Ditto that. Why do these people try to compare children's literature with epic (grown-up) myths.
If I could get a house elf to do clean my house and scoop the cat pan, I would take back all my elf-bashing. :)
Ditto that. Why do these people try to compare children's literature with epic (grown-up) myths.
Excerpt from "Potter's Magic" in Credenda-Agenda
http://www.credenda.org/issues/14-2recipio.php:
"Potter's magic is a magic for materialists. It is a magic that comes from nowhere and leads to nowhere. It attempts to make magic a neutral category that can be approached however one wishes. Everyone gets a degree from the same school and does with it whatever he or she deems fit. But the magic itself is impersonal. Sure there is a hero and an arch-villain. But they both draw from the same neutral force. And it would seem that this impersonal force could probably care less whether either of them existed, let alone which one of them was to win.
This is one of the things that Tolkien did well. His magic is always personal. The Forest of Lothlorien feels the way it does, because it is under the power of Lady Galadriel. Mordor feels the way it does because it is under the power of Sauron. One can't use magic in Middle Earth without immediately orienting oneself to cosmic powers. Every spell is biased. It comes from somewhere and leads to some ultimate purpose. Although Tolkien is never quite explicit in the text, he is always deliberately describing a Christian world, created by the Christian God. So Potter's harmlessness is really its biggest flaw. But this is no different than most books that Christians allow their children to thoughtlessly read. How many authors write as if trees are neutral? How many parents let their children go on reading stories about porcupines that presuppose the myth of neutrality? How often do we watch the ocean and miss the cosmic implications? Consequently, Harry Potter doesn't need to be burned, unless of course we are going to burn the bulk of our literature collections. He's a fine read for a Christian, so long as we pity all the things that the book is missing."