Harry Potter and Some Ridiculous Theiving Christians
I'm a fan. I've read the entire series and enjoyed it all immensely. They're fun books with engaging storylines, interesting characters and have a little morality thrown in to boot.
Back when the books were relatively new I remember a bunch of Christians getting super pissed about them. "They're teaching children to worship witchcraft" is something that one of them was likely to say. This is stupid on so many levels. I mean I hate to break it to you but there is no such thing as witchcraft. To believe in witchcraft you'd have to believe in, that's right, witches! I mean yes, I know there are people out there who claim to be witches or wiccans or whatever they're calling it. Basically they are either an earth worshiping deists or they just like to wear a lot of black. Either way, they can't perform magic because, that's right, magic does not exist. So let them play with their stupid little ouji boards or crystals or amulets because they're not really accomplishing anything, much less anything "evil". So if the little children try to perform any of the magic in a Harry Potter book the worst that will happen is that they will become really disappointed. On the upside, they may learn some Latin.
Apparently however in the years since that great calamity (although I believe J.K. Rowling still gets death threats) it seems several Christians bothered to read the books and realized that the books are actually quite moral. Some of these people have now started to claim them as Christian tales and that Harry is clearly a Christ figure in them.
I find that so freaking obnoxious. Harry Potter is not Jesus Christ. The books are not about religion. Why must they decide to retrofit something to their own philosophy? What's wrong with enjoying a great adventure series? Does everything have to be about JESUS? How boring is that?! Why can't something be about somebody/something else? You know, FOR FUN!
Wait a minute, Voldemort was killed and came back (resurrected), he had a group of loyal followers, he was betrayed by one of the ones closest to him. His biological parents were not of the same ilk. Wait a dying for your sins minute! Maybe Voldemort is the Christ figure! I wonder why they haven't been making that argument?
I mean you could glean meaning out of the directions of a packet of instant soup mix but isn't it kind of a waste of time?
Back when the books were relatively new I remember a bunch of Christians getting super pissed about them. "They're teaching children to worship witchcraft" is something that one of them was likely to say. This is stupid on so many levels. I mean I hate to break it to you but there is no such thing as witchcraft. To believe in witchcraft you'd have to believe in, that's right, witches! I mean yes, I know there are people out there who claim to be witches or wiccans or whatever they're calling it. Basically they are either an earth worshiping deists or they just like to wear a lot of black. Either way, they can't perform magic because, that's right, magic does not exist. So let them play with their stupid little ouji boards or crystals or amulets because they're not really accomplishing anything, much less anything "evil". So if the little children try to perform any of the magic in a Harry Potter book the worst that will happen is that they will become really disappointed. On the upside, they may learn some Latin.
Apparently however in the years since that great calamity (although I believe J.K. Rowling still gets death threats) it seems several Christians bothered to read the books and realized that the books are actually quite moral. Some of these people have now started to claim them as Christian tales and that Harry is clearly a Christ figure in them.
I find that so freaking obnoxious. Harry Potter is not Jesus Christ. The books are not about religion. Why must they decide to retrofit something to their own philosophy? What's wrong with enjoying a great adventure series? Does everything have to be about JESUS? How boring is that?! Why can't something be about somebody/something else? You know, FOR FUN!
Wait a minute, Voldemort was killed and came back (resurrected), he had a group of loyal followers, he was betrayed by one of the ones closest to him. His biological parents were not of the same ilk. Wait a dying for your sins minute! Maybe Voldemort is the Christ figure! I wonder why they haven't been making that argument?
I mean you could glean meaning out of the directions of a packet of instant soup mix but isn't it kind of a waste of time?
3 Comments:
How typical of narrow-minded people. They couldn't stop the books from being sold, so twisted it around to something of "theirs". That way they can justifying reading them like everyone else.
A lot of these people miss the point. That it's a story about a boy that grew up as a misfit in a family that clearly didn't love him or want him around. Then he finds a hidden talent and begins to grow and blossom. He becomes a "rockstar" to those in his field. He went from being a wierd geek to being popular.
It's also about going deep within yourself to resolve problems. To have the courage to go forward instead of wallowing in the past.
I loved the analogy between Christ and Voldemort. HA! I never saw it that way (my thinking doesn't revolve around religion), but now looking back (wallowing in the past?), I can see the similarities.
But the movies can't be that evil! Afterall, they're shown on the Disney and Family channels, so they're good for our kids to watch, right?
Actually that is right. Every kid who feels isolated and unloved should read these books, then discover his/her own "magic">
By Anonymous, at 9:31 AM
Voldemort as Jesus - You are brilliant, Girl! Needless to say, no one will be preaching that sermon any time soon. &@$%# Christians! It never fails: first they ridicule it, then they demonize it, then they co-opt it. It's shameless. Whether it's Gallileo, Copernicus, Plato, Socrates or Star Wars, the Matrix or the Simpsons, they always want to claim it for their team. They've got Narnia; why do they need to steal our stuff, too? Mark my words, they are going to do the same thing to Evolution, too. You just wait and see.
-D
By David Fitzgerald, at 1:22 PM
heh. I got a huge chuckle out of this post. yes, the Voldemort as Jesus was brilliant. He's also a Republican, y'know...
By Dana Fredsti, at 7:27 PM
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