New Pope Hits Out at Harry Potter Books

[maxrandb]

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/new%20pope%20hits%20out%20at%20harry%20potter%20books

Can't have our kids having too much imagination now,can we?

With all the strife in the world, I'm glad the Pope took the time to bash Harry Potter. I mean it is the root of all evil, isn't it?

Benedict, formerly CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER is grateful to HARRY POTTER - GOOD OR BAD author GABRIELE KUBY for revealing the hidden agendas behind the popular children's books.

He says, "It is good that you explain the facts of Harry Potter, because this is a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly."

Leading Christian theologian UTA RANKE-HEINEMANN, 77, comments, "The Vatican feels it has the copyright on what is good and what is evil and it does not want anyone else infringing its right to this monopoly.

"It will condemn anyone who tries to enter this territory without its permission."

Man, I consider myself a fairly religious person who actually tries to live by the teachings of Christ in the "NEW" Testament, but I have to say:

The all powerful omnipresent God, must be pretty weak in the Pope's eye if a couple of successful books can "undermine the soul of Christianity"

I say the same thing to folks who say we've removed God from public schools. I think you're pretty full of yourself if you think you can remove God from anything. If he wants to be in the public schools, he'll be there.

[Walt Starr]

1. Fuck Pope Joratz I

Fuck the bastard.

[Carni]

69. Damn it you took my subject title

That aside...
I just heard on the radio the other day that he has also said *rock music* is the tool of the devil? (he supposedly mentioned The Beatles? Hello? Pope--it's freaking the year 2005 and two of the Beatles are DEAD!)

Anyone else hear that?

I thought at the time it must have been satire, but now that I see this Harry Potter stupidity I am thinking it must not have been!

[Sequoia]

95. Preacher's told us that as kids and then said how the teens

burned their LPs of the Beatles and Rolling Stones while all the adults nodded their heads in approval.

[Carni]

101. I'll never forget the look on my mom's face

When she took me to the *record store* as a kid to buy the "Sticky Fingers" album by the Stones.

She just sort of raised her eyebrow and looked at me weird.

I was young enough that I really didn't "get" the album cover LOL!

[hector459]

86. Now he's done it!!!! We could take anything for "gays going straight to

hell" to child-molesting priests. But mess with Harry Potter? We will not tolerate this. The New Pope just stepped over the line!

[Walt Starr]

98. Actually, this was just yet another reason in a long line of reasons

to curse the bastard.

[liberal N proud]

2. Here we go again!

Your children will worship the devil if they read this stuff!

[luvLLB]

71. but wait...

I have read all of the books myself ( yes, I like them) but as of today....no satanism..Maybe I should re-read them...over and over.

[eridani]

114. Read them BACKWARDS, dummy!

Duh.

[luvLLB]

120. oh, thanks, my bad...LMAO

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Why exactly aren't guys like him labelled tin hat freaks?

[kweerwolf]

61. Wouldn't they be "tinfoil mitre freaks"? n/t

[trotsky]

4. Ah, Pope Benedict. Good to see you reaching out to other faiths.

Most notably, the insane radical religious right in America.

[rodeodance]

9. not a good sign right out of the gate--Pope aligning with the dobson

gang!!--nope not good.

[ultraist]

33. I agree---RED flag alert: Book burnings

[Sequoia]

93. Here ya go:

Over a hundred years earlier, the German-Jewish poet, Heinrich Heine, had stated, "Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too."

[tanyev]

5. That reminds me, I need to place my pre-order.

Thanks, pope!

[TWiley]

29. I saw the preview...........Hermianey kicks the pope's ass.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

6. Surprise!

The new Pope is starting his career off more worried about Harry Potter than American priests touching little boys who probably read Harry Potter.

[trotsky]

And that is the saddest truth of all.

Keen observation, LDB.

[beam me up scottie]

7. What a great line:

"I think you're pretty full of yourself if you think you can remove God from anything. If he wants to be in the public schools, he'll be there."

Can I use that?
I am an atheist who resents being accused of taking someone's god out of public schools.

[maxrandb]

19. Feel Free To

I thought it might make an excellent bumper sticker.

