[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Christians and HP revisited

[Terry James]

>From: "alora" <chrisnlorrie at yahoo.com>

>
>--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Beth" <jillily3g at y...>
>wrote:
>
> > He said that he thought the series (compared to Narnia's Christian
> > allegorical purpose) was written for the sole purpose of making
> > money "and who knows what else."
>
>My family says that because the author of Narnia (Carroll? I can't
>remember, it's too early for me) was a Christian, those books are
>okay. GRrrrrrr.


C.S. Lewis.  And the Narnia series cannot really be compared to HP, as Lewis 
was quite clearly writing an allegory of several Bible stories.  However, 
just because books aren't retellings of the Bible doesn't mean they're 
demonic.



When it
>came time to buy a birthday present for my niece, who's seven, I
>asked them what movie did she want.  "Oh, she loves The Wizard of
>Oz!  She'll love it if you get her that."  Oh.  REALLY.  I sat down
>and watched that movie again, and it's full of good witches, bad
>witches, magic, scary flying monkeys (I remember hating those when I
>was little)...you name it, it's got it.  So, why the double
>standard??

Anything new is unknown and therefore probably evil. :)  Movies, television, 
and computers met the same reaction.  Especially the internet.  My 
grandmother tells me that when she was a kid, preachers preached against 
reading the comics in the newspapers.


I'm not
>good at confrontation, so I feel as though I can't win an argument-
>I suppose I shouldn't say "win".  I just want them to know that I'm
>not some sort of bad parent or person for reading HP. If anyone has
>suggestions as to how to make my point, I'm open.
>
>Frustrated Alora
>

Wish I could help you, but I deal with the same thing.  My dad gets on to me 
all the time about reading such "trash" and exposing my kids to demonic 
evil--I let my six-year-old watch most of the first movie, but not the 
second, because contrary to what he thinks, I'm very careful about what my 
kids see or hear.  It doesn't do any good at all to argue with him.  If you 
tell him to read the books, he says he doesn't need to read them, because he 
knows what they're about.  Yet he reads murder mysteries--is it OK to read 
about people getting brutally murdered?

My mom is not very happy about it, but wisely keeps her mouth shut because 
she admits that she hasn't read the books or seen the movies, so all she 
knows is what she's heard.  She says she trusts my judgement.  And I told 
her I grew up reading all kinds of fantasy, sci-fi, AU, and I haven't become 
a goat-blood-drinking Satanist (which would be her own boggart) yet.

Wish everybody was that understanding.  But my dad hasn't approved of 
anything I've ever done anyway (think Snape meets Vernon) so I try to ignore 
him.  Bit difficult, though, when they try to make you feel like a horrible 
parent.

Tery LJ

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