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STAR
WARS AND HARRY POTTER
Subject:
Newsletter_30
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002
From: Neville Barnes
We (evangelicals)
fell over ourselves to use Star Wars to our advantage back in
the 70s and 80s, yet what is the difference between "You're a
wizard, Harry," and "The Force is strong in you, Luke"? The basic
plot is the same (Cinderella). The supernatural element is common.
Only the wording has changed, but some of us are so literal minded
that we will swallow one whole and burn the other.
DUNGEON
AND DRAGONS
Subject:
Satanic_Hysteria_Newsletter_30
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002
From: David Fischer
I am doing
a research paper on wether or not Dungeons and Dragons is satanic.
If you could point me in the way of a few sources that would help
me with the topic (either being satanic or not satanic) that would
be wonderful.
David Fischer djf12887@yahoo.com
Response:
No, sorry, I can not. Good luck. -David
THOUGHT
ON HARRY POTTER
Subject: Harry Potter AND Newsletter_30_Harry_Potter
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002
From: "Wendy"
Hi David,
It has been
interesting, and sometimes sad, this debate over Harry Potter,
between Christians.
Untill recently
I have been stting on the fence regarding the Harry Potter issue,
meaning that I was neither for or against it. In fact I really
had no interest in Harry Potter at all, not because of any issue
with the occult. I just wasn't that interested.
However as
arguements and opinions became more heated, I decided instead
of getting too involve, I would seek wisdom and discerment from
God.
I thought
God knows my heart. He knows that I am aware of the truth, that
Jesus Christ in Lord and Saviour. He knows that if I read Harry
Potter, I'm not going to turn my back on him, and become a witch.
It is interesting
that some Christians believe it's a sin to read Harry Potter,
where as others do not.
So I think
the question to ask is 'What is a sin? The Bible says it is something
that seperates us from God.
How do we
become seperated from God? By becoming obssess with something,
and spending more time with that, then with God.
In other words,
if you have become obsessed with Harry Potter to the point where
it has taken over your life, than yes, for you reading Harry Potter
maybe a sin (because it has seperated you from God).
If however,
you just occasionally read the books, but have no obsession with
them, in that you have more of desire to know God, then to get
your hand on the next Harry Potter book, then enjoy reading them,
knowing that you know God's truth.
Now I know
that some Christians, have said we shouldn't read the books at
all, because it may lead to the occult.
But let me
ask these questions. Do you go to McDonalds? Do you have a glass
of wine with your dinner?
If your answer
is yes to those questions, then I could say to you, 'Well going
to McDonlads could lead to gluttony, or drinking wine may lead
you into an alcohol problem.'
My point is
that everyone is different, in that if some people to have a weight
or drinking problem, that going to McDonalds or have wine with
dinner, may not be a good idea.
The same if
someone in the past has had bad experiences with things like the
occult, then maybe something like Harry Potter isn't good for
you.
And as for
your children, well that is for the parents to discern and anyone
outsiders opinions should be kept to themselves, since most parents
know their own children, and what is best or isn't best for them.
I think when
it all comes down to it, let's stop debating over the Harry Potter
issue, and just accept that some like Harry and some don't.
Stop giving
satan a foothold into this, because I tell you, he is really enjoying
using Harry Potter to break Christian relationships.
And lastly,
I really respect amd admire those who have been able to bring
others to the Christian faith, by using Harry Potter as analogy.
I bet satan wasn't expecting that.
God Bless,
Wendy
LET'S
THINK ABOUT THIS
Subject: Satanic_Hysteria_Newsletter_30
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002
From: Paul
It worries
me when Christians worry to the point of encouraging Satanic Hysteria.
Haven't any of these people gotten to the end of the story yet?
GOD WINS! Every knee shall bow, and declare that he is CHRIST
THE LORD. 'Nuff said.
We accepted
Satan into this world, when, as a species, we ignored God's directive,
and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We
can't defeat Satan by ourselves, BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO. Didn't
any of these same hand-wringing Christians ever read John 3:16?
God gave his Son, so that we may live. Again, 'nuff said.