[beam me up scottie]

38. Yes,

it definitely would make a great bumper sticker!
It's an in-your-face question to the fundies sbout why they underestimate their god.
You could add "Why do you hate Him?" on the bottom!:evilgrin:

[Arugula Latte]

8. I've been reading H.P. to my son.

Thanks, Pope. You've just inspired me to continue on with the entire series.

Pathetic.

Talk about harmful fiction -- just look at the Bible. That's full of violence and degradation.

[demo dutch]

22. Yes and the struggle of good versus evil!

[FreedomAngel82]

65. Exactly!

Especially the Old Testament. Tons of wars and killings. Don't forget sex. Especially the story of Lot and his daughters. Now that is a doozy!!

[Sequoia]

97. Don't forget that wine-o named Noah who cursed his son for

seeing him necked.

[davidinalameda]

10. right now I have 3 on order

maybe I need to bump that up to 4 and send one to the Pope so he can read it and find out for himself that its a HARMLESS CHILDREN'S BOOK

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. My hubby, who is fairly conservative theologically BOUGHT the HP

books for our kids himself. But then he digs D & D, too.

[Kellanved]

12. completely weird

But old-style fairy tales are OK ? :silly:

Just for the sake of getting it in order: he said that two years ago; the recent article (probably misquoted/mistranslated in the contactmusic article) is about Ratzinger's books outselling Harry Potter.

[KittyWampus]

13. HP Studies An Esoteric Science That Empowers Him When Dealing

with his environment.

I also study an Esoteric Science that empowers one when dealing with the environment.

And the more one learns how to use Universal Principles effectively, the less one needs organized religion (like the Catholic Church) and someone dictating ones behavior.

[Dr Ron]

14. What do those stupid muggles know? n/t

[htuttle]

15. Well, at least it's good to see the Pope has his priorities in order...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Maybe he'll get around to settling that 'how many angels on the head of a pin' argument next!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TWiley]

17. No, he will probably chime in on steroids in Baseball.

They always stick their nose into affairs other than their own.

[eridani]

115. That angels on the head of a pin thing--

--happens to have been one of humanity's most difficult and important intellectual problems. It was solved by Newton and Liebnitz.

[TWiley]

16. The bible will not have a sequil................That is why he is cranky.

Besides, Harry Potter is a better fairy tale than the one he tries to sell.

[ultraist]

31. LOL!

Potter books also don't spread hate by degrading women, children and Gays.

[arwalden]

18. Oh Brother! -- This Can't Be True...

If so, then I'm convinced that the pope is a paranoid mental midget.

[TWiley]

20. He is gonna have a SHIT-FIT when he hears about BARNEY.

You know, the purple whatchamacallit.

[luvLLB]

75. and tele-tubbies, and sponge bob, and ....oh, my

[demo dutch]

21. This is rediculous! I've known it all along Ratzinger was an

incredibly bad choice for pope. The man is completely out of touch with the real world, and has been locked up in the vatican too long. HP is all about good vs evil, isn't that the struggle of Christianity? What's next? Ban Snow white, Little Red Riding Hood etc.

I bet the man has never even looked at an HP book.
Let's hope it's a short reign.

[Avalux]

23. Bad Pope!

He's starting the extremist shit already; aligning himself with the fundamentalists. WTF? :banghead:

[Kellanved]

25. "starting" isn't the word

He uttered that BS two years ago - the article just fails to mention that part.

[Avalux]

27. But now he's Pope

unfortunately, his elevation to Papa gives anything he's ever said or written formidable power. :scared:

[Kellanved]

32. yup

Although there is still some hope left that he'll be "softer" as Pope than he was as Inquisitor.
Of course the spain thing makes that hope appear weak.

[Avalux]

42. I really would like to give him a chance

but I watched his inaguration mass on Sunday and at one point, they had the camera in rather close while he was watching the crowd. He was shifting his eyes back and forth and I got a bad feeling from it. I posted about this last week - his countenance is hard and cold; not kind and warm like JP II's. Silly for me to think that way perhaps, but I can't help it.

[GiovanniC]

24. Watch Out! Here Comes Spongebob! And Tinky-Winky!

They are here to make your children gay devil-worshippers!

