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FINDING EVIL IN HARRY POTTER BOOKS

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 16 July 2005
27 comments

Religions-Beliefs Books-Literature UK

UNUTTERABLE EVIL AND HARRY POTTER

By Peter Fredson

July 16, 2005

Another Harry Potter book went on sale yesterday, with bookstores opening at 12 o’clock midnight. People stood in long lines to purchase the long awaited book. When children actually got a copy in their hands they squealed with pleasure and skipped off happily to their homes to read the book.

Although millions of people are fans of Harry Potter, yet there are many others that are very unhappy with the books. They find unutterable evil in the books, dark and mysterious shadowy demons lurking to ensnare innocent children, twisted horrible presages of unforgiveable sins, omens of coming disaster, and a satanic-snarling hidden fantasy that is above anything a frightening reality has to offer.

The Anti-Christ and the author of Harry Potter have seemingly conspired to snatch the innocent souls into that Neverland where only darkness and shrieking await humanity. They see the serpent in the Garden of Evil.

But help is on the way. Evangelists, charismatics, and TV preachers have decided that burning the Harry Potter books will eradicate sin and evil. This is second-best to burning the author.

Perhaps the Bush administration will soon allow them to actually put real live people on bonfire stakes, like they did with Bruno, but until then they must be satisfied with only burning the books.

The next step will be to terrorize school teachers and principals, to take over school boards for the purpose of banning any literature of which they disapprove, to prevent any reading or discussion of such abominably vile filthy books.

If you can’t talk logic, then talk tough, bully, threaten, fire people, make 10,000 speeches of denunciation, or protest that Christianity itself is being suppressed, censored, insulted, put-upon. Thump the sacred book, wring hands in anguish, and cry out to high heaven for redress. Lordy, lordy.

It is reported that in several states, like South Carolina, True Believer priests have instigated parents to call for removal of Harry Potter books from classrooms and school libraries because they “stimulate occult practices,” and “teach witchcraft, sorcery and satanism.”

John Buckeridge, editor of Youthwork, British Christian magazine, sees grave danger in the book.. ",,, for some young people it could fuel a fascination that leads to dangerous dabbling with occult powers. So what starts out as spooks and spells can lead to psychological and spiritual damage."

We know that the new Pope has spoken out against reading Harry Potter books.

World Magazine stated: "A reader drawn in would find that the real world of witchcraft is not Harry Potter’s world. Neither attractive nor harmless, it is powerful and evil." (October 30, 1999)

Some preachers see alarming parallels between contemporary occultism and Rowling’s seductive message to children. They worry that it would “embrace a more tolerant view toward the world’s fast-growing fascination with pagan practices.” They feel it "fosters an attachment to evil powers." They say, “Remember, this is spiritual warfare. God’s enemy fights as hard as ever to win the hearts and loyalties of our children.”

Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "The premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry....Increasing numbers of children are spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of Satanic websites and we are concerned that nobody is monitoring this growing fascination."

Preachers use Biblical quotations liberally to support their ideas that Harry Potter is essentially evil in literary disguise: "There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord..." Deuteronomy 18:9-12

A recent Video: Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged looks at elements in Harry Potter books, such as using the "Potter" name in Pagan religion, shape-changing, meditation, human sacrifice, feminine power, Wicca (the religion of witchcraft), the tools, spells and curses used in witchcraft, Christian youth and their involvement, communicating with the spirit world, reincarnation, situational ethics in witchcraft, the lightning bolt as a power symbol, broomsticks and witches’ hats as phallic symbols, dabbling in divination and sorcery, recruitment, teaching children dark arts, and more.

Even in Taiwan, you find Christians who are horrified at the Harry Potter novels, as witness this news report:

‘TAIPEI, Taiwan —A group of Taiwanese Evangelists has denounced the famous Harry Potter books, and warned people against reading them saying they were evil.’
‘The Ling-Leung Church warned its 7,000 followers off the books, saying the books about the adventures of a boy wizard were harmful.’
"The Harry Potter books are evil. They teach sorcery and run counter to the Bible," Tang Tai-hao, the wife of an Evangelist pastor, told Reuters news agency.’
‘Tang, the 47-year-old mother of two boys aged nine and 11, said the church’s Shihlin branch has burned several copies.’

