Harry Potter is Dangerous for Both You and Your Children

You keep the feud going, keep the resentment bubbling, keep focusing on your supposed Christian "enemies" while islam conducts divide and conquer on us all.

Real bright, but hey, as long as you "feel good about it"!

If your child is able to be unduly influenced by a fantasy movie then you are a terrible parent.

Thanks Esther Ruth!

Millions of people have spent time and money encouraging, escorting their kids to, and/or enjoying the Harry Potter series with their children. So they don't want to read articles calling for their discernment in this regard; hence, the commentary.

I found Fr. Casimir Puskorius' homily caring and courageous, and I wish our priest would have done the same. He encouraged the reading of Potter and did so during a meeting about Confirmation at our church. We thought that a little odd, and continued to search out the series on our own.

I liked O'Brien's book. He's covered this topic for some time now.

What next? An essay on the evils of kids being exposed to C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, et al.), or Tolkien’s LOTR books?

How about Arthur C. Clarke's The Star? Nope, I don't expect to a sermon addressing *that* one any time soon.

Really? How peculiar.

In the first Harry Potter book it’s only his mother’s sacrifice of love that saves him, in the second book he is saved by loyalty and the Sword of Truth - sorry, Griffindor; in the third the day is saved through mercy, compassion and justice; the sixth book closes with the prevention of a child from being forced into committing murder. There’s a lot of Christian imagery there; you just have to look past the wands and broomsticks to see it.

Doctor Faustus is a morality play.

Like Faustus, Voldemort is too self-absorbed to understand that it is his own choices and his own actions, that doom him. Like Faustus, Voldemort tears his own soul apart in his quest for power through the dark arts. And, again, like in that tale, Voldemort is implored to repent, but doesn’t.

If you didn’t see any Christian themes in the Harry Potter books you must’ve been reading different ones to me...

Harry is tempted by the “dark arts”, and he wavers, but he does not fall. And it is through his interactions with the other characters as much as his own experiences that Harry discovers the values of virtue: love, faith, hope, charity, compassion, humility, loyalty, repentance and sacrifice.

Shades of The Pilgrim’s Progress there.

I know The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe gets a better press from the Christian allegory standpoint, but I can’t imagine why; it’s utterly one-dimensional and cack-handed by comparison.

The Pevensies are handed magic potions and weapons, consort with talking animals, don’t do anything of any real consequence for the most part, don’t really learn anything along the way, and don’t even defeat the Big Bad (a talking lion who appears for a handful of pages in the entire book, does a quick Christ impression and then wins the battle for them).

Only Edmund goes through any kind of character improvement - and in his case it’s a very lazy conversion: “I’m spoilt and jealous, I’m now betraying my sister, now I’m a slave and being whipped and I don’t like it, I’m sorry”.

How Rubbish.

Snape’s seventeen-year-long fight for redemption, conflicted with his constant guilt and bitterness and inability to connect with anyone else and the fact nobody really likes him let alone trusts him (except Dumbledore perhaps), is infinitely more believable.

If Narnia makes your approved reading list but Harry Potter does not, there is a book which deals with the same journey of discovery as Harry Potter but in a far more sanitised way.

It’s called “The Land of Far-Beyond”, by Enid Blyton.

Okay, it’s as subtle as a brick and as complicated as The Cat In The Hat, but it’s definitely safe for the kids and I don’t think there’s any wand waving or broomsticks in it.

Plus, if they ever read The Pilgrim’s Progress then at least the kids’ll know where John Bunyan got the idea from.

Actually, no, the HP books do NOT send “the message that ‘Really cool kids practice magic and summon demons.’”

No offense, but because you have your fundmental facts wrong, your opinions — based on such misconceptions — persuade me only about you, not about the books that you’ve not read or have inserted non-existent materials into.

Where is the Vatican condemnation of this? Your author is uninformed and should NOT be more Catholic than the Vatican.
Maybe the pope has better things to do than review movies ... but here's some information that might be of value to you ... there's more in addition if you're interested (i.e. Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a brief letter against the series).

