The Christians against HP stuff

[Drunken Chinchilla]

Hello, another serious discussion now

Seeing as a large majority of you are from America I'm asuming you are all mostly belong to the Christian faith (generalisation I know but forgive me this instance). SOOOO I was wondering if any of you didn't read Harry Potter on grounds of your religion or if you know anyone that didn't/stopped their kid from reading due to religious beliefs. It just really puzzled me, and made me slightly angry how people could damn an entire series of books due to the fact that it features magic as one of the aspects of the books.

So if you do know anyone, or if you didn't read it, what were the actual reasons, not just because of my religion etc, what was the exact reason?

Not trying to be offence or 'owt just always been interested at people who are scared of letting others read material on matters of fantasy.

DISCUSS(heh sounds like an essay now!)

[Storm]

Ok, I'm neither Christian nor religious, but you're asking KQ fans if they wouldn't read some book because it features magic? wrong crowd if you ask me  

I watched the two movies, but I've only read one of the books because I didn't have the time, the interest or a copy of the others
I don't personally know of anyone who didn't read Harry Potter for religious reasons, but I did see a news article about religious people against Harry Potter. It was really stupid! Why don't they protest against other fantasy books? aren't books like Narnia and Lord Of The Rings good enough for them? they had to wait for Harry Potter to come along to start protesting??  

[Say]

yikes alex what a heavy topics you've brought in lately

PERSONALLY I havent met yet anyone that has stopped reading harry potter because it includes magic or so, it that were the deal noone would even read horoscopes... lol cuz you know all that stuff is offensive and yet on every single newspaper you do get an entertainment little part where you do have cartoons and other sort of goodies even horoscopes and such.

I am a cwappy catholic I must admit, I take religion when it suits me and I feel I can believe when I want to, sounds kind of mean but at least Im honest about it. I love Harry Potter concept myself it brings a whole new fantasy world into kids and people who do enjoy this genre, and I dont find it offensive I actually believe somehow it has some values to consider.

[Drunken Chinchilla]

Heheh yes another heavy topic Say

Well funny you mention Narnia storm as thats whats got me thinking about this. I'm doing a major piece of coursework for my english lit. atm comparing Narnia The Last Battle And The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. Well I read the Narnia books when I was a kid and loved the due to the fact that they had no real ties and worries to the real world BUT my entire image was obliterated when someone happened to mention how Narnia is closely linked with the Bible!!!! It never clicked with me, not once, not even the magicians nephew with the garden and the apple etc. I suppose cus I'm an atheist it wouldn't have clicked straight away...

Still anyway thats how I got to thinking about why people wouldn't read fantasy (perticularly HP due to all the press that incident got) due to religious grounds.  

[Say]

I don't personally know of anyone who didn't read Harry Potter for religious reasons, but I did see a news article about religious people against Harry Potter. It was really stupid! Why don't they protest against other fantasy books? aren't books like Narnia and Lord Of The Rings good enough for them? they had to wait for Harry Potter to come along to start protesting??  

so true... I consider Harry Potter a fantasy book too... I dont know why religious would feel offended :/

[Storm]

Heh, I also learned about Narnia being linked to Christianity long after reading it... not being Christian, all those motifs just eluded me  

[Yonkey]

I'm a Catholic and I've never read a Harry Potter book!  But then again, I don't really read books.

I saw the first Harry Potter movie and found it a little too childish for me, that's why I didn't watch any others.  Personally, the magic/witchcraft thing itself doesn't bother me at all.  I actually like movies that involve fantasy/surreal themes & have special effects that defy the laws of physics (Matrix, Spiderman, etc).  

I don't think I'd ever NOT watch something because of religious reasons.  The only reason I wouldn't watch a movie is if I heard it sucks, but even then some movies I just have to see for myself regardless.  

[Oldbushie]

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/harry_potter_fact_or_fiction.html

Pure bunk, in my opinion, but some of the reasons why more extreme Catholics hate Harry Potter. I'm Catholic myself and I think they are the ones who have gone a bit far...

It's a work of FICTION, people! It's not written to pull people to the Dark Side! Yeesh!

They could use those same arguments against any work of fiction that has an element of evil or occultism practically. It's ridiculous. And there have been a lot of great works of fiction that deal with the occult in some form or another.

"Sorry, no Star Wars for you, it has levitation in it and stuff which looks like witchery and might make you want to be a witch instantly. I'm burning your priceless colelction of Star Wars stuff now."

