Post by PogsKlinc on Nov 16, 2007 13:20:46 GMT -5
Hey everybody. I'm going to be giving a speech today to people who think that Harry Potter is one of the most evil books ever. I thought I'd post it here for whatever comments you have for me.
1. Introduction – “To read or not to read. That is the question. You’ve heard about Harry Potter, the bestselling book and movie series of all time. We all have our own perceptions about it. Some of us think it’s good, some think it’s evil, and some just don’t care. We’re here today to explore, is it good? Or evil?
2. Why it could be considered evil –
• Witchcraft - Nobody wants their kids becoming witches and wizards.
• Breaking rules – The characters in the books break rules.
• Secular story.
• Dark scenes in both the movies and books.
3. Why it could be considered good –
• The witchcraft in the books is just JKR’s imagination showing in her writing.
Read pretty much any book and you’ll find the writer’s imagination showing through their writing.
• The character’s breaking the rules is just showing that they’re human. Usually though, they are breaking the rules for the greater good, (fighting evil.)
• Secular story – Go into your local library and pick out a book at random. I doubt that it will even mention Christ. Most books don’t.
• Dark scenes in books and movies – Yeah. There are also dark scenes in pretty much every movie and book out there. It’s the most common theme in Western Literature. Good vs. Evil. Good almost always wins in the end.
4. My HP experience with my family – Okay, one year after the first HP book came out, Lakewood Park Christian School, (the school I used to go to), had just banned the book. The people who banned the book had never even read the book. My family just listened for the first 2 years. We just took the school’s word for it. After 2 years, we decided we didn’t really know why we listened to them. Drew was in 3rd grade, and my mom read the first book with him just to see if there was anything objectionable in it. They couldn’t find anything that was really evil in it. Only the harmless fiction that some people considered evil. A couple years later, I was in 2nd grade. My mom starting reading the books with me. Sometimes I’d read the books in the car and the people we carpooled with called me evil for reading the books. One day, I was reading the first HP book, and I had it in my hands as I got out of the car when my mom dropped me off at the school. I started walking up towards the school and noticed that I still had HP in my hands. I freaked out. I ran, crying, back to the car to give my mom the book. I would’ve been in so much trouble, just for reading a book. That’s really sad. I was very confused. My parent’s were telling me that there was nothing wrong with the books when the school was telling me that they were evil. It was very frustrating afterwards to realize that the people who’d banned the books in the first place hadn’t even read the book.
5. Closing comments – I think that HP is good. If you read as a Christian, you’ll pick up so much more than an unbeliever would ever get from these books. There are numerous biblical similarities and parallels in the books. If you think that your child’s faith will be shaken by these books, it’s probably a good idea to teach them the difference of fact from fiction. Don’t shun people just because they read the books. There are so many more important things about them than what they read or watch. If you’re a Christian and you should never start calling people evil for what they read. That will push them farther from Christ. Don’t judge the books until you’ve read them. Same with the movies. I’d highly suggest that you read these books as a family. That way you could decide for yourself whether they are good or evil.
“Feel free to ask me questions about this anytime.”
1. Introduction – “To read or not to read. That is the question. You’ve heard about Harry Potter, the bestselling book and movie series of all time. We all have our own perceptions about it. Some of us think it’s good, some think it’s evil, and some just don’t care. We’re here today to explore, is it good? Or evil?
2. Why it could be considered evil –
• Witchcraft - Nobody wants their kids becoming witches and wizards.
• Breaking rules – The characters in the books break rules.
• Secular story.
• Dark scenes in both the movies and books.
3. Why it could be considered good –
• The witchcraft in the books is just JKR’s imagination showing in her writing.
Read pretty much any book and you’ll find the writer’s imagination showing through their writing.
• The character’s breaking the rules is just showing that they’re human. Usually though, they are breaking the rules for the greater good, (fighting evil.)
• Secular story – Go into your local library and pick out a book at random. I doubt that it will even mention Christ. Most books don’t.
• Dark scenes in books and movies – Yeah. There are also dark scenes in pretty much every movie and book out there. It’s the most common theme in Western Literature. Good vs. Evil. Good almost always wins in the end.
4. My HP experience with my family – Okay, one year after the first HP book came out, Lakewood Park Christian School, (the school I used to go to), had just banned the book. The people who banned the book had never even read the book. My family just listened for the first 2 years. We just took the school’s word for it. After 2 years, we decided we didn’t really know why we listened to them. Drew was in 3rd grade, and my mom read the first book with him just to see if there was anything objectionable in it. They couldn’t find anything that was really evil in it. Only the harmless fiction that some people considered evil. A couple years later, I was in 2nd grade. My mom starting reading the books with me. Sometimes I’d read the books in the car and the people we carpooled with called me evil for reading the books. One day, I was reading the first HP book, and I had it in my hands as I got out of the car when my mom dropped me off at the school. I started walking up towards the school and noticed that I still had HP in my hands. I freaked out. I ran, crying, back to the car to give my mom the book. I would’ve been in so much trouble, just for reading a book. That’s really sad. I was very confused. My parent’s were telling me that there was nothing wrong with the books when the school was telling me that they were evil. It was very frustrating afterwards to realize that the people who’d banned the books in the first place hadn’t even read the book.
5. Closing comments – I think that HP is good. If you read as a Christian, you’ll pick up so much more than an unbeliever would ever get from these books. There are numerous biblical similarities and parallels in the books. If you think that your child’s faith will be shaken by these books, it’s probably a good idea to teach them the difference of fact from fiction. Don’t shun people just because they read the books. There are so many more important things about them than what they read or watch. If you’re a Christian and you should never start calling people evil for what they read. That will push them farther from Christ. Don’t judge the books until you’ve read them. Same with the movies. I’d highly suggest that you read these books as a family. That way you could decide for yourself whether they are good or evil.
“Feel free to ask me questions about this anytime.”
Two years after my almost taking the book into my school, I was homeschooled. ;D
not that I accused u
Don't worry, I haven't physically abused anybody. Last person I halfway verbally abused was lS14. Yeah. I bet we all remember her. *goes into a corner and vomits* 
