Harry Potter is Dangerous for Both You and Your Children

Mary Immaculate Queen ^ | 12-16-01 | Fr. Casimir Puskorius, CMRI,

[mlizzy]

Adapted from a Sermon of Fr. Casimir Puskorius, CMRI, 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 16, 2001

On the First Sunday of Lent every year, we read in the Gospel of the devil tempting Our Lord. First he tries to tempt Him to gluttony, and Our Lord resists. Of course, Our Lord, because He is God, cannot be inclined to sin. But the devil, not knowing that, first tries to tempt Him to gluttony, and then to pride and power and materialism. He says to Our Lord, “Why don’t you throw yourself off this high elevation? God will save you.” Our Lord refuses. Then the devil pulls out his trump card. He shows Our Lord all the glory of the world and says, “I will give all this to you, if you will just bow down and worship me.” Of course, Our Lord refuses again. What the devil was saying here, in a sense, was “I’ll give you magic to do something that is not morally right, but it’s something you would enjoy.”

It should be evident to us, my dear parishioners, that the devil is after each one of us, tempting us in similar manner to sin and to pride. These temptations take different forms, so we must be on our guard. The devil is trying to tempt us away from serving God, from obeying God’s commandments. He is so crafty, so subtle, that often you don’t even know, unless you are very careful, how he is insinuating himself.

I believe it my duty to talk to you today about a series of books and its accompanying movie because I believe that they contain an insinuation of pride and ungodliness. I think you know what I am talking about: the Harry Potter series. I will speak both about the books and the movie, because if one reads the books, he will want to see the movie, and vice versa. I believe there are some real problems here, real spiritual danger — possibly grave spiritual danger. I will explain why. Believe me, I have refrained from saying anything about this for a long time. When the books first came out, I began to gather information on them. I wanted to analyze them to see whether or not they were good for children to be reading, and to write an article for The Reign of Mary. I haven’t said anything up to this time because I wanted to study the matter, rather than say yes or no before I knew what I was talking about.

Let me also preface this explanation by saying that I speak now from the consciousness that one day I will have to answer to God for how I accomplished my duty to instruct you in matters of faith and morals. I certainly believe that there are matters of faith and morals involved in this particular matter.

The first problem I would like to point out are the words that are so casually used in the books and in the movie, words that are so casually used that children may start using them — yet these words are matter of mortal sin. Specifically, I am referring to such words as: sorcery, witchcraft, casting spells, communicating with the dead (necromancy). The Catholic Church very clearly tells us that these are mortal sins, and they must not be presented as though they are something permissible to try. I believe it is the devil trying to insinuate himself through the medium of human beings, trying to draw us away from Christ. These are not your usual Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Remember that children do not have the same critical ability that adults have. They read fantasy much differently than we do: they read it in a believing way.

Continue reading here.

[PapaBear3625]

When we have beaten back the godless socialists, then we can spend out time and energy dissecting movies.

It would be far better to stamp out Liberation Theology and any pastoral support for socialism.

[redgolum]

David, most here only believe what they see on the news.

So far, we have killed a lot of Christians to set up islamic republics. The USA is not on the side of Christ in this.

We will see if this gets me banned.

[mlizzy]

I was referring more to the "grumbly" commentary and also those comments that have been deleted. That wasn't clear; I apologize.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Vatican City
March 7, 2003

Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby!

Many thanks for your kind letter of February 20th and the informative book which you sent me in the same mail. It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.

I would like to suggest that you write to Mr. Peter Fleetwood, (Pontifical Council of Culture, Piazza S. Calisto 16, I00153 Rome) directly and to send him your book.

Sincere Greetings and Blessings,
+ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

=======================

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Vatican City
May 27, 2003

Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby,

Somehow your letter got buried in the large pile of name-day, birthday and Easter mail. Finally this pile is taken care of, so that I can gladly allow you to refer to my judgment about Harry Potter.

