KMC Forums - I don't believe this

*gasp* Oh my! I paid money to see LotR and HP, and oh no, I read the horrid books that spawned the cinematic soul-eating disasters! I'm going to hell, AHHHH!!

Well, that one-sided rant has completely persuaded me though. I have now burnt my HP and LOTR books! eek!

Seriously, this is legalism in its finest hour. Also this is what gives Christians a bad name. This guy believes that if you so much as look at the books, you are no longer a Christian; that so much of people's salvation should rest on works and other stupid circumstantial stuff that if he looked at himself in the mirror, some old Pharisee would probably be looking right back at him.

Coming from that "religious" place across the pond, I would say that one argument for the ban regarding the Rings and Potter series is that the fight against evil must be fought pretty much everywhere - as the eternal destiny of the children is at stake, and what parent would like to see their child go to hell? That Devil is sneaky, and he does not sleep, and its books today are about witchcraft and magic and tomorrow it's gonna be public demon worship...

Tolkien and Rowling, obviously agents of Satan, have used the gifts given to them by the Dark One to create particular book series that are popular to everyone. Satan, knowing that younger children are more impressionable and, being rather impatient, did not want to wait until these kids were seduced by rock and roll (an old staple of the going to hell crowd) later in their teenaged years. These books glorify occultism and witchcraft, for gosh sakes! And the fact that Hollywood has gotten behind the books is prima facie evidence of satanic involvement.

If those aren't evidences enough, then I'm not being sarcastic enough.

Note that I believe none of the above, and also mean to insult no one's beliefs.

Is it that Rings and Potter are the latest boogeyman for this guy because he (1) have little better to do, (2) require an enemy for something *to* do, (3) see the Devil in lots of things, (4) know little to nothing about what his religion actually says, and (5) is more energized and excited about fighting the Devil in the pages of Tolkien and Rowling than fighting the "demons" that exist in his soul?

For goodness sake, isn't there enough evil actually occurring in the world, without reading it into perfectly harmless books? Why can't these people devote their energies into addressing the tangible wrongs that are happening here and now, rather than making wholly misguided attempts to brand anything that they don't agree with, or which doesn't conveniently fit into their own belief system, as evil?

Child molesters are evil. Brutal dictators are evil. Serial killers are evil. JRRT and JKR are not evil.

The author sounds so extremist with his far-fetched ideas and excessive use of the word "occult" that I'd almost be tempted to think it was supposed to be a satire, or something. It wouldn't be terribly hard to turn it into one--it almost mocks itself. But the fact that it's true...that's just sad, and a bit frightening.

But you know what I noticed? He never really specificed exactly why these books are representative of the "occult". He just says that they are, and if you read them, you're the spawn of the devil, and so on and so forth. The only argument that I can see is that they both contain characters who are referred to as wizards and who practice what is referred to as magic. But is that it? Is that his only reasoning? Has he even read just a few pages, a chapter, of anything? If you're going to try to make an argument, you're not going to get anywhere if you don't supply any kind of reasoning behind that. If he wanted to persuade people over to his side, he should've used a fair argument rather than a rant. He's just scaring people away from God, the exact opposite of what he's trying to do.

In any case, I simply CAN'T understand how LotR or HP can be viewed as evil. Not because good wins over evil - but did the writer of that article pay the slightest attention to how good won over evil? It wasn't through occultic practices, or spells (even if Gandalf/Dumbledore/magic helped them along occasionally), it was through will power and strength of heart, and all those other qualities that are good. The destruction of the Ring was accomplished through the faith of Frodo and the love of Sam for his friend; not through a muttered incantation. Likewise there are many good values in the "Harry Potter" books. Friendship, love, trust all matter more in the outcome of the stories than how powerful a spell they cast.

Doesn't this guy also know that "The Lord of the Rings" was a Christian work, unconsciously in the writing, consciously so in the revision?

On a different note, JK Rowling, whether she's a Christian or not, has stated publically that she doesn't believe in magic and is rather bemused by the people who tell her that they have "tried all the spells" since she has just made them up.

However, what strikes me as rather sad is that the fundamentalists like this guy who banned it have totally missed (because they haven't bothered to read it presumably) that the main messages of "Harry Potter" include:

The overwhelming love of a parent for a child.
Doing the right thing even though it is harder than doing the wrong thing.
Sacrificing yourself for your friends/common good.
Protecting the weak.
Past wrongdoing can be redeemed.

Hmmm, where have I heard some of these things before?

quote:
The most foolish argument I've heard is the claim that the writer of Lord of the Rings is a Christian therefore his occult books are OK to read. Let's answer that dumb argument right away! NO he is not a Christian! The man is a lost hellbound Roman Catholic who loved spells, witchcraft, wizardy, and other forms of the occult. His demonic fruit in Lord of the Rings speaks very clearly that he is not one of God's people.

I happen to be a "hellbound Roman Catholic" and I am a Christian. Catholics are a branch of Christianity. I'm sorry but this is nothing more than a pure bigoted idiocy.

If people who denounce "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" stand back for a while and see if what they're doing is helping them or not, I think the outrage would stop.

C'mon! We're supposed to be letting morality flow from within, instead of attempting to force it at large! It never works, anyway--see the Inquisition. And Nazi Germany. And Communist Russia, for that matter.

Perhaps its time for the fundamentalists to realize that it is better to teach those in your care to DISCERN what is right and what is wrong, what is real and what is evil/fictional, than to shield them in the hope that they will never reach a situation where they would need to use such a knowledge. Just as a Catholic is bound to find someone who has contrary Biblical views, so to is a fundamentalist child bound to encounter the occult or demonism in some form, some time.

And as for the Professor being a "hellbound Roman Catholic"--ha! Double ha! This guy understands my faith better than I do. If people took the time to actually know their "enemy"--instead of foolishly attacking it outright--they might realize they're not really up against an enemy. Then, the outrage might stop.