Vatican Slams Harry Potter as 'Wrong Kind of Hero' (http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080115/30859_Vatican_Slams_Harry_Potter_as_%27Wrong_Kind_ of_Hero%27.htm)


The Vatican offered its latest view on the good vs. evil debate over the immensely popular Harry Potter series in a recent edition of its newspaper, headlining an article by an expert in English literature who calls the teen wizard "the wrong kind of hero."

In the article, "The Double Face of Harry Potter," published by the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this week, Edoardo Rialti writes about the harmful effects of the "half-truth" messages presented by JK Rowling in the Potter saga.


Rialti’s attack echoes the sentiment of Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who voiced fears in 2003 that the "subtle seductions" contained in the Potter series could "corrupt the Christian faith" in impressionable young children.
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I'm rather disappointed

I am 100% with this.

Vatican Slams Harry Potter as 'Wrong Kind of Hero' (http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080115/30859_Vatican_Slams_Harry_Potter_as_%27Wrong_Kind_ of_Hero%27.htm)


The Vatican offered its latest view on the good vs. evil debate over the immensely popular Harry Potter series in a recent edition of its newspaper, headlining an article by an expert in English literature who calls the teen wizard "the wrong kind of hero."

In the article, "The Double Face of Harry Potter," published by the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this week, Edoardo Rialti writes about the harmful effects of the "half-truth" messages presented by JK Rowling in the Potter saga.


Rialti’s attack echoes the sentiment of Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who voiced fears in 2003 that the "subtle seductions" contained in the Potter series could "corrupt the Christian faith" in impressionable young children.
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I'm rather disappointed

Why are you disappointed?

This is not, "The Vatican".

This is an piece in the Vatican's official newspaper.

L'Osservatore Romano often publishes pieces which offer the opinion of the author. And then sometimes, it offers pieces which express a different view.

I think it's fair to say that this view must be regarded with favor by some highly placed officials in the Vatican. But it's not the position of "The Vatican".

Anyway, I disagree with it, although I am not much of a Henry Porter fan.

i am a massive harry potter fan and a catholic too.
they can write what they want, i'm still gonna read harry potter and spread it amongst my pupils.
because i'm not submissive to anything they wanna dish out to me. i'm not gonna get lashed or stoned for it, and i am capable of discussing the merits of harry potter with any priest. many priests like harry potter too so....
and i still get to go to heaven.
it's an opinion voiced in a catholic paper. it's not official encyclical produced by the church.

What Minerva !

You mean you won't be lashed, whipped and stoned for having a different opinion ?

What Minerva !

You mean you won't be lashed, whipped and stoned for having a different opinion ?
i'd turn muslim if that happened in my religion!!!

Vatican have right to rise their point.

Ok just a question...if Harry Potter is condemned by some christians because of sorcery and witchcraft, are fairytales like Hansel and Gretel, or Snow White condemned? They also contain elements of sorcery and witchcraft.

i'd turn muslim if that happened in my religion!!!


How Lovely.

Ugh..
Did We Forgot What Happened To Darwin... :)


Anyways, I'm 2000% With This.

and i still get to go to heaven.


What makes you 100% sure?

Nothing could corrupt any strong faith..not a silly kids' literature series..
It shouldn't be exaggerated..

The author of the Harry Potter series, Jo Rowling, claims to have received a number of death threats from Christian extremist groups in the US. She also received a letter from a vicar in England asking her to remove Christmas trees from her fictional "Hogwarts" school of sorcery, as it was clearly a non-Christian society. (Source: Associated Press). As I understand it, she claims to be a Christian (Church of Scotland), and admits that her books have come into conflict with her own beliefs.

My view is that the critics of Harry Potter have a point: There is the obvious one about glamorising the idea of magic and curses. But then again a lot of bad things are glamorised in films: violence, bad language, promiscuity...so why pick on this one? Well, the way I see these particular books/films as a special case is this: They are children's books, and they make a very strong emphasis on a pseudo-spiritual world dealing in powers beyond those of ordinary mortals.

To have such a world without reference to God is to me quite a strong statement. You have great supernatural forces wielded entirely by human hand, you have life and death and control over both, put within the power of human beings, and as far as I can see from watching the films with my children, there is no suggestion at all that anyone or any of these powers either stems from or is accountable to, a higher authority.

Of course it's not compulsory for a film or book to promote the idea of God, whether it be through a Christian view or any other. But children's writing that is about the struggle between good and evil with higher supernatural powers, in a very literal way, I think makes this absence of reference to the Divine, into a statement of atheism. That's their right, and nobody needs to murder Ms Rowling any more than all the real atheists who propogate their agenda in the name of "science" and "common sense". But I can see why some at the Vatican don't like Harry Potter.

I've just noticed something about American films though: Most violent Hollywood movies remember God, even if it's only through blasphemy!

darwin, galileo, etc etc etc.
learning from past mistakes is very important. admitting to them is the first step.

So you agree that some can drift away from actual religion and commit sins/mistakes?

well.. Tada...

It happens in Islam too.

