Kids, adults shirking duties under cinematic spell of 'Harry Potter'

The Dallas Morning News ^ | 11/16/2001 | By MICHAEL PRECKER

[southern rock]

Good post!

Honestly, I cannot understand why so many Freepers are so threatened by people who DON'T want to see this Harry Potter movie. Its like anyone who doesn't want their kids involved with Potter-mania is roundly condemned as a fundy nutcase. Freedom of religion is part of the 1st amendment too!

[Gasshog]

The point of post was not whether or not I can spell. What you and many others fail to understand is what you call the "Christian" opinion or POV is only truly obtained by a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The point of the post is to exhort Christians to seek God, rather than blindly follow the pack. I have not felt really compelled to "preach" in this forum until now, but I feel that God's spirit is very grieved with His people concerning this. You probably cannot understand this.

Now, run along and play with your 8 ball.

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

"...when I see a passel of kids at the ballpark on Opening Day."

I love it when you say passel!

[Gasshog]

In the process of casting pearls before swine, I hope to reach some who are feeling the grief of the Spirit. This is worth bearing the brunt of the ridicule. I dont usually post such extreme truths but someone needs to hear it, the ones who are reviling me are reviling the truth, they do not want a deeper-walk with God and confronting the truth eases the guilt of their conscience as they continue to believe and hold on to their or their preacher's watered-down ideas of the Word of God.

[CapandBall]

Matthew 6:1 "Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Still doing the 'acts of righteousness' I see. Enjoy your earthly reward.

[Gasshog]

The context of the scripture has to do with the Pharisees making pretense of long prayers in public to appear to be holy and pious while on the other hand they robbed the poor and widows without mercy.

I have shared the truth of God's Word, some accept it other reject it - I am merely a messenger not the author of truth.

So, Rather than hitting me with low-blows and spouting foolishness about how Harry Potter is OK, just fiction, let kids have fun, excuses, excuses, excuses - SOMEONE show ME the in the Word of GOD where God condones or winks at witchcraft, sorcerey, wizards, magic, or familiar spirits.

[CapandBall]

Thank you for your interpretation of Matthew 6:1.
I think it means just what is says, but I will not call you Raca.

[Dems_R_Losers]

It gets worse...last night there were theaters here in the DC area showing the movie at midnight! On the 11:00 news they showed a family waiting in line with a 10-year-old girl. The reporter asked if it was past her bedtime and she said, sure - then her parents chimed in and said, "we don't care! Hahahaha." I said to my husband, well, her teacher is sure going to care when she falls asleep at her desk tomorrow! But, by golly, those parents will sure be able to brag to all their friends that THEY saw the movie first!

I have an 8-year-old who has read all the books and wants to see the movie (as do I, I don't have the patience to read 700-page books anymore), but there is no way he would even THINK to ask to stay up until 2:30 a.m. or skip school to go see it. He was more excited about finishing his school project, and going to his best friend's house for a sleepover and to work on the book they are writing together. I mean, what is the big deal about waiting until Saturday or Sunday? The kids won't be back to school to talk about it until Monday anyway! I think it really is selfish parents who want to brag to their adult friends, or bad parents who have over-indulged their kids and fed them this Harry Potter stuff through the nose so they feel they HAVE to see the movie immediately.

[BluesDuke]

I love it when you say passel!

Thanks! I'm rather fond of your handle, myself - my father drove Galaxie 500s from 1961 through 1965. (He was an insurance broker/adjuster and could get a fresh company car every year; his firm used a Ford dealership in Hackensack, N.J. for their company cars, and he'd pick off a new Galaxie about every fourteen months after he started with the 1960 sedan. My favourite of the lot was his maroon 1964 sedan with the first Ford air conditioner. He surrendered it when he took ill with the cancer which killed him in 1966. Kind of in his memory, when I had the chance to buy a good one used, I bought a maroon 1987 Crown Victoria couple.)

[jrherreid]

Honestly, I cannot understand why so many Freepers are so threatened by people who DON'T want to see this Harry Potter movie. Its like anyone who doesn't want their kids involved with Potter-mania is roundly condemned as a fundy nutcase. Freedom of religion is part of the 1st amendment too!

I think it's because so many of the folks who dislike Harry Potter scream that the pro-Harry Potter folks are participating in psychological child-abuse and will be held accountable to God for their misbehavior. Not to mention the fact that their kids will grow up to be masters of the black arts.

Saying stuff like that can be offensive, ya know.

[jrherreid]

Seek God, ask forgiveness from your selfish-pleasure seeking ways and let the Blood of Jesus cleanse and refresh your souls.

Wow. What a great way to win folks over to your side. Insult them and call 'em selfish. Can I get a list of non-selfish books to read?

[ikka]

The most telling part of the entire HP thing is that people WILL NOT admit the truth that JK Rowling did research into occult practices in order to give her books more accuracy.

If it is completely fantasy, and is not tied in at all with the true practice of witchcraft, WHY did she do this?

For instance, Slytherin may sound like a harmless pun; but it is actually an actual demon that is called upon in Satanic practices.

Secondly, you need only look at the correlation between one topic and another to see if it is a good thing or a bad thing. Go ahead, do a web search on google.com with search terms like "slytherin witchcraft -hogwarts" (use -hogwarts to eliminate the many uses of this term in kids' pages); it ain't exactly kiddie stuff.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

God works in mysterious ways.

Good luck with your tooth.

[TheOtherOne]

LOL

Thanks, but no thanks.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Now, run along and play with your 8 ball.

So you're saying the Magic 8 Ball is scripturally acceptable even though its name contains the word (gasp) "Magic"? Could I have a yea or nay on this?

[Leroy S. Mort]

The most telling part of the entire HP thing is that people WILL NOT admit the truth that JK Rowling did research into occult practices in order to give her books more accuracy. If it is completely fantasy, and is not tied in at all with the true practice of witchcraft, WHY did she do this?

If in the course of writing a novel, I do research into Christianity and include some of its arcana in my book, does that make me a Christian or one who is tied in to the true practice of Christianity? Does this also work for Jewishness? the Masons? the Illuminati? the Klan? the Knights of the Round Table?

[Winged Elf]

That's because there's essentially a cold war in progress between Wiccans and Christians as far as whose magic is "real" and whose magic is "fake".

[Winged Elf]

It's an effort to keep from alienating the Wiccans that get hooked onto this stuff for all the wrong reasons. JK Rowling won't have a huge problem with alienating the Christians because the Christians voluntarily alienate themselves.

[strela]

God works in mysterious ways.

And so do dry sockets (which is apparently what I have) :(

In my disreputable past, I've had broken bones, road rash from dumping a Sportster on a gravel road at 60 MPH, a fractured skull from a long-ago encounter in a pub in Sydney, and miscellaneous torn tendons, ligaments, and sprains. And I'd put the pain from this blasted tooth up against any of them for sheer agony and relentlessness.

[Peter W. Kessler]

I'm going to buy the sound track to HP.

Then, I'm going to run it through the "Disgronificator."

If I hear Slim Whitman singing "Uma Paloma Blanca," I'll have to admit that the Holy Rollers here were right.

But, until I do...