Harry Potter out in Theaters

[boswd]

With the new Harry Potter out I was thinking about how in the past the over the top reaction to these books and movies by some Fundamentalist. Such as book buring and forbidding their children from reading or watching it.

I was wondering if this radical mentality still exists or has it died out?

 

[Epiphoskei]

Would that be the radical mentality that witchcraft is wrong, or the radical mentality that Harry Potter is witchcraft?

 

[boswd]

I guess that answers my question. Is Chronicles of Narnia forbidden in your household? That contains withchcraft. What about Snow White, Lord of The Rings, Star Wars? all have withcraft.

 

[Epiphoskei]

All have magic, but I am not of the conviction that superhuman powers as a literary device must refer to satanic witchcraft. Having seen Harry Potter movies, and having read Narnia and LotR, it is not unreasonable to me to say that Harry Potter may have crossed that line, or at least is toying with it, while the others have not.

 

[boswd]

Interesting. How does Harry toe the line but Narnia does not?

 

[Ramon96]

Interesting. How does Harry toe the line but Narnia does not?

The Harry Potter series most certainty has more magic (witchcraft) than the Narnia series, and certain aspects of the Potter series may be seen as satanic, but my views on both series are not fundamentalist! For a fundamentalist to reject the Harry Potter series, but accept the Narnia series is beyond my understanding though.

I believe you will still find many Fundamentalist Protestant Christians who reject the Harry Potter series, or better yet, reject the fantasy (whether in books of movies) genre period!

In IC.XC,
Ramon

 

[EnemyPartyII]

The Harry Potter series most certainty has more magic (witchcraft) than the Narnia series, but my views on both series are not fundamentalist! For a fundamentalist to reject the Harry Potter series, but accept the Narnia series is beyond my understanding though.

I believe you will still find many Fundamentalist Protestant Christians who reject the Harry Potter series, or better yet, reject the fantasy (whether in books of movies) genre period!

In IC.XC,
Ramon

100 years of magical winter, talking animals and legions of mythological beasts, plus interdimensional travel by magical means is less than a couple of owls carrying letters around and a cloak that makes the wearer invisible?

Fish have no word for water either.

 

[Ramon96]

100 years of magical winter, talking animals and legions of mythological beasts, plus interdimensional travel by magical means is less than a couple of owls carrying letters around and a cloak that makes the wearer invisible?

Fish have no word for water either.

What's your point?

In IC.XC,
Ramon

 

[NorrinRadd]

With the new Harry Potter out I was thinking about how in the past the over the top reaction to these books and movies by some Fundamentalist. Such as book buring and forbidding their children from reading or watching it.

I was wondering if this radical mentality still exists or has it died out?

See for yourself.

 

[EnemyPartyII]

What's your point?

In IC.XC,
Ramon

Most of us grew up with CS Lewis, so we have a hard time thinking there is anything wrong with it.
Harry Potter is new and different, so its easier to see something wrong with it. Thus people will say "oh, Narnia has less magic than Potter" even when thats not really the case.

 

[Epiphoskei]

It isn't more or less magic, it's what the magic means.

There is no such thing as fiction utterly divorced from reality. Everything in a fantasy book has some basis in truth. Now in Narnia, "magic" is a power posessed by essentially supernatural beings which humans aren't to mess around with. Occasionally the good supernatural beings grant it in small portions to men in order to do good, but the magic of evil beings is to be totally rejected. Now, with apologies to Lewis, who hated his works being called an "allegory," it's fairly clear that such things are after the fashion of the Christian view of the supernatural. Great powers belong to God, lesser but still great powers belong to satan. God can cause men to work miracles on occasion for his purposes, but we are to abhore satan's power.

You cannot make the same kind of comparisons with Harry Potter. These books do, however, present something much more akin to the Wiccan view. Hence, if he hasn't crossed the line into outright witchcraft, he's still playing with the line.

 

[EnemyPartyII]

It isn't more or less magic, it's what the magic means.

There is no such thing as fiction utterly divorced from reality. Everything in a fantasy book has some basis in truth. Now in Narnia, "magic" is a power posessed by essentially supernatural beings which humans aren't to mess around with. Occasionally the good supernatural beings grant it in small portions to men in order to do good, but the magic of evil beings is to be totally rejected. Now, with apologies to Lewis, who hated his works being called an "allegory," it's fairly clear that such things are after the fashion of the Christian view of the supernatural. Great powers belong to God, lesser but still great powers belong to satan. God can cause men to work miracles on occasion for his purposes, but we are to abhore satan's power.

