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"Harry Potter"
Ayn rand Institute ^ | 11/13/02

Posted on 11/15/2002 2:23:23 PM PST by RJCogburn

The movie adventures of child-wizard Harry Potter will continue on November 15. Far from being an agent of the occult, as his critics contend, Harry Potter is the kind of hero children should be encouraged to read about and emulate, said the executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.

"It is true that Harry lives in a magical, fantastical world, but what's important is that he is a hero who wins through intelligence, effort and courage," said Dr. Yaron Brook. "Throughout the series, Harry has developed his talents through hard work and has learned to think for himself, to be honest and to be self-confident. He has friends who share his values and he earns the respect of his teachers. Aren't these the character traits all parents want their children to possess? I know they're qualities I actively try to instill in my two boys."

Dr. Brook said that the critics' focus on the supernatural aspects of the Harry Potter stories is completely non-essential. What is fundamental is the abstract meaning being conveyed during the course of Harry's magical adventures. "The books are, in short, fuel for a child's maturing mind. As vitamins and minerals are essential to a child's healthy physical development, so literature with this view of the world is essential to a child's healthy mental development."


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To: Jael
I have told you in no uncertain terms that I have no interest in logging in to some site somewhere to talk to people who claim to be witches. That would prove nothing. I could claim to be God. It wouldn't make it so.

I have asked you why you believed in witches, because I was mildly curious. You have given me the run-around by repeatedly pointing me to some obscure message board instead.

I am now bored.
281 posted on 11/15/2002 8:33:41 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Jael
From your list:

walking through walls

I suppose The Incredible Hulk doesn't fare well with you either huh?

Sex/Homosexuality (S):
none noted

Well, the movie has got to earn some points for that.

Drugs/Alcohol (D):

smoking

Perhaps that's my problem- I'm a smoker.

levitation, repeatedly

Superman is an offense to God? Or does this include the Wright Brothers as well?

boy conversing with a snake

I know many women that speak in devilish tongues to serpents- I always found it pleasurable.

manifestations in mirror

Michael Jackson gets a lot of that too.

mirror to show deepest desires

I agree- narcissism is unwholesome

broom riding, repeatedly

You didn't see the wires?

paintings with moving subjects, repeatedly

The term "movies" actually stems from "moving pictures". All animated films are paintings> are moving> are moving paintings.

evil eyes, repeatedly

I get that complaint a lot myself.

evil passing through boy's body, causing unconsciousness

Tequila will do that. I usually talk in tongues too before I go down.

brutal sports tactics with audience of children cheering it on

NFL every Lord's Day in the USA.

threat of death for disobedience

Capital Punishment?

willingness to commit suicide to enable victory of friends

Read up on Medal of Honor winners- many leapt on grenades. Evil bastards I guess.

animated chess game with lives at stake, graphic

I never played for blood but I knew a Macedonian who would throw the pieces at me in fustration- does that count?

attack of children by a huge three-headed dog, repeatedly

A three legged dog bit me once.

floating evil being threatening a child

I ran into a jellyfish when I was a kid- he didn't threaten me first though- just stung me.

floating evil being drinking blood from an animal's neck

Aye, we've got midges here as well.

282 posted on 11/15/2002 8:34:41 PM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: HairOfTheDog
Listen, just log in as a guest at the chat, ask them
283 posted on 11/15/2002 8:35:03 PM PST by Jael
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To: Jael
One of the Witches wants to know why you would think it isn't real.

One of the more bizarre conversations I have ever participated in occured about four years ago when I was working as a field service rep in the two-way radio business. An attractive, well dresssed woman walked into the shop and requested that we set up an appointment to test the AC power circuits in her house. I explained that our business involved radio, and that she would be better served by contacting the local utility company. She had already done that, she said, but the tech found no problems.

What did she expect of me, then? To check the outlets for radio waves which the government was using to control her mind. You see, the utility man was in on the plot. Of COURSE he would give her house a clean bill of health. He was part of the conspiracy! Since the small shop I worked in was presumably not on the government payroll, I'd quickly find all the secret transmitters and free her from the dastardly plot to enslave her with radio waves.

I didn't know what to say, other than that our service schedule was booked solid for weeks. That was enough to send her to our competitor, who told me the same story the next time I met him while working at a transmitter site.

She BELIEVED. Really and truly. She had lost control of her mind to government radio waves. You could talk to her until you were blue in the face and she would swear it was so.

Does that mean it was?

