Harry Potter Author Reveals Books' Christian Allegory, Her Struggling Faith

gmp »

Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:40 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 2

Persistent? Thats an interesting descriptive term. Is that how you would describe Al Qaida and the Taliban? Are they really any different than the early church? Is the Jihad against the western culture, really any different than the crusades, or the war against heresy? I think not.

Harry Potter Author Reveals Books' Christian Allegory, Her Struggling Faith

gmp »

Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:42 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

Ok smartie, The 50-60,000 you refer to includes the roughly 250 years from about 1450-1700 in Europe. It does not include all of the inquisitions, some of which began as early as the 1000s and occurred elswhere. These inquisitions were tribunals of the church for the suppression of heresy - of which witchcraft is considered. The Spanish Inquisition alone, set up by Ferdinand and Isabella, extended to the new world, and many sources place the death toll in the americas alone as in the millions. Dont forget the crusades either, where Moors and Pagans (all of whom were suspected of whichcraft) were killed in the name of Christianity.
We can debate numbers all day, but thats not the point. Lets keep our eye on the ball.

Michael Vick Finds Jesus; Some Unconvinced

gmp »

Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:20 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

Vick didnt "find" anything. He just got busted, and is trying to cover his behind. This is purely a PR stunt, and frankly, a pretty weak one. I cant beleive this fools anyone.

Harry Potter Author Reveals Books' Christian Allegory, Her Struggling Faith

gmp »

Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:45 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 0

dannygirl,
my greatest fear is that there are many others who feel like you do. Religious fanatacism in any form is evil, be it christian, muslim, hindu, or whatever. It shows arrogance, and leads to hate and resentment of others. Many of the darkest chapters of human history were written by fanatics like yourself who justified persecution and killing in the name of god. Your comments on witchcraft sound frightningly similar to the witch hunts of the dark ages where millions of innocents were tortured and murdered by the church on suspicion of witchcraft. One would think our society would have advanced farther than that by now.

Conservatives Urge Ban on 'Harry Potter' Over Witchcraft, Homosexuality

gmp »

Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:09 pm Agree: 24   Disagree: 9

Enough already! There is no magic or whichcraft. Never has been, never will be. These terms were coined by the ignorant and fearful to explain what they didn't or didnt want to understand. Waving a wand or climbing on a broom doesn't work. Nor do potions, charms or spells. Even my 4 and 7 year old girls understand this. Unfortunately many adults, including those who wrote the bible never figured this out. Unfortunately, their ignorance plagues us to this day.

The Potter books do promote the concept of good triumph over evil, and emphasize the importance of love, honor, loyalty and self-sacrifice. These are the greatest of human qualities, and it seems to me that truly "conservative christians" would embrace these themes. Yet, many obsess over the use of magic, which we all know doesn't exist, and is merely used to help create the elaborate backdrop of this wonderful fantasy. Also, No character action, written word, or inuendo to homosexuality appears anywhere in any of the books. Only a recent comment to a live audience by JK Rowling that she always pictured Dumbledore as gay. No one reading these books would otherwise have any clue that Dumbledore is gay. Sure, we never hear of any wife or love interest, but does that mean every character who is not married or overtly heterosexual gay? Please! Besides, homosexuality has been part of the human equation since the dawn of man, and will continue to exist as long as humans walk the earth. Get over it. Learn some tolerance. Intolerance to others is the true evil here.

Finally, In our society, There is no more important skill than reading. Millions of children (and adults) now say I like to read because of these books. Their value in this regard is priceless. I consider the Harry Potter series to be among the greatest books ever written. Those of you on your pious soapbox who haven't read the books should give them a try. you just might be entertained, like millions of the rest of us.