Harry Potter

[StartedAtEly]

What are your thoughts on it?

My attitude is largely formed by an experience of a Christian friend of mine.

His parents were arch fundamentalist Christians, so much so they banned him from watching Scooby-Doo cartoons as a child on the ground there were ghosts and spirits in the cartoons. Years later he rebelled and got into some very non-Christian things, though he did later return to the Lord.

I think kids want to see Harry Potter. If you ban them on religious grounds, they will resent this and may lead to later, much more serious rebellion. By contrast, if you allow them to see/read it, yet carefully supervise and explain the evils of the occult, it should be ok.

 

[lmd0137]

I personally have read and enjoy the harry potter series...I do not like the movies so much as they cut out many of the good messages. There are some very good themes in these books. They demonstrate the evils of prejudice and the power of love and sacrifice. I enjoy reading and enjoy fantasy books in particular. I believe the dangers in HP as the dangers in any book come from what people take from the book. If you read the books and see the themes of good and relate them in your mind and heart to the message of The Lord, then they are good books. If you read them and become obsessive and fanatical over witchcraft then they are bad. I do not think it is so much the material of the books that is dangerous but what the individual takes from the book. As with anything in life, it is the perspective in which we view it that is important. There will be people who will take from the series bad things, but it can happen anywhere with anything because humans are flawed and our perspectives can be faulty. We must be strong in our faith and cautious with our perspectives, to avoid evil. My point it is not the books that are evil it is the way some people view the books.

 

[Octorock]

Thank you. I can say that it started out with her using a Ouija board, just like I thought I could do. It really manifested into a great number of things over time.

But please note that I'm not saying that everyone who does something like this will suffer this effect, thankfully. It's just that I wouldn't want to be the person to put that stumbling block in front of someone.

I love Harry Potter, I watched Angel and Buffy...because I knew my faith wasn't going to be interrupted by them.

Suffice to say, without any real-world examples that anyone is willing to share with me, I am entirely unconvinced that harm can come upon someone's life simply from reading a fantasy novel.

 

[Gyasi]

I believe that as long as Christ is within the heart of the person watching or reading HP then there is nothing truly wrong with it. However, I'd say be very weary of HP as it makes no references whatsoever to God and witchcraft is occultic in nature.