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No. It's not a strawman argument. I'm simply asking how and where and why people delineate fact from fiction. If people are so gravely concerned that Harry Potter, a children's book/movie, is dabbling in the realm of witchcraft and that it may turn their kids into something such as a sinner, a witch, a non-believer than what helps to isolate the mythical workings behind Harry Potter as truth and the mystical workings of Freddie Kreuger as fiction?
The premise behind Harry Potter is not so much that the boy wizard is real but that he is using magic and witchcraft to obtain things in his life. Ok, fine. And on the same level, Freddie Kreuger and Jason Voorhees (the main guy from Friday the 13th) are obviously using some sort of mystical powers to keep returning from the dead. So why do the mystical powers of Freddie Kreuger seem so unrealistic to people whereas the ones that Harry Potter has seem so real and true to people? While I don't expect people to actually believe Harry Potter or Freddie Kreuger exist (please tell me that people don't) people apparently seem to believe in the witchcraft and magic behind Harry Potter but not the strange abilities of Freddie Kreuger. Why is that? What makes the two so different? How do you delineate the difference if you're willing to make the irrational conclusion that one type of magic is real but another is not?
Ahhh yes, Jason, not Michael Myers! I see what you are saying, and as a parent I can tell you it is hard to draw the line. I have a hard time with the Disney films that use magic in a fairy tale. It is easier to draw the line on a violent film that has sorcery. I do TRY to be consistent. Magic/wizardry however it is packaged is the same thing as far as I'm concerned...it's not ok when Harry Potter or Freddie do it and it is not okay when the Fairy Godmother or Jason do it.
My husband and eye don't see eye to eye all the time. My son, who is 6, is a typical boy...loves all super hereos, video games, etc. My husband sees a lot of things as harmless, whereas I'm more cautious. We do agree on Harry Potter though. When he is exposed to entertainment that contradicts what we as Christians believe, we tell him so. If we didn't explain things HE WOULD BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It's all about educating them. They'll be exposed to a lot of things it will be up to them eventually to make their own decisions.
I wont have the Harry Poter books in my house because i wont subgicate myself to reading crap. Ive never cared for bubble gum fantasy. If someone would like to start reading well written character devolopment and plot intrigue, i could recomoned hundreds of fantasy books. As far as the magic and witchfraft goes, people need to see it as entertainment, not reality.
So why couldn't you just say you didn't care for them? Why all the bruhaha about them not being up to "your" level? They weren't written for you anyway.
I don't understand some people. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's "crap". It means you didn't care for it.
Example...I don't like brussel sprouts but my husband does. Does this make them "crap"?
Thank God not everybody like the same things. This world would be pretty boring if eveybody thought the same way.
Ahhh yes, Jason, not Michael Myers! I see what you are saying, and as a parent I can tell you it is hard to draw the line. I have a hard time with the Disney films that use magic in a fairy tale. It is easier to draw the line on a violent film that has sorcery. I do TRY to be consistent. Magic/wizardry however it is packaged is the same thing as far as I'm concerned...it's not ok when Harry Potter or Freddie do it and it is not okay when the Fairy Godmother or Jason do it.
My husband and eye don't see eye to eye all the time. My son, who is 6, is a typical boy...loves all super hereos, video games, etc. My husband sees a lot of things as harmless, whereas I'm more cautious. We do agree on Harry Potter though. When he is exposed to entertainment that contradicts what we as Christians believe, we tell him so. If we didn't explain things HE WOULD BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It's all about educating them. They'll be exposed to a lot of things it will be up to them eventually to make their own decisions.
First time I've heard someone call Harry Potter a violent film. My 2 year old is in the other room watching Hostel.
How does Harry Potter contradict the Bible? Do/will you keep him from science class as well?
Ahhh yes, Jason, not Michael Myers! I see what you are saying, and as a parent I can tell you it is hard to draw the line. I have a hard time with the Disney films that use magic in a fairy tale. It is easier to draw the line on a violent film that has sorcery. I do TRY to be consistent. Magic/wizardry however it is packaged is the same thing as far as I'm concerned...it's not ok when Harry Potter or Freddie do it and it is not okay when the Fairy Godmother or Jason do it.
My husband and eye don't see eye to eye all the time. My son, who is 6, is a typical boy...loves all super hereos, video games, etc. My husband sees a lot of things as harmless, whereas I'm more cautious. We do agree on Harry Potter though. When he is exposed to entertainment that contradicts what we as Christians believe, we tell him so. If we didn't explain things HE WOULD BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It's all about educating them. They'll be exposed to a lot of things it will be up to them eventually to make their own decisions.
Do you tell your child that everything in the bible is real and true? Is that really fair to your son?
If in context it is a true account and not a parrable, illustration, or symbolic in meaning then yes I tell him it's true.