Sincere Greetings and Blessings,
+ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Link

[LowOiL]

Didn’t read the article, but we still don’t allow our kids to watch the HP series either. Probable for a lot of the reasons listed in your article. But to be honest, we don’t allow our kids to go to Catholic church either.

[MalPearce]

I know what you mean. The Harry Potter books aren’t set in a world of Muggles wanting to be wizards, or wizards wanting to be Muggles. The opposite, in fact.

Squibs (non-magical people from the wizarding world) and Mudbloods (magical people from the Muggle world) are a plot device. Without Harry Potter and Voldemort both growing up abandoned in the mundane non-magical world, their destinies and origins wouldn’t have made any sense and the whole ethnic purity aspect of the Death Eaters wouldn’t work.

But apart from the Muggleborns and the Squibs, these are explicitly described as two utterly seperate worlds that clash and don’t interact unless they are forced to.

Muggles who know of magic - especially the Dursleys - tend to despise magic and distrust it, and even the Prime Minister resents and distrusts his wizarding counterpart. Conversely, the blueblood wizarding world is massively prejudiced against Muggle-borns and those who show an interest in the Muggle world.

Wherever the two worlds collide, it’s a complete culture clash. Just look at the wizards who are supposed to interact with Muggles on a daily basis, in a professional capacity - they haven’t got a clue about anything.

The Muggle-born kids in Hogwarts aren’t allowed to exercise magic outside of the school context (in the same fashion, wizards aren’t supposed to play with Muggle technology outside of a controlled environment).

So I think too much is made of the magical setting.

In one world you travel by car and flying with a broomstick would be a major no-no, in the other world you travel by broomstick and cars are a no-no. And never the twain shall meet...

As for “cool kids practice magic”, that’s just daft.

The point is continually hammered home from the first book on, that for the most part, Hogwarts life is not that dissimilar to a normal school day in an independent boarding school; the novelty of the lessons being geared around using magic instead of technology and the pictures and stairs moving around soon wears off (after all it’s not really relevant to the plot), and those who study hard at it (like Hermione) are quickly identified as nerds.

By the time one gets halfway through the series, one notices the most fun to be had outside of class is through practical jokes, snacking, brawling, sneaking off into town, and trying to get a date - just like any normal school.

[netmilsmom]

Is that actually from Cardinal Ratizinger? Did you know that “Ms. Kuby” was also selling a book? And that our future Pope actually told the woman to send her book to Peter Fleedwood of the Pontifical Council for approval? In response, he sent her a four page letter where he disagreed with her, that she ignored?

Perhaps you should know (as Paul Harvey would say) “The rest of the story” This is from Jimmy Akin

http://www.jimmyakin.org/2005/07/vatican_radio_o.html

Vatican Radio On Pre-16 Potter Brouhaha

Fr. Roderick Vonhögen of CATHOLIC INSIDER has just kindly e-mailed me a transcript he made of a recent broadcast of Vatican Radio dealing with the alleged remarks of then-Cardinal Ratzinger on the Harry Potter books.

The piece was an interview with Msgr. Peter Fleetwood, the Vatican official who initially made (what turn out to be) moderately pro-Potter comments when asked a question about the books at a press conference.

I’ve put the entire text of the interview in the extended body of this post (click below to read it). I should say that I don’t agree with everything Msgr. Fleedwood says (e.g., I don’t think that the Harry Potter books are any great shakes as literature), but reading his side of the story sheds interesting light on the events in question.

In particular, let me call attention to a couple of things he said. First, he mentions something that I thought was likely the case, though I didn’t want to conjecture it without evidence. Msgr. Fleedwood, though, knows the workings of Vatican offices better than I and has more of a basis to say it, so here goes:

I was sent a letter from a lady in Germany who claimed to have written to the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that she thought Harry Potter was a bad thing. And the letter back, which I suspect was written by an assistant of the then-Cardinal Ratzinger in his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that there was a subtle seduction in the books. What that subtle seduction was, was not specified, which makes me think it was a generic answer. And she had written a book on these subjects and so the Cardinal’s signature was at the bottom of the letter, suggesting she should send me the book.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Msgr. Fleedwood were correct on this point. Folks in important positions—including those in the Vatican—often use ghostwriters, and it would not be surprising at all to learn that routine correspondence such as thank you notes like the one in question were handled by assistants and then presented for the boss’s signature.

