Harry Potter vs. Gandalf

The Decent Films Guide ^ | 11/01 | Steven Greydanus

[N. Theknow]

Essentially witchcraft is about our being able to control people or things by what we say or the rituals we do.

Ditto for PMS.

[jrherreid]

ping

[soapboxsallie]

I predict The Lord of the Rings will be a box-office bust because the plot is so complex and there are so, so many characters. The plot of the Harry Potter books (the first 3 books, at least) is relatively simple and, therefore, much easier to portray on film. Dune busted because it was just too complex for a film. So will The Lord of the Rings.

[Revelation 911]

Hence I don't afford them any credibility.

Consequently you are exposed for what you are.

You are asking for proof of an intangible. Clearly in that case, you win - For those that hold faith however, it is widely accepted demons inhabit some men. As there are Preists and pastors in God, there are others in Satan, invoking its name and affording it a vehicle to perform evil. From the arena of my denomination, the laying of hands is a holy work of the spirit. Is the holy spirit tangible - plainly no. Is it non existent - clearly not. If we cant progress past this premise we have little to speak of.

[Woodkirk]

Witchcraft is deeply entwined with sexual things and throughout history men and women have turned to witchcraft for spells to try to lure others into falling in love with them. Regarding the other, go visit the land of Haiti and delve into the practice of voodoo -- then you will not need doumentary proof. You will be the proof. Was not the Exorcist based upon a true story documented by both the Catholic Church and investigative reporters?

[JoeSchem]

Click here for the entire article.

Oh, must I?

[js1138]

Check out the story of Saul and the witch of Endor.

OK, I have. Now tell me where in Harry Potter anyone conjurs up a dead person who makes a useful prediction about the future.

There are whole chapters in Potter making fun of fortune tellers.

[Woodkirk]

Who do you think sold all those people that Enron stock . It was the Wizards of Wall Street. Magicians were economic forecasters whose job it was to predict the future and sell people on those forecasts -- seen any of them lately on the financial channels. They were also known as false prophets.

[cogitator]

I predict The Lord of the Rings will be a box-office bust because the plot is so complex and there are so, so many characters. The plot of the Harry Potter books (the first 3 books, at least) is relatively simple and, therefore, much easier to portray on film. Dune busted because it was just too complex for a film. So will The Lord of the Rings.

Dune was actually more complex, with more "palace intrigue" than LOTR. Plus, the theatrical Dune movie was cut too much to be any good (and having David Lynch direct it was a big mistake). Every indication that has come out on LOTR indicates that the makers have come very close to realizing on film the excitement and atmosphere of the books. Some characters have been cut (Tom Bombadil, Glorfindel). But overall, the movie appears to be what it needs to be: visually spectacular and exciting. If the movie is only 80% as good as the books (considering that virtually no movie is ever as good as the book), then it will be incredible.

One element in favor of LOTR already: most of the actors are very, very excited about how it's turning out. Plus, the LOTR movie trilogy is going to run 8-9 hours when it's all done. There's a lot of room for complexity in that amount of movie. Dune can't be told in two hours (the Sci-Fi TV version, while lacking in special effects, was much better than the theatrical version).

It may not make a lot of money (it won't be a "Blair Witch Project"), but it won't be a flop.

[Samwise]

Call me when Harry Potter can take on a Balrog.

LOL

[discostu]

I don't watch the financial channels. I do watch Fox's saturday morning stuff, especially the one that's on at 9:30 here (11:30 eastern) but that's largely because of the smart hot babe ratio of that show (man, if economics department was that good looking when I went to school there's no way I'd have gone into CSC, bravo to Fox for listening to their name and finally making economics interesting... and they're smart too).

Of course, I didn't ask you about Wall Street, nor about economic forecasters. I asked you about Madison Avenue, advertising executive land. You know, people that make a living manipulating other people. According to the text I quoted from you in 117 you indicated that anyone that was good at manipulation (convincing other to believe what you want them to) was practicing witchcraft. While I certainly have no love in my heart for the manipulative, and will even give you that they're evil, I think proclaiming that they have supernatural powers is at best paranoid and at worst giving those that are easily manipulated a ready made excuse to fall back on when they should be learning to think for themselves.

[Revelation 911]

"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. " -Matthew 18: 19,20

I place the veracity of such powers in their results.

Back up a sentence or two my heathen Carmel brother. Verse 17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church, then treat him as you would a gentile or tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Clearly, your pagan demand in the veracity of the fruit of prayer in verses 19 & 20, let alone your disbeleif of the Apostles miracles leads me to conclude you are merely rattling my cage, so to speak. In denying the Apostles God given miracles, you deny they were in fact gifts from Jesus.

Now I would love to exegete text with you all night, but with you as a gentile, well you know...

You deny the fact God hears and reacts to our prayers, you deny that evil roams the earth for hosts, you deny the Apostles miracles AND the resurrection of Christ himself. YOU ARE ENTITLED to that - however, if it causes no harm -just give me your first name so we can pray for YOU.

[stuartcr]

Have you ever wondered why voodoo only seems to work in the most poverty-stricken, illiterate, third-world country in this hemisphere? I've never seen or heard of it working in, say, Des Moines. Have you? I really don't know if the Exorcist was based on a real story or not, but I really don't believe everything the Catholic church says, besides, what better way to make people do what you want them to do than to threaten to twist their heads around.

[Aquinasfan]

OK, I have. Now tell me where in Harry Potter anyone conjurs up a dead person who makes a useful prediction about the future.

You said that the "sorcerers" mentioned in the Bible are not the same as what we consider "sorcerers" to be today. I provided you with an example.

[Aquinasfan]

Some characters have been cut (Tom Bombadil, Glorfindel).

Man, I really liked Tom Bombadil! Hopefully they'll put him in the DVD version ten years from now.

[The Wizard]

For the record, wizard's don't do magic, don't fly around or do anything supernatural.

Wizards are such because of their ability to use what's here...

I never wear my hat on Halloween

I just realized the other day, that for the record, I am one of the only real wizards alive today. I have a lifetime history and suggest that I am the only source of "live" information on Wizards around today.....

[Aquinasfan]

Why not listen to a Real Audio interview with Fr. James LeBar, the exorcist for the Archdiocese of New York whose team of priests performs about twenty exorcisms per year, or read about the true story behind The Exorcist movie.