[Fenris]

26. Dear Pope Ratso, please note what section Harry Potter books are in.

Also, how about focusing on something of substance?

[The Animator]

28. That's funny, John Paul didn't have a problem with them...

If a Pope is infallable when in the Vatican, (as Catholic lore goes) and John Paul says Potter's OK, then Benedict says it's not? Can both Popes truly be infallable?

Dude doesn't even know his own religion, and has just created a mind-bending paradox for catholic Potter fans everywhere.

I seem to recall another list of books the Vatican had a problem with many years ago. One was by a guy named Galileo I think...

[Pithy Cherub]

41. Yep and JPII didn't forgive Galileo UNTIL 1992!

What's a few centuries for the truth to be fully accepted.

[LibertyLover]

84. papal infallibility

Popes are only infallible when they speak ex cathedra, literally "from the chair". A cathedra was originally the chair of a professor or bishop. Now it applies to papal teachings. But not all papal pronouncements or teachings are ex cathedra and therefore infallible. It gets confusing.

[nonconformist]

30. God hates literacy!

So, they'd have us believe that JK Rowling is the devil incarnate involved in a grand conspiracy determined to brainwash the world's children into believing in evil magic.

Put down that large fantasy fiction book you're reading little Johnny! Either read the Bible or play a video game. No reading for fun for you! No thinking and imagination for you!

RIDICULOUS.

I know the fundie crusade against Harry Potter is nothing new, but it still infuriates me every time I hear of it. Plus, I thought this was something that was fueled by devout Protestant denominations (Southern Baptists), not Catholics.

Anyone who knows anything about Wicca knows that the Harry Potter books are *not* Wiccan - which isn't evil by any means anyway. They're about fantasy, about magic, about good vs. evil.

Call me crazy, but I think kids today need more fantasy and magic in their lives sparking creativity and escape in this insane culture and NCLB pressure.

[Arkana]

49. Exactly

I hear people compare Harry Potter to Wicca all the time--I thought Wicca just involved things like reverence for the earth and the like. No pentagrams or cloven hooves or anything like that. People are friggin' nuts.

[Pithy Cherub]

34. C'mon, The Pope now envys Dumbledore!

Shouldn't the Pope be more worried about his Church rather than jumpstarting the PR Machine for best-selling Series Harry Potter.

Not on the Popes reading List:

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
The Da Vinci Code

[Fenris]

37. Dumbledore has a better hat.

[Jade Fox]

108. LOL!

[CornField]

35. Fundies really hate fiction. LMAO!!

What's worse is that they really have a difficult time separating fiction from fact.

Let's see:

The Da Vinci Code
Angels and Demons
Harry Potter series
Hello, God? It's me, Margaret.
Slaughterhouse Five
Lord of the flies
I know why the caged bird sings
My brother sam is dead
the color purple
The Handmaid's Tale
Flowers for Algernon
Face on the milk carton

And those are just the fiction books I can think of off the top of my head. It seems to me that the written word must be the most dangerous thing in the world.

[The Animator]

116. You forgot SuperFudge!

Gotta love Judy Bloom.

And Benedict can have my copy of the Davinci Code, that is if my cold dead fingers let him pry it loose before my disembodied spirit clocks him one.

He'd have better odds getting his hands on Heston's rifle. Nothing says catholicism like Guns & Moses, too bad Beenadick doesn't like rock.

[PKG]

36. Well, good to know he's turned over a new leaf.

:crazy:

[PKG]

39. Actually, I don't really believe this.

The only other sources I can find all link back to this one page, which is just a music site. This smells like a hoax to me.

[Kellanved]

45. it' s an half-truth

Ratzinger wrote those words in a letter to Kuby in early 2003. The book title is incorrect though; the book Ratzinger wrote about was named "Harry Potter - the Lord of the Rings. The important difference".

[Roland99]

47. How about this:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.gabriele-kuby.de/resonanz.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRATZINGER%2Bkuby%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

Joseph cardinal Ratzinger, Praefekt of the Glaubenskongregation, letter from 7 March 2003
"thank you for the instructive book. It is good the fact that you clear Harry up Potter in things, because these are subtle seductions, which work imperceptibly and straight thereby deeply and which decomposes Christianity in the soul, before it could grow at all quite."

