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Pope disapproves of Harry Potter

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LoKyBuckeye

LoKyBuckeye

I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
Pope disapproves of Harry Potter, letters suggest

Thu Jul 14,12:05 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050714...w8SH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

BERLIN (Reuters) -
Pope Benedict believes the
Harry Potter books subtly seduce young readers and "distort Christianity in the soul" before it can develop properly, according to comments attributed to him by a German writer.

Gabriele Kuby, who has written a book called "Harry Potter - Good or Evil," which attacks
J.K. Rowling's best selling series about the boy wizard, published extracts from two letters written to her by Benedict in 2003, when he was a cardinal.

Kuby, a devout Catholic, had sent him a copy of her Potter critique and he wrote to thank her, according to a passage from one of the letters published in German on her Web site.

"It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly," Benedict wrote, according to the excerpt.

A
Vatican official was not immediately able to comment on the remarks attributed to Benedict, who is currently on holiday in the Alps. Reuters was unable to reach Kuby by telephone.

The sixth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," is due to be published on July 16, with millions of copies already shipped to stores around the world.

After Benedict was named Pope in April, his own writings shot to the top of the German book charts and dislodged the most recent book in the Potter series from number one.

The Vatican had previously appeared to approve of the books, saying they helped children to understand the difference between good and evil.

Kuby maintains the opposite, listing among 10 arguments against Harry Potter: "The ability of the reader to distinguish between good and evil is overridden by emotional manipulation and intellectual obfuscation."

In one of the letters, Benedict gives Kuby permission to publicize his opinion.

"Somehow your letter got buried in the large pile of name-day, birthday and Easter mail," he writes.

"Finally this pile is taken care of, so that I can gladly allow you to refer to my judgment about Harry Potter."

Vatican officials earlier this year condemned Dan Brown's Catholic conspiracy bestseller "The Da Vinci Code."

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in March blasted the book as an absurd distortion of history, saying it was full of cheap lies and Catholic bookstores should take it off their shelves
 
I knew a girl who had parents that didn't let her read the Harry Potter books because of something like that. But she would just read them at school or away from her house.

I've only read maybe the first 3 pages of the first book.

I've seen two of the movies though.
 
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I can understand since it is making witchcraft cool... I think you make it clear to your kids that this is fantasy, and use it as an chance to teach what actual witchcraft is about... if that's what you're worried about.
 
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I live in a pretty conservative area. Some of the people I work with hate even hearing the name Harry Potter. Of course, none of them have read any of the books because their ministers told them not to. Our parish priest gave a homily a couple of years ago and talked about how good the books were. I wonder if he would still give that homily now.

My wife had an interesting comment when I told her about this. She wondered what the Pope would think about CS Lewis and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
 
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BuckinMichigan said:
I live in a pretty conservative area. Some of the people I work with hate even hearing the name Harry Potter. Of course, none of them have read any of the books because their ministers told them not to. Our parish priest gave a homily a couple of years ago and talked about how good the books were. I wonder if he would still give that homily now.

My wife had an interesting comment when I told her about this. She wondered what the Pope would think about CS Lewis and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
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Its been so long since I read any of the Chronicles of Narnia stuff. I need to again. After HP&HBP. :tongue2:
 
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Slightly different, considering its written by a christian author with christian overtones throughout the book. But I see your point.

People are too touchy, and do not consider things for themselves, they just believe what they are told. I heard an interesting sermon which pointed out that Paul said any church that believes what they are told by a pastor without checking it out themselves is a foolish church.
 
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jwinslow said:
I can understand since it is making witchcraft cool... I think you make it clear to your kids that this is fantasy, and use it as an chance to teach what actual witchcraft is about... if that's what you're worried about.
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HA, enlighten me.. what IS actual witchcraft about?
 
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BuckeyeSoldier said:
HA, enlighten me.. what IS actual witchcraft about?
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This is how you determine if someone is a witch:

Sir Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Sir Bedevere: And what do you burn, apart from witches?
Peasant 1: More witches.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Sir Bedevere: Good. Now, why do witches burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of her.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!
Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!
 
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I've heard this arguement before, and it's ridiculous. My cousin is somewhat of a religious freak, and she won't let her kids read it. It's a book, for Christ's sake; a story.

If something as innocuous as Harry Potter is capable of turning you away from religion, then you weren't very faithful to begin with. These people (including the Pope) need to focus their energy on something worthwhile.
 
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BuckinMichigan said:
My wife had an interesting comment when I told her about this. She wondered what the Pope would think about CS Lewis and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Click to expand...

Well, there are some Christians, Catholic and Protestant, who believe Lewis' Narnia Chronicles or Tolkien's Lord of the Rings should be avoided at all costs as well. Unfortuantely, these people have never explored the concept of magic in literature to undestand what is being represented.

There is a great distinction between how magic is portrayed in Christian-inspired fantasy and something like Harry Potter. In the works of Lewis and Tolkien there are two types of "magic" being employed.

The first is the typical Dungeons and Dragons magic, where a person is using and manipulating powers that exist outside of themselves. This type of magic is always portayed as evil by Lewis and Tolkien. Those who argue against the use of magic in Harry Potter believe this is the type of magic represented in the books. I have not read any of the books, so I don't know if this is accurate, but from what I have seen from the first two movies it is.

The second type of magic, is only magical by perspective. Abilities of higher beings, such as Aslan the Lion or Galadriel the Elf Queen are innate abilities they possess inside of themselves. To them, there is nothing magical about these powers. It is only those beings (men, hobbits, etc) who do not have experience with these powers that consider them to be magical. In Lewis and Tolkien's writings, these characters can be either good or evil depending on their motives and actions.

P.S. In case you haven't heard, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe will be in theatres on December 9!
 
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