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HARRY
POTTER IS NOT WICCAN
Subject: Harry Potter
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002
From: Brian
WAY too many
people assume that if he casts spells, Harry Potter must be a Wiccan.
At no point
in the story is there any discussion of a higher power, neither
the Christian God or the Male/Female forces of the Pagan ways. In
fact, I've seen Star Trek characters in more chapels than Potter
in any Temple...
There are no
pentagrams, no explanations of the Rede or the Law of Three. No
one is Skyclad (naked), no one has an athame. Even the 'familiars'
are bought, sold and handed down, so there's no binding of souls
between them and master. There are no ritual sacrifices (except
for the unicorn, and that is more of a vampiric attack, the beast
isn't sacrificed TO anyone).
Potter's spells
are not cast by ritual invocation of any spirit or even by any lengthy
incantation. He is born a wizard, and the purpose of the school
is to teach him to control his own magical abilities. He points
the wand, speaks Latin, and things happen. There isn't even a 'token
Muggle' at the school to draw 'mundane' children into the magical
world. Anyone saying this is a handbook for Satanism needs to learn
what a handbook is, much less actual Satanism.
They celebrate
Christmas in the school, which would have been a GREAT opportunity
for a Wiccan-conspiracy director to point out the Pagan origins
of the holiday we celebrate today (burning the Yule Log to let The
Green Man free for the next spring, ). Personally, I would have
pointed out that in some countries, it is traditionally a witch
that brings the gifts, not a fat elf from a Coke commercial, as
it would seem fitting in the general theme of the movie.
But, if people
stop concentrating on the peripheral resemblance to what they might
understand Wiccan to be, there are a lot of good messages in the
movie. His main protection from the Evil One is not a Guardian Demon
or any spell, but is based on his mother's love for him. He wins
in the end because he is trying to save others, not to profit for
himself. Evil Loses. All the time. Even the after-school-special
evil of Malfoy and his house, and that's thru the good kids' bravery,
intelligence and self-sacrifice. Where does the bible say THOSE
are bad things....
Brian Lallatin
Sr. Specialist, Technical Training
Response:
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you! -David
ARE
ALL MOVIES OKAY?
Subject: harry_potter
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002
From: Kayle Vick
In all seriousness,
I'm curious as to what your staff uses as a judgement and basis
for movie viewing? Please explain to me what constitutes a movie
Christians should not see.
What should
I use as a guide when going to the theaters? Can I assume all "R"
movies are okay? Is one naked scene okay? How about 7 scenes in
a movie? What if it's extremely violent (even if the plot of the
movie is good and faith is involved)? Please help me understand
this so I do not live by a double standard. Thank you.
Response:
Since "all things are lawful to you", you will have to
set your own limits in terms of what is spiritually benefical to
you personally. I can not ask you to be "subject to (some)
one else's scrutiny." The important part here is "not
be dominated by anything." Consider these scriptures: 1 Cor.
2:15: Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves
subject to no one else's scrutiny. 1 Cor. 6:12: "All things are
lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are
lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. 1 Cor.
10:23: "All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial.
"All things are lawful," but not all things build up. -David
GO
HARRY!
Subject: Harry_Potter
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002
From: Paul
I'm delighted
(though hardly surprised) that you not only think well of the Harry
Potter books and movie, but that you valiantly grapple with misguided
Christians who condemn them.
Whether religiously
or politically motivated, the obsessive self-righteousness of the
censorious mind really has no shame. You should see the list, kept
by a committee of the American Library Association, of books whose
very existence on library shelves has been challenged by one party
or another. Just about every acknowledged, beloved masterpiece of
literature is there. Today Madeleine L'Engle, J.K. Rowling, and
J.R.R. Tolkien are among their favorite candidates for extirpation,
whereby these brilliant literary beacons of ethics, morality, and
even faith for today's kids join the exalted company of Twain and
Shakespeare.
This is insane;
and when its perpetrators invoke Our Lord and Savior in the process,
acutely embarrassing. Taking their lengthy blacklists as a whole,
one can hardly escape the conclusion that what they really want
is for The Good Book to be also the only book.