(cardinal Ratzinger refers to my contribution in the book in the meantime out of print: The Gabriele Kuby and Michael Hageboeck:
Harry Potter  the master of the rings. Distinction does emergency.
It wrote me 27. 5. 2003: "I permit you gladly to appoint itself to my judgement over Harry Potter.")

[Arkana]

40. Hey, Papa Ratz, GET A FRIGGIN LIFE!

You have better things to do than worry about Harry Potter books! Dumbass.

[ck4829]

43. HOAX! HOAX! HOAX! Edited, never mind.

HARRY POTTER - GOOD OR BAD = No such book

GABRIELE KUBY = No such Author

Never mind, I might be wrong

[Beware the Beast Man]

48. Evidently, it doesn't matter.

Why bother with facts?

[trotsky]

50. Sorry, ck4829, but it's real.

If you read the article, you'll see that "Good or Bad" is not the name of the Harry Potter book, but the book that Gabrielle Kuby (yes, a real author) wrote.

Proof:
http://www.buchtips.net/rez786.htm

[ck4829]

51. Yes, a little more research found it.

[Kellanved]

54. of course that is the wrong book again.

Ratzinger wrote about another title altogether.

[maxrandb]

52. If It's A Hoax, Please Pull it

I got the story forwarded in e-mail. Could not find any breaking stories on other news sites, so I posted in GD instead of Latest.

Apologize if this is a hoax. I'm still trying to track down if Cardinal Ratzinger ever said anything about HP. Some have eluded to statements he made a couple of years ago.

I don't doubt that he feels this way, but if I can't find anything concrete, then plese pull the thread.

[ck4829]

53. It's real

My first search pulled up nothing. A second search did reveal information that confirmed this.

[Kellanved]

55. It is not completely false

, yet almost every fact mentioned in the article is incorrect.

1. He wrote the letter two years ago.
2. He wrote about another book than the one mentioned in the article
3. The translation of his letter isn't especially good.

[PKG]

57. So other than all the facts, it's not a hoax.

[Kellanved]

59. well

He did hit out against the Potter books.

Aside from that: yeah, you could put it that way.

[Bridget Burke]

70. Context & language would be helpful...

And this did happen about two years ago.....

Of course, it gives people a good excuse to skip to the end of the thread & tell us what they think about the Pope.

[Kellanved]

83. Pretty much what one would expect

A letter partly published in the Catholic "PUR" magazine, to the author Kuby about her book "Harry Potter – Der Herr der Ringe. Unterscheidung tut not. " (Harry Potter - the Lord of the Rings. The important difference) . Kuby wrote to Ratzinger (her former Bishop) asking for help against Potter, the letter in question is his reply.

Both the magazine and the author are Bavarian, hence the Ratzinger connection.


I haven't got the letter in its entirety, I can't say much about the context. The sentence translated in the article really was in it, but it doesn't look like he wrote anymore about the Potter books.

[Occulus]

79. deleted

nevermind

[allemand]

44. Actually, it was Cardinal Ratzinger, not Pope Benedict XVI.

It's about a letter Ratzinger wrote to Gabriele Kuby in November 2003.

On edit:

I see that he sent the letter already in March 2003.

[madrchsod]

46. maybe rats should worry about his troops

fucking little boys. hasn`t said anything about that has he-in fact the big cock from boston is staying there now..maybe he running the world wide sex trade for the " god`s church"

[toddaa]

56. HP Lovecraft for Harry Potter

With all the controversy over Harry Potter, I decided as a concerned parent that I'd have my kids read Lovecraft stories, instead of those awful Harry Potter books. Their precious little souls are no longer damned, but I think they are going insane.

[ComerPerro]

58. You can tell the books are evil by the talking snakes

Oh, wait...

[Jacobin]

60. Radical clerics at it again

He'd be right at home in pre-2001 Afghanistan.

