Posted on 03/10/2005 9:55:31 PM PST by Coleus
Well, I wouldn't teach a child that demons are fantasy because it would be false, but I can't stop you from teaching whatever you want to your child.
Anyon who takes the trouble to read harry Potter knows that he is undergoing an apprentiship. Yes, he defies authority, misbehaves like a typical kid, ignores the advice of adults he should trust -- and in each instance this leads to trouble.
Most recently, his disrespect for authority resulted in the death of his Godfather, the very person he was trying to save. Hasn't anyone noticed this?
The movies can't show this as well as the books, but there is a rather effective scene in the second movie, in which Harry denies having anything important to say to Dumbledore. Minutes later (movie time) he hears Voldemorte (Riddle) do the same thing.
The point is to show a normal kid doing normal things, and hopefully learning from the consequenses, not to show a flawless superhero.
From this statement it appears that you believe "once saved always saved" which is not Catholic belief, and that is where we differ.
One thing I like about Harry Potter is that sometimes things aren't what they seem like. How often does that happen in reality? Actually, quite often.
I do believe that demons exist. I never said hell is empty, because demons reside there.
But, like Pope John Paul II, I pray and hope that hell is empty.
Harry Potter does not romanticize the occult. That's just church lady talk.
I'm curious what you believe about demons, whether they have physical bodies, or whether they exist as evil influences in the mind. Some hard nosed materialists believe in memes, or ideas that have some of the properties of living entities. But not physical bodies.
"Once saved always saved" is a slur on the actual belief, which I see as "if the things of this world are more to you than Christ, you were never of Christ". The only reason one would refer to it as "once saved always saved" is if he wants to imply that those of us who believe in eternal security are out merrily sinning with the expectation that God forgives us anyway.... someone with that sort of attitude, is most likely not saved....
I could say the same thing about anything. If watching football causes you to reject Christ, in some way, you weren't Christ's to begin with. If debating politics causes you to 'lose' your faith, you never had faith in the first place.
Speaking of church ladies.... I think one of my favorite conversations to overhear in my church were two older ladies talking to each other. One asking the other if she got to see the new Harry Potter movie with her grandchild. I never thought I would hear someone talking so excitedly about it. It was so cute.
"But, I'm not at all surprised that you see something nefarious behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck."
And I'm not surprised to see you dishonestly misrepresenting my position...again...and again, and again.
Not surprised at all. As a matter of fact, if someone had asked me, "Who on FR is most likely to try and twist an assertion of unintended effects into a conspiracy theory," your handle would have been the first that leapt to mind.
Still, the birthday I've had today just wouldn't have been complete without being slimed by you. I've been dealing since I got up with unreason, lack of consideration, dishonesty, two-faced hypocrisy, racism, rudeness, and garden-variety stupidity.
You're just the maraschino on top.
If you want to simulate the table top environment over the internet I would recommend WebRPG . Of course you have to make your own group :).
We have to be careful of the sin of presumption, man's reason is overturned by original sin. Sorting thru what is good and evil is not that simple for us.
"Harry Potter does not romanticize the occult."
Yeah, and Eric Clapton doesn't play the guitar.
"We have to be careful of the sin of presumption, man's reason is overturned by original sin. Sorting thru what is good and evil is not that simple for us."
Bears repeating.
Satan was an angel. He is a supernatural being. We can't outwit him, or even escape him without God's help.
AHHHHH! Don't get me started on Buffy. Buffy is filled with all those things that a good Catholic like me isn't supposed to believe in, like vampires, demons, witches and lesbians.
TS
Cool! How is it for a practical beginner? I'm just sick of my husband having the fun, then asking, "Why don't you get into role playing more?" Hello!! I can't get into something that I don't get to play.
It seems most here have fallen into the arrogant presumption that is just the opposite. I guess it goes hand in hand with nonsense such as private interpetation and moral relativism.
"The greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing men he didn't exist" Lewis' The Screwtape Letters should be required reading for every soul.
It's just an interface for pen and paper D&D, it costs now so I haven't looked at in a couple of years. Once upon a time it was pretty decent. It was basically an IRC client with a lot of bells and whistles like sounds, dice macros, minitures and maps. The biggest problem I had with it was it was somewhat unstable. I would hope that two years later they would have fixed that :).
Satan has no power over those who are God's people, unless He gives that power to Satan - see Job. Satan is not omnipresent, or omnipotent. I think our own sinfulness is more of a danger to us than Satan's power.
And reading Harry Poter is not going to open a doorway in your soul and let the demons in. Sorry, it's just not.
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