I can think of a few fundamentalists with a particular tendency to condemn gay people that I’d absolutely love to send that bit of slashfic quoted above to! 
I think the bigger question is: Who knows about the sorcerer’s stone? Think about it. They ditch “the philosopher’s stone” on the grounds that Americans have never heard of it, and replace it with something that no-one has ever heard of. How is this an improvement?
What’s really sad is a few months ago, after Reader’s Digest had an article about Harry Potter, they published a letter to the editor from a woman who said Harry Potter was an instrument of evil. She cited the article in The Onion. The thought still makes me want to go bang my head against a nice, brick wall.:smack: :smack: :smack:
The objections some Fundamentalist Christians have to Harry Potter is very real, and, from what I’ve been able to make out, rooted in real, sincere, religious belief. Unlike almost everyone here, they believe a little knowledge, at least about some subjects, is dangerous, and a lot is more dangerous. They would rather not have their children exposed to such things, just as I would prefer my niece not be exposed to deliberate hatred and hypocrisy. If the couple in the OP’s actions weren’t part of a scam, she probably doesn’t see her actions as hypocritical, but as responding to a direct attack on her family which is every bit as real as if someone pointed a shot gun at them. Actually, it could be even more real of a threat – a shotgun only damages the body, while exposure to evil threatens one’s entire soul. There are also people who consider credit immoral. If the couple in question don’t own credit cards or use them for that reason, then I could see why accepting store credit would not be acceptable.
That said, in my opinion acting like a jerk, which this woman did, is never acceptable. You guys have read it from me often enough. I even said it last night. My response to Christians who pull stunts like this is to go back to commandments 1 and 2, and keep in mind they include the words “mind” and “love.” Sheeesh!! (and that’s in full awareness of that expletives origins!)
CJ
:: pulls out Shlimazel’s Guide to Rashi’s Commentaries on the Torah ::
Let’s see… Commandment #1… Genesis 2… “Be fruitful and multiply.” Yup, that’s definitely all about love.
[/hijack]
;j
Yiddish word for the day: “Shlimazel,” noun, a person who suffers incredible bad luck. “A shlimiel spills soup in a shlimazel’s lap.”
I literally went :eek: when I saw that there are people who think C.S. Lewis is the tool of Satan. I thought he was one of the few we could agree on. Next someone will tell me that John the Baptist was the tool of Satan.
:sits back and waits:
Gotta agree, Velma. C.S. Lewis?
I have this image of ol’ CS listening to someone say this. I can see his jaw drop.
“I’m a…what?”
Then he puts on his Caped Christian Crusader outfits and fights for great justice!
Considering how much Tolkien drew on teutonic mythology, it wouldn’t surprise me. Odin was god with one eye. Sauron is (arguably) just an eye. His dwarves and elves are no doubt inspired by dverge and alfar.
Tolkein was not just supposed to be evil, he was evil!
He was, after all, a “papist” (at least, late in life).
Interesting to note that the publishers of Harry Potter chose to release the latest book on the summer solstice – clearly they recognise that even adverse publicity is good publicity.
Well, as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, sincerity means diddly squat, these people are dangerous nutters, period.
What amazes me is how stupid and suceptible these people believe their children are. They seem to think that two seconds after being exposed to Harry Potter, their children will run out the door and sacrifice a goat. What is this amazing power they attribute to J.K Rowling’s works?
If your kid is so dumb that they can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, you have serious problems to begin with.
Then again these are probably the same people who think that an athiest will be converted by a reading of the bible. A book that many athiests would call a work of fantasy fiction.
Lissa,
It isn’t that they think their children can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, or that they think the children will suddenly want to do the things they read about. It is a whole lot more about not presenting morally wrong things in a positive light.
Kind of the same way that I don’t like my children being exposed to certain TV shows or magazines that present extra/premarital sex as just another recreational activity. It’s not an attitude I want them to pick up. It isn’t that I think they’re stupid, and it isn’t that I think they won’t make their own judgements. But it falls to me as a parent to teach them moral rights and wrongs, and exposing them to positive presentations of morally wrong activities doesn’t help that when they are young.
You can all thank me later for this:
http://www.thewavemagazine.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=22182
Just read: it’s about a video delving into the deeper depths of evil Pottermania. And it’s got Seanbaby, baby.
You mean those morally wrong things that they can’t do because there is no such thing as magic? Please, by all means teach your kids not to transform themselves into talking dogs or kill unicorns. That would be WRONG of them to try.
What’s “morally wrong” about anything in the Harry potter books? What’s “morally wrong” about fantasy?
For that matter, what’s wrong with witchcraft? It’s not like it’s real or anything. It’s not like you can really cast spells or curse anybody. One of the overriding themes of the series is about love triumphing over evil. Harry’s mother dies to save him and he was protected from evil by the power of her love. What’s “immoral” about that?
People that think these books are evil are just fucking nimrods. I’m sorry but that’s all there is to it. You cannot be an intelligent person and think Harry Potter is evil. An individual is capable of one or the other, not both.
Out of curiosity, like what? Which TV shows present extra/premarital sex as just another recreational activity?
Also, you are aware that sex can be a recreational activity? And that not everyone would subscribe to the view that sex should only occur exclusively in marriage?
I sincerely doubt that you can “teach” morality, and certainly not if that “morality” comes down to the blind adherence to a handful of “laws”. I refuse to recognise any act as moral unless it is volitional and based on critical comprehension.
See, maybe this is why fundamentalists feel they should fear a book, for they themselves became enslaved to one particular book, and have voluntarily given up their moral obligation to question the “teachings” therein.
If you want your children not to believe in hocus-pocus don’t teach them it in the first place.
That’s humorous.
No really.
Pat yourself on the back for making a completely ignorant statement. People who share your particular brand of ignorance threw rocks at my great-grandfather while he walked down the street and bombed his church in J’ville FL in the 1940’s. His small children were inside.
You don’t have a clue what “speaking in tongues” is, or when/where it would be appropriate.
Sorry for the hijack. I personally have read all of the HP books, as have 2 of my children. I found them to be good fiction stories, and I think that Rowling displays an excellent imagination that has rarely been seen in the past 40 years.
My family is Pentecostal, and I don’t know of one single person that thinks HP is evil.
~J
I’m Jewish ;j but my understanding is that- After he rose and was recognized, Jesus gathered his disciples around him. He told them that they must carry his teachings and his word to the people of all the nations of the world. Tongues of flame appeared in the air. They descended and entered the mouths of the disciples, who found that they could now speak strange languages. The interpretation of ‘speaking in tongues’ varies from sect to sect. Some sects believe that the individual is literally speaking in an unknown foreign language. Others claim that the language is not worldly but either divine or the language of angels. The Quakers (and the defunct Shakers) also literally believe that the Holy Spirit moves them, causing a kind of shaking and dancing.
How's that?That’s pretty close Doc. (Is it ok if I call you Doc?) The Pentecostals (Apostolic types) also believe in moving in the spirit, or dancing.
Of course, you aren’t BobScene, so I didn’t actually intend to berate everyone with my statements.
~J