[Drunken Chinchilla]

ARGH! I don't f***ing believe how ignorant some people can be!!!!1!!!11!!!!!11!!!! (none of you before I continue, your all beautiful and lovely )

I've just been reading a Narnia forum and the amount of crap that is being spouted in the Christianity in narnia section is really worrying and aggravating! Theres poeple now saying that Allah is Satan, any other people's beliefs automatically realtes back to Christianity and Satan! I can't believe that people can be so unaccepting of other beliefs and I'm sorry if anyone else believes the same but its things like this that cause wars and s***. Also a reason why I can never belong to any religion.

Well kinda pointless post really, just wanted to get the burning aggression out of my system!

[Say]

I think jeysie's point is correct, because of harry potter is more orientated to kids thats probably why its got so many negative feedback perhaps from concerned parents, but then again I also agree even if kids do enjoy badly fantasy they can at some levels KNOW they shouldnt jump out the window with a broomstick hahaha, because it wont freaking fly , I dont know its more about common sense when it gets to that point I guess

[Say]

woah... so serious in here, does anyone want some milk and cookies?

you know... to take a break from all the typing , lol

[Jeysie]

This is nothing. You should see me when I *really* get going.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Oldbushie]

Heck, I'll eat Mike's scarf, too.
Peace & Luv, Liz

You'd need a *lot* of ketchup for that.

And yes, milk and cookies please! All this reading needs a break...

[Say]

This is nothing. You should see me when I *really* get going.

lol I suggested that not cuz I would like you guys to stop, in fact If you get a break and get back to it would be nice , thats why I suggested, not that I do not agree, I actually do, I seriously couldnt see how a book like HP could be offensive at all myself, I think its great reading for everyone in fact

*shares cookies!*

[Oldbushie]

Yay!  
*eats yummy cookies baked just by Say*

[Jeysie]

This is nothing. You should see me when I *really* get going.

lol I suggested that not cuz I would like you guys to stop, in fact If you get a break and get back to it would be nice

(laughs ) I was teasing... sort of a "Break? What for? This is just warm-ups!" sentiment.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Drunken Chinchilla]

Yeah one of my firends is a Christian but not to the extent that she lets it rule her life etc. I think some people want to know that there is a community or any number of people who believe what they do, it is a comforting idea. I'm not sure what type of christian she is but they are quite liberal compared to catholicism I think.

Meh, I'm kinda running out of steam now but I'm sure i'll get some more when I get home from school hehe.

[KatieHal]

Mike and everyone else had very good points. The "Christians" who freak over the HP books think it's all about magic and dark arts and witchcraft in the "bad" way - it's not! It's a book about kids growing up and facing an evil force, and trying to win against it! The only point I *might* give them is that the kids do break rules a fair amount in the books and it's kind of forgiven quite often. But it's most commonly done for good reasons, and in efforts to help their friends.

People who think HP are teaching kids to be evil have never read the books. Period. If they had, they would clearly see how wrong that idea is. (My opinion, but hey.)

I mean honestly, their kids are begging to read something!! And loving it!! How can you discourage that??? And the more you tell a kid NOT to do something, the more he or she will want to.

Also, as far as Narnia, CS Lewis was a Christian writer, and though I never took a class on it or read into much myself, from what I understand there is quite a bit of Christianity worked into his works.

His Dark Materials!! I read not long ago, Alex, good books!! Really good. I think I liked the first one best myself, THe Golden Compass, but they were quite good. I've never read Paradise Lost, which I know they are a retelling of, but I'm sure doing so would give even more insight. Have you read the whole series? And what exactly is the topic/thesis of this paper?

Wow...I just missed writing research papers...but only the ones with cool topics like his has!!  Well, bound to happen if you were an English major ....  

And no, I don't personally know anyone who refuses to read the HP books. My friends have all either read them or just aren't fantasy fans and therefore haven't.

[Jeysie]

You know, a thought just occurred to me...

Anyone else find it rather bitterly ironic that a country that was founded on the principles of freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to "pursue happiness", is starting to become so restrictive, based on the tenets of *one* religion?

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Oldbushie]

His Dark Materials is awesome!

I remember the first book came out in middle school I think and I was always waiting fervently for the next one. Took a long time for the other two to finally be written but it was well worth it.

Chronicles of Narnia is great too, I think I've read the entire series at least twice.