'HARRY' CATCHES HELL FROM CHRISTIANS

New York Post ^ | 11/24/01 | TODD VENEZIA

[kattracks]

November 24, 2001 -- Is Harry Potter the spawn of Satan?

That's the opinion at one Christian school in southern Australia, where parents voted yesterday to forbid students from reading about the bespectacled wizard and his preteen cohorts.

The vote was just part of a widespread anti-Harry backlash by religious conservatives angered by the best-selling books' blatant celebration of witchcraft and the occult.

[nopardons]

You really need this explained and spelled oud ? Okay, I'll induldge you. : - )

Read ALL of the threads about Harry Potter. Therein, you will find many posters who write things such as : If you like / read / allow your children to read Harry Potter, then you are not a real Christian . Harry Potter is Satanistic, and if you can't see that, then you are ( take your choice, I've seen the following and more ) ... a devil worshipper, unChristian, don't know the Bible, stupid, blind, a bad parent, an unconcerned parent, encouraging paganism, wicked, a fool, etc. To these posters , only their own brand of Christianity and what THEIR opinions are ( even if some of them have NEVER read any of the books ) , count. Yes, this IS bigotry. It is also uniformed , baseless tripe, and many of the attempts at trying to make the HP series into something it is not, are also filled with lies, inaccuracies, and an utter disregard for facts.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

If you claim to be a Christian and you decide to spend your money to view this movie or read the books, you will perhaps have sum splainin to do.

See my post #152

We are Christians, and NO! I sincerely doubt we have any explaining to do. Have you read the books or seen the movie?

It is usually the ones who are ignorant (lacking knowledge or facts) that are acting hysterical about this. Maybe we should start asking people what religion they practice, so we know what they are basing such weakness of faith upon.

Not ashamed to say what I believe in. In fact proud to say I was raised Catholic, and we are now Protestant. I love both of these churches. I chose to go to my husbands church upon our marraige. The only thing that we are questioning at this time, is if our church will allow Gay Ministers and those who are single and sexually active to be Ministers. If they do.. we are gone!!

I CANNOT relate to any religion that is so afraid, so weak in their beliefs, that they would judge something before they even saw it, or read it. I repeat.. I shudder to think what our World would be like if we didn't enjoy all the many gifts that God has given us.

The people who think in such a limited way,.. remind me of the Taliban. The Taliban believes that you can suppress someone into their belief system. They rule by fear!

My God is so awesome as to trust me,.. to know my heart. He blessed me/us with the good sense to know the difference between REAL evil.. and FICTION!!! I think there is a HUGE danger to be so judgemental, to fear innocent things like Harry Potter, or The Wizard of Oz,.. or fun harmless books of FICTION!!

There are much bigger fish to catch.. things that are truly evil. Like Abortion, murder, hate. This issue is such a waste of good Christian energy!!!

[hinckley buzzard]

Change form into a cat? Nah, nobody believes that. What we know is that if you use the right drugs you can change form into a bird. See Carlos Castenada, The Yaqui Way of Knowledge.

Fortunately, children are probably better judges of this dreck than some adults.

[Tuxedo]

What is your background? I understand your point.. just as long as you are not painting with a broad brush. You professed in an earlier post that Potterism is not Wiccanism. Are you Wiccan? While it may be true that some readers of HP are turning to Wicca, they are somewhat misguided. To my knowledge, Wicca is more of an earth-goddess (Gaia) worship "religion" than witchcraft as portrayed in the Bible... Most of HP from my understanding is BS, and true witches probably would be insulted for being compared with it. BS,by the way, can be equated with fiction. I chimed in only as it appeared to me that you were attacking all Christians as bigots.

[Tuxedo]

Hey neighbor! I live in Brunswick. I remember when someone told me that Brunswick meant "witch's broom".

