Is Harry Potter merely entertainment?

FIRST-PERSON: Is Harry Potter merely entertainment? Jun 2, 2004 By Phil Boatwright

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (BP)--"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.

While the Harry Potter book and film series has held a hypnotic fascination for youngsters, its thematic foundation is troubling. Arguably, perceptive children can view such material without succumbing to the snare of the occult, but it would be naive to think that movies and TV programs containing witchcraft are not aiding the rise of Wicca in our culture.

In a television special titled "Hollywood Spirituality" which aired several years back on E! Entertainment, Raven Mounauni, a professing witch and owner of an occult paraphernalia store, credited the 1996 movie "The Craft" with inspiring young women to explore the world of witches. "I get a lot of teenage girls in here. You can always tell when 'The Craft' has been on TV, 'cause we get a big influx of girls looking for supplies."

Occult practices shouldn't be considered just diverting amusement. Ouija boards, psychic readers and other forms of misleading supernatural entertainment should not be taken lightly. In Leviticus 19:26 we are instructed, "Do not practice divination or sorcery." There are several warnings in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, making it clear that we are to avoid witchcraft or anything associated with the occult. So if God is instructing us to avoid occult practices, how can we justify using it to entertain ourselves?

This may not be a popular view right now. The first Harry Potter film installment earned $969 million worldwide. J.K. Rowlings' five books on the young wizard have become a phenomenon, allowing the author to become the richest woman in England, with assets beyond $1 billion. That would indicate that many parents find nothing wrong with these children's adventures.

There are even a couple of books out right now exclaiming parallels between the Potter books and the Gospel. One author suggests the books help relate Christian themes and truths, opening the door for talking about things such as right and wrong, the nature of faith, loyalty, bravery and trust. Honestly, I think that's a bit thin. Yes, Rowlings’ themes deal with honor, friendship and self-sacrifice, but the kids in Harry Potter gravitate to sorcery in order to accomplish these attributes. And even if there are positive elements associated with the series, you simply can't ignore the witchcraft equation.

Members of Wicca teach a philosophy that embraces no absolute truth or sin and replaces the patriarchal male creator God of the Bible with a belief in both male and female gods. Its credo instructs members to embrace spirits and conjure spells in order to control their lives and the lives of others. There are millions of practicing witches worldwide. Indeed, Wicca has become one of the fastest-growing religions in the world today.

OK, it's good that children are reading. But what is it they're reading? Shouldn't that be considered? When an author makes $1 billion on five books that have sorcery as a main theme, and renowned secular critics hail the films as incredible filmmaking without examining their occult roots, I question what's really behind this phenom.

Is it merely entertainment? Or is there a dark spiritual source feeding and supporting it? I realize that may sound like a stretch, but often Satan is most deceiving with a glossed-over package. Wouldn't it be a shame if kids got pulled into witchcraft, while their folks thought of the books and films as merely children's fantasy? --30-- Phil Boatwright is a film reviewer and editor of The Movie Reporter, on the Web at www.moviereporter.com. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKAB

Galadriel, a magicaly elf, was tempted by the ring, Saruman (a wizard) had formerly been good, but was corrupted, Boromir went off his nut for a bit, but was a good guy,

Thanks for helping me make my point. Galadriel (and Gandalf) chose not to use the magic of the one ring because of its corruptive nature. Boromir and Saruman were corrupted by it, even though as you point out they started off as good fellows.

The mission was to destroy the ring, not to use it.

Article snip..."Gandalf, the wizard in 'The Lord of the Rings,' is an angelic. He is a being created by the One True God who is kind of an arch-angel who is sent to help people accomplish the will of the One True God...

In 'Harry Potter,' the wizard is a human being who is supernaturally empowered to perform magic tricks that may be used for selfish and even evil purposes, Parker said.

In a lecture on the life of Tolkien, James Parker, said the most obvious declaration of Christianity in the trilogy is found in another book by Tolkien, "The Silmarilion." In it, Tolkien details the historical background of Middle Earth -- the fictional world in which the story of "The Lord of the Rings takes place."

In "The Silmarillion," Tolkien speaks of The One who is the creator of the universe and everything in it. This parallels the Genesis creation account, Parker said. The providence of God is also obvious throughout "The Lord of the Rings" because Tolkien's Middle Earth is clearly a moral universe with a set of universal absolutes regarding right and wrong, good and evil, Parker said.

"Not only is God superintending Tolkien's Middle Earth, but He is governing it according to His will and accomplishing His own ends; this comes through in many places in the story," he said.

complete article: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2003/002/

Well, you gotta admit they have something there -- what with all those millions of kids casting curses and conjuring demons out there ... Oh wait. None of that's occured, has it?