Great Britain, the home of Harry Potter, has itself had a storm raised over the books. Witness this news-story.

’EVIL’ HARRY POTTER DAY CANCELLED
A primary school cancelled a Harry Potter day over complaints it could lead children into "areas of evil". Pupils from The Holt Primary School in Skellingthorpe, Lincs, were planning to dress up as witches and wizards. But the event - to mark the launch of the new JK Rowling book - was scrapped after parents and a local rector expressed concerns about witchcraft. Headteacher Paul Martin said the rector claimed he was seeking "to lead our children into areas of evil".
"The Headteacher, Paul Martin, replied: “May I reassure parents that my staff and I only wished to raise the profile of reading.”

Meanwhile the bookstores have been selling out of a record printing of the latest Harry Potter books. Millions of fans are joyously reading marvelous tales of fantasy which remove readers from the exigencies and pressures of every-day life and politics. Children are actually READING literature. They recognize where reality ends and fantasy begins. Too bad some adults do not get the distinction.

Forum posts

  • Read the Bible folks! The old testament contains a lot of evil stories like incest and murder.
    I guess those people who are after the Potter books let their children have guns.

    As crazy as it can get!

    • These are the same people who beat and torture their own 3 year olds because they are "homosexuals"....the Christians are all crazy people who are filled with hatred even for their own children. They cherry pick passages from the bible to hide behind while they carry out their insane behavior. Show me a fantaical Christian and I will show you Satan himself.

    • Look at the pope (if you can stand to look at evil) look at his eyes and you will behold a sick individual who perpetuates child abuse, sexism, hatred, greed, murder, and any other sick deed. What good has that organization ever done? They were supporters of Hitler, they support Bush. They spread hatred and misery because that is the business or religion, it is how they make all of their money. What thinking individual would belong to such a polluted organization? The Spanish Inqusition lasted 600 years and they murdered millions of people around the earth for greed and insanity, nothing has changed, the leaders of this same bunch are still in the same business.

    • Come on, dont make one issue into anouther. Don’t lump all of us gun packing republican christians into the same group as these crazies who see the devil everywhere. We’re muggles so we can’t carry wands anyway. You would’t keep a wizard from carring his wand.

    • The Bible can no longer be a REQIRED BOOK. And so your child will not be FORCED to read it. Which is good because it might take away the values and ideals you wanted your child to have. And so parents and children have a choice. The way it should be. Same situation.

  • It is astonishing that people go to such extremes that they ’must’ find evil in innocent books. I suppose that if a person wanted to bad enough (and as it sounds like some of these people do), they can find evil in anything, which makes me tend to question their motives and what they have to feel guilty about in their own lives.

    What’s next? Maybe we should ban all science fiction movies and tv shows? After all, Star Trek encouraged a tolerance for people or "beings" even if they didn’t hold Christian ideals. And what of the blockbuster hit, Lord of the Rings? That was definitely not a Christian fundamentalist movie! But did they raise this much of a stink with that? Well, perhaps they did and it wasn’t given the same coverage for some reason.

    It just seems to me, like it does to so many others, that if these people spent more time polishing the tarnish off their own silver, there would be no need (and no time) to try to complain about or condemn someone else’s cookware.

    Reverend Rex

    • I just want inform all these people that Harry Potter is SO EVIL. One I think kids should not read the books. I realize children do not have the mental capabiltiy to diferentiate between fantasy and reality as much as adults. Children’s minds are a sponge and the ones who are suppose to guard against the wrong things going in are the parents. Forget about burning books what good is that going to do? Since when does the devil live in book? As far as banning it from schools its not going to happen. Instead parents need to teach their the difference between right and wrong and take interest in what they are doing and reading. If you can raise a child with God then burning books will be so ridiculous and besides that’s wasting paper.
      And one more thing to ponder. C.S. Lewis wrote a similar series. It begins with the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Its full of magic, mystery and evil. Just food for thought....

