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Harry Potter: Child friendly?

Harry Potter: Child friendly?
...So why, if Harry celebrates Christmas, does this book stir up so much controversy? I'm not quite sure why some feel so compelled to burn these books or band them from any library. Sure, there isn't any mention of any god, with the exception of the occasional exclamation using the word god, but they do make an effort to connect themselves to the majority religion by celebrating something close to Christmas.

I am sure however that until they get the story line right in the movie, it's not going to be worth watching the next movie. I suggest that if you feel confused while watching this movie, refer to the book. It helped me understand the movie. ...

Read more here:
http://www.examiner.com/x-12287-Norfolk-Atheist-Parenting-Examiner~...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on July 26, 2009 at 10:35pm

A lot of kids seem to grow up fast nowadays.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on July 27, 2009 at 2:25am

Whenever I've delved into what really bugs the Xians about Harry Potter ... really delved past words like 'magic' and 'witches' when these are themes in, say, the very Xian-endorsed Narnia series, the meat of the matter comes down to inherent vs. bestowed power.

It's the age-old fear of religion: Heaven forbid the people learn they don't need the church.

Likewise, in the Narnia world, power is bestowed upon you (say, by Aslan). In the Harry Potter world you yourself are inherently powerful all on your own.

Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on July 27, 2009 at 10:14am

Wow, that's really insightful Mary. HP teaches about human goodness, and human achievement. I was frankly taught those things were myths (yet witchcraft was supposedly real).

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on July 28, 2009 at 9:03am

I learned to read on the Narnia series - Figured Dad would eventually get tired of reading "Prince Caspian" to me over and over so I'd better learn to read it for myself.

I never even knew its Xian connection until the movies came out a few years ago. Ironically, I always credited Narnia with doing more to turn me away from the church than towards it; with its own depiction of magic and witches and fantasy worlds which are not mentioned in the bible and are therefore 'false gods.'

Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on July 28, 2009 at 12:17pm

Don't forget the basically-Muslim guy at the end of "The Last Battle" who goes to heaven even though he never followed Aslan. That totally introduced a new doubt for me. Sadly, the first thing I read was Deuteronomy 28 so I was sort of screwed.

Permalink Reply by Malena on July 27, 2009 at 9:41am

Child friendly and I add a point for the enfansis they put in personal decisions.

Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on July 27, 2009 at 10:13am

I absolutely plan on reading these to my son, when he's older and has a longer attention span. Right now it's all I can do to keep him engaged long (and still) long enough for "Goodnight Moon". I love HP but I started reading when I was maybe 18? A few of the books were already out then. I think Book 4 (where Cedric dies) is probably the one to put off. The first three seem like younger kid's books, but once they get to be 700 pages a piece and characters start snuffing it, I think that's better for older kids.

Christians have to believe that witchcraft and sorcery is real, because it's in the Bible (Pharoah's magicians, "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live", etc.)

Permalink Reply by aME on July 27, 2009 at 10:50am

I'm with everyone else. I guess the only people, imaginary or real, that are suppose to have supernatural powers are God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost and a few people listed in the bible. It doesn't help that HP is so popular.

Oh yeah this was like a kick in the booty to a lot of christians. Recently (2009) Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter, came out as an atheist. It gained a lot of publicity. Good on ya Harry!

There are some older articles on this issue at About.com. http://atheism.about.com/od/harrypotter/a/censorship.htm that article will have links to related stories at the bottom. Insanity!

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on July 27, 2009 at 11:55am

Some good links there aME. Austin Cline is very good at exploring all angles of the point/issue/argument he's discussing.

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on July 28, 2009 at 8:53am

I stopped believing in Santa when I was still in grade school. I want to say about 9. My nephews believe in Santa. At least the used to. I don't know about now. And I grew up in a secular household.

Permalink Reply by It's just Matt on July 27, 2009 at 11:31am

Firstly, an important quote from Heinrich Heine " Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings."

The paradigm of what is acceptable for our youth to do and see changes with each generation. To me, if it does not negatively impact their personal character or cause them to harm others mentally or physically, I do not have a problem with it.

Penn & Teller's Bullshit did an episode on fantasy video game violence this season. They even took a 10 year old boy who played shooters to fire a real rifle, the child did not want to shoot a second shot at the paper target, then at the end of episode, they show that in fact the boy was crying afterwords. So much for violent games creating violent children.

Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on July 28, 2009 at 7:13am

My buddy plays Halo with his 4 yr old boy. The boy told him the other day "I wanna be a pretend police officer with a plastic gun daddy, because if I had a real gun someone could get hurt by accident".