AN ORTHODOX VIEW OF HARRY POTTER

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OrthodoxyOrDeath

Post by OrthodoxyOrDeath »

away,

This child you speak of does sound very intelligent. So what of children who cannot discern things as clearly as he has, will they carry this stigma in the back of their minds while they mature into adults?

I beleive everything we see and read has an effect on us, no matter what age we are. And I think this is also true of prayer and exposing our life to different elements of the faith and church life. Good or bad, in many ways we are a product of our lifestyle.

Our priest is very converned about it - he has told everyone to bring him any videos and books they own so he can destroy them. I doubt he got much of anything as people in our church tend to be very cautious with what the world tries to drill into our childrens minds.

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ania
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Post by ania »

So OrthodoxyOrDeath, what books & videos did you give your priest to destroy...?
In all honesty, Harry Potter I see as a modern-day fairy tale... if you think about it, most Russian fairytales involve both good and bad witches... Quite often in a Russian fairytale, the hero of the story, lost in the big black forest (which in Russian fairytales is always where they get lost), they are taken in, or given directions, or somehow helped by a kind "Baba Yaga." There are also such infamous (though rarely good) characters such as "Koshey Besmertniy," "Chuda Yuda," and male villens who were considered "kolduni" or wizards. These Russian fairytales were considered harmless from top to bottom, & were read or retold by pretty much everybody. Now-a-days it's quite common for these fairytales to be acted out as plays during the Christmas Yolka at Russian parishes and everyone says, "oh how cute." I remember my grandfather, who is a priest, reading these stories to us when we were kids. Never in all that time did we think that it was real, or about straying from Orthodoxy to persue the occult. The only thing it did was expand our imaginations (how cool would it be to have grey wolves who run faster than the wind take you to some faraway palace) a bit, just as Harry Potter does these days.

OrthodoxyOrDeath

Post by OrthodoxyOrDeath »

ania,

My family has never been in possesion of anything "Harry Potter".

I don't expect to convince anyone and am grateful that this forum exists to share opinions on this and other important matters.

Here is an excerpt I found of Harry Potter:

"Wormtail then drops this disembodied spirit into a cauldron he had boiling, and then began to chant the following ritualistic words, designed to give Voldemort a body again. ' Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!' Suddenly, the grave on which Harry was sitting cracked open, a fine trickle of bone dust rose into the air, and descended into the cauldron. Harry's dead father had just given his son some of his bone. '

Flesh of the servant -- u-unwillingly given -- you will -- revive your master.' Wormtail then takes a dagger and cut off his right arm, and dropped it into the cauldron.

' B-blood of the enemy -- forcibly taken -- you will -- resurrect your foe.' Wormtail then takes the dagger in his remaining hand and cuts a large gash in Harry's arm, causing a large stream of blood to run down the arm. Harry struggled, but was held too tightly by the ropes. Wormtail captured Harry's blood in a glass vial and poured it into the boiling cauldron."

If you or anyone else foresees these satanic images will one day be acted out in an Orthodox Church with responses of "oh how cute", and that your children reading about how body parts are cut off over a grave with satanic type prayers being read, souls are dropped into boiling pots, and the blood of a person is poured into a glass and used in a ritual to raise someone from the dead is "good clean fun" for impressionble children, I doubt any argument I could offer would convince you.

How can parents excuse themselves for letting their children be compromised in such ways?

I pray you have just been unaware of the reality of all this and that you will reconsider.

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ania
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Post by ania »

Dear OrthodoxyorDeath...
If you find these passages offensive, tell me... do you own any Shakespeare? If so, may I suggest you burn it ASAP. Also if your (if you have any) children own Disney's "Little Mermaid," toss that as well (my fav Disney song, Ursula the Sea Witch singing "Those Unfortunate Souls).
If you haven't noticed, a lot of liturature, classics included, have an element of witchcraft (especially any spells that sound evil), usually on the side of the bad guys. I do not see how on earth small children would be encouraged to get into satanism by Harry Potter books if the charactors with satanic tendincies are in the end ALWAYS DEFEATED.
I do agree that all parents should read first what their children want to read, however, you can't convince me of the evils of Harry Potter. I would then have to condemn pretty much the entire science fiction/fantasy liturature genre.
Dat be my 2 cents...

Justin Kissel

Post by Justin Kissel »

Harry Potter has always been a stumbling stone for me. I read Tolkien, even though it is just as filled with magic as Harry Potter, if not more so. The whole LOTR world is based on polytheism, demi-gods, magic items, creation through music (the adversary, satan, was the one that refused to sing in key!), omnipotent and apathetic gods, elves, dwarves, etc. etc. I don't know about being sinful or dangerous... maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I'm still thinking that one over. Leastwise, though, I think I would have been better had I spent my youth reading Dostoevsky and Dickens, and playing more Canasta and less Dungeons and Dragons.

OrthodoxyOrDeath

Post by OrthodoxyOrDeath »

Ania, we are pretty foolish I know. :)

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ania
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Post by ania »

OrthodoxyorDearth,
Lets just agree to disagree, shall we? You probably think that I'm a liberal almost heathen, while I seem to think that your a bit of a conservative stick in the mud... (no insult intended, I do like ya), so lets just let the topic rest.
Ania

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