Harry Potter leading our kids astray

[Jack]

Harry Potter is leading our kids astray. It teaches kids about witchcraft, sorcery, magic, and all other kinds of demonic stuff. Even the Pope has now expressed concern about the impact these movies are having on our children. These books and movies are full of nothing but paganism.

[escan]

That's rediculous. The underlying message is good vs. evil and actually has wonderful lessons on good, decent values. Plus, kids enjoy reading these books and it has been shown that the more children read, the better they perform in school and in the "real world". Let's not discourage reading just because some don't believe in witches, etc. It is NOT paganism....it's fantasy. People need to lighten up a bit.

[MadMonk]

It's harmless fiction, aka F-A-N-T-A-S-Y.
* oops escan beat me to it. *

BTW, the same could be said of Cinderella and a number of other Disney titles.

[Jack]

Cinderella isn't riding a broom and performing magic.

[MadMonk]

No, but her "fairy godmother" was doing lots of magic. Mice turning into horses, a pumpkin into a carriage, etc. Did your ever see the movie or did your parents shield you from this sort of "demonic stuff"?

[Midtowner]

No way Jack actually believes that. No one on this board (that I'm aware of) is that nutty. I could be wrong of course.

[Jack]

It's harmless fiction, aka F-A-N-T-A-S-Y.

Kids actually believe a lot of that's true. Look at Santa Claus.

[MadMonk]

You just made my point for me. Do you still believe in Santa Claus? At one point in your life you realize and understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Did your (assumed) belief earlier in your life lead you astray?

[Jack]

You just made my point for me. Do you still believe in Santa Claus? At one point in your life you realize and understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Did your (assumed) belief earlier in your life lead you astray?

Yup, Santa Claus visits me every year. I sat on his lap last year and he brought me a hamburger.

[Jack]

You just made my point for me. Do you still believe in Santa Claus? At one point in your life you realize and understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Did your (assumed) belief earlier in your life lead you astray?

Seriously, I think teaching your kids to believe in Santa Claus can be detrimental as well. Once they find out the truth, they're forever emotionally scarred, and they feel there is no absolute truth, because it all could be made up.

[GrandMaMa]

That's rediculous. The underlying message is good vs. evil and actually has wonderful lessons on good, decent values. Plus, kids enjoy reading these books and it has been shown that the more children read, the better they perform in school and in the "real world". Let's not discourage reading just because some don't believe in witches, etc. It is NOT paganism....it's fantasy. People need to lighten up a bit.

So what if it is Paganism? There are worse things, like religious zealots of any flavor.

[Luke]

Jack is funny.

[GrandMaMa]

Now, I wasn't referring to anyone in particular...

Jack is funny.

[{la_resistance}]

Well Jack, thats aload of crap. I don't like the books because I have matured and given up them up because I no longer found them entertaining.

But so what if kids read it? If their parents rased 'em right then they should be emotionally mature free-thinking minds who can figure things out for themselves. We are people and demeaning children by thinking they aren't capable of such critical thoughts means one thing- you or someone else did not raise them to think for themselves. We are people and are fully capable of doing as such even at young ages. So if your kids are negatively affected I blame you and no one else.

[CaptainAmerica]

I personally never liked them, however as long as children understand what the books are saying, good vs evil, and not getting caught up in the sorcery part of it than i see know problem, as la resistance said, if they are mature enough, they will understand.

[shadow713]

la resistance. you say you have matured? that is a load of crap. that book you do not "mature" from. it is for all ages of people, in fact my grandmother even enjoys reading them. it has nothing to do with maturing just because you dont read them anymore. you just got tired of reading a book like that because you want to read things that are based on real events so that you can seem important. you my friend are full of BS.

[GrandMaMa]

la resistance. you say you have matured? that is a load of crap. that book you do not "mature" from. it is for all ages of people, in fact my grandmother even enjoys reading them. it has nothing to do with maturing just because you dont read them anymore. you just got tired of reading a book like that because you want to read things that are based on real events so that you can seem important. you my friend are full of BS.

What was that all about? That didn't even make sense.

[bandnerd]

Sounds like a personal argument to me.

Although this thread is old, and basically the topic has been beaten to death in other arenas of my life, I will say that the HP series has done one truly important thing for our kids--it has gotten them to READ. The book doesn't have anything to do with religion, and there is nothing wrong with that. Not everything has to be about religion, or someone poking fun at it or making it good/bad...sometimes books just "are".

I enjoy reading this series, as well as a number of my friends who range in age from 20's on up. My fiance's mom and her mom read them. My sister adores them and goes to the Harry Potter parties with her husband.

But then, I am a huge advocate for not censoring books. Do people who try to censor these things watch the news? Do they have any clue what these kids see everyday anyway? You can't shelter them from everything, but you can teach them tolerance and common sense and how to not take themsselves so darn seriously.