From the introduction by Bishop Julian Porteous, auxiliary bishop and exorcist of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia:

"The influence of the Harry Potter series is complex because the universe created in it is one of the occult, and it reveals an ambivalent morality at work. Like nature there are laws which govern the moral life. There is an objective moral order to the universe—parents instinctively know this. The fantasy world needs to reinforce the laws of the moral universe. Every human being engages in a moral journey, and it is important that each individual has good guideposts to help him find the way. This is particularly important in the early formation of children.
"I have long had serious reservations about the spiritual underpinning to the Harry Potter series. Like Michael O’Brien, I believe Catholic parents need to be alerted to the possible negative influences that these books can have on the moral and spiritual formation of their children. Any parent concerned about the formation of their children's character should read this book."

—Bishop Julian Porteous,
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia.
From the Editor of LifeSite News:

"Master story-teller and artist Michael O'Brien—the man to whom CNN went for comment on Harry Potter—has penned the definitive work assessing the Potter phenomenon. This book is essential reading for all parents whose children have read or are considering reading the wildly popular offerings of J. K. Rowling and similar works such as Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
"Although this is an analytical work, the reader will be captivated from the beginning, from the must-read preface onward. O'Brien's earlier work, A Landscape With Dragons, delineated authentic Christian fantasy literature from its counterfeits. Now in Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture, he fascinatingly contrasts Potter-world with C. S. Lewis' Narnia and with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, specifically Harry with Frodo.
"For those whose children have consumed Potter, O'Brien's analysis will enable parents to comprehend the messages which have been fed to their children and give them the points and arguments which will hopefully be the antidote to properly reset their moral order.
"The book goes beyond Potter, however, to address other bestselling series such as Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. In addition to these and other fantasy books, O'Brien reviews the films which they spawned.
"In all, the author's new book teaches Christians how to discern harmless fantasy literature and film from that which is destructive to heart, mind and soul. I cannot recommend this work highly enough."

—John-Henry Westen
Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, LifesiteNews.com

From Dr. Mark Miravalle:
"In the present moral confusion, especially as it is manifested in contemporary cultural expressions of literature and art, thank God for the moral compass provided by Michael O’Brien.
"It may be uncomfortable for parents to see the actual anti-Christian and even diabolical metaphysics behind series like Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, and Twilight, but only the truth sets us free. Parents need to know that not all reading is good reading for the precious souls of the children God has entrusted to us. Authentic Christian faith, family and culture should be what dwells in the minds and hearts of the next generation, not thousands of pages and images of witchcraft, pseudo-heroes replete with moral compromise, and vampire metaphors for lust and romance.
"Jesus wants better for our youth and so should we. I am grateful for the inspired courage contained in Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture and pray that it will illuminate other minds and hearts the world over regarding the grave and insidious dangers of present neo-pagan youth fantasy."

—Dr. Mark Miravalle, Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

From The Catholic Herald, London:

Michael O’Brien, well-known Canadian icon painter and novelist, has written a serious reflection on the Harry Potter phenomenon. It is a brave exercise, well worth reading if only to make readers think harder about a subject they would rather not engage with. On the one hand there is a global army of Rowling supporters, glad that their children are reading anything, and convinced that the seven books of the series are imaginative, harmless fun; on the other is an American Bible Belt backlash, which regards the series as dangerous occult literature. Into this fiercely polarised argument comes O’Brien’s own measured voice.

—Francis Phillips, The Catholic Herald

Link.

“No offense, but because you have your fundmental facts wrong, your opinions — based on such misconceptions — persuade me only about you, not about the books that you’ve not read or have inserted non-existent materials into.”

Sorry to disagree. I’ve read the first book and seen the movie. Harry Potter is cool. He’s the good guy. He practices magic. He wins. And, magic is clearly a morally neutral movie subject—good guys do it and bad guys do it.

I’m sure you have a deeper and more profound understanding of the literary depths of the series. I like to keep it simple when screening stuff for an eleven year old. He will. “Dad, was that cool when Harry blasted . . .?”

My son and I did almost the same thing you did. My son is younger than yours. I read the first 3 books to him. We read the last 3-4 alterating pages and chapters.
I wonder how many millions of parents/sons/daughters have done the same throughout the world ?
I will always look back at those bedtime reading of chapters as one of my fondest memories of bonding with my son.
JK Rowling should be given a nobel prize for single handedly increasing the literacy of the world.

Do you understand who Father Peter Fleetwood is? What the Official of the Pontifical Council for Culture is?