Fr. Fleedwood continues:

She sent me the book, and I found it a very unsatisfactory book. I don’t think she understands English humour. For example, she said: one sign that these books are making fun of Judaism and Christianity is that Voldemort, the wicked magician, who is the great evil power against whom Harry Potter has to fight, is referred to often as ‘he who must not be named’, and she takes this as an insult to the name of God in a similar way that Adonai, which is often written as Yahweh, is the name that should not be said in Jewish religion. Well I replied to her: don’t you know that even within English families, men who make fun of their relationship with women in a nice, lighthearted way say: “Oh, she who should not be named,” meaning the power in the house, their wife. You know, I think it was meant on that kind of level.

This comment also rings true for me, and for several reasons. First, I’ve seen my share of anti-New Age books that go paranoid in finding connections between things that aren’t there. (I wish people would write more serious and sober anti-New Age books, because the paranoid ones give the whole genre a bad name.)

Second, if you read the Potter books or watch the movies, it’s clear that the people in the stories are themselves being paranoid by not saying the name “Voldemort.” As Msgr. Fleedwood points out, Harry Potter has the courage to say the name of his enemy and isn’t cowed by the mere mention of the name, like the others are. Thus Rowling isn’t presenting Voldemort’s name as too sacred to mention, she’s presenting everybody but Harry as being too easily spooked. You may or may not like that literarily, but it isn’t a diss at God.

Third, I have my own experience with circumlocutions of this nature. A few years ago I was dating a woman who turned out to be from the planet Yuggoth (the only one of all the women I’ve ever dated). The experience was so surreal (the phrase “Did not know what men are for” comes to mind) that, among the circle of my friends who were aware of the experience at the time, she has become known as “She Who Is Not To Be Named.”

Anyway, click below for Msgr. Fleedwood’s comments, courtesy of Fr. Roderick Vonhögen.

Speak Of The Devil...

Transcript of the Vatican Radio program 105, live on Thursday, July 14, 2005.

By Fr. Roderick Vonhögen (www.catholicinsider.com)

We turn to an event taking place on the 16th of July, one much awaited by the fans of the best-selling Harry Potter books, the publication of the sixth in this series: Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince. Simply because world media is suggesting pope Benedict XVI believes these books put readers on a slippery slope with their subtle seduction and distortion of Christianity in the world.

“Put perhaps”, says monsignor Peter Fleedwood, an expert on New Age and former official at the Pontifical Council for Culture, “no offense, the lady who complained to the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger about Joanna Rowling’s popular series back in 2003, may not have quite understood a very British sense of humour”.

Monsignor Fleedwood also recalls how he was first asked about Harry Potter at a press conference in the Vatican during the presentation of the New Age document by the title of “Jesus Christ, Bearer of the Water of Life” in February 2003.

Msgr. Fleetwood:

“I’ve been asked by a lot of people if they should allow their children to read Joanna Rowling’s books about the trainee-magician Harry Potter. And the reason why they ask is that they’ve heard that some of the content is anti-Christian. I can’t see that personally. I was asked once in a press-conference in the Vatican whether I thought the witchcraft and magic in Harry Potter was a bad thing, and I said to the people present: ‘did anyone in this room grow up without stories about witches and fairies and magic and spells and mystery and so on and so forth?’, and everyone seemed to agree that none of us had grown up without those things. And then I said: ‘did it make us into enemies of the faith, or enemies of God, or enemies of the Church?’ And people seemed to say: ‘no, no’. And I said: ‘well, I can’t see any problem with Harry Potter, because, really, all the stories are about the victory of good over evil’. People say: ‘yes, but Harry uses magic spells!’ Well, that’s only a kind of literary device to keep children interested. It’s not putting forth a theory about magic. I know lots of teachers in England, and they’ve all said to me: ‘How remarkable! All of a sudden we don’t have to ask children to read books!’ There’s been a real craze. The unfortunate thing is, people call it a ‘cult book’ and then mad people say: ‘oh, it’s a cult’ - meaning a religious cult, and it’s not!