Be well, and
God Bless -
Paul Kane
Response:
Thanks Paul -'nuff said. -David
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 MEDIA HYPE
Subject: newsletter_30_harry_potter
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002
From: JANIE
I recently
read Harry Potter and really enjoyed the book. Both my daughter
(19) and son (15) read the book and saw the movie. They thought
it was great. If my children were much younger, my concern would
not be the story itself, but the media and merchandising that
goes along with it. I think the danger lies in saturating children
with the thoughts of witchcraft and spells, broomsticks and magic
wands through the advertisements and merchandise that the public
is saturated with. This is the same with most children's movies
and books. My children read the book and saw the movie and moved
on to something else. They are not constantly being reminded of
what they read. The same with the fairy tales that I read as a
child. Even though I read them over and over, I didn't have toys
or backpacks, etc to constantly remind me and fill my mind daily
with thoughts of the fairy tale. It was a fantasy and I knew that.
What child, for a moment or two, might not wish they could play
a game riding a broomstick, or go where they want wearing a cloak
that makes them invisible. But to actually purchase these things
and constantly be pretending and acting these things out, in my
opinion is not healthy. I think children's imaginations should
be encouraged to develop with their own creativity, focusing on
many things - not just one story for months, until the next bit
hit appears.
Thank you. Janie
Response:
Ahh, the great American way of over marketing everything! I agree.
-David
WHETHER
YOU TAKE YOUR KIDS TO HARRY POTTER...
Subject: Harry Potter
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002
From: "Marcy Hagge"
...depends
on who you are, and what the Holy Spirit is telling you. Seems
to me everyone is either saying, "Harry Potter is evil witchcraft!"
or "It's wonderful, go see and enjoy!" Let me suggest a different
approach (one I also suggest for Pokemon,
but that's another story).
First, a general
principle. Anything you read besides Scripture is written by fallen
human beings. Some are Christians who wish to teach theology,
some just to tell a good tale--but even Christians may fail to
write a perfect book. Some are non-christians who want to entertain--or
have an ax to grind. Some are pagans 5000 years dead. How do you
decide what is edifying, what is neutral, and what is dangerous?
A few centuries ago the church taught that all novels were evil
because they were a "pack of lies"--fiction masquerading as reality.
But my great-grandmother used to say, "Chew up the chicken and
spit out the bones." Should we reject every book without a Christian
worldview? Where would that leave Homer's Odyssey? Harry Potter
does have some unchristian elements and moral shortcomings. Are
they fatal flaws or opportunities for discussion? Each believer
must decide where to draw that line.
Personally,
my daughter, my husband, and I have all read the Harry Potter
books, and we just saw the movie last night. We thoroughly enjoyed
it all. However, I would not recommend them for everyone. Let
me see if I can draw a parallel.
Imagine an
outdoorsy family: Mom and Dad both grew up camping, but having
kids slowed them down a bit. So they've been acclimating their
kids to the great outdoors and now enjoy mountain climbing, whitewater
rafting and backpacking trips as a family. The neighbors just
moved from the city. They've never been without electricity in
their lives. They have other, equally valid family entertainments--say,
museums and libraries. Neighbor Mom says to camping Mom, "How
can you take your kids out in the woods? There are snakes, bears,
mountain lions. They could fall off a cliff, or drown. What about
Lyme disease? They could wander off and get lost!" These are all
valid concerns. If Neighbor Mom found herself in the middle of
nowhere with her kids, she would rightfully worry. But Camping
Mom has an answer.
"You're right,
there are dangers in the forest. But these dangers my husband
and I have dealt with. We are familiar with them and have spent
time with our children teaching them how to be safe in the forest,
how to tell poisonous snakes from harmless ones, how to swim,
what to do in a sudden storm, and how to use a compass to find
your way back if you get lost. We believe the lessons of self-reliance
and the beauty of God's creation are too important for them to
miss. Therefore we teach our children all we know, so we can safely
give them what we love."
What a shame
if Neighbor Mom concluded that her friend was dangerously foolhardy
and her "adventures" were tantamount to child abuse. What a shame
if Camping Mom tried to talk her friend's family into her own
next adventure without considering their lack of experience.
The moral
of the story: You can't be someone else's Holy Spirit.
the Fish ><>
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