For such, I
would recommend _Hard Times_, by Charles Dickens. Believing in nothing
but palpable, material facts, Gradgrind was determined to eliminate
any other consideration from the education of his two children.
Deprived of all beauty and imagination, not only were their young
lives extremely dismal, but they did not turn out well.
Alas, this portrayal
being a work of literature and therefore suspect, such advice will
probably go unnoticed by those most in need of it. Ignoring Dickens's
warnings about causes and effects, they will have to suffer the
effects first and then fumble their way back to the causes. Now
that the two tallest buildings in our greatest metropolis have been
wantonly toppled, and we scour the world for the guilty and what
would make them do such a thing, we discover the so-called schools
in the middle east and their young inmates, relentlessly drilled
in a sacred scripture to the exclusion of all else.
Now, I ask those
who would with-hold Harry Potter et al. from their own and others'
children in the name of the Bible: just how, save maybe in degree,
does your attitude differ from the operators' of those Wahhabist
slave-schools?
If it isn't
too forlorn to counter an evident general hostility to books with
yet another book, let's glance finally at "The ethics of Elfland"
from _Orthodoxy_ by G.K. Chesterton. Here a devout and conservative
Christian apologist celebrates fairy tales, complete with magic
and witchcraft, as forces on heaven's side. He points out how great
is the faith of scientists in calling a regularity they observe
a "law." It is nothing of the kind. "We do not count on it; we bet
on it... it is the man who talks about 'a law' that he has never
seen who is the mystic." It is more reasonable to say that "a tree
grows fruit because it is a magic tree. Water runs downhill because
it is bewitched."
Only a child
who has this sense of joy and wonder in the world around him is
likely to embark on the quest of discovering the God who made them.
Response:
Thanks Paul, I always enjoy your comments. -David
HARRY
POTTER COMMENT
Subject: Newsletter_31_Harry_Potter_Is_Dangerous
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001
From: Spota
Dear David:
I just stumbled upon your website today searching for reviews of
the Harry Potter movie. I believe that we should be tolerant of
the differences of opinion among brothers in Christ -- however,
I was surprised at the "tone" and sarcasm of your answers. If you
like the film -- that's o.k. -- but you seem to take it a step further,
and really feel it necessary to DEFEND it. Something about your
manner of response deeply bothers me. I wonder if we are reading
the same Bible, because from your comments, it is difficult to see
the fruits of the spirit in you.
I looked at
your website because it had "Jesus" in the title and so I thought
it would be from a Christian perspective. Surprisingly, you seem
combative against Christians, and often "slam" them.
Response:
Actual I thought the movie was weak and I do not defend it as great
film making. It is reaction against it that I find curious. More
specifically, it is the witch hunting by certain Christians that
I dislike. Your comments are couched well, but your remark "I
wonder if we are reading the same Bible" is as much a "slam"
as anything I might say. Welcome to the club. -David
MOM
SAYS DANGEROUS
Subject: Newsletter_30_Harry_Potter_Is_Dangerous
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001
From: Spota
I agree with
your opinion that SOME Christians look for devils behind every bush
-- however, I do have some reservations about introducing concepts
of witchcraft to young children. As a teenager, I was very interested
in the supernatural... God, as well as the occult. I read lots of
astrology books, had my tarot cards read, and was interested in
communicating with the dead. I think you will agree that all of
these things are forbidden by God. What began as an innocent curiosity
became an obsession with me -- I began to believe what my cardreader
told me, and every time I had a problem or question, I couldn't
wait to consult her.
As an adult,
I became a born-again Christian. Based upon my background, I am
alarmed to hear parents telling their kids that witchcraft and satanism
is "just fantasy" or "just pretend". If you do not believe that
Satan is alive and real -- you are mistaken. I don't believe he
is just focused on bad people, or evil people -- he has already
won them. I believe that Satan's last frontier is the Church --
and the minds of our children. That is who Satan came to kill, steal
and destroy -- the children of God.
I do not want
to return to the days of witchhunts; however, I believe that we,
as Christian parents, must be careful to analyze the books and movies
we are allowing our children to consume. There is a Black Dog and
a White Dog in all of us. Whichever one you feed grows.
