I’ve been a pagan for 16 years and what you are relating about the number nine, etc. is the kind of stuff that immediately discredits so-called apologists. Are you claiming to be an “ex-Warlock” (whatever that is) perhaps as well like other famous Christians?

What is the legacy of Christianity? This comments thread seems to encapsulate it pretty well. You have a few relatively reflective people pointing out that acts of excellence glorify the divine and it isn’t a matter of particular books being evil.

Then you have others spouting off about the “occult” agenda. I hate to break it to you guys but every pagan that I have ever known has seen themselves working towards all that is wholesome and right in the universe. In the pagan view of the world, Christianity, especially in its historical, institutional form, personifies all that is evil and base in human nature, twisting a spiritual belief in the most evil of ways.

What is the difference between the Christian zealotry that I see above and the Christians who bomb abortion clinics and shoot doctors with rifles while they sit in their homes? From a non-Christian point of view, it is a short step from Christian zealotry to the zealotry of other faiths that leads to suicide bombers.

I see people denouncing the fact that they are forced to tolerate Wiccan groups, prayers, etc. in public and calling for the days of book burning and the stoning of witches. This legacy of hate is the Christian legacy.

You want to know why most of the previously Christian world has dropped your faith? It isn’t the evil power of Satan or spells cast by witches. Look in the mirror and see the hate.

We picked up LOTR from the Library one day. We I’m studied somewhat in occult, Satanism, and other things for apologetical reasons. I don’t take pleasure in it, I just know about some of these things. When I pushed “play”, imidiately one of the first things I saw was 9 rings. And a little intro. regarding them. I took it out right then because from the start I could see sorcery appearing to look “good.” 9 is a highly Satanic number in the occult. 9 is one of the highest for Coven ritualistic stuff. It was obvious that evil was being made to look good from the start. I recommend that you all read http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org or .com I can’t remember which. But brother meyers who writes there used to be HEAVY into the occult. Read what he has to say about the significance of numbers and you’ll see my perspective immediately. “woe to them who call good evil and evil good” the Bible says.

Here’s where I draw the line. I don’t care if it’s “white magic” fighting against “black magic.” It’s all magic. Yes, I understand the motivation of some fiction that envolves magic. But there’s a difference from simply talking about it, and actually making it look good. Revelation talks about some pretty Satanic plans etc., but God does not make it appear good! God condemned witches to be stoned in deuteronomy, because withcraft is evil. What do you think Israel would have done with a book like harry potter if they would have read it? No doubt they would have burned it. Imagine this book is back in the day of Israel. Do you think God would have sactioned this book in old Testament Israel? Yeah right. 10 people are stoning a witch in a pit, while a scribe over in the corner is making a novel about the witches craft, and making it look good? Would this have been accepted by God and Israel? Now, take the book of Revelation and do the same thing. Revelation talks about some pretty Satanic stuff in it. But it doesn’t make any “white magic” or evil medium look good. It defines it for what it is [evil] and tells of how God will overcome it. Not with good looking witchcraft [no matter how innocent you make it appear], but with the power of the Spirit. You can draw what good metaphors you want, but the line should at least be drawn when something makes evil look good instead of just talking ABOUT it. There’s no such thing as “good” evil vs. “bad” evil. Harry’s magic is no better than the adversary’s magic. It’s all magic folks. You are all intitled to your opinion. You gave yours, I’m just giving mine [with biblical logic]. If evil is evil, and harry potter is innocent enough to take pleasure in, then that is no different than making a novel about “Jack the ‘good’ sodomite” is going to over come Jim’s “bad sodomy” with his “good” sodomy. It’s all perversion, isn’t it? It’s all sin isn’t it? Will you condemn something like that, but not take witchcraft with the same spirit even though God ordered witches to be executed in the Bible it was such a serious sin? Com’on, that’s just double-mindedness.

Nevertheless, everyone is intitled to their own opinion. Just make sure not to call it Biblical, because you’ll find the far opposite side in the Bible.

The bottom line is this: Sin is made to look good, and people read it/watch it to have pleasure drawn from it.

okay, that’s my 2 cents. You may all burn me now. =D

Just reading through your comments, I think both of you are right. Dan, the thing that I think is most frightening about Harry Potter is the subtle implication to Christians that goodness/ righteousness comes through doing good things and is apart from faith.(for the non-christian I guess that’s kinda mute). In my opinion, it’s the easiest of all heresies to fall into. Now a bugillion kids get to soak up a “savior” character who is a hero because of his good works, which ironically are done through magic and divination. If Harry was the naughty little magician who screwed up everyone’s life at Hogwarts, then came clean in the end; This wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe, only .001% of the people who read the books actually take up magic because of the direct influence of Harry? That’s still a lot considering how widespread the phenomenon is. It’s implausible to be most if not all of the evil characters in a Steven King novel. Any “Carries” out there? Wicca and paganism are real unfortunately, and a good pagan is the most deluded one of all.

Becky, your right about Christians not getting worked up about lesser forms of “worldy influence” in the media. Maybe the majority of us are so tuckered out and overwhelmed by the task at hand, we’ve sorta thrown up the white flag, except in the most obvious cases?: Issues like, abortion, Prayer in public schools and so on. If J.K. Rowling hadn’t made multiple billions of dollars, this discussion wouldn’t have happened. Maybe it shouldn’t be considered equivalent to drug use/porn? My feeling if that analogy works, then Harry Potter is more of the “gateway drug” that is influncing the culture; It’s just that we don’t see it’s effect until years later.

http://svenrox.com/?p=5281