    • I agree strongly that parents should teach their children right from wrong. And sadly I don’t see any conclusion to this situation. Most people could care less what their kids read no matter what the material .Children are sponges And their is NO way of trying to hide the things surrounding us. But I do feel that the parents also deserve respect as far as being able to choose what the schools force the children to read. And for that matter there are a LOT of kids who do not express their uncomfortable situation reading something that their parents wouldn’t approve of. If this is a "free country" than I suggest they make another selection available.choice Their are plenty of other good books out there. We try not to force the bible in the school systems so is it not fair to give them a choice on other possibly offensive matters as well? be fair.

  • Check out:

    Faith and Culture: Harry Potter Quiz
    June 08, 2004
    http://www.dickstaub.com/links_view.php?record_id=4604

    Harry Potter, Christ Figure?
    http://www.beliefnet.com/story/116/story_11681_1.html

    Harry Potter and the Prophet of Doom
    Is Harry really fated to kill or be killed? A closer look at the seer’s dire prediction.

    http://www.beliefnet.com/story/170/story_17089_1.html
    http://www.beliefnet.com/story/170/story_17089_2.html
    http://www.beliefnet.com/story/170/story_17089_3.html

    The 10 Things That Have to Happen In Half Blood Prince
    http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/home.php?page=docs/MagicFormula

    http://www.nj.com/living/expresstimes/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1121418388103900.xml&coll=2

    Finding Christianity — in Harry Potter
    Author John Granger sees religion amid the witchcraft.

    Friday, July 15, 2005
    By JOHN A. ZUKOWSKI
    The Express-Times
    ===
    Harry Beasts
    The animal symbols in Potterdom are powerful pointers to Christian reality.
    An excerpt from John Granger’s Looking for God in Harry Potter | posted 07/15/2005 09:30 a.m.

    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/128/52.0.html

    • Perhaps not ALL Christians think Harry Potter is evil. Quite a few have thoughts independent of whatever Jerry Falwell tells them they must do. That’s a hopeful sign, but many think only in terms of Good versus Evil, and that anyone engaged in fantasy fiction must be evil. Too bad many are brainwashed and think only in stark terms of black or white. It is difficult to avoid moralizing and consulting sacred books for daily life, even it it involves fiction.

  • SATAN LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD IS DEAD AND NO ONE CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • If I ever write a Magical book I hope they all get together and burn it, providing that they buy it first. Wait don’t just burn 1copy if you burn a case and promise to forbid anyone to read it you get 10% off.
    Masterkeye

  • What idiocy. In retrospect to what is suggested here, I offer and suggest yet a different religion : nihilism. There is nothing to fear when you are nihilistic — and this helps me personally. This religion allows its’ bearer to sit up and take notice in how stupid everyone else is being. Point in case — there are people on this website who actually don’t know the distinction between Harry Potter books and reality... (wow). People never cease to amaze me (why couldn’t I have been born a space alien? The first thing that that I would do as a space alien is abduct people and have them dissected so I could find out what makes them so totally fucking stupid).

    • I never read one of the books but man the movies suck and harry’s a fag lookin goof!

    • you might not look any better! FAG is a word used by insecure MEN who think they are the world’s gift to "women" GET A LIFE we don’t want you!

  • At first I thought You were suggesting we burn the Harry Potter books, but after finishing your message, I saw you were being sarcastic. While I am a Christian, and believe in the BIBLE, I also believe in the right to what ever you believe. I don’t see anything wrong with the Harry Potter books, infact I quite enjoy them, and have a hard back copy of every one. What I believe is "Evil" is people trying to find "hidden messages" in a simple child’s book. If your child isn’t old enough to know the difference between a story that was made up, and what is real... then maybe it’s time to introduce your child to more beliefs and religions than the one you personally believe. I don’t belive any one belief is correct, I feel that they all have a positive and negitive side to them, including, maybe even especially Christianity. Just like with anything else, You have to pay attention, not to what is being said in a book, but how a person is recieving, and percieving it. No one’s right should be taken from them, like these people are trying to do. If you don’t want your kid to read the books, don’t buy them for the kid. If you don’t mind them reading it, and the kid want’s to, let them. Infact, I’d encourage it. It took me finding a book I truly enjoyed before I learned to read. I hope, that one of these days people will learn that they don’t have to go overboard in anything they do. There is a reason they say to use moderation.