It’s just a fashion, because every child tells every other child: you should read Harry Potter. So they’ve all read all the books, and they all know all the details and so on and so forth. And the teachers I know in England just say simply: ‘isn’t it marvelous that kids want to read? We don’t have to force them to read’. And many parents have said the same thing.

And parents have asked me about Harry Potter’s books. I’ve always said: why don’t you read them? Or read them with your children, or read them to your children. Or you read them first and see if you can see anything bad.

I was sent a letter from a lady in Germany who claimed to have written to the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that she thought Harry Potter was a bad thing. And the letter back, which I suspect was written by an assistant of the then-Cardinal Ratzinger in his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that there was a subtle seduction in the books. What that subtle seduction was, was not specified, which makes me think it was a generic answer. And she had written a book on these subjects and so the Cardinal’s signature was at the bottom of the letter, suggesting she should send me the book.

She sent me the book, and I found it a very unsatisfactory book. I don’t think she understands English humour. For example, she said: one sign that these books are making fun of Judaism and Christianity is that Voldemort, the wicked magician, who is the great evil power against whom Harry Potter has to fight, is referred to often as ‘he who must not be named’, and she takes this as an insult to the name of God in a similar way that Adonai, which is often written as Yahweh is the name that should not be said in Jewish religion. Well I replied to her: don’t you know that even within English families, men who make fun of their relationship with women in a nice, lighthearted way say: oh, she who should not be named, meaning the power in the house, their wife. You know, I think it was meant on that kind of level.

In any case though, the very people who complain about such things are the ones who would want priests above all, and teachers within the catholic faith, to speak about the devil, and to name the devil, rather then to speak of some abstract, evil force. Harry Potter is the only one, in the Harry Potter books, who names evil: Voldemort. The ‘flight of death’ if you like, that’s what his name literally means. So Harry is the one that doesn’t avoid naming evil, or naming the evil one. Harry is doing exactly what those people want, and showing by his lack of fear of evil, that he believes that goodness will triumph.

And in fact, Rowling’s books all follow the classical mythological pattern and good always triumphs over evil. She studied classical mythology at the university and uses that structure of myth as the basis of the way she writes her novels. She also was brought up as a Christian and I mentioned that in the famous press conference. People quoted that as saying that I had said that her books were imbued with Christian morals. I said no such thing. I simply suggested that there’s no ignoring your own background. I also said that she’s not the kind Christian your average zealous priest might want, in the sense of practicing religion every week, but there is no denying that she has a Christian background. I said no more.

And people have obviously worked of a strange translation of what I said in Italian. It is notable that the only complaints I got were from people using a translation. I don’t know who made that translation. They never asked me any questions about whether they got it right. They certainly didn’t understand what I’d said in the press conference. So I only whish there had been more time to talk then, but the press conference was about something quite different, and it was only one question that was blown out of proportion.

But I remain firmly convinced that the Harry Potter novels are very well written. They are written on the classical plot of good versus evil in the standard way that the old myths were written. The characters are built up around that: the goodies and the baddies so to speak, and I can’t see that that’s a bad thing for children, when goodness and the people on the side of goodness are portrayed as the ones who will eventually win. Harry’s enemies resort to all sorts of evil things, and they are the ones who loose in the end. I don’t see what’s wrong with that, and I can’t see that does any harm to children.

What my advice would still be to parents: if you’re in doubt, read the books yourselves, the first one, that’s the shortest one, and see what you think. Don’t simply rely on somebody else’s opinion, not even on my opinion, since it’s only an opinion. But it’s probably a good thing to enjoy it and to see that there are no evil influences there.

