The magic hypocrisy

[PolskiKrol]

Does anyone find it hypocritical of fundamentalists who say that Harry Potter and Magic is evil because they contain magical themes, when they support CS Lewis' Narnia stuff, or the Lord of the Rings, or even the "WIZARD" of Oz? Theres definatly a double standard going on, and caught between the blurry battle ground lines are video games. Why would parents ban games like Sacrifice while extoling N'Lightning games?

 

[Dust and Ashes]

Does anyone find it hypocritical of fundamentalists who say that Harry Potter and Magic is evil because they contain magical themes, when they support CS Lewis' Narnia stuff, or the Lord of the Rings, or even the "WIZARD" of Oz? Theres definatly a double standard going on, and caught between the blurry battle ground lines are video games. Why would parents ban games like Sacrifice while extoling N'Lightning games?

I think it's not so much that HP has magic as that it has witchcraft or at least uses the term while the "witches" in HP (as far as I can tell never having seen or read anything HP) are more like the Wizard of Oz, fantasy type witches. Personally, I think HP is just an easy and convenient target for people. Add in some ill intentioned email chain letters about Rowling supposedly claiming to spread witchcraft throughout the world with HP and you have the formula for hysteria.

 

[Fatality]

Yeah its quite hipocritacle. But your not talking about an ordinary fundamentalist, even I am one. Your talking about extreme fundamentalists, the ones that take it too far. Fundamentalists have a huge stereotype for being extreme, which is so not true in most cases.

 

[Locket]

I don't like the fact that the "hero" in Harry Potter is just a lesser bad guy himself. I mean he steals and cheats and lies and everything.

 

[Colabomb]

Does anyone find it hypocritical of fundamentalists who say that Harry Potter and Magic is evil because they contain magical themes, when they support CS Lewis' Narnia stuff, or the Lord of the Rings, or even the "WIZARD" of Oz? Theres definatly a double standard going on, and caught between the blurry battle ground lines are video games. Why would parents ban games like Sacrifice while extoling N'Lightning games?

The arguement is that The magic in Harry Potter contains real magickal traits, and the others are fantasy, purely.

 

[Fatality]

Locket, its a fantasy, thats just part of the whole plot to make it more interesting to readers.

 

[Dust and Ashes]

I don't like the fact that the "hero" in Harry Potter is just a lesser bad guy himself. I mean he steals and cheats and lies and everything.

You must really not like Pitch Black & Chronicles of Riddick then.

 

[Locket]

No I have no desire to watch that movie and I've never heard of the other one.

And Fatality to me it sort of sounds like you're condoning immorality. I mean bad guys you expect to be bad. They HAVE to be (I mean duh they're bad guys). But when good guys are really lesser bad guys it holds no interest for me. I mean publishers add sex and all that stuff to novels for the same reason you jsut named. Doesn't make it right tho.

Did you know real people have gone to the harry potter site, done the real spells on there, and have been put in a real hospital?

 

[kleptobismol]

think about it...in CS Lewis' tales and the Wizard of Oz, the witches are evil and are shown in a negative light. in HP, the lead character is a witch (warlock? or something i dunno). witches are shown in HP as ppl who are just like us, ppl we can relate too. i dont think its hypocritical at all. CS Lewis' tales were also symbolic of Christianity. I've been told the Wizard of Oz was also, but im not sure.

 

[EuphonicDissonance]

Ive just posted in another thread thats kinda similar to this one. To me, reading Harry Potter is fine, as long as you that too involved in it and start learning witchcraft. I used to like it a lot, but I guess I grew out of it now. Theres nothing wrong with reading the book, its doing it (spells, brewing potions) thats the problem. But people actually trying spells and end up hurting themselves are just plain dumb.

 

[Locket]

A guy came to our camp once as our speaker. His name is Rick Lorrimer and he's also the DYD for the southeast (If I remember correctly. He's the DYD for something). He talked once of a girl who was possessed. You know those God-things where you just know something because God told you?
Well he had one of those. That the girl had done witchcraft or something of the sort. So he asked her and she stubbornly said no way. He kept asking if she had done this or that. His last question was about Harry Potter. She said yes and they realized that was where she got it from. Just reading the book.
At the end of this story I'll add the same disclaimer he did. Just because you read HP or watched the movie doesn't mean you'll be possessed or anything of the sort. but why take the chance? Sure you many never get in a car wreck and die from not having your seat belt on but its kind of... idiotic, if you will, to mess with the odds.

 

[Dust and Ashes]

No I have no desire to watch that movie and I've never heard of the other one.

Chronicles of Riddick is the sequel to Pitch Black. They are scifi movies about a guy named Riddick, played by Vin Diesel. Riddick is an escaped con who is kind of a Vader like character. He is overtly dark and self serving but there is a core of nobility hidden deep inside him. He's kind of an anti-hero.