Response:
Thank you for being a concerned mom. Harry Potter, to me, is fantasy
and in no way underscores anything I know of Witch Craft in the
real world. Apples and Oranges. -David
JUST
SAY NO
Subject: Newsletter_30_Harry_Potter
Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001
From: Wendy Pirtle
Harry Potter
is about witchcraft. The first verse I could find on God's view
of the subject was Exodus 22:18, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch
to live." While we do not put witches to death in our present culture,
that does not mean Christians should be ambivalent toward witchcraft.
Verse 19 states, "Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put
to death." (What does bestiality have to do with
Harry Potter? And how does the fantasy "witchcraft" in
Harry Potter connect with the pagan witchcraft mentioned in Exodus
22:18? The same Exodus chapter also says that we are to stone a
non-virgin bride to
death (verses 20-21). Further it commands
a rape victim to marry to marry the rapist! (verse 28). The chapter
is extremely
problematic. It is especially difficult
to make a direct connection such anceint Israelite laws and modern
day fantasy/fairy tales. Would you advocate killing non-virgins?
Would you advocate victims marrying their rapists? Of course not.
I am sorry to be so blunt. But I get tired of scripture being used
out of context. The verses you carefully selected and use against
fairy tales and fantasy, come from a text that has a very different
context and self apparent application, indeed.
Apples and oranges. -David)
Deuteronomy
18 has a whole list under the heading of "Abomination to God": making
children pass through fire, divination, soothsaying, observing omens,
enchanter, witch, sorcerer, charmer, medium, wizard, necromancer;
also man lying with man as with a woman. Seems quite clear to me.
(Perhaps to you. But I say nothing of your biblical list in Harry
Potter. I know Christians have a long history of taking things of
paganism and turning them to the use for God's glory. But I believe
Harry Potter is trying to use Christian values to make it's not-so-subtle
wickedness more palatable to us. I choose not to allow it in my
life or my children's lives. Just as I explained that we don't support
Pokemon because it is wrong to make your pets fight.
(I appreciate your motherly concerns. Bravo! Please do watch being
overly protective. -David)
There are so
many wonderful things in literature and film that are truly worthy
that I see absolutely no reason to be entertained by questionable
material.
(Is Lord of the Rings and CS Lewis okay? What about the fantasy
wizards in those books? Do you forbide Star Wars? Are the Wizard
of Oz, Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins unfit for your children?
Etc. Etc. Etc. -David)
Wendy Pirtle
HP,
LOTR AND ENGLISH LIT 101
Subject: Harry Potter, Lord
of the Rings
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001
From: Tom Orr:
David: An interesting
and lively dialogue on these tales. I won't add a lot right now
except to say that Tolkien and Rowling fall squarely into a long
and honorable English story-telling tradition dating back to Malory,
Spenser, and Shakespeare, in which sorcery, magic, and enchantment
serve as metaphors of the quest for knowledge and power, which,
of course, is at the heart of the greatest story ever told in the
New Testament. William Blake said, "Imagination is the divine body
of Christ." These are tales of imagination, not manuals on witchcraft.
May the saints preserve us from book-burners and the soothsayers
of ignorance. David, God bless you in your good work through hollywoodjesus.com.
Grace and peace.
--Tom Orr
Response:
You are so right. Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate them.
-David
ENJOYED
ALL THE VIEWS
Subject: Harry_Potter
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001
From: Pat
Hi, I've read
all the comments posted and enjoyed all the various views. I particularly
liked Kim's (Nov. 14th) & Maggi's (Nov. 15th). And I was impressed
by parents who took the time to read the books before allowing their
young children to read them. That is love and committment as a parent.
Although, I must say that I am saddened by the anger against another
follower of Christ just because he/she does not agree with his/her
opionion. I wonder if these people ever question why young girls
turn to wicca. Do they ever wonder why our churches are not reaching
these people. Have our churches become stumbling blocks to the young?
I have just finished reading, "Too Christian Too Pagan" by Dick
Staub. It was a real eye opener for me.
Blessings, Pat
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