Two articles follow:
Satanic killers tell of blood drinking rites
Teen Accused of 'Vampire' Killing

Satanic killers tell of blood drinking rites

By Hannah Cleaver in Berlin (Filed: 18/01/2002)

A WOMAN who says she and her husband killed a German friend with 66 knife wounds on orders from the devil has claimed that she became a satanist in Britain.

German police say any evidence pointing to possible crimes or an illegal satanic ring in Britain will be sent to the relevant authorities.

Manuela Ruda and her husband, Daniel, have admitted killing their friend, Frank Haagen, "for Satan". She said she got a taste for vampirism and the occult while in London and Scotland.

She appeared at the regional court in Bochum in full gothic garb, her head partly shaved to reveal an upside down crucifix and a target tattooed on her skull.

Mrs Ruda, 23, gave a chilling account of drinking blood from volunteers contacted on the internet. She said: "I was in England and Scotland, met people and vampires in London. We went out at night, to cemeteries, in ruins and in the woods.

"We drank blood together, from willing donors. You can't drink from the arteries, no-one is allowed that. I had implanted pegs put in the teeth which were pulled out and were replaced with fangs.

"I also slept on graves and even allowed myself to be buried in a grave to test the feeling. I signed over my soul to Satan two and a half years ago."

The couple have denied responsibility for killing Mr Haagen, 33, although both have admitted committing the crime.

Mrs Ruda told the court: "It was not murder. We are not murderers. It was the execution of an order. Satan ordered us to. We had to comply. It was not something bad. It simply had to be. We wanted to make sure that the victim suffered well."

Her husband compared himself and his wife to a vehicle involved in a fatal accident. "The car would not be charged," he said. "The driver is the bad guy. I have nothing to regret because I haven't done anything." Mrs Ruda said she and her 26-year-old husband lured their victim to their flat. When they arrived a "strange force" and "other beings" were present.

"We were sitting on the couch the whole time, then my husband stood up," she said. "He had terrible, glowing eyes and hit out with the hammer.

"Frank stood up and said something, or wanted to say something. The knife was glowing and a voice told me: 'Stab him in the heart.'

"He then sank down. I saw a light flickering around him. That was the sign that his soul was going down. We said a satanic prayer.

"We were then exhausted, and alone, wanted to die ourselves. But the visitation was too short. We could no longer kill ourselves."

After killing Mr Haagen the couple cut an occult star on his stomach, drank his blood from a bowl and had sex in an oak coffin in which Mrs Ruda usually slept.

The couple were arrested in their flat, the walls of which were covered in satanic slogans and hung with an array of knives, axes and machetes.

Mr Haagen's mutilated and partially-decomposed body was found next to the coffin in the living room.

Dieter Justinsky, the public prosecutor, said: "I have never, ever seen such a picture of cruelty and depravity before. They simply had a lust for murder.

"Both believed in Satan, they worshipped him. A death list found in the flat contained the names of future victims. They drank his blood, slept in coffins and believed they would achieve immortality as vampires."

Several witnesses have testified that the couple suffered from personality disorders. They could both face long terms at secure psychiatric institutions.

The Rudas told police that they went to Britain twice, spending five months in Scotland in 1996 and visiting London in February 1997. The gothic phenomenon, an off-shoot of the punk scene, emerged in the late 1970s. A spokesman for Bochum police said last night that any information relating to crimes in Britain would be passed to the relevant authorities.

,b>Teen Accused of 'Vampire' Killing Tue Jul 16,11:37 AM ET

LONDON (AP) - A teenager obsessed with vampires killed an elderly neighbor and drank her blood because he believed that would make him immortal, prosecutors said Tuesday at the start of his murder trial.

The 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of killing 90-year-old widow Mabel Leyshon at her home in Llanfair in north Wales on Nov. 24. He denies the charge.

Prosecutors said Leyshon's chest was ripped open and her heart removed, wrapped in newspaper and placed in a saucepan on top of a silver platter. Blood was drained from her legs, probably for drinking, prosecutors told the jury at Mold Crown Court. Two fireplace pokers were left crossed at her feet.

Prosecutor Roger Thomas said the teenager was obsessed by "his two main questions — how do I become a vampire and how do I become immortal?"

The defendant decided "a sacrifice, the murder of another human being, was necessary," Thomas said. With his parents away, the youth committed a "planned, deliberate murder to satisfy his own grotesque and selfish ends," he said. The prosecution said the teen entered Leyshon's house by breaking glass in the back door and attacked her from behind as she watched television, stabbing her 22 times and removing her heart.

Thomas said the defendant "was fascinated by" vampires. "He believed they existed, believed they drank human blood, and believed most importantly that they could achieve immortality — and he wanted to be immortal. What may have started out as a bizarre interest became an obsession and led ultimately to murder."

Thomas said the youth had been arrested a month before the killing after using force to get a 16-year-old German exchange student he believed was a vampire to bite his neck so that he, too, could become a vampire.

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