Hello everyone! I have debated this with quite a few of my friends before, and I was wondering what you all thought of Harry Potter and weither you thought it was wrong/sinful to watch the movies/read the books. I hope that you all don't attack me for saying this, but I am a Harry Potter fan and I don't see anything wrong with watching the movies or reading the books 'cause in my opinion it doesn't say in the Bible that we can't read about stuff like Harry Potter. To me, the Bible says not to do witchcraft, and if you read the books or watch the movies, then you are not doing witchcraft, so as long as Harry Potter doesn't make you believe in witchcraft, then I think it's ok to like it. Anyways, Harry Potter doesn't have real witchcraft in it and half the books are spent on the theme of good vs. evil anyways. Also, why would people call Harry Potter series satanic, 'cause Satan isn't even mentioned in the books and the books are not meant to glorify him. I was just wondering what you all thought of Harry Potter and any comments/advice would be really helpful. Thanks!

Post edited by: MaddMatt, at: 2007/07/13 07:21

witchcraft is bad, yes, but i dont believe that it can be sinful to watch something or read something if it does not cause you to fall away or get involved in things that are actually sinful. no one watches the movie or reads the books and thinks "ooo witchcraft.... I wanna try".... now, i dotn think that it is logical to bring little kids of course to watch it becasue they are apt to believe it quickly without thinking it through. If you know that its fiction and that witchcraft is bad and everything, then it is fine. But you still need to be careful because things can easily get out of hand in your mind. And we cannot say that something is satanic just because it kind of has to do with something that is sinful. We dont know the intent of the writer. Also, it does not glorify Satan in any way. I dont believe that it is satanic because i do not have the information about the intent and motivation of the writer to make such assumptions.

Harry Potter is a sheep in wolves clothing. Harry Potter conveys a message that witchcraft is harmless, and fun. For children to watch Harry Potter is an act of ignorance on their parents part. For an adult to say that it is harmless, because it is entertaining, is even worse... For a Christian to argue that it is okay to glorify witchcraft, scrocery, and satanic acts of Spiritual entities is just down right sad, and discouraging.

[b]MaddMatt wrote:[/b] [quote]Harry Potter is a sheep in wolves clothing. Harry Potter conveys a message that witchcraft is harmless, and fun. For children to watch Harry Potter is an act of ignorance on their parents part. For an adult to say that it is harmless, because it is entertaining, is even worse... For a Christian to argue that it is okay to glorify witchcraft, scrocery, and satanic acts of Spiritual entities is just down right sad, and discouraging.[/quote] im assuming you meant to say that it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. I never said that it was harmless. Everything has the potential to be harmful. Personally, I believe that Law and Order is much worse than any Harry Potter is. I did say that it is stupid for parents to bring kids to it because that could possibly be completely scarring and could easily warp their mind. Also, someone could argue that the Chronicles of Narnia support witchcraft as well because of the evil lady and she used sorcery to do things, but we all know that that is not what Narnia is about. Of course, it does not perfectly translate into the argument about Harry Potter, but it has a bit of a connection. I would just say to know what you're getting into when you watch it. I think we go two ways when we talk about the media. We give it too much power, or we give it too little power. We say that it is extremely harmful and noone should watch much of anything that is questionable because it will scar you, or we say to watch whatever you want because nothing can harm you in the media. I think we need to realize that neither of those are accurate. Discretion is needed, but it does not need to be taken to a huge extreme By the way, I think Harry Potter is boring and stupid, but I like to argue for everything.

I for one am a Harry Potter fan.( not like one of those physco ones -- but it's a good reading) && I don't believe it to be dangerous. You don't see Christians bashing Lord of the Rings do you? and They use magic and witchcraft - - the sole purpose of Harry Potter is just a purely fictional book about a fight between good and evil. It is a FICTION book -- and does not claim to be otherwise -- I think that if children are believing it and actually trying to do witchcraft -- then that is the parents fault for not explaining to the child that it is all false and they can't really do magic. but then again -- lots of movies are fictional in that sense -- like superman - -some little kid may think he's superman or spiderman and try to jump off a building -- but you don't hear Christians opposing it left and right.

I agree with all of you who say that Harry Potter is ok to watch and read with discretion (did I spell that right? lol) and that it is about the fight between good and evil. I have read J.K. Rowling's (the author of Harry Potter) unnoficial biography and in the book it said that J.K. Rowling was Catholic (so there was no way she would promote Satanism or witchcraft) and that the stories were about the fight between good and evil like xLisax said. J.K. Rowling basically just wanted to show that good always triumphs over evil in the end, she didn't want to promote witchcraft or anything. I think she chose the wizard theme because it would appeal to most age groups, she didn't choose it to say "hey, witchcraft is real and we should follow it." I also agree with all of you who say that younger kids shouldn't read the books or watch the movies, 'cause then they will believe in it, and we don't want that! I think as long as you know that witchcraft is false and wrong, then I don't see any problem with reading/watching Harry Potter unless you start believing in/doing magic/witchcraft.

Ah.... but you are all missing the point... Harry Potter is marketed for children, and to children. It presents witchcraft, scorcery, and satanic practices as being "good" and "desireable." Harry Potter is an instrument of Satan to decieve children... If you want to read it or watch it as an adult, that is your choice... Why adults find entertainment in a book or movie thats sole purpose is to glorify demonic, Satanic powers is beyond my understanding... However, to say that it is innocent, and to compare Harry Potter, to a Christian C.S. Lewis novel, which portrays evil as a force which has no hold over Christ, and presents His atonment, and resurrection in a childlike story is amazing. To try and explain the difference between Harry Potter, a novel which glorifies children practicing witchcraft, and dabbling in Satanic powers, and a novel which portrays the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and outlines how Satan came to steal His glory and he overcame Satan is not even something I am going to bother explaining. The Bible has things in it about Satan, and demon posessed men, Satan tempting others, appearing as a snake, inflicting boils on men, and perfoming supernatural acts like turning a stick into a snake, and turning water into blood... I would not compare it to the Satanic bible and say that they both have similar things. -Matt

I totally agree with all of you who say that Harry Potter is a wolf in sheeps clothing. I also personally think that it is not a sin to watch/read the movies/books, it's just that everyone needs to be careful when doing so. I am the type of person who does not fall into doing witchcraft from following the Harry Potter movies/books, and I am careful not to believe in witchcraft either. If you are someone who is easily (spelling?) fooled by what you read, then you should not read/watch anything that has to do with Harry Potter.

So if you had the choice of spending time with your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... have dinner, talk about life....etc... OR You could sit and have dinner and conversation with Satan himself, and hear about all his evil things he does, and how he is going to destroy the youth of the world.... Which would you choose?

i would choose to spend time with Jesus without any hesitation, but I fail to see the point of that question in this debate. Could you explain it for me?