I read Harry Potter.I have seen all the movies.
And I enjoyed them.
Among Christians, Harry Potter and anything like it, is usually "banned." I, myself, don't understand why. Especially since most of the people doing the "banning" haven't ever read the stories.
Nevertheless, I am here to lay my case out for Harry Potter.
1) The Glorification Of Witchcraft
I hear this one all the time. It is the main argument against these books. It's almost as if I am going to start doing witchcraft because of Harry Potter... I get that God says to stay away from witchcraft. But this is fiction. It's a story that someone made up. I don't think JK Rowling was encouraging it, and it's hardly an instruction manual for witchcraft.
Also, to all my Christian friends that don't read Harry Potter because of the witchcraft, why is Narnia and The Lord of the Rings okay? There's magic in there, too. There's magic usedf or good, and magic used for evil. Same concept.
To this argument, I hear "Narnia and LOTR have good themes and even some references to Biblical principles." And to this I say a) Harry Potter has great themes, too. And b) those books have quite a lot of witchcraft in it, based on what you're saying, would it not be almost sinful to pair biblical principles and witchcraft?
I've thought about it for a while and the conclusion I've reached is that these books are fiction. It is not encouraging witchcraft and it has some great lessons in it, like friendship, sacrifice, love, evil vs good, racism and bias, family, forgiveness.... I could go on....
2) Please Read The Books First
I have quite a few pet peeves, but the one that bugs me the most is when people condemn Harry Potter to its fiery doom without actually reading it.
But this doesn't apply only to Harry Potter. It applies to Twilight, The Hunger Games, and so many other things. I don't think you can properly judge something if you haven't actually read it. Or, at least, done enough research about it and asked people who have read it about it.
I have a friend that always talked down about Twilight, but she'd never seen it. So I showed her Twilight. She still hates it, but now she's seen it so I don't have a problem with it. Some with Hunger Games. That same friend hates the Hunger Games, for a while she talked about it without actually seeing it or reading it. She still hasn't read it, but we've talked about it enough that she's gained an understanding of the series in its entirety. She still hates it and refuses to read it, but I've no problem with that because she doesn't talked about it ignorantly.
In the same way, please learn about the series before you tell me that it is not biblical.
3) I Don't Really Care If You Disagree With Me, But Please Leave Me Alone
I understand that there are differences in opinion. And I get that. We both have our strong convictions. But please leave me alone. I'm so tired of getting strange looks wherever I go when I say I like Harry Potter. And all the passive-aggressive comments about how you're "not judging buuuut...." And if you want to talk to me about it, talk to me about it respectfully. I don't mind if people disagree with me on this. Just please be respectful of my beliefs and I'll try to be respectful of yours. If you find I'm not, please tell me. I'd hate to by a hypocrite.
4) In The World But Not Of It
I hear this one a lot, too. So I tried to find it in the Bible to find out more about it, since it's always quoted from the Bible....
I couldn't find anything that says this. So, if you know where this is, please enlighten me.
But anyway, I'm not really sure how this applies to this issue, but people always bring it around to this issue So please, also enlighten me on this...
I love Harry Potter. You don't have to love it like I do. But at least learn something about it and be respectful when discussing it with.
I'm not saying all of the people who refuse to read Harry Potter don't know anything about what they're talking about. But the majority of the people I have talked to have not read the books, seen the movies, or know anything about it other than what they know from hearsay. Most of the people don't even give me a chance to explain myself. After that I'm branded for life as a heretic or something.
Bottom Line: I don't mind if you disagree with me, but please know what you're talking about and be respectful. My Potterhead friends and anti-Potter friends alike, I'd love to know what you think of this issue.
Also, here are some hilarious pictures I've found that have almost nothing to do with this topic. But I needed to share them:
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| I think I shared this one already but...... IT'S MY BLOG I CAN DO WHAT I WANT |
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| Benedict Cumberbatch is my man... <3 |
Okay. That is all....D
Love,
Amanda :)