[semaj]

Heaven forbid that I or any other would stand in the way of your entertainment. My point is this: A believer has nothing to fear from Harry Potter or anything else for that matter. Those not steeped in the Truth of such things become prey to the _________(insert appropriate category). AS Christians we are called to think:

PHP 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

[katherineisgreat]

Expecto patronus! BUMP

[Tuxedo]

I disagree. It is not weak-faith that one has if they refuse to partake in something they perceive as evil. Don't be so short-sighted. Maybe they are the ones with the strong faith... and not you. Maybe not. I do agree that there are more important issues out there. Besides... the Bible says "ye shall know them by their fruits..." By this, I take a step back to see what happens to the culture because of HP. Pokemon did not cause a cultural shift. D&D likewise. Will HP? Too soon to tell. Now, something like MTV HAS caused a cultural shift. So we do need to pay heed. But, we also do not need to fear this. Either way, greater is He that is in me, and he that is in the world. So, I choose not to worry. One day, the forces of evil will be all too apparent, that we won't need to ask ourselves if it is a wolf in sheep clothing.

[Skooz]

1. I have not written one word in protest of either the Harry Potter books or the movie. I couldn't care less if 100 million people go to see it. I have merely attempted to point out the vitriolic hatred of the Christian bashers who use other people's religious convictions as a hammer in which to plummel people who have the audacity to disagree with the popular culture. Is it too much to ask that you actually read someone's posts before you presume to know every lascivious detail of their life and psyche?

2. That was not my quote. I merely copied it from another poster. It is interesting that, just like a liberal, you ignore the substance of the argument and choose to ridicule your opponent and make unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks.

3. Please find the post in which I stated that "Harry Potter and Darth Vader are more deserving of [our]attention while Al-Qaeda thugs are sharpening their knives." I never did. Therefore your retort is specious and ill conceived.

[Woodkirk]

Is it a fact that in your Webster's Dictionary the name "Harry" means "Satan" or "the Devil"? Don't you think that the author of Harry Potter , who is so wise and well-read, chose with all deliberation, the name of her hero knowing full well what it means and knowing that by the time her deluded fans catch on, many will be so captivated by the magic of her little "harlequin" that they will choose to believe that the truth is a lie and vice versa, that fact is fiction and vice versa. That is the art of magic and the appeal of Harry Potter.

[Skooz]

It makes me a discerning parent.

Don't you understand? You are supposed to install a pipe that runs directly from the sewer of popular culture into your living room and your children's rooms. Make sure that the river into your home is unfettered and runs uninhindered. Only in that way can you prove to the "enlightened" that you are not an enemy of the people.

[Vinomori]

So we home school are kids now.

God help them.

[spiker]

Regarding the Harry Potter books and film.

Read your Bible. It is a sin to have ANYTHING to do with witchcraft.

What does the Bible say about witchcraft? By Mike Scott, Minister

THE OCCULT - What does the Bible say about it?

Harry Potter promoted by the Government Schools in Wisconsin

[mamaduck]

I am not sure what exactly I said that got you going in the first place, but you sure have a raw nerve there! Not to sure about your bible, dear? I'm sure.

My original point was that a lot of people are spending a lot of time worrying about Harry Potter. I joined in the fun at first, too.

There are bigger threats in the world being brought to light, right now, and I just find it interesting that Harry has a lot of people "looking the other way".

Now, go practice your beliefs. Oh, you are? Scary!

[Skooz]

I really couldn't care less about Harry Potter. Read all the books you want to, go see the movie, I don't care. I merely saw a hateful attack on someone's religious beliefs and responded.

I agree that "There are bigger threats in the world being brought to light, right now," Religious bigotry is one of them.

So, in the first chapter of the Book of Mamaduck:

1. Thus sayeth mammaduck, who knoweth how all must believe and act:
2. Now, go practice your beliefs.
3. Oh, you are? Scary!

Kinda cheesy, so far. Not a lot of detail. Maybe it's a "living document" type of holy book, open to interpretation.

[nopardons]

I don't know which Webster's dictionary YOU have; however . I have " WEBSTER'S ENCYCLOPEDIC UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY of the English Language " and on page # 648 , there is Harry: ( har'e),n. a boy's given name, form of Harold or Henry.

