Harry Potter - Good or bad?

[WiccanWarrior]

I totally agree with ex-christian. I am also an 18 year old witch, who was born christian, and Books such as Harry Potter are totally harmless unless YOU make them a big deal. Nothing is "Evil" unless man makes it so. The books are creative stories that are ment to expand imaginations and keep children of ALL ages entertained. I know people that are 65 years of age and still read that series of books who have been born and raised Eastern Orthodox in a very strict household and absolutely love the Harry Potter tales, because they are just that, Tales.

~WiccanWarrior

 

[kimmee]

Wow I never looked at it this way before... I guess you and Ex are right... I have recently been studying wicca and I am learning a lot. I have not read the books (HP) but I have seen the movie and I can tell you, as an open minded Christian, that it DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT teach you a THING about witchcraft...I am learning and the religion of Wicca makes a lot of sense...I AM STILL CHRISTIAN THOUGH...

 

[solo66 man]

wicca is still a sin according to Scriptures. Look up King
Saul in th old testament. It was the final straw against him in God's eyes.

 

[Rose-Mary]

According to a J K Rowling interview a few months back, on UK TV, she made up all the spells and things that seem to pertain to witchcraft herself. She said that she did not have any input from people following the Wicca religion and thought it was ridiculous that it should be suggested that the books were the young's guide to witchcraft!

 

[Radical Edward]

informed? no, surely not. It is quite apparent to me, having read Harry Potter that there is absolutely nothing in it that can be regarded as 'encouraging' or 'teaching' witchcraft. it is a CHILDREN'S STORY for ENTERTAINMENT purposes, and is probably a thousand times better than sticking your children in front of the television all day long.

 

[Nick_Loves_Abba]

LoL ya, aren't some of ya forgetting C.S Lewis, Tolkein?

 

[OldBadfish]

I was actually assigned to read "The Chronicals of Narnia" and "The Hobbit" by my teacher in elementary school!

HP may be fiction but I would not let my children watch it!

 

[Pyr0]

Originally posted by Radical Edward
informed? no, surely not. It is quite apparent to me, having read Harry Potter that there is absolutely nothing in it that can be regarded as 'encouraging' or 'teaching' witchcraft. it is a CHILDREN'S STORY for ENTERTAINMENT purposes, and is probably a thousand times better than sticking your children in front of the television all day long.

HERETIC! I will burn you at the stake!

 

[Rose-Mary]

I think if you ban your children from reading the books or seeing the film they are going to really start taking an interest in witchcraft and the occult! I remember back in the early 60's when there was all that fuss about DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, I was about 11 years old at the time, I remember adults whispering about it and my parents even removed the reports in the newspapers so I shouldn't read it. Well that really fired my interest. Soon the book was being passed around the school with all the interesting bits highlighted! Nobody would have been interested it in the slightest, if there had not been such a tremendous fuss about the book!!!!!!

 

[DiannaM]

well isnt this up to the parents??????
Isnt this up to the parents to moniter what
the children are reading, and do the parents not
have the right to refuse to allow thier children
to read something they feel goes against their personal
belife?????
No matter what in the world there are many books paintings
and other things listed as art, its true that as parents
that we can explain why we dont want our children to read or be involved with things we know go against the word of god, but can we ban them????
I think this falls into the hands of parents.
Thats all i can say about that.

 

[iyosh]

Please forgive the typos.
You know, i realy dont understand the concept of shunning Harry Potter books, and still letting children read some great mythology and other literature. Some people dont like their children reading this series because if Witchcraft. But it is in meny other pieces of litterature. The stories of King Auther and Avalon were set in the days of Druidism with the sorceres and Magicians and The Lady of the Lake. Some of sakesphere's works had sorcery in the stories. Even there was one with Witches and ghosts. MacBeth, i believe. In that play, there was an actual spell, with eye of newt. That was a secret word of a serten herb. Then there was Midsummers Night Dream, with faeries and other magickal things. Then they thought of it as a story, which it was. If they thought of it as real, then they kept thier mouth shut for fear of burning.
Nowadays these stories are still just that, stories. Thats what harry potter is, a story.

Love and peace and blessed bee

 

[messenjah]

Harry Potter is just a fairy tale, like Lord of the Rings. I don't like things like this anyway, but I wouldn't stop my kids from watching the movie for example.

Lord of the Rings was written by JRR Tolkien, who by the way, converted CS Lewis to Christianity, and Lord of the Rings has many spiritual undertones that heavily have to do with Christianity. Harry Potter comes straight from the occult.

All interesting thoughts... but I'm keen to find out who of you have actually read/seen the HP (hehe... it's all a play by Hewlett-Packard to take over the world!) material though? Or are we all getting our opinions/facts through third party sources? Are we all making properly informed decisions and formulating our thoughts on a personally determined basis?

