I always find it amusing when Christians get on their high horse about some topic. I had dinner with a friend tonight and He told me about the newest movie from the Harry Potter series. We both shared how we have heard some Christians come down on others for watching the movies or reading the books.
Before you draw your own conclusions about this post or my opinions let me make a few things clear. This post is not about whether it is right or wrong to keep up with Harry Potter but more about how many times we selectively condemn some things and yet approve others by our words or actions.
My reason for ranting is the fact that I have witnessed some people condemn Harry Potter and yet have no problem with sexually charged humor in movies. I am far more concerned with the far reaching impact of lust and sexual impurity than I am of the actual practice of witchcraft.
I’m not saying that witchcraft hasn’t hurt many but it seems to me that we are masters of majoring on the minors. We boycott Disney World but neglect the environment. We look down on smokers while we eat way to much. We speak up on homosexuality but look the other way when it comes to divorce.
My point is not to condemn one and sanction others but to simply get us to ask the question…are these Jesus standards or just mine. It seems that we should live by one and keep the other to ourselves. Just a thought.
Is it ironic that I just got back from seeing the new Harry Potter? On what you are saying, Paul talks about it a lot, although he often refers to it as “food”. See Romans 14 and Colossians 2 for two examples.
I understand what you are saying, but the way you’re saying it makes me nervous. If you actually do think Harry Potter is OK, I think that’s extremely naive. The author of Haryy Potter, J.K. Rowling, is known to be a witch with a significant knowledge of pagan lore, and the books/movies are riddled with it. A whole generation of kids are being brought up with this stuff thinking it’s just harmless fun. I don’t believe it’s harmles fun in the slightess. The supernatural world is real, both good and evil, and we would do well to promote the good and warn against the evil. We don’t need to get wacky about it, just wise.
I agree Jared, Harry Potter is definitely not something that children should be into. Even though my wife and I went to see the movie, I wouldn’t take my children to see it. Much like I probably wouldn’t let my children watch Lord of the Rings, or perhaps even the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, until they are spiritually and emotionally grounded enough to understand good, evil, real and make believe.
The problem with most parents is that they don’t censor anything their kids are into. Video games, movies, television shows, MySpace, etc. Many parents are just out of the loop.
Since you understand what I was saying then I won’t bother explaining my stance on Harry Potter since that wasn’t the point.
Let’s all be careful not to justify some sins over others that we personally find more offensive. That was my point.
Jared, your point was good as well.
James, I know that you said that your post is not about Harry Potter, but I would like to discuss Harry Potter for a moment. Harry Potter is a story that very blatantly calls its characters witches and wizards. It is a good thing to be blatant. Most of children’s media teaches the same principles as Harry Potter, or worse, and never let the children know that they are watching a show promoting witch craft. Harry Potter never discusses worshiping anything, it never teaches how to perform spells, and it is a good story. I am not condoning witch craft…I don’t like it personally…but you can’t pick and choose which media you are going to condemn and not condemn them all (if you are into condemning). Maybe a better route for christians to take would be to actually read some of these books or watch some of these cartoons, have a first hand knowledge of what is not wholesome about them, and then sit down with the children we are trying to protect and explain the things that do not line up with scripture. We shouldn’t be afraid of the world. We have weapons against it. We should use things as learning tools. Some time when you get the chance, sit down with your child, watch Pokemon or Yugio (however you spell that one) with him or her,and see that it can be a teaching time. I’m not saying let your children watch everything that is unwholesome, but we should stop living in so much fear.