Is Harry Potter Satanic?

[Thana]

I do not accept that Christianity accepts magical beliefs. ( though some Christians might)

I do accept that some religions profess to base themselves on magic, but I am of the opinion that such beliefs are misplaced. But it is their religions and their beliefs. I do not expect that my concerns are of any importance to them.

I do not base any of my opinions or beliefs about other religions on the question of the existence or not of Magic.

Nor do I accept the magical view of miracles or the like in Christianity. Though when they are related to us, they always have a strong ethical message accompanying them. I take them to be a form of parable.

Ah, so you're pretty much dismissing most if not all of the bible.

You know, Mose's miracles, Jesus's miracles, And then the Gifts of The Holy Spirit. (Prophecy, Precognition, Speaking in Tongues etc)

And then what about God? Is He not supernatural? I don't understand how you don't perceive these to be conflicting beliefs?

 

[Quintessence]

You know the movies/books isn't actually all about witchcraft and magic, right? That is just a backdrop to the story.

I'd just like to point out that saying it is "just" backdrop is a touch misleading. Backdrop is important. I know for a fact that a number of people have gotten interested in alternative religion because of pop culture renditions of the occult, whether we're talking Harry Potter, Charmed, The Craft, or some other source. Pop culture is modern mythology; it is far more powerfully influential than what we usually call mythology. It serves the role mythology used to for our ancestors. It shapes our way of life and our outlook.

If you're part of an exclusivist religion that believes that anything that distracts from your one true path is a problem (or "evil" or "satanic" as the verbiage sometimes is), Harry Potter is absolutely a problem, as are any other modern mythologies that would cause people to stray from the mythologies you value or endorse. Their argument has substantial merit from their point of view, and I respect that. Do I personally classify occult-themed pop culture as "satanic?" Of course not, because calling things "satanic" is not part of my classification scheme for reality (except in proper case - Satanic - and then I'm referring to a self-identified religious demographic). Are there things that would occupy an equivalent space in my view of reality? Oh, absolutely. I think we all have sources of information or stories that are on our proverbial $#@% list.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Then it is perfectly clear you have not retained the perception and wonder of a child for magic and fairy land.
You probably do not like Science Fiction or Fantasy books either.
Some of us still retain the ability to "set aside belief" for long enough to enter those worlds, and enjoy such fiction especially when it is so well written.

Fantasy has been a vehicle for teaching morals since the dawn of time. A point followed by all religions, in the form of metaphor and parables.

No. I just don't have any appreciation for a low-brow movie pitch and marketing scheme that passes itself off as children's literature.

People have different taste. The low brow tend to low brow literature like Harry Potter. I have read plenty of great children's literature to know that Harry Potter is low brow bull ****, it is a brand, a marketing scheme.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I do not accept that Christianity accepts magical beliefs. ( though some Christians might)

I do accept that some religions profess to base themselves on magic, but I am of the opinion that such beliefs are misplaced. But it is their religions and their beliefs. I do not expect that my concerns are of any importance to them.

I do not base any of my opinions or beliefs about other religions on the question of the existence or not of Magic.

Nor do I accept the magical view of miracles or the like in Christianity. Though when they are related to us, they always have a strong ethical message accompanying them. I take them to be a form of parable.

So you are a symbolic Christian?
What is your stance on the Bible then?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

So you are a symbolic Christian?
What is your stance on the Bible then?

Christianity pre-dates the Christian Bible, by arguably some 300 years.
It is not essential for Christian belief, but contains perhaps the best information we have today about the life and teaching of Jesus.

It should not be taken as the literal word of God, but as it always was, a collection of ancient texts, complete with errors and omissions.

As a Christian I do not base my religion on the old testament. But recognise that it contains many important insights about God and the role of man on earth.

Christianity came about at a time when many forms of magic were believed and feared, they were accepted as real... as was the belief that the earth was flat... there is no reason to believe in such nonsense today.

 

[Nymphs]

No. I just don't have any appreciation for a low-brow movie pitch and marketing scheme that passes itself off as children's literature.

You haven't read all the books, so I don't really think you can say much about them. You do understand that they were a book series WAY before marketing and movies, right?

 

[HexBomb]

People have different taste. The low brow tend to low brow literature like Harry Potter. I have read plenty of great children's literature to know that Harry Potter is low brow bull ****, it is a brand, a marketing scheme.

By the time Harry Potter came out, and I mean the first books, not the movies, which came way later, I was already reading at a college level. I hadn't touched anything labeled "children's" literature for five-six years. The idea that the "low brow" tend to like Harry Potter is, quite frankly, insulting. While J.K. Rowling's magical theory has holes in it, and she likes to smash her characters into happy endings that no longer suit them, I've sat through more than one university class where finer points were debated by professors, undergrads, and grad students alike.

I would, however, like to hear what you consider 'high brow' children's literature.

 

[Iti oj]

Not a single person asked me why i think Harry is Jesus. pfft

 

[McBell]

Not a single person asked me why i think Harry is Jesus. pfft

huh?

Do you think Harry is Jesus?

 

[Iti oj]

huh?

Do you think Harry is Jesus?

A willing sacrifice in fulfillment of the prophecy

 

[McBell]

A willing sacrifice in fulfillment of the prophecy

Who comes back after his death.....

interesting

 

[Iti oj]

Who comes back after his death.....

interesting

exactly! haha i had more last time i brought this up. and I can't frubal you again yet.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Who comes back after his death.....

interesting

And he marries a redhead!

...did I take the analogy too far?

 

[McBell]

And he marries a redhead!

...did I take the analogy too far?

Jesus married?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Jesus married?

Of course! Otherwise all the mass hysteria surrounding The Da Vinci Code would have been, well, mass hysteria.

 

[Nymphs]

Of course! Otherwise all the mass hysteria surrounding The Da Vinci Code would have been, well, mass hysteria.

I was about to say something similar but you beat me to the punch.

 

[sun rise]

I had not thought of all the magic in the Bible before this but the posts about that are correct - there's a lot of spells and wizardry going on: Moses is one. Joshua is another. Because that is in the Bible, some call them miracles and not magic. But when the same thing is done in a non-Biblical context, then the label magic aka evil is placed on the same act done arguably for the same purpose.

Personally I see stories such as these through the lens of symbolism and metaphor.

 

[Pegg]

Also, check these definitions out:

Magic is an attempt to understand, experience and influence the world using rituals, symbols, actions, gestures and language

humans dont have powers over the physical world. We can't influence the world through magic.

The ones who can are those who obtain such powers from wicked spirits....ie satan and the demons. They are the ones who cause the 'magic' to happen, not the practitioner.

 

[Pegg]

Why shouldn't the good guys have the same abilities as the bad guys? They are all human after all...

the abilities don't originate from them.

Witches and sorcerers dont have powers. They get those powers from spirit forces. Those spirits are the ones who make things happen. And those spirits are demons and Satan.

 

[Quintessence]

the abilities don't originate from them.

Witches and sorcerers dont have powers. They get those powers from spirit forces. Those spirits are the ones who make things happen. And those spirits are demons and Satan.

How do you know this to be the case?

I ask, because the source of powers is something that is debated within communities that practice spellcraft. There's no agreement about it, though in my experience, very few claim that the person has no power. There's no way to prove which is correct either way, so I wonder what exactly makes you so certain... especially since I doubt you practice yourself.

However, I have to say this perspective of yours has some very awkward implications. It means everything is demonic. Candles are demons. Loaves of bread are demons. And those fluffy kittens? Also definitely demons.