| Product: |
Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling in general |
| Date: |
24/02/02 (2337 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good story
Disadvantages: Evil
“He’ll (Harry Potter) be famous – a legend... There will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!” Professor Minerva McGonagall.
Okay, so I immediately know this opinion will be controversial. My friends tell me I’m mad, but it is written from a Christian perspective. Although I am not a strong Christian follower, I do still believe a lot of Christian values, so here goes as I try to explain them to you lot!
Joanne K. Rowling is the now the highest paid woman in the UK. She has sold over 110 million books in over 25 languages. The Goblet of Fire is the fastest selling novel of all times. Now, this is impressive and I’m not criticising her talent, just the subject matter.
Harry Potter books have topped the list of the most frequently challenged books (requests to restrict or remove materials from schools or libraries) due to their focus on wizardry and magic.
From a Christian perspective, I have not gone Harry Potter mad with the rest of the world. If you were to study the ‘morals’ in the Potter series, you would find these;
1) Rules are made to be broken if they don’t serve one’s own self interests.
2) Lying is an effective and acceptable means of achieving a desired end.
So now you’re wondering what the hell I’m going on about in a world full of drugs, abuse, murder and paedophilia. Surely, a character from a book is allowed to have a little bit of ‘harmless’ fun? Well, yes he is, but Harry is often seen to be rebellious and telling lies. Are these the kinds of morals you want to teach your children?
Okay, ‘now she’s going mad’ I hear you say. ‘Grange Hill’s representation of children is worse than that.’ Yes it is. But the world seems to be OBSESSED with Harry Potter.
7 Books and movies are planned. There is a trading card game. Numerous t
oys, e.g. Lego, Uno cards, assorted hi-tech toys, a line of clothing, (invisibility cloaks) video games, computer games and sweets with flavours such as grass, sardine and vomit are all available or planned. Sorry to sound old fashioned (didn’t think it was possible as I’m only 18) but that is disgusting. What happened to pink fluffy bunnies and everyone living happily ever after? So, you might just put it down to consumerism, capitalism, and the society we live in. All films have such merchandise available right? Right, but other films are not about black magic and occults. Everyone knows that advertising is influential, so surely all these books, films and merchandise are going to be of some influence to their consumers.
‘POTTER FANS TURNING TO WITCHCRAFT’. (This is London, Aug 4th 2000) In this article, Andy Norfolk the Pagan Federation media officer explained, ‘In response to increased inquiries coming from youngsters we established a youth officer...It is quite probably linked to things like Harry Potter, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Every time an article on witchcraft or paganism appears, we have a huge surge in calls, mostly from young girls.’
So what are the children saying about Harry?
“I would like to go to boarding school like Harry Potter”
“This book is amazing and contains magic spells I wish I can do in the real world”
“The story really made you feel like you could be a witch or wizard”
Yes, the children can differentiate between fantasy and reality but what if they do start to conduct spells? How do you know there is nothing in it?
What the bible says: Deuteronomy 18:10-12 ‘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, or casts spells, or who is a medium or who consults the dead. Anyone w
ho does these things is detestable to the Lord...’
So in other words, God hates these things. Now there must be a good reason for him to hate these things. If God is good and God is love then he only wants the best for us. Believe it or not, I think there are evil spirits in the world and all those mentioned above are not in this world for your best interests.
“But it’s only a story” you shout at me, wondering when I’m going to stop. If it’s only a story then why are Rowling’s characters named after real occultists form the 19th Century? I believe in the bible and that they are the words of God, so here are some more references if you want to look them up. Galatians 5:19-21 Leviticus 20:27 Deuteronomy 18:4 There are more but I’d better stop cos I know I’m not supposed to advertise on dooyoo.
Like it or not, I believe in the Devil and think he is having a good laugh at fu**ing this world up. I think his influence is in a lot of things, including Harry Potter, which has even managed to take the piss out of poor Prince Harry. I am sure you have all seen the mimic poster ‘Harry Pothead’. Poor guy, if I was a prince and my mum was dead I would be doing a lot more than cannabis.
Please do not think I am getting at Rowling herself, I would not like to insult anyone. She has a very rare gift that encourages children to read. Her books are well crafted and imaginative that even adults enjoy reading. I’m not saying I’m shocked at why they are so popular. I know the devil is clever and he’s constantly manipulating things in the world to confuse us so I just thought I’d let you lot know! I mean, if there is a God and what I say is true – it needs serious consideration!
If anyone has a comment on this, I’d be interested to know! Bye.xx
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Last comments:
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- 03/01/06 what aload of complete and utter toss!! you talk of bad morals like rule breaking what teenager has not broken a school rule and general in the book they have been for good reason!! the morals in the book are very good like money and power isn't everything!! im sorry but to slate your religion but i don't agree with it nor u!! you speak of drugs and such deals yet you are slandering a book which enjoy people to read!! and as for people wishing to become witches and wizard just a fantasy which is harmless who wouldn't want to be able to do magic?! so in cunclusion i complete disagree with anything you wrote! sorry! |
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- 02/07/04 Your views seem rational and they are stated clearly and intelligently, but that in itself scares me most of all. While I can dismiss those who curse at me in all capitals saying I will go to Hell if I read Harry Potter as loonies, I cannot say the same of you, which is frightening. The fact that a level-headed mind like yours can support the arguement of censorship is hard for me to accept. I doubt you would call yourself a book burner, but still you criticize a book for having different views from your own. You HATE it.
But the Harry Potter books don't really have different views than you. Your petty, weak argument that they encourage rule-breaking are not founded in the least. More than half the time Harry is well punished for his actions, and when he is not he usually breaks the rules for a good reason (I should think that even you would agree that going out when one is not supposed to to save a little girl's (Ginny's) life is justified enough).
Also, you wrote this review, it seemed, with the assumption that everyone was Christian and took the Bible's word as law. Surely your good judgement and learning must tell you this is not the case. Waving the words of the Bible in the face of someone who doesn't believe in them will do little good, if any. So, in the future, you should support your argument with non-religious ideas. And also try not to offend other religions in the process. I personally do not believe in it, but Wicca is a government-acknowledged religion (in the US at least) and it offends me to hear it slighted and insulted just as it would offend me to hear Christianity or Hinduism or Judaism or Buddhism slighted or insulted. You can call it evil if you like, but that is racism (even you must acknowledge it) because calling Jews evil, for example, would also be racism. I can feel you shaking your head in disagreement, but some part of you must know I'm right.
If you have any response to this, please email me at i_wuv_juicyjuice@yahoo.co m. Thank you and God bless. |
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- 02/05/03 Having been reading the work of authors such as HP Lovecraft, Poe, Clive Barker etc. since about the age of 8 I think I can safely say that the argument that children cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality is a very narrow-minded, patronising assumption. I can understand the viewpoint you are putting across (although I don't by any stretch of the imagination agree with it) but I think that, instead of attacking a series of books to defend the world from evil, you should be spending more time trying to combat the real evils in the world; racism, terrorism etc., crimes that stem from ignorance and unfounded hate.
I have read many many arguments along these lines (I always read them to see how some people - not you - use quotes out of context to prove their point, especially with the Christianity vs. Dungeons and Dragons debates that used to be all the rage) so am used to the format they take. Your op was well written and thought out, and some of the bible references you mentioned I havn;t seen before in these arguments, but overall there wasn't really anything that hasn't been mentioned many times in other arguments such as this. Hence the Somewhat Useful rating. |
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