You cannot make the same kind of comparisons with Harry Potter. These books do, however, present something much more akin to the Wiccan view. Hence, if he hasn't crossed the line into outright witchcraft, he's still playing with the line.

Think you might need to have a re-read of the old Narnia books... the "good" charectors are pretty frequent users of magic too... think Santa Clause's gifts to the Pevensies and their subsequent use. Pretty sure I could come up with other examples.

But I digress... I still don't see how one can condemn Potter while celebrating Narnia, or Middle Earth. Not without tying one's self into arcane semantic knots to do so anyway.

 

[Epiphoskei]

I'm throwing in Father Christmas with the supernatural beings, and the gifts were actually what I was considering when I wrote "Occasionally the good supernatural beings grant [magic] in small portions to men in order to do good," which I don't see as having an unchristian message, since "God can cause men to work miracles on occasion for his purposes."

 

[E.C.]

With the new Harry Potter out I was thinking about how in the past the over the top reaction to these books and movies by some Fundamentalist. Such as book buring and forbidding their children from reading or watching it.

I was wondering if this radical mentality still exists or has it died out?

Oh, it still exists, believe me.

The main reason why many have problems or issues with Harry Potter over some other fantasy series, such as the Chronicles of Narnia, is because Harry Potter takes place in modern time with modern technology and on earth as opposed to some far away non-existent place with 11th century technology.


Do I agree with witchcraft or believe in magic? Certainly not. Do I think Harry Potter is a great series of well-written books? Certainly.

Harry Potter, like "The DaVinci Code", falls into the category of "if it will lead you to question your faith, don't read it".

 

[EnemyPartyII]

Oh, it still exists, believe me.

The main reason why many have problems or issues with Harry Potter over some other fantasy series, such as the Chronicles of Narnia, is because Harry Potter takes place in modern time with modern technology and on earth as opposed to some far away non-existent place with 11th century technology.


Do I agree with witchcraft or believe in magic? Certainly not. Do I think Harry Potter is a great series of well-written books? Certainly.

Harry Potter, like "The DaVinci Code", falls into the category of "if it will lead you to question your faith, don't read it".

Rather a key point. If seeing a Harry Potter movie or reading a Dan Brown novel is likely to seriously challenge your faith, I find it hard to believe your faith was ever that strong or important to you in the first place.

 

[PaladinValer]

There is nothing Satanic or "witchcrafty" in the Harry Potter universe.

There may be witches and magic, but they don't do anything other than hocus pocus stuff; there is nothing like what the Bible condemns...except by Voldemort and Co.

Heck; the whole art of divination in the books is carried off negatively.

 

[Montalban]

Interesting. How does Harry toe the line but Narnia does not?

C S Lewis was a Christian apologist. His books, even his works of fiction were couched in Christian ideals, and thus the purpose or 'force' behind his work was different from Harry Potter, or (as I'm lead to believe) The Golden Compass.

 

[Montalban]

Rather a key point. If seeing a Harry Potter movie or reading a Dan Brown novel is likely to seriously challenge your faith, I find it hard to believe your faith was ever that strong or important to you in the first place.

Watching an execution, live would make me sick. My reaction to it would be couched in how I feel about life. It would not mean that I am weak, because I feel 'challenged'.

Being disturbed by a film that 'challenges' (as you put it) my religious beliefs would not mean that I am weak of faith, but rather strong in faith, because without a strong faith I wouldn't have been affected by it. 'Scuse the truism, but if it didn't matter to my faith, it wouldn't matter.

 

[EnemyPartyII]

C S Lewis was a Christian apologist. His books, even his works of fiction were couched in Christian ideals, and thus the purpose or 'force' behind his work was different from Harry Potter, or (as I'm lead to believe) The Golden Compass.

What ideals are exemplified in Lewis's fiction that aren't exemplified in Harry Potter?

 

[Celticflower]

One thing I find interesting with all this is people praise Narnia - in which normal kids are put into magical situations while condemning Potter - in which children born different (ie:born with magic) are put into magical situations. Rowling was quite clear in the first books that if you are not born with magic you will not be able to do magic. As far as I know my kids were not born magic, hence reading about the adventures and exploits of Mr. Potter and his friends may provide entertainment, but not lead them into anything dark and evil.

I think alot of the uproar is from parents who never liked to read and are a bit jealous of the time their reading children spend with the book. Either that or they are mad because it wasn't written for their generation (which hasn't stopped me from reading the books before I let my kids at them).