Well, here is some "breaking news". J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series has revealed that she is a churchgoer. She was raised as an Anglican and now attends the Church of Scotland. She says that Christian themes have inspired her books. I must say that, latterly, I have begun to think about this possibility and recently became convinced that she is a believing Christian. This idea developed after I saw the last two films. Now what does this mean in relation to the condemnation of the Potter books by Fr. Amorth and others? First of all it does not mean that there are no problems with the books. As I have said before, there are some problems. Some scenes and events are worrying, to say the least, but we must now move away from the more extreme views and suggestions (e.g. she did research into black magic and has produced actual spells - where is the real evidence for this accusation?). I am of the opinion that the books are flawed. They do not, ultimately, compare with either the works of Tolkien or Lewis (or, for that matter Hans Anderson), but they have a good "heart" and are not meant to encourage evil but are meant to encourage goodness. People, as before, will have to make up their own minds. Personally, I have only come across one - or possibly - two examples of children being badly affected by these books. Part of that, however, is to do with the merchandising connected with the books and the overemphasis on magic. But this does not invalidate the books. There are plenty of people who claim to have been badly affected by Catholicism! It seems to me that the major problems today with such "bad influences" on young people are the LACK of good Christian teaching and the LACK of Baptism. These two missing elements are serious omissions. It could be argued that without a good Christian background children and teenagers could be led astray by the Potter books and other things, but the main fault lies not with those books but with our lethargy, and complacence about the dangers of a post-Christian secularized society which has allowed a return to an effective paganism. In this environment so many things can serve to lead people down the wrong spiritual track. I have already said that, in my opinion, there are much worse things than Harry Potter. It seems that many of those who have condemned the Potter books are ignorant of these other, more dangerous, books and films. Sadly, it seems to me, they have focused their fears on the wrong target and missed warning about those other dangers such as the recent teen vampire craze and the once popular "Buffy" series (which can still be obtained on DVD). More also needs to be said about the dangers of the New Age and the "new paganism" and the commercialization of crackpot "religions" which has led to a cavalcade of rubbish littering our bookshops. See information about Rowling's faith here and hereMonday, 16 January 2012
As I suspected - J K Rowling IS a practising Christian!
Well, here is some "breaking news". J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series has revealed that she is a churchgoer. She was raised as an Anglican and now attends the Church of Scotland. She says that Christian themes have inspired her books. I must say that, latterly, I have begun to think about this possibility and recently became convinced that she is a believing Christian. This idea developed after I saw the last two films. Now what does this mean in relation to the condemnation of the Potter books by Fr. Amorth and others? First of all it does not mean that there are no problems with the books. As I have said before, there are some problems. Some scenes and events are worrying, to say the least, but we must now move away from the more extreme views and suggestions (e.g. she did research into black magic and has produced actual spells - where is the real evidence for this accusation?). I am of the opinion that the books are flawed. They do not, ultimately, compare with either the works of Tolkien or Lewis (or, for that matter Hans Anderson), but they have a good "heart" and are not meant to encourage evil but are meant to encourage goodness. People, as before, will have to make up their own minds. Personally, I have only come across one - or possibly - two examples of children being badly affected by these books. Part of that, however, is to do with the merchandising connected with the books and the overemphasis on magic. But this does not invalidate the books. There are plenty of people who claim to have been badly affected by Catholicism! It seems to me that the major problems today with such "bad influences" on young people are the LACK of good Christian teaching and the LACK of Baptism. These two missing elements are serious omissions. It could be argued that without a good Christian background children and teenagers could be led astray by the Potter books and other things, but the main fault lies not with those books but with our lethargy, and complacence about the dangers of a post-Christian secularized society which has allowed a return to an effective paganism. In this environment so many things can serve to lead people down the wrong spiritual track. I have already said that, in my opinion, there are much worse things than Harry Potter. It seems that many of those who have condemned the Potter books are ignorant of these other, more dangerous, books and films. Sadly, it seems to me, they have focused their fears on the wrong target and missed warning about those other dangers such as the recent teen vampire craze and the once popular "Buffy" series (which can still be obtained on DVD). More also needs to be said about the dangers of the New Age and the "new paganism" and the commercialization of crackpot "religions" which has led to a cavalcade of rubbish littering our bookshops. See information about Rowling's faith here and here
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Good post Father. As I recall it was not long ago that some bloggers were accusing this lady of being involved in the occult. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteAs always Father you raise some very good points and give us food for thought.
Blessings and prayers,
Ann
"Do I think a gay person can be a moral compass? I think it's ludicrous that we are asking that question in the 21st century. The Christian fundamentalists were never my base." J. K. Rowling
ReplyDeleteI have allowed this anonymous comment because it is an example of the kind of thing I have grown to dislike. The unsaid suggestion is that because she is wrong (but what did she mean?) here then she is likely to be wrong about other things and should not be trusted. I am fed up with this kind of response to people. No doubt if someone was to scan my brain for unorthodox thoughts they would find something wrong with me too. I will not be allowing this kind of innuendo in the future.
ReplyDeleteWell, I never knew this, it is very interesting and helpful to know.. And doesn't it also teach us, not to judge.
ReplyDeleteBlessings Crystal Mary