You are viewing [info]rhionnach's journal

Previous Entry | Next Entry

Harry Potter and the matter of evil

Vulcan on the Bridge
On the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/4682519.stm

"the rector claimed he was seeking "to lead our children into areas of evil"."

Oh no not again! Why can't these stupid people try reading the damn books? Then they'll find out that they are just very enjoyable books for children with an appeal to adults as well? They're not an occult primer, they're not a Wicca instruction book, they're just a damn good read!

Also on the ITV website: http://www.itv.com/news/britain_305065.html

One of the parents makes a very good comment:

"My son is autistic and was really looking forward to the day. Where do we draw the line? Are we going to ban schools from putting on Shakespeare's Macbeth because it features witches?"

Or why not ask a real witch?
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/ourtown/j14harry1.htm

"But Oak Forest resident Morn Geiger, who says she's a real witch, doubts the books have convinced anyone to join the Wiccan religion.

"These books are not used to recruit anyone at all," Geiger said. "There are tons of books out there where kids have magical powers. A few years ago, my nieces wanted to become spies because of the 'Spy Kids' movies. If you ask most kids, they know that Harry Potter is a fantasy."

Why do these people have to see evil in all sorts of places? Why are they so scared? Why do they overeact?

If they want to see evil let them look at London on the 7th July. Let the children play.

Comments

( 1 comment — Leave a comment )
[info]highstone wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:46 am (UTC)
Interestingly enough, I came across a book which argues that the whole Harry Potter series is written as a profoundly Christian allegory - on the lines of the C.S. Lewis 'Narnia' series...

(Looks at the library catalogue) Ah yes, 'The Hidden Key to Harry Potter' by John Granger, ISBN 0972322108. Had a look myself a while back; while I don't agree with his thesis - there is a pretty exhaustive and interesting case made for the HP series as being highly compatible with Christianity.
Interestingly enough, my real discontent with Granger's book is his gratuitous 'dissing' of Philip Pulman's writing, in particular the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy - all on account of the perceived Atheism.
( 1 comment — Leave a comment )