AN ORTHODOX VIEW OF HARRY POTTER

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Грешник
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Post by Грешник »

Cyprian, I do not debate this point with you but could you explain a bit more how you see this? I am trying to understand this and having read 5 of the books I am trying to put this all together.

Thank you

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Jean-Serge
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Post by Jean-Serge »

Hello Cyprian, could you explain me with more details your opinion? Why is Harry Potter a sort of Antichrist? Because in fact he is fighting the evil represented by Voldemort.

Priidite, poklonimsja i pripadem ko Hristu.

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Cyprian
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Post by Cyprian »

Perhaps we should start with the basics first:

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. --Exodus 22:18 [KJV]

Ye shall not save the lives of sorcerers. --Exodus 22:18 [Brenton LXX]

You shall not practice augury or witchcraft. --Leviticus 19:26 [NRSV]

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. --Leviticus 19:31 [KJV]

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. --Leviticus 20:6 [KJV]

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. --Leviticus 20:27 [KJV]

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. --Deuteronomy 18:10-12 [KJV]

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. --Galatians 5:19-21 [KJV]

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Jean-Serge
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Post by Jean-Serge »

Of course you are right but there is a difference between reading a book about witches and becoming a wizard. Should we ban all our stories like Cinderalla, King Arthur where there are witches or wizards?

Priidite, poklonimsja i pripadem ko Hristu.

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Cyprian
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Post by Cyprian »

I can't say that I am all that familiar with the assorted versions of Cinderella, or King Arthur, so I will refrain from commenting on those.

Harry Potter and his friends, the heroes of the books, are themselves the wizards and witches. Children idolize Harry Potter and his mates and wish to become like them -- i.e. witches and wizards.

Were the heroes in the stories Cinderella and King Arthur themselves witches and wizards? Or are witches and wizards merely tangential to the story, and portrayed as dark forces?

Would children who read the stories of Cinderella and King Arthur think witches and wizards are cool, and want to be like them?

One of nieces once told me, "Harry Potter is cool!"

There seems to be a clear distinction between Harry Potter and these other stories you mention, and if there is not, I would not endorse them either.

Cyprian

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Грешник
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Post by Грешник »

Cinderella has her "Fairy-Godmother"

Sleeping Beauty has her "fairy guardians"

King Arthur had his "Merlin."

The Wizard of Oz had "Glinda the Good Witch"

Pinnochio has the "Blue Fairy" (that turns him into a "real boy"

I dunno.. I mean these are all things I have grown up with and around. Are they all bad? Do they have their redeeming factors? I guess in the end it is a matter of what keeps you from the Christian Faith and that is in and of itself education in good and evil and realizing that there ARE things we are not allowed to partake in. So then the question is:

Does the reading of a fictional book or watching a movie (most of the above listed are Walt Disney ANIMATED MOVIES) about Wizards, Faeries etc. or is the sin in BECOMING one of these things and participating in their acceptance of the things that are evil?

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Грешник
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Post by Грешник »

I think when it comes to books and movies we run the risk of falling into a Roman Catholic mindset where we feel the need to make for ourselves a list of "Prohibited/Banned Books and Movies" and the viewing or reading of them is some sort of ecclesiastical crime...

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