I wouldn't quite put Jo Rowling on the level of Galileo or Darwin! Or compare the creation of stories about a boy who does magic, with the theory of natural selection or modern astronomy!

Anyway, nobody has booted her out of her church as far as I know.

my daughter has read all the potter books countless of times. she still goes to church weekly and to church classes and knows that harry potter is a work of fiction. Religion is something else. The guy who wrote that article should speak to a few kids and see how things really are.

I agree with you. I don't like Harry Potter much, but I don't stop my children being interested. I hope they know it's a fairy story too!

There is a big benefit from these books actually: They have made a lot of children get into reading again. But I'd still rather mine read something else - just a matter of taste.

I wouldn't quite put Jo Rowling on the level of Galileo or Darwin! Or compare the creation of stories about a boy who does magic, with the theory of natural selection or modern astronomy!

Anyway, nobody has booted her out of her church as far as I know.
and there haven't been any 'wanted JK Rowling DEAD' notices stuck to the church notice boards either . :hyper:

Not strictly true - she claims to have had death threats from some American Christian groups. But they would not be representative of Christians any more than people who attack schoolchildren represent Muslims ;).

Huh?! Harry Potter ?? But.. this is just a movie!! :os

Not strictly true - she claims to have had death threats from some American Christian groups. But they would not be representative of Christians any more than people who attack schoolchildren represent Muslims ;).
i haven't seen a single protest in the streets against happy rotter. i'm sure a couple of hudnred letters are not representative of all the christians.

Poor JK Rowling.

Now that she has announced a future cash flow stream (as in a possible new HP book in the future) she needs to milk the franchise for all it's worth.

Hence the gay wizard and imaginary death threats nonsense.

At lease she still has her head connected to her body via her neck and her offfice / home has not be reduced to a smouldering heap of rubble.

Woody don't be so predictable; are you really suggesting that death threats from nutters who claim to be Christians "must" be imaginary? Please don't say that, otherwise you're just as daft as the brothers and sisters who deny anything done by nutters who claim to be Muslims. And I know you're not.

I believe Salman Rushdie's head is still attached to his neck too. However, unlike Ms Rowling he is an exceptional novelist. If Ms Rowling is to be attacked in any way, I think there is ample ammunition on artistic grounds without getting into anything more serious.

Well I googled "JK Rowling + death threats" and came up with less tha 5 links that ACTUALLY refer to death threats issued against her.

To the best of my knowledge, no state has issued a fatwa on her head, not has any Christian fanatic offered a reward for her head. Her books continue to be sold freely in bookstores around the world and once again, to the best of my knowledge, she has not had to hire additional security and change here residence ever so often to dodge these 'threats'.

You really seem to have imbibed liberally of the crazy juice mimo.

Not at all. But she had death threats from self-proclaimed Christians, and they are nutters. Whatever, we all have them. I believe the Satanic Verses are still on sale too actually. But it wasn't that great a book - I would recommend "The Moor's Last Sigh". Both are better than Harry Potter, obviously.

If there were some Christians who issued death threats against her, then I say they are nutters who should be locked up for a long time.

I agree they are nutters IF they isssued threats.

Splendid, I feel the same about Muslim nutters. And I agree with you that Jo Rowling got an improbable amount of cash for writing all that drivel about a wand-waggling adolescent.

If there were some Christians who issued death threats against her, then I say they are nutters who should be locked up for a long time.

I agree they are nutters IF they isssued threats.
now if they named a teddy bear after harry potter i'd be so offended i'd definitely burn their houses down, issue warnings to the international community and bang on my chest and go round with placards to 'death to harry potter haters'

Conclusive proof that the Vatican were right to be concerned: Erstwhile Catholic Minerva proclaims fictional pubescent warlock as Seal of the Prophets...

:hmm:

Conclusive proof that the Vatican were right to be concerned: Erstwhile Catholic Minerva proclaims fictional pubescent warlock as Seal of the Prophets...

:hmm:
at least she's not making a prophet out of a story eh....

What about beheading the teddy bear ?

Would we then need to send Daniel Radcliffe as a peace envoy to express regrets and spare the teddy bear ?

What about beheading the teddy bear ?

Would we then need to send Daniel Radcliffe as a peace envoy to express regrets and spare the teddy bear ?
they can send him to my house and express his regrets here. i'm sure my daughter would love such a peaceful visitor.

Yeah, she can challenge him to a duel..."where's your CGI now you four-eyed m**********?!"

oomg
shock horror
faints
rages
stamps feet
beats chest
nooooooooooooooo
this is the end of my tether!




http://www.teddies-world.net/famous/bilder/harry03.jpg

For me it was Snow White and the 7 Dawarfs that ruined me.

Then my parents told me that was all a bunch of bull. Fairy tell magic stuff be it white magic or black magic ... ya know.

Some parents around the world do reinforce those magical tales as truth.

Where do they get that truth from ... :XD:

i had to go into therapy when i read cinderella. bibbity boppity boo is a very malicious curse.

For me it was Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs that ruined me....

You sure knew how to party back in the day, big fella...