No mention whatsoever , the Harry is another name for the devil, satan, or Lucifer. Nothing at all, but what I typed above.

In " YOU ARE YOUR FIRST NAME ", by Ellin Dodge Young, on page #175 : Harry ( English diminuitive of Henry/Harold/Harris/ Harrison/alone ) . Nope, nothing at all about the devil.

In " THE NAME GAME ", by Christopher P. Anderson, on page #206 : Harry... see Henry. Henry : " ruler of the home " ( Tutonic ) ; Var. and dim. Heinrich,Hendrick,Henri,Enrico,Harry,Hal,Hank,Henny. Hmmmmmm... no devil there either.

Since you have now been discredited, proven to be a liar, and a know nothing, I suggest that you read Jeffrey Burton Russell's four book series : " THE DEVEIL ", " SATAN ", "lUCFER ",and " MEPHISTOPHELES " , in order to fully acquaint yourself with the names and attributes og the devil, from antiquity through mdern times. If you are still feeling an immediate need for some more of his many appelations, here goes : The Horny One, the devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Old Nick, The Prince of Darkness, the Prince of Evil, Belial, Scratch, mal'ak Yahweh,deofol, diavolo, diablo, Teufel,Old Hairy, Black Bogey,Lusty Dick, Dickens,Dickon,Gentleman jack, Satanael,Knecht Ruprecht, Hammerlin, Fererwisch, and on and on and on and on; but, NO HARRY !

[nopardons]

I'm a Christian; a Protestant. I know some Wiccans , and have read extensively on the subject. It was also part of a post graduate course I took in Comparative Religion.

Yes, Wiccan is a goddess based , nature religion; though many people , who claim to be Wiccans , are just kids / young adults, who make it all up as they go along. There are several sects, within Wicca, just as there are in most other religions.

I wasn't painting with a broad brush. I was calling a spade a spade, in that most, on these Harry Potter threads, fill their replies with misinformation, lies, and call everyone, who disagrees with them, horrid names. Those are the bigots.

[Kiwigal]

You know JJ, in high school, if a girl liked a guy but didn't want to admit it, she pretended to hate him and then talked about him all the time.

I'm seeing some parallels between high school girls and the HP bashers.

Now excuse me, I have a couple of spells to get finished before I dash off to my next satan-worshipping session.

[winslow]

Personally I don't believe Harry Potter is the onlybook that discerning parents should keep away fromtheir kids, however due to all the publicity the books/film are getting at the momentit's natural that it should be discussed.
My objections to the book are as follows.
When magic and sorcery are represented in Harry Potter they are put forward in an entirely positive light with no suggestion that such things may be either dangerous or morally wrong.
The books have been carefully researched and not only do they represent paganism in a seductive manner but they also mirror the beliefs of pagans today so that any children who may develop a fixation with the occult has been well and truly pointed in the "right" direction.
Anyone who does research into what other books children who read Harry Potter are reading should not be surprised to find that theother books also have a strong occult flavour.

As someone who has known quite a few witches I can tell youthere is a lot more to witchcraft today then tree hugging nature worship.
Some of the witches I have known have been into drug dealing, homosexuality and other sexual perversion and placing curses on people who they don't like or that have offended them.
The power they call upon is real and it is the power of fallen angels/demons.

Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

1 Corinthians 10 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

1 Thessalonians 5 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus was a child once. An obedient child and one who loved His fathers house.
I think we should ask ourselves this before we let children read these books; Would Jesus have read Harry Potter? Would he think it was a good thing that practises and beliefs which were declared in the Holy Scripture to be hated in the eyes of the Lord should be presented as helpful and to be desired? Would he think that it was harmless and "just fantasy"?

I don't think so

[jjbrouwer]

Now excuse me, I have a couple of spells to get finished before I dash off to my next satan-worshipping session.

Keep the cauldron burning. I may join you!