Why is HP not allowed?

Fundamentalist Christians believe that Harry Potter is based on Witchcraft. The bible says not to be involved in this kind of thing and so they don't involve themselves or their children.

Someone will ask where in the bible.....there are a few places but this is probably the best known.

Galatians 5:19-23 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

It could be just a personal decision from inside that household. I've heard of a few branches of Christianity that lobby against it, because it's about witches and wizards, but usually only at a case by case basis. Essentially, St. Ezekiel's in RandomTown as opposed to Southern Baptists.

CaroGirl said:

But it's fiction, you know, just pretend. How do they justify that?

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I don't feel that way, I was just answering your question.

You could ask the parents.

Just thinkin' out loud here.

CaroGirl said:

I know. I was responding to your answer to my question (this could go on all day!).

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The fictional status doesn't enter into the equation. They believe they are literally at war with unseen forces and that things like Harry Potter are a tool used by satan to corrupt the minds and cause to stumble those who partake of them.

I'm not sure it would be offensive to ask them if you phrased it nicely. You know, saying something like "You people are nucking futs, why the halo won't you let your kids watch Harry Potter?" might not be the best approach, but if you ask with genuine curiosity, you might get an answer.

Then again, you might get a twenty-minute rant on the evils of Harry and his crew, in which case you should run away, quickly

RumpleTumbler said:

The fictional status doesn't enter into the equation. They believe they are literally at war with unseen forces and that things like Harry Potter are a tool used by satan to corrupt the minds and cause to stumble those who partake of them.

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You sure you want your kids mixing with weird people like that? They could pick up a lot of strange ideas.

waylander said:

You sure you want your kids mixing with weird people like that? They could pick up a lot of strange ideas.

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My child isn't mixed in with folks like that. What makes you think that?

I know several people who don't allow HP for their kids. Other than that, they're perfectly normal, everyday people and I like them fine. It's no different, IMO, than some people choose not to let their kids watch South Park, or they have no sugar or caffeine in their diets. It's just a personal choice.

There's also something Biblical about, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" that people use as God declaring witchcraft evil.

These people may or may not have based their decision on their religion. They may not even be Christian. For all we know, they may be Wiccans and find the HP universe offensive to the 'real' world of witchcraft.

My best friend comes from a denomination that I find ridiculously oppressive--no jewelry (somewhere in the bible it forbids adorning oneself with gold), that sort of thing. Still, she and her family are wonderful people. It's just personal choice.

There are those who believe (and some of them go to my church) that HP glorifies witchcraft as a means to solve life's problems and that witchcraft is a sin.

I think the books are just fiction and darn entertaining. We enjoy them.

It doesn't make the people who don't approve "freaks" per se. We just don't agree on that point. And on many others. We manage to coexist just fine.

Caro, we have the occasional kid who watches too many violent movies, plays too many video games, has loser friends, and is parented poorly up and shoot down entire campuses.

It makes regular parents a little gunshy about things they don't know.

Pun unintended.

RumpleTumbler said:

The fictional status doesn't enter into the equation. They believe they are literally at war with unseen forces and that things like Harry Potter are a tool used by satan to corrupt the minds and cause to stumble those who partake of them.

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Along these lines, I used to play the card game Magic. For those that don't know what it is, you buy packs of cards and create decks to play against each other. Since you are using spells, these cards are being "cast" into play. Some of the cards are spells and others are creatures.

Anyway, I was asked by a co-worker if I thought it was okay to play the game. I asked why not? She said that I was playing creator by casting creatures into play. I was sitting there stunned! I replied it was a just card game. That made no differnce to her. I guess I'm going to H-town!

Mjollnir13 said:

Along these lines, I used to play the card game Magic. For those that don't know what it is, you buy packs of cards and create decks to play against each other. Since you are using spells, these cards are being "cast" into play. Some of the cards are spells and others are creatures.

Anyway, I was asked by a co-worker if I thought it was okay to play the game. I asked why not? She said that I was playing creator by casting creatures into play. I was sitting there stunned! I replied it was a just card game. That made no differnce to her. I guess I'm going to H-town!

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Better get a couple of booster packs, then, just in case.

Times have changed some but when I was young many Christians didn't allow their kids to go to the movies or play cards which they saw as frivilous time wasting activities.

I'm an evangelical Christian. I love the Harry Potter stories/movies. Could we avoid the generalities, please? Some parents, including pastors and non-Christians, do prefer not to expose their children to witchcraft. And HP is based on witchcraft; that's why the words witch, wizard, wand, spell and magic are used. It is, however, a fantasy witchcraft, not the reality the Bible warns against.

Some parents, Christian or otherwise, don't want the least exposure for their children if they can avoid it. Some parents, Christian or otherwise, feel their children can understand explanations or understand the difference, or simply don't care. Please stop labeling and generalizing.

Okay, off my soap box.

RumpleTumbler said:

The fictional status doesn't enter into the equation. They believe they are literally at war with unseen forces and that things like Harry Potter are a tool used by satan to corrupt the minds and cause to stumble those who partake of them.

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My MIL is like this. I love her and I think she is a wonderful person, but I really got into it with her when she told me son he shouldn't go to the first movie with my mom. She didn't even speak to me about her worries, she went directly to my son and told him Satan was trying to get him .
He was having nightmares.

I called her immediately when he finally told me why he didn't want to go (he couldn't wait to go before) and I asked her (nicely) to not tell him things like that and to please bring up her concerns with me. Her response? She yelled at me for condemning my children to Hell... the rest of the conversation didn't go very well.

The funny thing is she never raises her voice, but HP made her lose it. Why? Because the guy on the TV said it was evil. She never read the books so she really had no idea. When I pointed that out to her she said she didn't have to read it, she trusted the evangelist. I told her I don't like second hand opinions, I prefer to form my own. (That was probably a little snotty of me. )

Then we had the whole Pokemon is from Satan debate, oh yeah, and did you know the Yu-Gi-oh also serves the dark lord? (I'm not crazy about either one, but not for her reasons) All this because someone on a TV broadcast said so... the power that those people have is scary.

BTW I am Christian, but my MIL would say, "There are Christians, and then there are Christians." The implication being that I am less of a Christian than she is because I do not agree with everything she says.

No, I'm not irritated by it, I swear... really.

Be very cautious when discussing these things with people.

dclary said:

Better get a couple of booster packs, then, just in case.

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Do they sell heat resistant sleeves? That game was cardboard crack.

For me, it's like Ouija boards. Lots of people swear they are the devil's personal lear jets. However, I just think they're silly little games and the only 'doors opened' when playing with them are the ones people run through scaring themselves by unconsciously moving the planchette around.

I consider myself Christian. Born, baptized and raised one. However, my choices may be quite different from another Christian's. There are things that are between a person and his/her God (whoever or whatever they decide that might be, if any). Who has the hubris to think they must force everyone to their personal views?

I agree with BarbJ: Don't Generalize.

A six-page discussion on this topic already exists in the Christian Writing forum.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71309

If you guys want to bump up one of the Harry Potter film-related threads in this forum and talk about the movies, go for it. But the religion discussion doesn't belong here.