“Grow up and pray you’ll grow smarter while doing so”?
Congrats on fighting the good fight, even if it does seem to be a futile cause in this case. Oh, and welcome to the boards.
Don’t dwell on it; Cecil is not much of a “fan” type person.
Some would even say Cecil is not much of a person.
But according to the Profit, Jack Chick, Catholics are evil.
Hehe, yes, I’d agree.
And the Christians at my idiotic school also believe that Catholics are evil. Personally, I disagree. We believe and pray to the same God, right? The people in my school just want to be a pain in the ass and cause people grief.
Here is a link to my own Harry Potter hating fundy co-worker rant from a while back. I think it included some links to interviews (I don’t recall now) with Rowling form Larry King and the BBC.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=261713&highlight=ca3799
I like HP about as much as some, but my kids (7 and 8) are big fans. My son is autistic and is a HUGE HP fan. They can be obsessive and he certainly is regarding this topic and has been for 3-4 years. I know of at least one neighbor that won’t associate with us because of my son’s interest in HP. Of course, this is a lady that hands out Chick Tracts for Halloween instead of candy, so I wouldn’t want to hang with her anyway. I actually believe a conversation with me about HP helped her cement her plans to homeschool!
I really wouldn’t have put much effort into knowing details of Rowling and HP if I didn’t need to protect my son from ingorant others. I was actually kind of relieved that his ‘object of interest’ was HP and not, say, Thomas the Tank Engine. The school counselor told me that Thomas will be a really poor topic of conversation for him after 2nd grade, but that HP as a topic will see him all the way through high school. (I’m not sure I explained that well.)
Hehe, of course I understand. I wish my mother would be as understanding as you are. She thinks the Harry Potter books are for children and that I only watch the movies because I’m a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl who likes to drool over hot guys (i.e. Daniel Radcliffe 
) Honestly, she’s a nightmare!! 
For some reason, I have this need to include at least two smileys in my posts.
If you do get around to researching Wicca, you will be amused to learn that it’s basically mystical christianity with a slightly different vocabulary, and rituals that are borrowed from Freemasonry by way of the Golden Dawn. (Not that any of that is likely convince your friends and teachers that it’s any less evil.)
The Wiccan festivals largely correspond to traditional Christian festivals, and share their meanings. Yule for Christmas, Spring Equinox for Easter, etc.
To be fair though, even though Christians have celebrated festivals that correspond to Beltain and Samhain, they’ve always been controversial with some folks. But hey, Christmas was only grudgingly accepted as an adaptation of a prechristian festival, after a long period in which folks tried to suppress it as a wicked pagan holiday.
Well, of course it’s not going to convince them that’s not evil, but I’m more interested in Wicca now that you’ve told me this. I really should get to researching instead of working on my science project.
By mystical christianity do you refer to Gnosticism?
And, from what I’ve learned of Wicca, I’d think it’s a bit more accurate to say it’s borrowed both ritual and substance from the G.’.D.’.
After all, the G.’.D.’. was associated with freemasonry in the same manner that the O.’.T.’.O.’. was…
And while “Do as thou wilt as long as it harms none” can be traced, roundabout, to Gnosticism it would probably be a more direct theoretical link to Crowley’s “Do as thou wilt.”
One question: Is Harry Potter saved?
“Saved”? Saved as in believing in Jesus Christ and that He died on the cross for our sins and that we are to follow the commandments of God the Father? I’ve never considered that before.
It might be amusing to ask them what this “witchcraft book” is that Rowling cribbed from. I’m sure good Christians like them would never have read such a thing (although that does make one wonder how any good Christian ever discovered the alleged connection), but if they’re so all-fired certain about it they should at least have a title, right?
I wonder if they think it’s the Necronomicon?
You might point out to them that in the world depicted by Rowling, people can’t become witches and wizards. Either you’re born one or you’re not. I suppose Harry could give up magic if he wanted to, but there’s apparently no way for a Muggle to learn to cast spells.
She’s right. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s no religious element to magic in the HP world. Magic users in the books treat it more like a science, and no faith in anything but one’s own abilities is required.
In a general way, yup.
I think most of the substance can be found in the ritual.
Ayuh.
I think of them as vehicles. Whether you choose a Mercury, a Chrysler, a Mazda, or whatever, once you get “under the hood,” it’s pretty clear that the basic principles are all the same. S’all about converting petroleum into progress, and they’ll all get you where you’re going in the end.
While we’re on the subject of names and forms, Mister FinnAgain, your namesake puts me in the mind of Dionysus, John Barleycorn, and that other fella with the buzz in his blood.
How’s that old drinking song go, again? “Scatter your whiskey ‘round like blazes, Thunderin’ Jesus, d’ya think I’m dead?”
Who carries a hod to rise in the world, anyway?
But, yaghags hogwarts and arrahquinonthiance, it’s the muddest thick that was ever heard dump since Eggsmather got smothered in the plap of the pfan.
I’m curious as to what more specific way you might’ve had in mind. The christians (and to an extent Jews and Greeks) had the Gnostics, the Muslims had the Sufis, and the Jews also had the Kabbalists. The interplay between them always fascinates me, but I was unaware of any strain of mystic christianity that wasn’t gnostic in origin.
I would agree that a good deal can be, but I also think that a lot of the philosophy behind wicca deviates from the philosphy-behind-the-ritual. For instance, I’ve heard of gatherings opened with “As above, so below.” followed by the response “So mote it be.” that then betray not so much as a nod towards hermeticism.
Likewise using G.’.D.’. rituatls designed to bring out the Hidden God and then praying to an external power (and meaning it).
I would agree on that as well.
However, most of the so called Illuminated schools sought, as is my undestanding, to bring the Adept into greater harmony with Universe via the formulae of “As above so below” and “Solve et coagula.”
Wicca, from what I’ve seen, is often simply an attempt to take Christian practices and place different masks over them without making a substantive change in the goals.
YMMV.
~grins~
As well it should.
Hod is quite splendid, but I prefer seeing Kether in Malkuth and Malkuth in Kether
It’s probably going to be hard to continue this hijack much further without mystifying or just plain annoying the muggles, but…
By general, I mean more of a small-g (or accidental) gnostic or mystic christianity of the sort that sometimes spontaneously arises without initiation into a mystery school.
I haven’t heard of such rituals, but I shouldn’t be surprised to learn of them. I have a certain lunatic squinty sight that allows me to see the hermetic influence in everything, though. (If you get through that, I’ll buy you a beer and regale you with my exegesis on the esoteric Futurama. ;))
I am hesitant to make denigrating judgements about anyone’s chosen path, but as all things are shadows, Wicca sometimes strikes me as a shadow of shadow.
My friend, you owe me a beer.
And I would like to learn more about the dynamic between Fry and Leila as seen by a fellow traveler.
I probably should be more hesitant.
I will take your example to heart.
Oh, and:
Fnord.
The main problem with Wicca is that it’s nowherenear as ancient as many of its practitiners seem to believe. That and it seems to encourage people to run around naked in the woods. At least Harry has the good sense not to drop his drawers and start dancing around with a ceremonial knife everytime the gang has to go into the FForest.
Now that’d be a trip.
“The next HP book in which Harry goes skyclad and engages in a tantric workshop.”