What a putz

[leftchick]

62. Our Catholic school has Many copies of all of the books

in the library. Hmmm, I hope I don't see them disappear. :(

[saltpoint]

63. Of course, the Pope is right. It's appalling that --

-- kids who just a few years back wouldn't even LOOk at a book are now reading like fiends well past bedtime. We can all agree on the dangers of reading -- it triggers imagination and understanding to name just two grievous outcomes -- and it goes without saying that the moral infrastructure of society would be undermined if too much of either is allowed to occur.

And these kids aren't reading the Bible, either. They're reading Harry Potter books, which flagrantly endorse heresy and hedonism and leave young people vulnerable to the Occult. Books generally are evil unless they're Biblical texts and Harry Potter books specifically are unpardonably vile.

Teachers the world over join parents and other concerned citizens in hailing Benedict XVI's condemnation of this pestilence of reading among young people. If it weren't for Harry Potter books, the streets would be free of violence, deprivation, drug addiction, anxiety, ringworm, and papercuts. Evil must be choked in the cradle and the new Pope has proved a worthy flag-bearer for our perilous age.

:sarcasm:

= = =
Two nephews, previously non-readers, will forego food and playtime to read the Potter books. Hurray for Harry, I say.

___
edit: typos

[FreedomAngel82]

64. Oh good grief

Fuck him. Who does he think he is? He's an ass. This is the worst: <"The Vatican feels it has the copyright on what is good and what is evil and it does not want anyone else infringing its right to this monopoly.>

My cousin's read Harry Potter and they're Christians. Of course they're old enough to know it's make believe and not real witchcraft. Nobody has the copyright on good and evil. I'm really getting tired of this crap.

[Taxloss]

66. A world filled with poverty, injustice, hunger, cruelty and conflict

and the Pope focuses on the real enemy: Harry Potter.

[Solly Mack]

67. Ah..so he's afraid of the books

"... undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly"

So what he really fears is that the books will promote thinking in children he doesn't approve of....he's worried the books will cause children to question things...before religious training firmly takes hold...


lolololololololololololololololol

[Chomskyite]

68. Go to a Christian bookstore

. . . and look in the adolescent lit section. You'l find dozens upon dozens of books that imitate the Harry Potter series.

[Drewskie]

72. Phillip Pullman

Wonder what he would think of Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy? He would really lose it over those.

[minerva50]

96. Right, I always wondered why

the fundies who were up in arms about Harry Potter never worried about the Pullman books. They'd be aghast if they ever read them. Of course they aren't nearly as popular, so they probably never heard of them.

[Drewskie]

109. Ahh good

Someone else around here who actually reads... I was starting to wonder about this place.

[sakabatou]

73. As my grpahic design teacher said...

"The catholic church needs to advance 500 years..."

[johnaries]

74. WTF? Ok, I tried to be neutral about this Pope, but this one does it for

me! IMPEACH THE POPE!

[Bridget Burke]

76. These remarks were made a couple of years ago.

And the full context is not easily available.

[Pathwalker]

77. My next Potter book is already PRE-ordered!

Glad as ever that I'm not Catholic!

[Bleacher Creature]

78. Please tell me this is satire! Pretty Please??? eom

[Bridget Burke]

82. Cardinal Ratzinger made the original comment two years ago.

And the full context is difficult to discover. He was discussing a German book that attacks Harry Potter.

He didn't call a press conference this morning, as the source seems to indicate.

[maveric]

80. When will Ratzinger lash out at Spongebob Squarepants?

Has he been doing lunch with Falwell?

[Guaranteed]

81. YEAH!! YEAH!!

With all the SHIT going on in the world today, those damned Potter books are the WORST!!

BURN 'EM ALL!!!

RAWLING, yer goin' to HELL!!!

Thanks, Ratzinger! Way to use your power wisely and for the good of humanity!

[proud2BlibKansan]

85. Harry Potter is undermining Christianity?

What's the matter? Didn't JK Rowling donate enough money to the church?

I guess the pope is ignoring the fact that bigotry, AIDS and old fashioned thinking do more to undermine the soul of Christianity than a fictional character in a book. sheesh

[TWiley]

87. Evidently, Christianity is undermining Christianity.

At least that is what the data shows. It is spreading in the third world where literacy rates are low.