Some of the people who complain to me quote a priest who has worked in Rome and has been described as the exorcist of Rome, saying that evil is just behind every line in the books. Well, I answered that by saying: I’m a priest as well, I’m not as holy as that man, but his is an opinion and mine is an opinion, and neither of us automatically has a right to the opinion being more authoritative. I would say you’d have to prove a thing like that, when you say that evil is behind every sentence. I can’t see it.

Maybe I’m blind, as one article about me said, maybe I’m stupid and doing the devil’s work, as another article about me said. I have a funny feeling I’m not doing the devil’s work, and I have another feeling I am not blind or stupid. I just think that there’s a lot of scare-mongering going on, particularly among people who do like to find the devil around every corner. I don’t think that’s a healthy view of the world. And as I said before, I’m one of the people who would name the devil, I don’t keep the devil out of my preaching or out of my understanding of Christianity; I’m one of the few that would mention him, so I don’t know where these people get their mad ideas. And I do think do think they are mad ideas.

I think one has to be quite calm in judging cultural phenomena. I’ve got a funny feeling that the success of Rowling is what started some people. Is it a kind of envy? I don’t know. But why they got so mad against her, I just don’t understand.

Another problem is comparing the Harry Potter books to the Lord of the Rings. I think they are very different sorts of literature really. Tolkien needed to entertain his children. He was a professor of ancient English or Middle English, and he knew all this runic language that he invented is part of a world he constructed, originally to keep himself amused and his children amused. And this whole world is the world in which the Silmarillion and the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings take place, whereas Harry Potter is just set in the amusing setting, if you’re an English person or a British person, of a public school, which is anything but public if people know what a public school is. It’s very private. My parents could not afford to send me there but that’s the world where Joanne Rowling said young witches and wizards would be trained. It’s obviously a totally nonsensical idea; it’s not constructing a world the way Tolkien did in the Lord of the Rings and so on. It’s much more down to earth and normal and banal if you like. It’s just a setting for an adventure between good and evil to take place. And she has an amazing talent of writing books that you don’t want to put down, that’s all there is going on there.”

Former official at the Pontifical Council for culture, Msgr. Peter Fleedwood is currently working at the Council for European bishops’ conferences.

[mlizzy]

But to be honest, we don’t allow our kids to go to Catholic church either.

What can I say? *laughing* How come I don't see you on Free Republic's religion forum "battleground"? (Or have I just missed you?)

[mlizzy]

I can't go higher than the pope, netmilsmom. Yes, those letters are from Cardinal Ratzinger. Surely, a well-known respected author as O'Brien would have checked into the authenticity of the material in his book.

And what in the world is wrong with writing a book anyway? You make it sound dirty. Didn't J.K. Rowling do the same thing?

[MalPearce]

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.

The ones in real peril are the ones who do their homework, get the proper kit, learn the proper incantations, and don't just borrow the glass out of the bathroom to use on a sketched-out ouija board because they think they know what they're doing.

I believe in demons but the idea these books encourage children to participate in spiritual darkness is beyond ludicrous.

Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Craft have got far more dangerous incantations in them than anything you'll find in Harry Potter. So has Sabrina the Teenage Witch!

Wingardium leviosa isn't even pig Latin never mind proper Latin, and wouldn't work even if you did have The Gift.Locomotor coffee only works when my wife's in the kitchen (and I translate the incantation into English). I tried shouting Avada Kedavra at a very timid gerbil once and it didn't even fart.

WARNING: You can get complacent. For example, Izzy Wizzy Let's Get Busy is, was used on a children's programme in the UK, without the programme makers realising that it is in fact an incantation of truly apocalyptic evil. The mute yellow puppet Sooty to whom it was attributed, was actually a demon from the broom cupboard on the 17th layer of Hell, who was merely disguised as a hand puppet in order to manipulate Matthew Corbett (who I suspect was actually an ipsissimus with a glamour). That information really could save your soul.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Heh heh..

[netmilsmom]

>>I can't go higher than the pope, netmilsmom. Yes, those letters are from Cardinal Ratzinger.<<

I can see that you didn't read what I posted. The woman who wrote the letter was told to send it to Peter Fleedwood BY Cardinal Ratzinger for discernment.