    Please don’t judge every Christian, just because a few (granted it seems like many) are so full of themselves. In every belief, there are escentrics. Maybe one day, we’ll finally learn to live, non judgingly, together in our small community called Earth.

  • OMG get real!!! this is exactly what I am teaching my kids. It teaches them imagination, friendship, responsiblity, and so forth. And I am tired of ppl bad mouthing. You all are going to have the entire population of children depressed on not letting them explore their imaginations plus not letting them choose which they want to believe. I have studied the bible and was almost a pastor of a church but never made it threw because you all don’t even follow what you believe you just cover up all the bad parts that you don’t want ppl to know or even understand. YOU just say BELIEVE and that should be the end of the conversation but BS ppl need questions answered and ppl NEED to feel safe and with that and what I know I know my children will not find it in the "bible" It is sad knowing you as a person can not just let kids be kids. It is the same arguement ppl have with Dungons and Dragons, Magic the gathering, and other games like those. YOU ALL SHOULD take a look at alot the crap you are teaching your children. I have seen from alot of these so called "christian families" they bad mouth ppl and do nothing but encurage other’s to hate them or worse hurt them. What really needs to be done is what it says in your "bible" Love one another!!!! but since you all are so cold hearted and self centered it will never happen.

    • most of you are a fine example of the very imperfections that you purport to oppose.

      followers of christian faith do not claim to be infallible. it is true that some christians are way off the mark when it comes to tolerance. that doesn’t mean that every christian is any more of a bigot that you are. you are doing a great job of proving that with some of the mob rule mentality that i am reading in this thread.


      “well i gayess thoze payple ayafter the podder bukes layet ther keedz have goonz.”

      what an asinine statement that is. why do you rattle off towards christians as if you expect them to be any more or less prone to mistakes than anyone else on the planet? every well intended person has a self imposed obligation to promote what they believe to be a morally correct way of doing things. if you don’t think so then think about the following question. what are you doing when you comment on this website. are you not trying to expound your brand of morality? of course you are. i am also sure that most of you are sorely mistaken, but hey, you already know that.


      “these are the same people who beat and torture their own children because they are homosexuals”.

      there are people who are christian who freak out about homosexuality. there are also people who are not christian who are so homophobic that they maim and kill people close to them as well as people they don’t even know. you can’t even come close to supporting a claim as lame as that.


      now here’s a really intelligent analysis for us all to ponder...

      “look at the pope look at his eyes and you will behold a sick individual who perpetuates child abuse, sexism, hatred, greed, murder, and any other sick deed.”

      i can only guess that your argument here is that this is an especially good way of identifying people with especially evil looking body parts. i dunno? if you do a small amount of research you will find that the youth group he was a member of in hitler’s time was REQUIRED BY LAW. he had no say in the matter. his own father saw to it that he signed up to keep the nazis off their backs. ratzinger’s father was a policeman involved with the anti-natzi movement who faced demotion and transfer several times as a result of his resistance to nazism.
      to be sure, the pope was a reluctant member who was forced into the hitler youth. in those times, if you were a german child of certain age and did not join the hitler youth as required by law then the nazis would come and get you and “correct” your ill-advised way of thinking. it was truly the best way for his father to protect him from the nazis. the time of hitler was a desperate time. people had to be very careful about what they said and what they did. it is a similar situation to the crisis we face now with the persian radicals idea of “correct thinking”.


      reverend rex, don’t you have some silver you should be polishing instead of all of this opining about what’s wrong with other peoples opinion. you can’t expect to be the only segment of the population with an opinion about right and wrong. don’t sit here and gripe from your soapbox about how other people shouldn’t be griping from their soapbox.


