Is Harry Potter merely entertainment?

BP News ^ | 6-3-04 | Phil Boatwright

[Dead Corpse]

Saw the Sci-fi "Lowdown" show on it last night. I'm un-easy as to how much control Vin had over the direction of the movie. It could turn out to be another XXX.

The sets and SFX look tasty however. Amazing the detail work they are putting in to sets these days.

[kevkrom]

You are clearly nothing more than a pagan apologist. I banish thee!

As long as you banish me to the theater tomorrow, I'll be happy to go. (9 of us so-called adults going tomorrow night at 9:40...)

[Xenalyte]

Thou art banished as well! Begone with thee!

[kevkrom]

I have been trying "Lumos" for a few years now and no luck. I still gotta get up and put the damn light on myself.

Now that sounds like a fun idea -- reprogam a "clapper" to respond to "lumos" and "nox" instead of claps...

[Bella_Bru]

Could I get a banshiment too? I really want to leave work early today...

[johnfrink]

If you ever want to read a book that is incredibly dark and twisted and uses Bible verses to all sorts of nefarious ends, read "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. Easily one of the top 5 books I've ever read.

[Bella_Bru]

Hey, you could make some money off of that one!

[maryz]

If you ever want to read a book that is incredibly dark and twisted

Thanks, but no. Moby Dick was enough for me (if you take a Melville course for distribution requirements, you're sort of stuck with it!). But I appreciate the thought!

[bayourod]

"witchcraft is pure superstitious garbage"

That's your opinion. I'm turning you into a frog right now! See, I told you so.

[DelmarvaMike]

Here we go again! I can't believe that folks are still dragging out this paranoia about the Harry Potter books/movies. Given the huge number of people who have seen the movies or read the books, why do we not have a rash of kids killing themselves by jumping out a second floor window with a broomstick?

I'll tell you why. Because an eleven year old kid has enough sense to know that Harry Potter is not real! It is a shame that a bunch of completely uninformed adults do not have the same level of common sense.

I would truly like to know how many of those who mindlessly bash the HP series have actually read the books. By the way, my family thoroughly enjoys the HP series and always look forward to the next movie or books release. Both my children attend our local Christian school and we all believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The HP books have done nothing to shake that belief. Harry Potter, like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alladin, etc. is escapist fiction that only a complete idiot would take seriously as fact. I am sure that this won't be the last time I have to address this idiocy on a FR thread. (I'm going to see POA tomorrow, BTW. I sure hope that I'm able to apparate there and back properly ;-))

[bobsatwork]

"I love Harry Potter. I think it would be so cool to be a witch," Sharon, age 11, says. That's my answer to anyone who says J.K. Rowling's adventure series is harmless fantasy. ... It's harmless fantasy. And it helped my older son to get over certain reading problems. And the real message in HP? Harry was given the power to be evil, and CHOSE to be good. Name a better message that can be found anywhere on Nickelodeon. (PS. If you haven't read the books, you should. Really)

[whattajoke]

witches aren’t real. It's just something weird lesbians pretend to be.

Funny and true!

[Xenalyte]

I worship Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, and Bender.

Screw Xena's Guy. Marry me.

[Xenalyte]

Depends . . . how steeped in evil is your soul today?

[Proverbs 3-5]

Need I remind anyone (again) that the well known Christian apologists C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein both had "good" charcters who use magic in their fantasy series?

One difference between Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings is in HP power for good and evil emanate from the same source and there is no real good and evil, its all moral relativism. In TLOTR good and evil are distinct. Also while TLOTR has magic and wizards it is not the main focus, in fact those that try to use the magic of the rings are consumed by the evil and become wraiths and servants of the ultimate evil. What was Frodo's task? To use the magic for good, or to destroy it?

(from an article) ...Christian fans of Harry Potter insist that the series is no different than C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

It is true that both authors create fantasy parallel worlds involving young British children who encounter magical creatures. Both develop admirable characters and evil villains. But this is where the comparison ends.

The difference between the two hinges on the concept of authority. From a Christian perspective, authority and supernatural power are linked.

When we read Rowling’s series, we find that she effectively divorces power from authority. There is no sovereign person or principle governing the use of the supernatural.

Magical power is gained through inheritance and learning. It is not granted by a higher authority, because there is no Higher Authority — at least none higher than Harry’s mentor, Albus Dumbledore, and the evil Lord Voldemort. The two are equal, antagonistic and unaccountable to a higher authority.

In C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, power and authority are welded together. That authority is Jesus, in the character of the great lion Aslan — creator and sovereign ruler of Narnia, son of the Emperor Beyond the Sea. Good power is power that is bestowed by Aslan and exercised in accordance with his will. This good power is at work when the children Peter, Susan and Lucy use gifts bestowed on them by an agent of Aslan.

Evil power, on the other hand, is power that is seized or conjured — rather than bestowed — and exercised for selfish ends. Those who resist the temptation to use such power are commended, as was Digory, in The Magician’s Nephew. But those who wield it (such as Jadis, also in The Magician’s Nephew) and the White Witch (in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) are eventually vanquished by Aslan.

Despite superficial similarities, Rowling’s and Lewis’ worlds are as far apart as east is from west. Rowling’s work invites children to a world where witchcraft is "neutral" and where authority is determined solely by one’s cleverness. Lewis invites readers to a world where God’s authority is not only recognized, but celebrated — a world that resounds with His goodness and care.
source: www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/coverstory/a0019032.cfm

also see
Lord of the Rings' has resounding ring of the Christian Lord, Southern prof says

[najida]

It is the pure creative imagination that I enjoy in the HP stories.

Everytime I read/see them, I find myself thinking "Wow! I would love to live inside the author's head".

[Rebelbase]

"It was Dungeons and Dragons when I was growing up."

Playing Led Zep backwards was the "evidence" in my day.

[Xenalyte]

Given the huge number of people who have seen the movies or read the books, why do we not have a rash of kids killing themselves by jumping out a second floor window with a broomstick?

We DO have it. It's just that the ones who survive are such good witches, they have mind control over us and can make us forget we saw the "unfortunate incidents."

[malakhi]

I have been trying "Lumos" for a few years now and no luck. I still gotta get up and put the damn light on myself.

I have a mystical relic passed down to me by the previous owners of my house. When I approach the garage door, I activate the item, and the door magically opens!

You might want to try the "Clapper" spell.

[johnb838]

"The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe"

I heard it was going to be done by Disney which causes me concern.