sarcasmguy126 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 [quote name='Resurrexi' post='1895891' date='Jun 19 2009, 09:31 AM']So would the the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. [/quote] Let me get something straight: First of all, I like "Harry Potter". It's not the best thing in the world, but it's still very entertaining [i][/i]and[i][/i] has some good messages in it. However, it is a guilty pleasure for me because although the "magic" cannot truly be called occult, it is close enough to real occult practices (i.e. Prof. Trelawney's class) that I can see why it has sparked so much controversy. "Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia" have a clearly defined sense of 'good' and 'bad' magic. Gandalf's power clearly comes from a higher source...Saruman is obviously demonic. Aslan is truly good. By the same token, though, Harry's scar was caused by his mother's love for him, so I guess that is a positive. And--once again--I really like those books, but I must admit that I can see why some people are concerned about it. It's just that I don't see little kids who read the books saying, "Gee, maybe I really should go read palms, stars, etc. I learned all that stuff from Harry Potter!" That's why all the concern is not legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don John of Austria Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 [quote name='sarcasmguy126' post='1899543' date='Jun 23 2009, 11:03 AM']Let me get something straight: First of all, I like "Harry Potter". It's not the best thing in the world, but it's still very entertaining [i][/i]and[i][/i] has some good messages in it. However, it is a guilty pleasure for me because although the "magic" cannot truly be called occult, it is close enough to real occult practices (i.e. Prof. Trelawney's class) that I can see why it has sparked so much controversy. "Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia" have a clearly defined sense of 'good' and 'bad' magic. Gandalf's power clearly comes from a higher source...Saruman is obviously demonic. Aslan is truly good. By the same token, though, Harry's scar was caused by his mother's love for him, so I guess that is a positive. And--once again--I really like those books, but I must admit that I can see why some people are concerned about it. It's just that I don't see little kids who read the books saying, "Gee, maybe I really should go read palms, stars, etc. I learned all that stuff from Harry Potter!" That's why all the concern is not legit.[/quote] Well as teacher I have seen kids say" I want to be a witch." ... "where does one study magic?" etc. etc. And i do not mean 4 year olds I mean 12 to 14 year olds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 You know what I always found particularly disturbing about Harry Potter? For a long time, after they introduced it in the Prisoner of Azkaban, they talked about the "Unforgiveable Curses". The premise was that using these was indeed unforgiveable and would get you sent straight to the wizard prison. That was all well and good. What disturbed me is that once things heat up, and the 'good guys' are fighting Death Eaters, and the Order of the Phoenix is reactivated, suddenly all the 'good guys' are using these unforgiveable curses too. Without a second though. Without any mention of these suddenly being forgiveable now. I never liked that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarcasmguy126 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 that is pretty bad. I agree with whoever said that, from a purely literary standpoint, Tolkien and Lewis are better writers. Also, it is troubling that Harry and Co. lie and steal, etc. for the "ends" that are justified by "the means". I don't like that. But they are well-written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 If I may speak from experience.... Quite some time ago ( 30 - 35 years? ), I had walked away from the Catholic Church -- it simply "no longer spoke to me." Which, of course meant I was no longer listening or acting upon her teachings and wisdom. At any rate, I was "away" for 7 years. During that time, I explored many of the Eastern philosophies, practices, and so forth. One thing led me to the next and I ended up involved in the occult. Magic, spells, "New Age" mumbo-jumbo, crystals, and slipping further and further into the darkness. Simple magic ( I considered to be "white" ) brought me to darker magic. At the time, I was also an active alcoholic so the three elements ( alcohol, leaving the church, and the dark sciences ) were beating me to a pulp. Seven years in a downward spiral... Prayers by my wife and my mother, I believe, started to make the spiral slow down a bit. As it lost some of its momentum, I was able to first look up and then reach up to the saving grace of the Eucharist. I have no desire to see Harry, I fear he would remind me of where I have been... Been there, done that, took pictures and still have the tee shirt, I have no reason to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth09 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 In the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, they are telling that the good will always win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel*Star Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 [quote name='KnightofChrist' post='1871434' date='May 19 2009, 11:29 PM']I'll get this thread rolling.... Harry Potter is the devil. discuss.[/quote] I let my children read Harry Potter and even see the movies. We discussed it together and they (themselves) realized how ridiculous it was. They enjoyed reading it and discussing it and then moving on to better things. It was no big deal to them. He is not the devil. He is a character in a book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth09 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 He is a made-up person. Not to point out, a made-up place as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggamafu Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 This August a new Star Wars toy comes out that lets you move a ping pong ball up and down in a tube with your mind alone. You wear a futuristic looking headband that picks up your brain's activity and sends the information to a fan in the tube, adjusting the fan speed accordingly. The technology has been around for awhile. Was it just a few months ago that the Iraq vet got the cyborg arm, powered and used by thought alone? And the same principles have, in testing, allowed people to surf the web and play a basic videogame using thought alone. I bet within a mere five years we will begin to see home electronics that are used by thought alone. Give it a decade or two, and this may even apply to cars and other large appliances. Eventually, we may very well be living in a world where everything is normally operated by thought. Point: the wants of what might be called "good" magic - nearly synonymous with the wants of fantasy - drive our technological advances. The only sense that magic refers to something evil is in the deliberate involvement of the occult; that is, appeal to demonic power rather than God-given, scientific power (even when the science utilized is unknown, for this is the very basis of experimentation). So by extension, you could even "believe in" say, chakras / auras or something so long as the phenomenon is considered or explored on a strictly scientific level and divorced from any religious contexts that may have been first to notice it. I've seen a wide variety of orthodox Catholic sources use this kind of reasoning in regards to "divination sticks". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Daddy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 [quote name='philothea' post='1871499' date='May 20 2009, 12:10 AM']By medieval magic do you mean things like alchemy?[/quote] I think alchemy is fascinating, because it didn't compartmentalize the spiritual from the physical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Daddy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 (edited) [quote name='sacredheartandbloodofjesus' post='1896130' date='Jun 19 2009, 06:02 PM']I doubt St. Albert practiced astrology. Maybe you meant astronomy, which is perfectly permissable by the chuch.Its the study of the universe and stars.[/quote] Yes. Astronomy used to be a lot more acceptable, when it was used as one of many ways of trying to "read" God's will. The same was true of "casting lots," and allowing a copy of the Bible to fall open and pointing at a verse and reading it. But those things lead to misunderstanding, superstition, and were used exclusively to divine the future etc... they began to be banned by the Church. Also, our general understanding of science played a roll as well. Things change. Cremation, on the other hand, was associated largely with superstition, paganism, and a challenge to the Church's teaching on the resurrection. So it wasn't permitted at a Catholic burial. Today, it is permitted by the Church. Edited July 12, 2009 by Lounge Daddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth09 Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Could we have no magic and call it a non-magic world for once? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 [quote name='elizabeth09' post='1943552' date='Aug 8 2009, 01:42 PM']Could we have no magic and call it a non-magic world for once?[/quote] Well it sure would be a lot safer. Unfortunately it's just not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 [quote name='Lounge Daddy' post='1917858' date='Jul 12 2009, 10:00 AM']Yes. Astronomy used to be a lot more acceptable, when it was used as one of many ways of trying to "read" God's will. The same was true of "casting lots," and allowing a copy of the Bible to fall open and pointing at a verse and reading it.[/quote] I've always imagined that casting lots was the biblical way of drawing a name out of a hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth09 Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Yea, but you might have one movie with magic out of 5 movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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