Posted on 01/02/2006 8:20:04 AM PST by anhonestchild
First of all I would like to add that I am a 13 year old girl and am not a parent. I have read all of the Harry Potter Books. With two parents that are devoted Christians I understand partially your view on the Harry Potter books but I respectfully disagree. To a young child the Harry Potter books are comforting. These people although portrayed as witches and wizards are well rounded people and little kids respect that. For instance if any of you have read the Harry Potter Books Hermoine Granger is a girl very dedicated to her school work and loyal to her friends. Why wouldn’t you want your children to follow in her foot steps. And dreaming of flying or casting of a spell isn’t a crime. Dreams are part of life. Also these books have very little to do with worshiping Satan. Just as in the movies “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Matrix” Harry Potter is a fight between good and evil. To a readers point of view especially a young readers point of view they dream of fighting the enemy not being the enemy which is what Jesus is “the hero” “the leader” and “the savior”. In these books Harry is “the hero” of the wizarding world. I understand it is better for a child to read about Jesus but honestly have you ever seen a child read the bible. The Harry Potter books relate to us and can portray good and evil at a young age. These characters can help guide your children’s point of view on how to act Harry Potter- a boy struggling to do the right thing and safe anybody he can. He is very dedicated to his friends and he is determinded to help any and all who need him. That isn’t a problem if I were a parent I would want my children to act like that Hermonie Granger- a girl dedicated to her school work and her friends. She is very level headed and always tries to help push both of her friends in the right direction. Hermonie is much like me and as I read these I wanted to be like her.
Ron Weasley- a boy who may stand in the shadow of his friends but is always loyal, helpful, and true to his friends and even his enemies. This is a good person you want you kids to read about good people and not people that are robbing stores and drinking like most books do. These are a few of the characters in Harry Potter and I believe that all of them are the same with the exception of Voldemort. I understand that you are protective of your children as my mom didn’t let me read these books until last year but don’t debate a great series. These are good and wholesome books and I have taken a lot of time to defend them. I hope that as I have seen your point of view you will see mine and consider it. Thanks for your time
People who look for Satan can find him anywhere, even when he isn't there. The books do not promote witchcraft because as anyone who has read the books knows, you either are or are not born with magical abilities and nothing you can do will change that.
The books are so much better than the movies. There is so much detail in the books they can't possible show it in a two hour movie. For example, they cut out at least the first third of the Goblet of Fire when they translated it to film.
I really wanted to see Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee....
*Sigh*
Oops; read's = reads
Yes, with "license". The last one actually departed from the original plot lines the most, and left out stuff I think is very important to the continuing storyline, but they may be saving those pieces for the next one.
IMHO, the audio books with Jim Dale are superb (both the writing and the acting), and excellent listening after seeing the films. You can get them used, cheap.
Take it easy...
Seconded! One of the best audiobook readers out there.
Thanks for the input. I agree. When I was a child I read alot of fairy tales and fantasy stuff like Narnia, Wizard of Oz, etc... and I am still a Christian.
However, your post is directed to everyone with the POV that we're all against it. I think you'd find the breakdown here as follows:
1) A small minority are against HP.
2) A larger minority are for it or neutral.
3) A very large majority simply don't care about it one way or the other.
It is interesting that you posted with the intent to dispel what you think is the general view of HP and I'm wondering if you think we're a monolithic bunch on every issue. Which, of course, we are not!
Good job, I hope you stick around here. Happy New Year!
The editting of the Goblet of Fire film was really bad.
The movies are in no way as good as the books. So much has to be cut out and changed to fit movie "guidelines"
Fantasies are only stories, but there are always opportnities for something to be learned from fictions... That's all it is.
As a homeschooling parent, I found the Harry Potter series to be very useful in getting my middle daughter's reading level up. We started out in "assisted reading" mode (she reads until she gets to a word she can't pronounce, I pronouce it for her and make sure she understands what it means) for a few pages per day. By the second book she was reading on her own
Sorry hon. There are plenyt of good books for kids out there that don't embrace magic, spells, and witchcraft.
For true Christian themed fantasy the Tolkein books are fantastic, as is C.S. Lewis the Chronicles of Narnia.
At our house, we're HP free. We're a Narnia house.
Same thing with my nephew. His readin showed marked improvement after we gave him the series as a birthday gift---and made an effort to assist him with the reading.
I LOVE Jim Dale!! The only books I have ever preferred to listen to rather than read.
If your parents are fine with it and you have no problem with them either, then don't let my opinion get in your way. Let your conscience be your guide. For me, it is too close to actual occult terms and practices for enjoyment. LOTR and other similar books do not have that problem.
Welcome to Free Republic. Your article makes some excellent points and is well thought out. There are some things that you ought to consider.
To whom are you addressing this article. You write as if it is a response to something. What? You don't give us, the readers, a complete understanding of your topic. A review of Harry Potter is acceptable but you seem to lump us all in a boat condemning Harry Potter. Not all of us do. I have read many of the Potter books and I don't condemn them. I haven't read the latest two because I found them boring.
Another mistake you made is not breaking your rant into more paragraphs. Frankly, it was too pedantic to interest me in trudging all the way through each paragraph. Break it up and you'll hold the reader's interest longer.
There is a reason you're taught grammer (or should be taught) grammer. It is to enable you to communicate more effectively. Study those rules. Follow them.
sorry I could not disagree with you more.
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