      some say that it is a good thing to refer to “sacred books” for moral guidance. i say society will implode the day we cease to evaluate what is good about a thing and what is bad about a thing. there will never come a time when everyone on this earth will agree to what is good or what is not good. do you sugjest though, that people who are trying with all of their being to do the right thing should not do so? do you really believe that they should ignore their consience and “go with the flow”? the world is a better place because of the idea of morality. that is what government and rule of law is all about.
      in answer to the question of wether ALL christians think the same or not, my family has the whole series and we’ve been enjoying it with our children for years. in my opinion there isn’t anything evil about it. however, if other people think there is something wrong with it that’s their business. they can act accordingly and it should bother you one bit.


      that SATAN LOVES YOU guy never really out grew the habit of messing himself for attention it seems.


      for those of you who wonder, nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. and yet here this person is “communicating” his “values”. you need lots of help alien man.


      “but since you are all so cold-hearted and self centered it will never happen” is a very poor conclusion for a person who thinks that people shouldn’t be so judgmental of everyone else’s affairs. my fellow human being, everyone makes incorrect judgments about other people. even you.


      we are all very good at judging other people. when it comes to judging ourselves we need lots of help. myself included.

      Dave

    • OH BOY! IT’S THE TEACHER THAT I NEVER WANTED!! Care for a prickly pear, teach? Oh wait a minute... you’re not teaching a damn thing except how to criticize or critique other ppl in spite of the fact that this action in itself, according to you, is largely irresponsible. But this fact certainly didn’t cause you to refrain from chiming in like all the rest, did it? You know, IF there is anything to be gleaned from your words at all, professor, then it sould be taken from your terrific conduldrum of a conclusion — (and you’re right) you aren’t any different. Good job for figuring that out. But you only get a D+ on your paper because it was way too wordy.

    • too many words for you, eh johnny? sorry about that.

      Dave

    • Neat trick, Dave.... but NO, you’re not sorry. Even if you wern’t faking it, why should you be anyway? Like I said already, you’re just like everyone else — no need to be sorry. So tell me, doesn’t it make you happy to know that you don’t have to ever be apologetic... Davey? After all, we are all brothers and sisters here. At this point I am sure that you must feel proud. Or at least teary-eyed?

      Aside from all of this, I was wondering... do you want to start a religion with me? You can pick the name. DON’T put too many syllables in it like you put too many words in your last short story, however. I don’t know all of the details for our new religion thus far, but for some reason I believe that it should all focus around space aliens somehow. Also I’m guessing that we should come up with 9 commandments, too... OK?

      P.S. — When it comes time to drink the poison, you’ll go first.

  • Maybe people should read the Harry Potter books and research the elements in it before accusing it of being demonic. There is absolutely nothing in the Harry Potter books that has anything to do with real Witchcraft or Satanism (which are totally different) and if people would do their research before poisoning people’s minds and creating mass hysteria about a book that includes mythology and bipidy bopidy doo rather than acutal Wiccan practices, there wouldn’t be such an uproar about them. It is pure ignorance and absoultely rediculous.

  • I guess you haven’t seen the latest games on XBox or other games that kids are playing. violence in the real world is more dangerous than being scared in a fictional land.

    Kemi

  • Recently I saw in a magic mirror (located at http://harry-potter-and-05-blood-prince.fromru.com/index.html) the fall of Harry Potter. I think that everyone will see something in it too... Do not be afraid of J. K. Rowling!

  • I think that it is a parents choice. If you were wiccan and they were forcing your child to read the bible most would get mad. But it is sad that no one sees this as the same thing. I wouldn’t want my child reading anything that could effect the morals I taught. For some these things are different but we all know how it feels when someone else tries to tell you how to raise your kids. If they don’t want HP than stop trying to force it on them. Give them a choice of another book. It’s a little more work but no one feels threatned. I found being jewish that I didn’t fit in as well due to Christmas and Easter, ect. I did not want to participate in it but often got laughed at and riddiculed at school. Why is it so hard to believe parents don’t want their kids to feel uncomfortable. DO’NT force them. Give them an alternative selection. thank you.