Harry Potter
Here in the Bible belt, we have a problem. We actually have a number of problems, but this is one that is particularly irksome. Perhaps its just that I’m an outsider looking in, a recent transplant that doesn’t understand the oppressive mentality of enforced moralistic jargon that tells people to believe one way or stand on hot coals for eternity – which can be quite effective when dealing with easily-led people. I am truly irked by the current crusade against Harry Potter that seems the focal point of life down here whenever a new book or movie about that bespectacled young man appears.
I’m truly surprised by some, who, in fact, rave about the greatness of the Lord of the Rings (the movies, of course – I doubt any of these folks actually read the books) while denigrating a series of children’s books that have a good deal in common, character-wise. The ties are easy to see: look at the four main characters in The Lord of the Rings and the four main characters in the Harry Potter series.
First, we have Gandalf, a wizard, age undetermined, who has great powers and will appear to save the day at the last moment. Compare Gandalf to Albus Dumbledore, a wizard, age undetermined, who has great powers as well and appears on a regular basis to rescue Potter. Next, look to Frodo Baggins. Frodo is an orphan, who inherited a decent fortune from a kind relative: a fortune including a ring that must be used to destroy evil. Harry Potter, Frodo’s counterpart, is an orphan who inherited a decent fortune from his kind parents: as well as a scar from his past that indicates the evil he must destroy. Compare Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s bumbling but noble buddy, to Ron Weasly – Harry’s bumbling but noble buddy. The primary villains of Sauron and Voldemort both share so many aspects that they need not be listed.
Some of the trouble lies in the fact that many opponents of Harry Potter haven’t read a book on their own that hasn’t been recommended by “preacher” in their entire lives. “Preacher says that Harry Potter is the devil’s tool.” Preacher also tells these people that while Harry Potter, a series of books about a kid trying to survive school with a homicidal ghost following his footsteps, is wrong; the Left Behind books, which describe in detail a wrathful holocaust of five billion people who aren’t Protestant Christians and encourage bigotry against all non-Christians, are just fine.
I don’t have a problem with people who read the books and decide that they are unacceptable for their own children: you have the right, as a parent, to serve as a filter between your children and all forms of media. However, and this is a vast qualification, I do request that before you refuse your children access to something that may encourage them to actually read, you actually read that work, watch that movie, or hear the music yourself before prohibiting it. Who knows? You may discover in those books the same timeless facets of adolescent grief that make them so popular.
It’s striking, really. Fairytales are just fine. The mystical stories of the apocalypse found in Revelation, which scare the hell out of small children, are fine as well. Christian mythology is full of stories that are much more violent, much more frightening, and almost as unbelievable as Harry Potter. Before I’m attacked for my use of the word “mythology,” let me explain (although I’m sure that some people read that word and immediately headed off to their local book-burning revival).
The word “mythology” is accurately used to describe theological beliefs of all sorts that are not believed in by a society. We think it’s just fine to discredit Greek Mythology, even though millions of ancient Greeks believed in it very deeply - deeply enough that their Roman conquerors adopted the views for themselves. We characterize Native American theology as mythology. We call Buddhist and Hindu theology mythology.
What we really mean, but aren’t willing to say, is that we are so egocentric that we will deny all other valid forms of belief because they disagree with our narrow viewpoint. Perhaps the several billion Buddhists or Hindi in the world call our religion “mythology.” Picture this: some dude wanders around with twelve other guys, preaching peace and raising the dead. After he is executed for telling people that they should be kind to one another, he decides not to be dead anymore and gets up, walks around with big holes in his hands, says goodbye to his homies, and then disappears back up into Heaven. This same dude, by the way, who preached love, peace, and all that jazz, will suddenly suffer a schizophrenic personality change when he reappears at the end of the world to kill everyone who disagreed with his peaceful, loving message.
Sounds pretty unbelievable, right? Yet to many millions of people, it is the foundation for their lives. This message of peace, love, and not fucking the neighbor’s wife, it’s actually a pretty good way to live your life. The message of salvation and hope for eternal life is pretty nice too. That doesn’t make it any more a fact than anything that might be read on the cover of The Weekly World News.
Harry Potter is not the devil. He is not the Antichrist. Harry Potter is just the subject of a series of books that describe something that many kids wish for: magical powers to help cope with reality; which sucks just as much for him as it does for them (except for that maniac who wants to kill him). Being adolescent has never been easy, and there’s nothing wrong with a daydream (which is what Freud called all creative writing). Kids know the difference between their play and reality; which is probably one reason they do play. Allowing someone an hour or two of escape into the daydreams of another won’t ruin their lives; and so far as I know, most teachers would give anything for kids to read as much as the voracious fans of Harry Potter do.
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currently playing on miPod - Symphony no 25. - 1st movement - W. A. Mozart
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3 comments:
1) "We think it’s just fine to discredit Greek Mythology, even though millions of ancient Greeks believed in it very deeply"
We know things now that the ancient Greeks didn't know. We've been to space. We know that the sun is not, in fact, Helios' chariot. Similarly for other stories that have now been proven to be fictitious. Therefore, it's correct to refer to the ancient Greek religion as a mythology. Similarly for any other religion that's been proven false.
2) "Christian mythology"
Christianity has some stories that can be hard to swallow, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are false. They have not yet been proven to be fictitious, and shouldn't be referred to as a mythology. Similarly for other religions contrary to an individual's particular belief.