"I was sent a letter from a lady in Germany who claimed to have written to the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that she thought Harry Potter was a bad thing. And the letter back, which I suspect was written by an assistant of the then-Cardinal Ratzinger in his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that there was a subtle seduction in the books. What that subtle seduction was, was not specified, which makes me think it was a generic answer. And she had written a book on these subjects and so the Cardinal’s signature was at the bottom of the letter, suggesting she should send me the book."

How much plainer can it be spelled out? The good Cardinal, who never read a Harry Potter book, sent the woman to The Pontifical Council for Culture, where Msgr. Peter Fleedwood corrected the woman with a four page letter that she ignored.

I would think that you would be much more offended that people are lying about the Vatican's conclusions to sell books.

[netmilsmom]

>>I tried shouting Avada Kedavra at a very timid gerbil once and it didn’t even fart.<<

So are you a muggle or a squib?

[mlizzy]

I’m not much of a fan of Jimmy Akin. And the four-page on-and-on that Peter Fleetwood wrote ... well ... that’s of course up to you if you wish to follow his [many] words.

[MalPearce]

I do love these conversations.

It reminds me of when I played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, and my parents were terrified that I might suddenly jump out of my bedroom window thinking I could fly.

The Fools! I thought.

First of all I was a seven year old with an active imagination, I wasn’t STUPID. It’s not like I was scoffing hallucinogenic mushrooms...

Secondly, we lived in a bungalow. If I had launched myself out of the dormer window I’d have slid a few feet and then dropped safely onto the driveway. With a bit of effort I could probably have landed on the caravan.

Thirdly, I don’t like heights so flying didn’t appeal anyway.

Fourthly, when I cast the “Magic Missile” spell in D&D I expected my character to blow away the side of a mountain taking a few thousand orcs with it. It was ONE poxy magic arrow, and an imaginary one at that. My expectations of the effectiveness of the flight spell would’ve similarly lowered by the practise run.

[LowOiL]

How come I don't see you on Free Republic's religion forum "battleground"?

There is more intelligent posters than myself there, so if I visit, it is just to lurk (and learn).

[mlizzy]

I'm not going to argue about Ratzinger's letter. What do you think of what Fr. Euteneuer said in regard to the Potter series?

Fr. Euteneuer explained the basic exorcism procedure, and the tactics the devil uses to possess a person. The first tactic relies on seduction, trying to get the victim to invite him into their lives.

“Most people with demonic problems have opened a door somewhere,” said Fr. Euteneuer. He cited the popularity of the occult in bringing people closer to demonic interaction, primarily through the growth of the New Age movement and other paraphernalia. He said that even Hasbro markets Ouija boards to children.

“I’m very set against Harry Potter,” he said. “It’s pumping into our children’s minds the language and imagery of the occult. It’s extremely spiritually dangerous.”

He also called attention to a growing fascination with the cult of the vampire, especially through the popularity of books and movies like Twilight, where the main character falls in love with a vampire.

“I predict that in the next 10 years or so, we’ll see an explosion of occult activity,” said Fr. Euteneuer. “The number of soft-core occultism in the form of things like Harry Potter, Wicca and the New Age is on the increase. These are the gateways to the hardcore stuff. Ask any inner-city police department if they’re seeing evidence of Satanism. They’re organizing whole task forces to deal with crimes having to do with these things. As society becomes more faithless, this wickedness comes and fills the vacuum.”

Link.

[mlizzy]

Probably the wisest decision. It can get pretty brutal in there.

[N. Theknow]

OMG!

I don't know what to do!

Should I be more concerned about the Harry Potter books, movies, rides, toys or the satanic images in the Colgate-Palmolive logo?

OH NOES! WhazzaFReepertodo?

[N. Theknow]

You’re braver than me, using that name for The-Kenyan-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

He-Who-Must-Use-A-Teleprompter

[Tax-chick]

NicknamedBob liked it, and he’s pretty sharp.