284 posted on 11/15/2002 8:35:49 PM PST by Denver Ditdat
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To: HairOfTheDog
Do you believe that evil means more than a human "dark angry heart"? I do. The Bible warns us so too. People who do cast spells, do so by calling upon the fallen angels, i.e. the demons (knowingly or through the proxies of idols, fetishes, charms, etc.)
285 posted on 11/15/2002 8:36:02 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HairOfTheDog
Listen, these people are real. Read their message board. http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/67989
286 posted on 11/15/2002 8:37:11 PM PST by Jael
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To: Jael
It's obvious that you have never seen a real whitch cast a real speel, or you would have said so by now. Just because a bunch of people gather in the woods at night, praise satan and mouth incantations, doesn't make them witches. It may make them evil and stupid, but not witches. Nor does the fact that they believe they are witches make it so.

I think the biblical verse you quoted applies to real witches; not those fools dancing in the woods. (I'm sure there are plenty of other verses to cover their behavior - so you don't have to post them here).

287 posted on 11/15/2002 8:37:28 PM PST by CharacterCounts
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To: Jael
Why chat with the witches? Are you chatting with the witches about this thread? I mean it, seriously.
288 posted on 11/15/2002 8:38:35 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: ThinkDifferent; Jael
You're consistently avoiding the question. What evidence do you have that witchcraft is real? Why has it never been scientifically demonstrated?

God warning us to not practice it is proof enough for me that it is real.

I don't need to see someone turned into a frog to believe witchcraft is real anymore than I need to see Hell personally to believe in it.

289 posted on 11/15/2002 8:39:02 PM PST by power2
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To: Jael
It teaches that evil forces are conquered by ‘good’ witchcraft and counter curses.

Yes, it does teach that good conquers evil. Glad you can see that.

290 posted on 11/15/2002 8:39:38 PM PST by ET(end tyranny)
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To: HairOfTheDog
One witch who posts at www.nola.com on the Religion forum is in a coven that actually has a public ministry in NOLA. YOu don't have to believe me. But they are real.
291 posted on 11/15/2002 8:39:45 PM PST by Jael
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To: Jael
YOu can post questions to some real witches

Again, why do you believe that they are real witches? They claim to be, but what makes you believe?

If I claim to be former vice president Al Gore, must you then believe me? How can you prove that I am not?

Claims do not equate to truth without empirical evidence to back them up. Provide that evidence for us.

292 posted on 11/15/2002 8:41:28 PM PST by Denver Ditdat
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To: HiTech RedNeck
They keep saying witches are not real. I am telling them that they are. They don't believe me. So I posted the chat link where some are chatting.
293 posted on 11/15/2002 8:42:25 PM PST by Jael
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To: power2
God warning us to not practice it is proof enough for me that it is real.

True enough. But he said he "knew a few". How would he know if they were real witches or impostors, or just misguided idiots, unless he saw them cast a spell.

294 posted on 11/15/2002 8:42:38 PM PST by CharacterCounts
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To: Jael
Jael, although we seem to be on the same side in the Harry Potter thread discussion, I'm a little concerned that you are pointing people to what you would seem to call a witches website. Aren't you essentially doing the same thing that you and I have been arguing that the Harry Potter media does (i.e, gets people interested in witchcraft)? Just wanted to point that out to you.
295 posted on 11/15/2002 8:43:47 PM PST by power2
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To: HiTech RedNeck
I believe that people with dark angry hearts may in fact have been made evil by the devil. But I do not believe that witches can call up and command magic in the name of the devil any more than I can call up and command God to do something at my bidding. I believe that the devil can make people do bad things... not the other way around.

That people believe in God or the devil does not give one the ability to control them.
296 posted on 11/15/2002 8:45:22 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Denver Ditdat
Listen, I am just telling you and anyone else who wants to know that real people practice witchcraft. Some are Wiccans, some are Witches and some practice some other stuff that I don't know the name of. But these are real people.
297 posted on 11/15/2002 8:45:55 PM PST by Jael
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To: Jael
Listen, just log in as a guest at the chat, ask them

Why would you try to persuade someone to expose themselves to this kind of evil (which you assert is not a fiction but real) with one post when you posted earlier about the evils of going to view a fiction movie?

You're asking someone to participate, as it were, in real evil. What if someone goes over there and falls under a spell? How do we know you haven't fallen under a spell over there?

298 posted on 11/15/2002 8:46:27 PM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: Jael
"One of the Witches wants to know why you would think it isn't real." - post 263

I'd assume that particular witch is not reading FR right now. How did he or she know Hair is asking?

299 posted on 11/15/2002 8:46:29 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: Jael
You must hang around the 'witch' site a lot! LOL
300 posted on 11/15/2002 8:46:31 PM PST by ET(end tyranny)
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