Yes
Seriously????
2 Kings 21:6 says:
Quote:
6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says:
Quote:
10"There shall not be found among you anyone (J)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one (K)who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11or one who casts a spell, (L)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12"For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and (M)because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.
Daniel Radcliff nor anyone else is a real wizard. It's a movie, it's fake, it's not a documentary.
Since you follow Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says:
Quote:
18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Ahhh yes, Jason, not Michael Myers! I see what you are saying, and as a parent I can tell you it is hard to draw the line. I have a hard time with the Disney films that use magic in a fairy tale. It is easier to draw the line on a violent film that has sorcery. I do TRY to be consistent. Magic/wizardry however it is packaged is the same thing as far as I'm concerned...it's not ok when Harry Potter or Freddie do it and it is not okay when the Fairy Godmother or Jason do it.
My husband and eye don't see eye to eye all the time. My son, who is 6, is a typical boy...loves all super hereos, video games, etc. My husband sees a lot of things as harmless, whereas I'm more cautious. We do agree on Harry Potter though. When he is exposed to entertainment that contradicts what we as Christians believe, we tell him so. If we didn't explain things HE WOULD BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It's all about educating them. They'll be exposed to a lot of things it will be up to them eventually to make their own decisions.
I don't know. I don't have kids so the only thing I can really go on is my memory from being a child myself. I remember there were two movies that I watched probably every day for two or three years from the time I was about two until I was about four or five - Superman and Jaws. What's funny is that while I certainly wished I could fly like Superman or be as strong and heroic as Superman, I really do think that I realized it was not possible and that it was indeed fictional. After all, I wasn't jumping out of my window at night in an attempt to fly faster than a speeding bullet. While I suppose in those days, that was the closest thing to a truly "magical" movie event, I did not grow up believing or even thinking that I was Superman, that I could fly, or that there was even a planet where people roamed around and had Superman-like powers.
I guess it's easy to play a backseat parent when I'm not one myself but I personally would prefer that if I had kids that they were not exposed to television at all with the strict exception of learning channels and science channels. I am personally under the impression that the strict detachment of reality and lack of thinking skills in this country is due in great part to the crap that is on TV. And, no, I'm not talking about the sex, violence, and drugs on TV. If anything, that's more realistic than reality TV or any of these other shows that glamorize stupidity and luxury lifestyles as a preferred way of life.
Nevertheless, I also feel that a mind is a terrible thing to waste and while I may not be a fan of different elements of television, I also feel that if my child were to read a Harry Potter book I would be content with that. As well, I wouldn't so much mind if they watched the movie - especially after reading the book. I do think that creativity is fostered in a child's mind at a relatively young age and I also think that while there are certain aspects of children's minds that have a difficult time separating reality from fiction; I also think that we undercut the ability of a child's mind at times too and that we don't give them enough credit for what they can and cannot discern.
Overall, on a personal level, I would have an extremely difficult time telling my children that they are not allowed to watch Harry Potter or even read the book because of the witchcraft and sorcery involved and that those are real entities that one must be cautious of. Because, quite honestly, I don't believe in any of it, and I think that it's all utter nonsense. To me, it's almost a greater injustice to tell a child that such a thing is real and hence that being the reasoning behind them not being able to see it than it is to let them discern by themselves just how fictional magic and witchcraft are.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
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It is the fear that is so deeply entwined in Christianity that has this affect on some people...the fear of doing or saying or thinking or seeing something that "might" question anything in the Bible. I urged my own kids to read fantasy (among other things) when they were little and I do the same for my grandkids because reading opens the mind to thought and curiosity. Harry Potter books are filled with morals and good vs evil and right vs wrong, and if the author used make-believe to get these things across, bully for her! So did the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, among others.
It is the fear that is so deeply entwined in Christianity that has this affect on some people...the fear of doing or saying or thinking or seeing something that "might" question anything in the Bible. I urged my own kids to read fantasy (among other things) when they were little and I do the same for my grandkids because reading opens the mind to thought and curiosity. Harry Potter books are filled with morals and good vs evil and right vs wrong, and if the author used make-believe to get these things across, bully for her! So did the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, among others.
Well shut it!, LOL....seriously an open mind really is to discern what to let in and what to keep out.
There is a danger in Harry Potter books, to simply dismiss that "fear" is not fair to many Christian parents. You as a parent have a responsibility to decide whether or not to allow your children access to it.
If you are a Christian parent and are wrong about Harry Potter books or any other avenue such as a TV show etc.... having no effect on your children then you will one day have to answer to God.
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. When he is exposed to entertainment that contradicts what we as Christians believe, we tell him so. If we didn't explain things HE WOULD BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It's all about educating them. They'll be exposed to a lot of things it will be up to them eventually to make their own decisions.