3) "The mystical stories of the apocalypse found in Revelation, which scare the hell out of small children, are fine as well."
Duh. Of course these stories would be fine to the people you refer to, as they believe them to be reality. But even so, I doubt they would read them to their children as bedtime stories -- even they know they can be scary.
But back to the point of the entire article, why don't you tell us why these Christians are against Harry Potter before you proceed to blindly attack them from every angle that avails itself?
4) "This same dude, by the way, who preached love, peace, and all that jazz, will suddenly suffer a schizophrenic personality change when he reappears at the end of the world to kill everyone who disagreed with his peaceful, loving message."
Just how sure are you about this? You know, Jesus taught more than just the quintessential "love" and "peace".
5) "This message of peace, love, and not fucking the neighbor’s wife, it’s actually a pretty good way to live your life."
Christianity in a nutshell? {rolls eyes}
6) "The message of salvation and hope for eternal life is pretty nice too. That doesn’t make it any more a fact than anything that might be read on the cover of The Weekly World News."
Are you suggesting people equate nice messages with factual proof?
Evidently you misunderstand me - before searching for assault, read it - this was the point of TFE. My discussion wasn't anti-christian, it was anti FREAKY SOUTHERN BAPTIST BIBLE BEATING ASSHOLES WHO CAN'T LEAVE PEOPLE THE HELL ALONE. If you'd like, I'll enumerate several examples.
1 - My wife and I are Catholic. She is a teacher in a small town (think Teach for America - tiny, poor southern town). On a daily basis, she is told that we are all (wife, unborn child, self) going to roast over hot coals in hell for all eternity because we don't attend [insert whichever Baptist church said parent attends]. This is from multiple parents - not just a single source.
2 - Again, the wife and I are Catholic (okay - she is). When our church was being built, those interested in building had to jump through sixteen thousand more paperwork hoops because the Baptists didn't want them building. The first time they tried building, the vacant lot was unavailable. The second time, when the church went through private factors (a month later), the land was magically available. When the sellers and the city councilman for that district found out who had actually purchased the land, they tried to rescind the sale through the courts, claiming violation of contract. Apparently, since contract law doesn't really allow for religious bigotry, even here in sunny NC, they had to drop the case.
I'm accosted by the same fucking people every day of the week when I walk to lunch. There's this crowd from the nearby Southern Baptist Convention's learning center (they don't have seminaries b/c the SBC does not care to have college-educated pastors) that wanders the street, handing out tracts (most of which end up in the damn street anyway) and getting in the way asking questions. God forbid you sidestep them to get some food between the class you take and the one you teach - they'll follow you down the street asking why you don't love God and if you are aware of the fires of damnation (I like to inform them that I don't love jerkoffs who interrupt my day every day of the week). Before my eminent reader objects - NO, I was not rude to any of them. I merely sidestepped them and went about my business. For about a year. After that, it gets tired.
Anywhoo - Harry Potter, yeah - I was reading one of them under a tree last week - I actually got a little time to myself to read something I wanted to, instead of something for class. I was minding my own business, enjoying my book (I've been meaning to read it since we bought it a year ago - grad school gets in the way), loving the only thing there is to love about NC - the weather in April. I was nowhere near the usual streetside hangout(s) of the God Squad. A young man wearing the SBCL getup (think Mormons, without the bikes or backpacks - and make the pants khaki) walked up to me, grabbed the book, and tried to take it away. You can, I'm sure, imagine the ensuing entertainment for all the world. The campus police walked up and immediately assumed that I was "picking on" the nice young preacher wannabe - I was, after all, about six inches taller than him and outweighed him by thirty pounds or more (I'm about 6'4). Luckily for me, a nice young lady walked up and explained what had happened.
Regarding your comments -
From the Oxford English Dictionary -
myth - A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces, which embodies and provides an explanation, aetiology, or justification for something
b. A person or thing held in awe or generally referred to with near reverential admiration on the basis of popularly repeated stories (whether real or fictitious).
mythology - A body or collection of myths, esp. those relating to a particular person or thing, or belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition.
Yes. Christian mythology. Christ (whom we know was a real person) - "held in awe or generally referred to with near reverential admiration on the basis of popularly repeated stories" (Bible stories, anyone?) would be the myth. The body or collection surrounding him is, therefore, myth. You've obviously read most of my posts - remember my distinction between "rhetoric" as popularly defined vs. classically defined? Christian mythology is a mythology in the absolute and scholarly sense of the word, NOT the popular, "dumbed down for textbooks" sense of myths as a collection of stories made up to explain the world.
Re: #3. Again, I'm talking about the peculiar breed of lunatic found here in the "buckle of the Bible Belt." I haven't seen this sort of thing anywhere else - these people use Revelation and the apocalypse as a part of their daily lives. Their children repeat these apocalyptic stories in school - one child started crying when he asked my wife where she went to church and learned that it was (quite obviously) a Catholic church (St. Raphael the Archangel). When asked why he was crying, he told her that he loved her and didn't want "to see her in hell when she dies, which is where preacher says the Catholics go."
So yes, Virginia, it's a fine subject for daily discussion. At least it is around here.
As I stated at the beginning of the entry - I'm addressing localized circumstances, those found here in my little corner of fire and brimstone.
"before searching for assault, read it"
It wasn't clear to me that your original post was concerning only the classification of people that you describe in your reply and not applicable to Christianity in general. But after reading about your unfortunate dealings, it certainly explains why you seemed particularly ornery in that post.
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