[HPforGrownups] Re: Magic in the Bible

[Margaret Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 18684

dragonsbloodmoon at aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 5/3/2001 8:04:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> koinonia02 at yahoo.com writes:
> 
> << The Bible condemns all forms of the occult-divination, magic/sorcery,
>  and spiritism-in numberous passages throughout both the Old and New
>  Testaments.  For instance, in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 God's view of
>  occultism is clearly expressed:  "let no one be found among you who
>  sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination
>  or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in withcraft, or casts spell,
>  or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.  Anyone who
>  does these things is detestable to the LORD. >>
> 
> At the risk of incurring the wrath of the list moderator, I must chime in
> here. The Bible is a set of moral, religious, and ethical guidelines for
> those who wish to follow a Judeo-Christian religion. Those of us who are not
> Christian are not obligated to follow those rules. 

Granted.  However . . .

> It's awfully arrogant of
> Christians to assume that their God is the only God, and that their religion
> is the only valid religion.

Um, it kind of goes with the territory?  Not the arrogance
necessarily, but the monotheism.  By definition, you can't =be= a
Christian =unless= you believe in one God, and one only.  (Or
Three-in-One, if you want to get theological about it.)  And
doesn't every religion assume its worldview to be true?  These
things tend to be mutually exclusive, again by definition. 
=Either= the world is a sphere floating in space =or= it's
"turtles all the way down."  Take your pick, but they can't both
be right.
 
> This topic always comes up in discussions about Harry Potter. My question is
> "why"? Do Christians feel they need to justify the pleasure they get from
> reading the books? Do they need to rationalize it to the point where they
> don't feel like they are "sinning" because they enjoy a book about magic? 

Not all of us.  ;)

> Why is it so hard just to enjoy a work of fantasy?

Some people's worldviews (Christian and non-Christian) are
entirely too literal, that's why.


--Margaret Dean
  <margdean at erols.com>