[donheld]

88. Long live Harry Potter and J K Rowling

[Sequoia]

89. What about those Lion, Witch and Wardrobe series that deal

with magic? My fundie little nephew got Harry Potter for Christmas once but threw it on the ground and called it evil, yet his parents let him read those other books. So what's the difference?

[minerva50]

100. C.S. Lewis wrote a Christian parable into those books

He was a devout Catholic (as was Tolkien), and the Christian mythology in the books is obvious to any adult reader. Christian parents can point out the parallels to the bible to their kids, and make sure they get the morals. I enjoyed the books and was able to ignore the Christ story, I did find his old-fashioned sex-role stereotyping rather tedious.

[Bouncy Ball]

90. Not this shit again.

Yep, God is SOOOOOO weak He can be totally undermined in the minds of all children who read that one particular work of fiction.

Uh-huh. Wow, what a weak God people must believe in.

The God I believe in can handle Harry Potter and a lot more.

[wicket]

91. I'm a christian who loves Harry Potter

The pope can shove it! :mad:

[Book Lover]

92. OK, let me unpack this again

for Papa Ratzi (hey, if La Repubblica can use it because it sounds like paparazzi, then I can. I say it with love, or at least a nonhostile affection)

http://slate.com/id/2100637

Finally, they both have a theology. It's not, as one might expect, that Left Behind is Christian and Harry Potter pagan, but rather that Left Behind is Protestant and Harry Potter is Catholic. One of the chief theological arguments between Catholics and Protestants has been over whether salvation is earned through faith or by good works. In Left Behind, the only thing that matters is faith in Jesus. Steele explains that church leaders had led so many people astray because they merely "expected them to lead a good life, to do the best they could, to think of others, to be kind, to live in peace. It sounded so good, and yet it was so wrong. How far from the mark!"

While everything is pre-ordained in Left Behind, in Harry Potter, by contrast, Dumbledore explicitly tells Harry that even though he carries some of the essence of Voldemort in him, he has the power to do good because he has the power of choice.

In that sense, despite their similarities, at their hearts the two series are different in a fundamental but not obvious way. Left Behind is fatalistic; Harry Potter sees outcome determined by individual actions. Both provide a roadmap for how to live a good life, but in one case the key is morality, and in the other it is faith.

[area51]

94. hmmm.

Too bad it wasn't a more important message to condemn the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.

[Shallah Kali]

99. Kuby's website page on her book:

Translated via google:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.gabriele-kuby.de/harry_potter.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522harry%2Bpotter%2522%2Bratzinger%2Bkuby%2Bpur%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26scoring%3Dd

[Kellanved]

102. Well: the book commented is praising the LOTR and condemning Potter

Which is a sentiment shared by many fantasy readers. :-)


And again: he commented the book while he was a Cardinal, two years ago.

[Kerrytravelers]

103. Undermind the soul of Christianity?

The RCC is doing that quite nicely all by themselves.

(Yes, I'm a Catholic. No, I do not like the new pope.)



Ah... the Nazi Pope is off to a rolicking great beginning. Going after Spain, attacking J.K. Rowling. Can't wait until the 2006 elections. The doofus will have a lot to say then.

[IndianaGreen]

110. I am certain that Papa Ratzi will endorse Jeb Bush for President

Did you see Jeb kissing Ratzi's ring in Rome?

[DemGirl7]

104. Having a problem with Harry Potter books is having problems with fantasy

they are for the most part based upon the same thing, and have the same undertones. There is little difference whatsoever between the series of books, there is no hidden agenda behind it....but why should I take the advice of some asshole who believes crap... plus Ratzinger is crazy anyway...

[ProfessorGAC]

105. Hey, That's Some Real Reaching Out!

Good job, Ben. Such an important topic to take on as one's first social issue as pope. And right after he expressed a need to reach out to all people of faith. So, every parent who's every bought their kid Harry Potter stuff must be into sorcery and satan?

What a brilliant outreach! Duh!
The Professor

[IndianaGreen]

106. "undermining the soul of Christianity" or is it the cult of Christianity?

Looks like Papa Ratzi still thinks of himself as the Grand Inquisitor. First it was a ban on the fictional novel The DaVinci Code, and now is an attack on the Harry Potter books. What's next, Mark Twain?

