Is HARRY POTTER dangerous?

[Shiner]

All I learn't from harry potter is this;

*if your best friend sleeps with the girl you like, sleep with his sister*

[Pix]

I'm not joking, judging or criticizing anyone. I'm just posting plain facts.

But if you really want to know, my personal opinion on Harry Potter is this: I don't like the stories and the movies, I think they're shallow and badly written. I don't know if they're dangerous or promote witchcraft, though.

If you've actually read them then how can you take these vids seriously that say the spells are real? :confused:

That you agree with the vids that say the spells are real makes me think you haven't actually read even a single book or seen a single movie the same way I couldn't believe someone who said mutants like in X-Men are real had actually any real exposure to the stories. But if you HAVE read at least a single book and believe it's an accurate portrayal of witchcraft and magic in the real world then please, share experiences of wands that kill and change people into animals and animals into goblets, and house elves and invisibility cloaks and time turners, and all the amazing spells, and why the people who have these powers don't already rule the world.

[MisterLove]

The question, "Is Harry Potter dangerous?" is not a fact. This is what I was referring to when I asked if you were joking. How any intelligent, educated person of the 21st century (like yourself) could wonder such a thing simply baffles me. I'm not judging or criticizing either, I'm honestly at a loss to understand the question in the first place.

I'm assuming (based on your references to demons and exorcisms) that by 'dangerous' you mean that people exposed to the HP series may be prone to influence by evil supernatural entities, or more likely to attempt actually casting magical spells which might subject them to uncontrollable supernatural forces, or that the stories themselves have somehow summoned demons or the like to London. Is that about right?

I really don't care about the fact that some teenager claims to be trained as an exorcist, or that her father is struggling to make a living by selling multiple books about the subject and offering his dubious services at a price. I think that's just pathetic, and that's a fact.

That's not a fact, that's an opinion.

I never said that Harry Potter readers were in any danger of being attacked or influenced by supernatural forces and that's not what Father Amorth or any of his followers said.

I do believe, however, that books - and not just the Harry Potter novels - are neither innocent nor harmless. They carry the DNA of their authors and promote their ideologies and Weltanschauungen. In the case of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, it is a positive ideology, a message of tolerance and hope. Hitler's Mein Kampf is the exact opposite.

I don't know if J.K. Rowling has any kind of hidden agenda - Father Amorth seems to believe so - and I don't know if Bob Larsson is sincere, a hoax or a lunatic (Jesus himself must have seemed quite eccentric and unorthodox in his day) but I have seen stranger things and over the years I've learned not to make any hasty judgements.

[Geminize]

I never said that Harry Potter readers were in any danger of being attacked or influenced by supernatural forces and that's not what Father Amorth or any of his followers said.

Thanks for clarifying, Love, but I'm still confused. I get that books can express an author's opinions, beliefs, and philosophy. When you ask if we think Harry Potter is "dangerous", what exactly do you mean? What specific danger are you referring to?

(I've searched the thread for a link to anything by Father Amorth, but haven't found one.)

[Pix]

JK Rowling promotes mostly positive values of love, friendship, courage, resolve and perseverance, acceptance of those who are different with condemnation of bigotry, and that we all have a bad side but that we should overcome it as we are defined by our actions. So overall I'd say her message is a very good one.

The only quibble I can think of offhand is the implication that people should marry almost right after school. I also couldn't help but notice (and mocked in a story of mine) how often the bad guys (male and female) were blond though she did ease up on that about the same time she introduced Luna.

Note, I'm not saying JK Rowling actually preached this stuff (much) just that these are the values (or "author's DNA"as Mister Love calls it) imparted into the stories. I got worried when my 12-year-old was promoting Twilight but felt good that she admired Hermione Granger and remains academic to this day believing you can be smart, valuable, and likeable. mile: (Btw, the negative messages for females is a big reason why most fundies leave Twilight alone while the positive messages for females is why most fundies attack the Harry Potter series. Because Harry Potter isn't dangerous to kids, rather fundamentalist Christians, including fundie Catholics, are.)

[MisterLove]

I didn't want to revive this thread but I just found the full BBC documentary on the teenage exorcists: