often passed on by Christians) that accuse her of being a pracitising witch sho is using hte books to recruit children into the occult and Wicca. Rowling does not talk much about her religious life, bus she does make it cleadr tha she is not a Wiccan but a Christian, that attends a Christian church, and that she believes in God and not magic. She las also ssaid that she has not met one child who became interested in becoming a witch because of her novels. Second, the magic performed in the Harry Potter stories does not serve as a beginner's guide to modern-day witchcraft, becuase the magic performed in them does not resmble the maigc performed by occlut groups. ....The magic at HOgwarts is not presented as religious practise that taps into the power of spirits. ...... Third, the books treat the magic that is performed in them as par of a world of make believe. They draw on myths, legends, and popular fictional conventions of witchcraft and wizardry, and treat them as a part of a fanciful world......When C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia was first released, they wer criticized because the featured creature from pagan mythology, heores casting spells, witches doing magic, good charcters reading the stars, and people using crystals. Now these books are almost universally hailed in Christian circles. It is a hard stretch, therefore, to cliam that these books are encouraging children to join Wicca, satanic, or other occult groups.
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:38 pm
Axel of Anime I'm not saying this is true, and this is just something the crazy kids at my school said, but they say J.K. think that Satan will kill God. Just typing that makes me feel weird. Creepy.... What the Heck!??! where did you hear that? JK Rowling is a Chirstian,and even though she jokes sometimes, she wouldn't joke about something like that....she loves her family to much to put her children in danger from crazy psychos who think she must die for the glory of God. Geez.
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:05 am
Like I said I dont claim it's true and I didn't know she was christian. I guess it all depends on how you look at it...I'm still not reading it though...
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 8:47 am
Magic is real, yes... but Harry Potter isn't. Thats about it... If you said that was evil, then you'd have to say most anime is too... as well as Lord of the Ring, and many other things that have good wisards... Fiction is fiction, reality is reality... its almost like saying the Alien movies are evil because aliens don't exist.
Besides. No one will force you to read it. The first book bites anyways... ^-^
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:03 am
Some people say that JK Rowling is a witch, and that's why her books are bad. But her books prove that wrong, for example, they celebrate Christmas, real witches do not. But her books also prove that she is not a Christian, they swear, they take God's name in vain! In my oppinion she is just like any good author out there, she came up with a good idea for a book series, and she gave it an edge to make it even better, and it worked. I'm in the opinion that her books are pure fantasy. I am a devout Christian, (not the religious type, simply one who believes in having a relationship with Christ) and I read the book, and enjoyed them, I've even read them all 3 or four times. I've heard speakers go on four hours about how JK is "Satan's Messenger" and reading the books makes you pagan, I've never heard anyone say a thing about LotR and Narnia (someone said this earlier) , because the authors were Christian (they were slightly more on the religious side than I) . I've heard speakers defend them by saying that their books where written to make a moral point, and it's ok that Gandalf is a good wizard, and the The Magician in The Chronicles of Narnia (that boys uncle, can't remember the name) is using magic, because it comes out to have a moral at the end! But anyone that can honestly say that Harry Potter doesn't have a moral is amazingly wrong! It does, good always wins, and even thought sometimes Harry has to use less than perfect ways, he always has integrity! (By the way, the guy that said that JK was Satans messenger also said that Scooby Doo is pagan, and Sesame Street is wican because the animals talk. He's a little weird, his last name is Benoit, can't remember his first name)
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 6:48 am
Like someone said, JK probably just came up with a good diea and ran away with it.
If it is true about HP encouraging witchcraft, then what do you say about 'chi'? Many fanfic writers and I believe (as in our writings) that the Magic performed by the wizards and witches in HP are merely channelings of Chi. And chi, as far as I know, is neither good nor bad.
Need I say more?
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 10:21 am
Naoko_Kensaku Like someone said, JK probably just came up with a good diea and ran away with it. If it is true about HP encouraging witchcraft, then what do you say about 'chi'? Many fanfic writers and I believe (as in our writings) that the Magic performed by the wizards and witches in HP are merely channelings of Chi. And chi, as far as I know, is neither good nor bad. Need I say more? According to the Bible, Chi, since it is not a tool of God, is a tool of Satan, so yea, it is bad.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:48 am
Alright, from the top. Just because magic is evil doesn't mean wizards are. The wizards of Lord of the Rings are a different type of wizard than in Harry Potter, closer to angels, being born with supernatural power, than kids who learn magic in school. Gandalf, for example, came to middle earth in the form of an old man, but is neither human nor elvenkind, but something beyond.
As for magic in itself, the reason it is evil, as far as I know, is that it encourages people to focus on their own "power" and turn their faces away from the world and their God in order to develop magical abilities. Magic is a material illusion of great power, a power which, like most types of power, corrupts.
Now, this does not mean every person who knows a bit o' magic is evil and corrupt, but it sure isn't walking in the right direction to learn magic.
One thing we should keep in mind though is to be very careful about what we call "magic" since the Lord himself was accused to driving out demons with the help of the Devil rather than God. When magic is used for good; is it still magic? Or does the very reason for magic not being good end up being that when it is good it is not magic?
Basically what I'm getting at is that one should never be quick to judge
You may regret it later
...and yeah, as for Harry Potter; the books are nice, but Harry is one evil mo-fo! Malfoy is like an innocent lamb in comparison! At first I thought it obvious that Harry was used as an example of a bad person and a symbol of how magic can corrupt the soul, but then J K Rowling crushed that last foothold I had in the idea that the books might be trying to teach some manner of morals.
That's the major difference between Harry Potter and the likes of LotR and Narnia. Harry Potter teaches no morals, Harry Potter has nothing to do with christianity (while the other two are both based on the religion), Harry Potter has an evil immoral main character, Harry Potter takes place right here and now, making it even worse.
I have nothing against the books, I actually quite enjoy reading them, but DO NOT take LotR or Narnia as examples meant to defend the books. They have close to nothing in common.
(If I have offended anyone, then I'm sorry. Just speaking my mind)
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Harry Potter's Evil? Wasn't he the Good Gut? I'm all confuzled now...
The main point to be made here is, It doesn't Glorify in the Lord, thus it's secular. Point made, I'll go now.
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