At root, Rowling's objective is to interest the young in a spiritual path that is the converse of what healthy Christian fantasy is about.
I disagree and he gives no examples to substantiate his point.
The use of "magic" in Christian fantasy is always for the reinforcing of the moral order of the universe, the development of man's proper use of freedom. Rowling, by contrast, tries to turn that order topsy-turvy.
Again, a charge with no substantiation.
The subtle and unsubtle manipulation which she uses to control the child's mind is obvious from the first few pages, prompting one to wonder if this is a deliberate attempt at indoctrination.
This is silly. "to control the child's mind" is paranoid.
Among the many dubious messages, presented with charm and power, there are these: occult activity is liberating, noble, exciting, and not what your parents and Christians in general say about it. Coupled to this message is the gross characterization of traditional families, and anyone else who objects to the occult, as abusive hypocrites.
This too is silly. One could note that only the bad guys are involved in anything like "satanic" or "ritualistic" magic. Or, that Harry doesn't exactly find his magical powers or his magical school "liberating"; he has all manner of normal problems there. In fact Harry is happy with his friends, his sports, his teachers, and his surrogate family and not with his powers. As to the final comment, I think he refers to the Dursley's. They aren't meant to represent traditional Christian values by any stretch of the imagination. They are the archetypical bad step-parents.
This article is silly and hysterical.
Thank you! All I read from these threads is nothing but hysteria WITH NOTHING to back it up. Good Grief, why don't these same vigilantes ban Shakespeare because Macbeth contains witches??!
Some people need to get a grip.
If anyone is afraid that the foundations of their faith is about to be detroyed because their kid (or a friend of their kid) read a Harry Potter book, then I submit, the foundations of their faith were not that strong to begin with.
Fair enough.
At root, Rowling's objective is to interest the young in a spiritual path that is the converse of what healthy Christian fantasy is about.
I disagree and he gives no examples to substantiate his point.
We can only speculate as to what her motivations are. If they are nefarious, it is not unreasonable to believe that she would disguise them.
I believe that she is deliberately attempting to interest children in the occult because, as O'Brien says, evil means are used to bring about good ends. That is, the casting of spells is used to bring about good ends. Also, witchcraft is presented as interesting, in contrast to the boring adult world of the Muggles. I can only conclude that this is deliberate.
The use of "magic" in Christian fantasy is always for the reinforcing of the moral order of the universe, the development of man's proper use of freedom. Rowling, by contrast, tries to turn that order topsy-turvy.
Again, a charge with no substantiation.
Actually, I think he contradicts himself a little here. The practice of witchcraft is usually portrayed as evil in Christian literature. Although "magic" (as in fairy godmothers) has been used as a stand in for good spirits (angels).
I think this goes back to the fact that Harry uses evil means either to bring about good or he uses evil means (wizardry) to bring about his ends.
The subtle and unsubtle manipulation which she uses to control the child's mind is obvious from the first few pages, prompting one to wonder if this is a deliberate attempt at indoctrination.
This is silly. "to control the child's mind" is paranoid.
Maybe "predispose the child's mind" would have been a better phrase. I would cite again the portrayal of the glamorous world of wizards vs. the drab world of the Muggles.
Among the many dubious messages, presented with charm and power, there are these: occult activity is liberating, noble, exciting, and not what your parents and Christians in general say about it. Coupled to this message is the gross characterization of traditional families, and anyone else who objects to the occult, as abusive hypocrites.
This too is silly. One could note that only the bad guys are involved in anything like "satanic" or "ritualistic" magic. Or, that Harry doesn't exactly find his magical powers or his magical school "liberating"; he has all manner of normal problems there. In fact Harry is happy with his friends, his sports, his teachers, and his surrogate family and not with his powers. As to the final comment, I think he refers to the Dursley's. They aren't meant to represent traditional Christian values by any stretch of the imagination. They are the archetypical bad step-parents.
"One could note that only the bad guys are involved in anything like "satanic" or "ritualistic" magic." And the good guys are involved in "good" magic. But to a Christian, there is no such thing as good wizardry. And that's how she normalizes wizardry and gets the camel's nose under the tent.
This article is silly and hysterical.
We'll have to disagree on this one.
Agreed. It isn't to control, it is to enlist. It is the candy eggs of the Ishtar bunny on the Day of Resurrection. No symbolism there? Ishtar was supposedly born of an egg. She, as the "mother-goddess of the earth" is the model for Gaia. The rabbit is a pagan symbol of fertility.
Sleep tight. It's a sale. The sword comes later.