Do you think Harry Potter is bad?

[ardillacid]

[quote name='Noel's angel' date='Oct 28 2004, 08:44 AM']i started to read one, but it was just so pathetic, i quickly put it down and ran off to get my Bible.........
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That is ok you are from ireland

[quote name='karin' date='Oct 26 2004, 10:10 PM']I think harry potter is like any fiction. i actually love the books they are really good reading. you just have to realize that there are evils out there that are not fake and witches and wizards who are not  just trying to get along in thier lives. But actually worship the devil and want you to go to hell
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[quote name='karin' date='Oct 27 2004, 10:54 PM']The harry potter books are not evil
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[quote name='Vickles' date='Nov 7 2004, 06:58 PM']Personally, I love the Harry Potter books, but I didn't at first. My sister was the one who first recommended it to me, because her teacher (note: at the time we both attended private Catholic schools) read them to her class just for fun. When the media began making a huge deal about it being evil (anyone remember that?) we found it slightly amusing and annoying just by the fact of her teacher having read it to them. (Teachers had to get permission from the priest before reading a book to the class for such reasons).

Something else to note is that in the books the students get Christmas and Easter holidays (not just Winter and Spring).

Overall, though. I just think the books are really cute, and I would definately let my kids read them when I'm older.

Of course, the Bible is the best book anyday, but EVERYONE knows that!    lol

~Vicki
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A little while back, an exorcist came to our little parish to give sort of a retreat. One of the side topics was Harry Potter. This priest had seen normal people corrupted by these books and drawn into the realm of the occult. He warned very strongly against these books. It may be that they are not evil in and of themselves, but they are [i]not[/i] for the immature or weak or children

[ardillacid]

[quote name='hot stuff' date='Nov 15 2005, 09:32 AM']Well thank goodness that  this topic shouldn't cause any animosity on the board.
<---- runs out of room
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<------throws garbage at the old person

[sraf]

IMHO, A parent who thinks that a book like Harry Potter, or The Giver, or Bridge to Terabithia is going to teach their kids magic and evil and communism, is probably not secure in their own parenting and needs to read those particular books. Desperately.

The morality in the books is clear. Murder is bad, friendship is good. Loving one's enemies (united against a greater enemy, who will at some point have to be loved, I'm thinking) is a major theme in the books, as is love of all sorts. J.K. Rowling has said that the books are fake. The kids will know that it is just a book, and if they don't, then it is the parent's job to tell them. My [immature, obstreperous, brains-in-Jamaica] fourth grade class read these books and it was really good for all of us - especially me.
Besides, it's so wonderful to have an imagination where there really is magic, where you can just snap your fingers and *presto!* Your math homework's done, your friends aren't mad at you, there's peace in the Middle East, and a hovering broomstick is waiting to take you anywhere, where anything can happen. A refuge like that is something that every kid should have, the younger, the better. It's not real, in our sense of the word, but it's very real in another sense, and very comforting. And meanwhile, I've got to do my math homework. *sigh*

*Potter for President!* thismessagebroughtoyouinpartby www.sugarquill.net

[uruviel]

I don't like Harry Potter. JK Rowling is talented, but even though she tries to distiniush between white magic and black magic, all magic is not to be mingled with. Those are real incatations to the devil, and she must be knowlegable in that. Which is kinda creepy. But anyways, in fantasies, I much prefer the LOTR series, its so intelligent and artistic. But anyways, I don't have much interest in Harry Potter, I may be wrong but I don't like JK Rowling, and it makes reading her writtings bitter.

[zunshynn]

[quote]Those are real incatations to the devil[/quote]

Are you sure about that?

Anyway... I honestly don't see the big deal. People go on and on about what wonderful Christian stories the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia are and they use magic in them. The difference is LOTR and the Chronicles are literary and Harry Potter is well... not. But You can use the use of magic to say one is good and one is bad.

Personally, the "Christian" themes of LOTR and Narnia strikes me as somewhat stretched anyway. Honestly, Napoleon Dynamite could have Christian themes if you look at it the right way. Harry Potter IS about overcoming evil... very much like the others.

[zunshynn]

[quote name='White Knight' date='Nov 15 2004, 09:05 PM']I'd also take LOTR Over Harry Potter Anyday, Harry Potter has no morals, and teaches Evil as Good, which is morally wrong, but LOTR, is about Fellowship, Honor, Faith, the battle between Good and Evil, and its mroe Bibical.
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Harry Potter has not morals ans teaches Evil as Good...

Prove it.

I've seen plenty of morals in them... and it is a battle between good and evil.

[uruviel]

I do not agree. LOTR has real Christian meaning to it, the Ring represents original sin, it's not just what you interpret it as, that's what it is, not to mention Tolkien was Christian, and Rowling is like Athiest, so shes doesn't even believe in God and where do you think the talent comes from?

[uruviel]

and though Harry Potter might have morals to it, it's still dealing with magic, and though LOTR might be as well, LOTr isn't dealing with witchcraft and wizardry, and I prefer LOTR over Harry Potter because Harry Potter is a very immature series, its a childs series, I appreciate LOTR much more. But I do not believe it is right to say that Rowling means to say that bad is good, and has no morals, she may not, idk, but her books to point out that good is good, and evil is evil. I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan, I wouldn't say it's "bad" but I wouldn't recomend it, and def. not over Tolkien's works.

