In your opinion, does the Harry Potter book series promote the use of real Witchcraft? What other thoughts and opinions do you have on this subject?


JK Rowling's Harry Potter condemned in Vatican newspaper
By Malcolm Moore and Nigel Reynolds
Last Updated: 2:27am GMT 17/01/2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/15/nharry 115.xml

An article in the Vatican’s official newspaper has condemned JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books for posing a danger to children by promoting witchcraft and the occult.

In a damning indictment of the bestselling books, among the most successful in publishing history, the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, has called the teenage boy wizard “the wrong kind of hero”.

Under the headline 'The double face of Harry Potter’, the lengthy article concludes: “Despite the values that we come across in the narration, at the base of this story, witchcraft is proposed as a positive ideal.

"The violent manipulation of things and people comes thanks to knowledge of the occult.

“The ends justify the means because the knowledgeable, the chosen ones, the intellectuals know how to control the dark powers and turn them into good.

“This a grave and deep lie, because it is the old Gnostic temptation of confusing salvation and truth with a secret knowledge.”

“The characterisation of common men who do not know magic as 'muggles’ who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude.”

The piece goes on to compare Harry Potter unfavourably with two other great British children’s classics, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, epics both written by Christians with deeply-held beliefs.

The article, by Edoardo Rialti, a professor of literature at Florence University, said that the works of Tolkien and Lewis show “a transcendence and the beauty of the infinite.”

Potter books, he said, have an “inverted and confused spirituality: a world where bad is good” and that they are characterised by a “vague, new-age philosophy”.

However, his attack was answered in a parallel article on the same page by Paolo Gulisano, the author of a book on Tolkien.

Mr Gulisano wrote of Harry Potter: “He carries the reader from the vision of a selfish man towards a vision of a man guided by moral values, the choice of good, sacrifice, friendship, love.”

The Vatican line on JK Rowling’s teenage wizard has hardened considerably since Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a hardline theologian said by some to have strong views on the Devil and exorcism, succeeded Pope John Paul II.

The latter once praised JK Rowling for leading the life of a good Christian and Holy See officials during his papacy said that Harry Potter was clearly fighting against Satanism.

But two years before he was elected Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a letter to a supporter calling the Potter story “a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly”.

A spokesman for JK Rowling declined to comment.

urm in my opinion ..no...you know the world has gone totally bonkers why cant religion and politics just stick to what they know and leave real life alone, its a book ..made up fantasy gives kids and adults hours of entertainment ...and helps kids with imagination ...my sons watched the films and read the books ...dont think hes going to go out and start proformong black magic...

The vatican just likes condemming..lol. Condemming condoms got old so now I guess they'll go for fictional stories again. Reminds me of my second grade teacher, if we brought one of those magic 8 balls to school it was thrown away, if we got a "choose your own adventure" book from the library we had to take it back, and any music that wasn't gospel was strictly forbidden.

My niece is a huge Harry Potter fan, she doesn't practice withcraft & is quite educated on the bible for her age (going on 10). It's good to see children interested in reading;^]

yeh thats another too its got millions of kids back into books to how you go against that

actually, some of it did come from real world magick. The use of the "Dark Mark" came from a occult order that claims vampire blood lines of Aset (Isis)(www.Asetka.org). This could support the fact that she has been in touch with the group. also, in the Harry potter series, I have read them all, it does not once speak about a God or a Goddess, or Satan. The Wand seems to be the only other real symbol toward the Ocult, and even the story behind the wand is much, much different from the truth behind the Wand.

I do find some symbolical meaning in the story that one could say was, in a way, religious. Harry could be a symbol for God, and You Know Who could be the symbol of evil. hat is only speculation though, it has never been said once, or implied. There just attacking the books because there not Cristian, its not very logical.

No book, no movie, no individual can shake me and my beliefs in God. To believe that such things can happen is to give no straight to God or those who believe.


Things like this just gives no streigh to God or his people

Religion seems to cause more pain, torture and scandle than I think any kids book would....


oppps. spelled relegion wrong. Must have been witchcraft

IMHO,no.

im fixing to get my broom and jump off the roof i hope this works....

well said kev....if antbody had heard the conersation i was talking about with my friend ..about her life living with nuns well child abuse is an understatement...and before anybody has a go about that statement to me, i am not saying all nuns are the same...this was the nuns she was put with

just flap your arms abit hun...mite help

wow, I didn't think I'd get this many responces so soon. Here's my two cents... I don't believe it promotes REAL Witchcraft. However, what if it did promote REAL Witchcraft? Is Witchcraft so horrible that the Vatican has to formally condemn this book series? Are they going to start another Inquisition? Why is Witchcraft such a threat? I'm a Pagan and a Witch... why are my spiritual beliefs and practices such a threat to so many that they must protect their children from me and those like me?

Religion isn't the problem, it's the mentality of "my way or no way" that's the problem & that is exercised by non religious groups as well. It's like war, people claim it's religions fault we have wars but it's not, wars are fought for land, power and control over limited resources;^]

People who believe this crap and persecute others and try to force feed there beliefs on the masses make me sick. Theres actually some christian sec that would go to our fallen brothers and sisters of the Iraq war funerals to picket them with sighns saying "god wanted them to die" "to punish them" "there in hell now". You dont get 72 virgins, You dont need 10 wives, You cant heal this boy by putting $5000 dollars in a collection plate. Why dont you pious zealots leave people in peace and let all worship freely what they believe in period...

people are afraid of what they don't understand.i have many pagan friends.

very well said brutha

i read the books and i tell ya....it really makes me want to cast spells and be a witch

Loool Bro!

Respect Bro...

the sad thing is for all the good people who believe in relgion and use it to help there lives ...theres a same percentage of people who will use it to rule and distroy other peoples lives, and it will never change as long as money and politics are involved