Yes I've read all of them and even seen the movie. At first I loved them but now I know what they really are all about.

 

[Havoc]

"Azkaban","Circe", "Draco", "Erised", "Hermes", and "Slytherin"; all of which are names of real devils or demons.

Pastor David J. Meyer is another example of the "Mike Warnke" syndrome, people who profess to be all sorts of occult leaders in order to gain fame in the Christian community. What this piece of crap article doesn't tell you is that when questioned Mr Meyer showed a complete lack of knowledge of the subject of Witchcraft. Even this quote here shows how ridiculous his story is. Witches don't believe in demons period, and these are certainly not the name of any Christian Demons. Mr Meyer is no more an ex Witch than I am a Christian.

 

[Rose-Mary]

messenjah

I agree with Iyosh The Harry Potter books are just stories and jolly good ones too. Most kids love to read about witches and wizards etc and how many of them grow up to practice witchcraft because of those books? Very few, if any.

If you ban children from reading books of which you don't approve, it make them even more exciting. I remember when I was 10, Lady Chatterley's Lover was published. The book was passed around the school playground with all the naughty bits underlined, we all read those bits! If there hadn't been such a fuss, its publication would have gone by largely unnoticed!

Forbidden fruits are always sweeter, so if the Harry Potter books are billed as wicked and evil, children will latch on to that straight away and then may go on to find any interest in stuff that is much less wholesome! And yes, I do think the Harry Potter books are wholesome and quite moral. Good overcomes evil, so what is wrong about that for heaven's sake?

 

[Aussie_Tash]

Man i am so had enough of hearing about HP, i would never let my children read such evil stuff, i mean come on what does it sayt in the bible about witchcraft and sorcery?!! This HP stuff poisons our minds, the minds of the next generation.

 

[Rose-Mary]

Aussie if you are sick of hearing about Harry Potter, I respectfully ask why you bother to post on this thread?

I don't think HP has anything to do with true witchcraft anyway. The spells are made up and great fun, where is your sense of humour?

I reckon if Jesus was on earth today he might have enjoyed reading them too. I suggest he was much more broadminded than some of the posters here!!!!

 

[Aussie_Tash]

The spells are not made up actually, the author studied witchcraft for this book

 

[mel3]

My children know they are not to be reading Harry Potter and they accept it. Because there is so much debate on these books, which have caused me to question them, that is enough doubt for me to talk to my kids about Harry Potter and voice my opinions about them. The old cliche', if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then maybe..... applies here. To say that HP does not promote interest in the occult is wrong. What is up with the lightning bolt on this boys head? When I heard this, it right away sent up a red flag to me, too close to the mark of the beast for me. But then again, I never allowed my kids to get involved in the Pokemon craze, either. Anything that promoted evolution, powers and actually meant pocket monster was not something I wanted my kids to play around. Satan is waging a spiritual war against families, no doubt about that. I personally do not want to give him an inch to wedge himself into my family. I stand firm in my belief that HP is not the best set of books I want my children involved in reading. This is strictly my opinion but when it comes to knowing and wanting the best for my boys, then it is the opinion of my husband and I who's opinion that counts the most. Thank you.

 

[Ben Reid]

Originally posted by cherubim
This is an interesting email I got on Harry Potter. Read and decide for yourself but I am now convinced that Harry Potter is occultic.

> Harry Potter?
> What Does God Have To Say?

You beat me too it Cherubim!

I think it is important as Christians not to paint ourselves as extremists, however it seems abundantly clear to me that Harry Potter is an avenue into the occult.

It is encouraging an entire generation to get interested in witchcraft, under the pretense that it is just harmless fun and fantasy, irrelevant to real life.

Don't believe me? Do a google search and see how the popularity of witchcraft amongst young people has grown in parallel to the Harry Potter phenomenom. For example, see http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/08/28/britain.harry.potter.ap/ 

Unlike the Narnia series of Lord of the Rings, which have distinct Christian themes, Harry Potter has close ties to paganism. There is no clear distinction between good and evil in Harry Potter, just a neutral force, magical powers that Harry can obtain.

 

[Rose-Mary]

J K Rowling was interviewed on UK TV a few months ago, she thought it was incredibly funny that people should take the books so seriously. She said that all the spells were from her imagination. I have heard real witches say that the spells are made up!

I would prefer my kids to read Harry Potter if they were young again, they are very literate and enjoyable Some of the drivel that is written by 'born again' Christians is badly put together and puts a spin on the Bible that is as much fiction as Harry Potter! I will take great pleasure in reading HP to my grandson as soon as he is old enough. I am a Christian and I have absolutely no problem with these children's books.

Before one of you questions my Christianity, I will get in first by saying that God looks at the heart, and my faith is between me and the almighty.

Anyway this topic has got to be a frightful bore, so I will occupy my time in a more fruitful fashion and not post on the thread again!!!