[LittleClarkie]

107. That will be news to my Baptist friend who loves those books

Hey, Pope Benedict! I pLay Dungeons and Dragons! What say you?

[Generic Other]

111. Funny, my Protestant dad had the same reaction to a book

about "Our Lady" that I got from a garage sale when I was a kid...

:shrug:

[Doc Bottom]

112. I hate Harry Potter

In Harry Potter books, there are some people who are born with a wonderful talent.

So, they all get together and form a semi-secret society of their own, and refuse to share their talent with the rest of the world's people (whom they refer to by a derogatory term, "muggles") because those other people might become 'too dependant' on it. In spite of the fact that these talented people use their magic for approximately everything and center their lives around using and improving it.

Substitute "wealth" for "magical ability" and Harry Potter's world looks a good deal like our own.

Certainly anything that gets kids, or people in general, to read is not an evil thing. But if I had kids who were reading this crap, I'd have a little chat with them about how wrong the elitism in Harry Potter is.

[shockra]

119. You're so right.

The elitism is one of the things I couldn't stand about the books either. They are well-written, to be sure, but not nearly as fun as they could have been. Too much is still status quo.

To have a story that allows that *all* kids have magical potential and features schools where their natural magical abilities were nurtured rather than channeled into stupid competitive tricks would REALLY be too subversive. Social institutions could potentially be overturned and lose their phony historical legitimacy! Bwahahaaa.

The authoritarian adults certainly bugged me. Like children would be able to learn magic in such a fearful, strict atmosphere. One of the most crucial things about magic is that you *don't* accept a bunch of bullshit authority and imposed limits on your goals or imagination.

I couldn't help but think many times as I was reading what an ideal "magic school" would really be like. Not that. Maybe I've read too much Alice Miller, but the way children have been treated as less than human throughout history has me wishing for a REAL kid power story.

[Doc Bottom]

122. Yeah...

As a joke about the nature of traditional British private ("public") schools, the authoritarian competitive crap is pretty hilarious. But the target audience, children, are not going to get that.

It's pretty creepy -- one thing that makes a children's fantasy story successful is that the child who reads it can imagine himself as a character in the story. It's kinda scary to think that there are now millions of children who spend hours daydreaming about the joyful day they will recieve a letter by owl, inviting them to join an elitist society of magic-users who say, "Fuck you, I have no responsibility towards you," to the rest of humanity.

Give me good old blood-soaked The Lord of the Rings any day over that. Violence aside, those books depicted people who used their individual limited talents to help everyone. Well, except orcs.

[rebel_yell]

113. off to a great start huh?

he already has big enough shoes to fill and one of the first things he talks about is the evil of Harry Potter?

this just makes July 16 seem so much further away(yes I preordered the book on Amazon)lol

[tom_paine]

117. Sound like The Bushevik Pope is thinking important thoughts

Like how to please his Opus Dei Masters and his Bushevik Allies.

Do you think that Opus Dei rules the Busheviks, vice versa, or are they like the Wehrmacht and the SS, two distinct pieces of the same monstrous puzzle.

In either case, it may well be that Satan's Evil is taking over the world. The Bush Pope is almost certainly that, and I could see him EASILY looking the other way to a second holocaust of "nonbelieveing inferiors".

[Liberal In Texas]

118. Thank God for that...wouldn't want the Pope starting his reign

...without being able to something so important as striking out at a children's book.

That sounds so good. <sarcasm off>

WTF? BFD...Is it now banned with so many other books the Vatican has gone after? In that secret banned books place? I'll bet that it'll be worth millions in royalties to J K Rowling.

The Catholic church is antiquated and out of touch with reality; science, the modern age, what people actually do, what the bible really said. The "True Church" was put in place to control peasants (so they wouldn't kill the gentry) etc. It really was effectively a world government. That time passed eons ago.

It's a medieval form of hierarchy that lost it's place ages ago. Much like the European monarchy.

[The Animator]

121. Next thing you know he'll be after the Jedi Academy books...

He can have my lightsaber when he pries it from my.... wait, this is a Catholic authority figure, there is no way I could complete that thought without it sounding dirty. :evilgrin:

May the Force be with You, Always.