[uruviel]

that's my opinion, I'm not saying ti's the right thing, just my opinion on the matter.

[sraf]

Wingardium leviosa - is that an incantation to the devil? Gee, I never thought of that, because I DON'T BELIEVE IN IT. (That is ridiculous. JKR has said that the magic in the books isn't real, at least not as far as she knows, and she would know. She only believes in the power of imagination, the true magic.)
And seriously, the only Satanic-esque events in all six books occur twice in my memory and are performed by the villain, Voldemort, and his minions. If a villain does something in a book, usually it's perceived as BAD. Example: villain uses Unforgivable Curse --> Unforgiveable Curse is bad. And there isn't even any devil mentioned. These books are actually lacking in any sort of deity, unless it's Love.
[quote]Rowling is like Athiest, so shes doesn't even believe in God and where do you think the talent comes from?[/quote]
Where did you read that? The kids in her school do go on Christmas and Easter breaks - are you sure you aren't confusing JKR with Philip Pullman or someone like that?
Oh yeah, and what do you mean by that talent comment?
[quote]LOTr isn't dealing with witchcraft and wizardry[/quote]
What about Gandalf, and Saruman, and the fact that the ring is magical, and the Ents, and the Elves, just to start?

[uruviel]

Excuse me I"m sorry that I haven't reasearched it my own, I have heard it from someone who has studied, and is [i]very[/i] knowlegeable in this aspect.
I'm not sure if WL is an encantation to the devil or not, I don't believe in it either. You do make good points, but my point of view is a bit different.
I know she [i]says[/i] the magic isn't real, but devil and satan worships are out there whether we're aware of it or not. And I don' tknow which ones of those are [i]real[I] incantations. But I'm not gonna get in it, it's sticky, and I personally would prefer to stay away from it.
Yes, she does make a good point to say that evil is bad and good is good, but NO magic is good is my point!!
And the devil doesn't have to be mentioned for it to mean anything, the fact that some of these curses may be real incantations doesn't make it safe.

I seriously do not remember reading or hearing where that she was aithiest, but I believed it. Personally, I don't really think that just because her children get those breaks means that she's not aithiest. No I'm not getting her mixed up.

The talent comment, well, I just have a problum with pride. I write allot myself, and I really have a problum with taking [I]any[/i] I mean any credit for it because God is the one doing it all and he could take it away in a milla second. And my point was that she doesn't even BELIEVE in Him, much less believe that's where all this talent is coming from, and taking everything for herself, that's my own personall problum with her, and I can't blame her for it, being since its very hard to resist the adorations of the media and teens all over the world.

Gandalf, Saruman, they are NOT witch craft and wizardry,, Tolkien himself I believe said that LOTR had a very christian background to it, and ALSO my personal likeing to Tolkien is how artistic he was, he was a humble man, he saw the beauty in things, he appreciated the things that I can relate to. This is all just the way that I see it, and I see that your being very defensive of JK Rowling, now that's not bad, it's just like you are not open to seeing Rowling in a different view, whereas I don't see her as evil, I'm sure she is still a wonderful person in many aspects, and I'm not accusing her of anything I'm not sure of. Just how I have gathered, and what I have heard.

Edited December 17, 2005 by uruviel

[uruviel]

and AGAIN this is my taste, that I don't like HP as much as other series because it's immature, and it's a CHILDs series,

[sraf]

First, be absolutely certain that J.K. Rowling is an athiest before you make assumptions about her.
Second, my Confirmation sponsor (a mother herself who loves the books and supports my reading of them) gave me a book called "The Gospel According to Harry Potter." Check it out in your local library.
I'm perfectly open to JKR being athiestic. I'd be surprised, certainly, but other athiest writers have done astounding work (not that I'm going to toss my lot in with them).
You're also a writer? Writers unite! Then you must know that when writing a story that's not true, you use certain things to stand for other things. Example: In the Lord of the Rings, the Elves are supposed to stand for the nephilim from Genesis. In Harry Potter, the series isn't about magic. It's about love, friendship, and growing up and discovering the truth. Magic is just a funny little tool that gives the stories a kick. J.K. Rowling was a starving single mother from a divorce, living on food stamps and having to go to cafes for warmth because it was cheaper than air conditioning for herself and her baby. (At one point in Book 1, Harry finds out that he's got a mountain of gold waiting under the ground for him, left from his parents. Wish fulfillment?)
They're all funny Latin words. They mean nothing. I've read all the books at least twice(except for the sixth, yet - ). To quote the good half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, "If one word of it's true I'll eat my kettle."
And I will not pass judgement on the LoTR books - I have not been able to focus while trying to read any of them, therefore I cannot judge it.

[uruviel]

thank you very much for your information. I am torn now, because you seem to be very knowlegable in it, yet I heard from a knowlegable one who claimed they were not good. So, I never really accused her of these things, I was telling you what I thought was wrong with her, I have no more to say. I can't go against you because I have not myself researched it but only heard from another. Thank you,

[saintwannab7]

I'm a fan of HP, LoTR, Chronicles of Narnia, and a ton of other books. Just like a bunch of other people already said, these books, when taken as fiction, are wonderful means of entertainment.