As far as Harry Potter, I have no interest in reading any of it because I'm not into children's books. That said, I doubt I could learn much from Harry Potter about witchcraft since I was deeply involved in the occult for many years before becoming a Christian and I never once learned anything about riding on broomsticks.

 

[Locket]

Ah but the spells in there are taken from real witchcraft books. That's why I'm wary.

 

[Ryder]

The Bible contains witches too... But the witches aren't the heroes.

Just thought I'd echo some of the sentiments here.

 

[Locket]

exactly! In the Bible they're always wicked, never the heroes of the story!

 

[Callisto]

Ah but the spells in there are taken from real witchcraft books. That's why I'm wary.

This is not true. JKR has kids of her own and would not expose them to real witchcraft. She is also a Christian herself. Harry Potter is fantasy; the spells or based on nonsense latin phrases and the rest is based on british folklore. Now I don't say that HP is snow white. As with most things, there a dodgy bits to it, however I am more worried about Pokemon than I am about HP. As long as the reader realizes that it is fantasy and does not get obsessed with it (obsession being dangerous with everything) then the reader should be fine.

What we must remember is that Satan is an oppertunist, and a clever one. He will take anything and everything and twist it to his advantage (a good example is people twisting the Bible to promote nudity). In HPs case, that comes from people getting obsessed over it and loosing touch with reality (which is someting JKR warns about in the books themselves). HP is a good novel. It sucks the reader into its world and holds them there, which is what every good book should do. Satan takes that and twists it, influencing people in a negative way. The root of the problem is not HP, but what Satan is doing with it. One must just be careful and be discern what is going on.

Personally, I have seen all the HP movies and read the books and it has not had a negative effect on me. On the contrary, I've found it inspiring.

 

[PolskiKrol]

I've been told the Wizard of Oz was also, but im not sure.

I thought it was an allegory to plight of poor, mid-west farmers during the late 1800's.

 

[Psalms34]

Does anyone find it hypocritical of fundamentalists who say that Harry Potter and Magic is evil because they contain magical themes, when they support CS Lewis' Narnia stuff, or the Lord of the Rings, or even the "WIZARD" of Oz? Theres definatly a double standard going on, and caught between the blurry battle ground lines are video games. Why would parents ban games like Sacrifice while extoling N'Lightning games?

Hmm... so what do you say it is? I hate to point fingers at anyone. Happy to point fingers at things though

I've been playing games for a very long time, if that is what you are referring to here in the gaming forum *scratches head*. There are games I stay away from now. I played EQ for a few years, and though I had an issue with the use of magic, what really turned me away running was some of the people who really got caught up in Witchcraft in my guild. I was an officer in a guild, when I joined it was small. I've been into guild leadership for a long time (I had one of the largest guilds in UO) so I decided to help them out and organize their guild. Well the guild grew real fast, and the leader, well she decided to start making apostles of the new people into Wiccan Witchcraft. As a Christian, how much more can I feel used? Wound up quitting EQ. Since then I've only been involved with Christian guilds when playing these games.

It's hard to say about all this play magic. I mean it can be a big draw for non-Christians into such things as Witchcraft. You know since the HP books and movies, Witchcraft has been booming?? Sure we can say how powerful we are and how we as Christians are not effected by this, but we are surrounded by a falling world. Makes one think, eh? How do we as Christians influence the world? When I do play these games (mostly MMORPG's and MUD's) I try hard to be the salt of the earth. But I've grown further away from many of these games. I'd love to see a really good Christian MMORPG because the vacuum is great for this. There are some Christian MUD's right now, but most people want to play GMUD's or MMORPG's and this is a great target for a Christian based game to emerge one day.

 

[Margrethe]

There are some Christian MUD's right now, but most people want to play GMUD's or MMORPG's and this is a great target for a Christian based game to emerge one day.

Christian MUDs?! I've been wanting to find something like that, but I never found anything. Could you tell me the names of one or more such MUDs? I'd be interested in checking them out!

 

[Dust and Ashes]

I've never had a problem with magic in a game but I did quit EQ because it became an idol in my life. I remember one occasion when my dad came to visit and he's not in the best of health but all I could think was, "Man, I wish he'd hurry up and leave so I can jump back on EQ." This really shook me up and soon after, I quit playing. I ended up giving my account to someone online.

I have a good friend who is that way. She has quit EQ and plays WoW now but she plays for more than 8 hours a day every single day. We can go to visit and she'll never log out, just feign death for a while then get up and check her character periodically while we are there or sometimes she will just keep playing. I was worried WoW might have the same effect on me and I did spend many hours a day playing the first couple of weeks but now I'm starting to get bored with it and play less and less.