Here it is from the Vatican.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/cultr/index.htm

Now if you want to set your loyalties to an author of a book, you are welcome to, however, I have given you the information from The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture. So unless you have a statement from the Vatican going against their own Official, your author is wrong.

Elen’s going to see the new movie with one of her church friends this coming up weekend. I’ll wait for DVD from Netflix.

“No offense, but because you have your fundmental facts wrong, your opinions — based on such misconceptions — persuade me only about you, not about the books that you’ve not read or have inserted non-existent materials into.”

Sorry to disagree. I’ve read the first book and seen the movie. Harry Potter is cool. He’s the good guy. He practices magic. He wins. And, magic is clearly a morally neutral movie subject—good guys do it and bad guys do it.

I’m sure you have a deeper and more profound understanding of the literary depths of the series. I like to keep it simple when screening stuff for an eleven year old. He will. “Dad, was that cool when Harry blasted . . .?”

>>So they don’t want to read articles calling for their discernment in this regard; hence, the commentary. <<

Mlizzy, I hold much respect for you. However, with this statement, you have insulted those of us who have done our own research regarding these books LONG before one was handed to our children.

You have taken the word of an author selling books and found information to support his conclusions. Other Catholic mothers, like myself, went into the research of these books with an open mind. We looked at both sides of the debate and concluded that the books are harmless and the Vatican agrees.

Please don’t insinuate that good Catholic mothers are just happily ignorant as our children read any pap that comes along. I have given you the information from the Pontifical Council which along with this book,

http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Harry-Potter-Catholic-Family/dp/1592763987

opened my mind to okaying my children reading this series.

I remind you that you were the one who first picked a quarrel with other Christians on this thread by sneering at St. Christopher as "make believe" and generalizing it to other saints. If you are so very concerned with divisions among Christians as an impediment to opposing the jihad, don't snipe at the veneration of saints, which was common to all Christians, Orthodox, Latin, Coptic, Armenian, or Assyrian prior to the 1500's, and abolished only among protestants--and not even all of them.

I would say on the field of battle against Islam we Orthodox have done and continue to do our part--even when stabbed in the back by America as was done in the Balkans under Clinton.

My tagline, were FR to give us more space would read:

"And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know what this was all about."
--Slobodan Milosevic

He spoke those words before the kangaroo court convened against him in the Hague, when they refused to allow him to show photos of Bosnian and foreign jihadis standing over piles of severed heads of Orthodox Christian Serbs. The protestant nations of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands all took the part of the jihadis against their erstwhile allies the Serbs. Such great defending of us against Islam!

Give it up.

For your edification here is one of the Orthodox hymns in praise of the witness of St. Christopher:

Thou wast terrifying both in might and countenance: thou didst willingly suffer temptation from thy persecutors; those men and women sought to arouse in thee fire of lust, but they followed thee to martyrdom. Wherefore thou art our strong protector, O Great Martyr Christopher.
--The Kontakion of the Great-Martyr Christopher (in Tone 4)

>>But HP combines that with the message that “Really cool kids practice magic and summon demons.”<<

Which demons? Can you give an example of one of the students summoning demons? Because I must have forgotten it.

It’s a major tearjerker.

Except maybe for the bits about love and sacrifice, themes consistent in all of the Potter books.

The book teaches children to participate in spiritual darkness. Do you believe there are demons? Principalities? It never ceases to amaze me how many claim to be Christian yet completely ignore the warnings He gave us.

I used to read Tarot cards. I dabbled in astrology. Did any of us not play with Ouiji boards and seances? I don't think kids realize the door that gets opened when we play with such things. Apparantly a lot of adults don't either.

Demonic principalities are real and they're just waiting to devour our children. Just because there is love weaved in is no reason to dangle our children in front of danger.

That’s what I was reacting to also, the “summon demons” part. (Obviously HP and his friends do “use magic.”) Only the baddies in HP summon what I would call demons.

>>The book teaches children to participate in spiritual darkness<<

Where? Give us an example. Because magic is a talent in these books. It is not something that is taught. It is used as another’s ability to play an instrument or skill at kicking a football. You either have it or you don’t.

So where in the books do the children participate in spiritual darkness?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians
4:6-7).

Exactly.
I fear that those who scream the loudest about these books have never read the whole series. They get quotes out of context on the internet and jump to conclusions.