Why theists really hate Harry Potter

[Catholic_Lady]

[downbeatplumb]

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Now a days, I pretty much just scroll through the Today's Posts section every couple of days or so and see if there are any interesting thread topics to look at. This thread, like pretty much all others, is filled with anger and hateful blanket statements about an entire group of people. I always wonder if the people who make those comments and/or kudos those comments know that they are acting no differently from the hateful type of Christians they condemn - putting human beings into boxes, strawmanning them, and throwing them away as though they aren't each individual people. This is the type of thing the religious fundamentalists types have a reputation of doing.

I get it. This is an atheist forum. This is where atheists come to release the frustration, anger, hurt, and/or isolation they feel as a result of being atheist in a mostly theist world, or any past bad experience they've had from people of faith. Which is fine, I understand. What y'all get here (your own space of like minded individuals) is what we get in church or religious group gatherings. This is a safe haven. An echo chamber. Three years as an active member of this forum has shown me that this just isn't the place for diverse groups of people to come and have productive discussions about their differences and attempt to understand each others' point of view... even though they disagree. And that is fine.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I rambled off about that in this thread. I guess every time I pop in to visit, I am reminded once again of why I've backed off.

I read a couple to see what the fuss was about, but honestly I've read much better books. I found them ok but I cant explain the adulation they received.

[mlmooney89]

I enjoyed the harry potter movies, although I'm probably more of a Tolkien fan.

However I would call this a fairly weak straw man argument (for many Christians anyway).

More of a Tolkien fan because you read both sets of books or watched the movies?

I read a couple to see what the fuss was about, but honestly I've read much better books. I found them ok but I cant explain the adulation they received.

A couple? But after that long info about how the books get deeper she gave us you don't specify if you got through the filler books 1-4. There is more story in the last 3 books than the first four.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I enjoyed the harry potter movies, although I'm probably more of a Tolkien fan.

However I would call this a fairly weak straw man argument (for many Christians anyway).

More of a Tolkien fan because you read both sets of books or watched the movies?

I read a couple to see what the fuss was about, but honestly I've read much better books. I found them ok but I cant explain the adulation they received.

A couple? But after that long info about how the books get deeper she gave us you don't specify if you got through the filler books 1-4. There is more story in the last 3 books than the first four.

The Deathly Hallows was delayed in publication because she wrote over seven hundred pages. It was very intense and aimed at mature teens.

[Angrboda]

I don't know regarding the Onion article and the letter. I think it's more an example of a tendency to read and accept the things we read uncritically. At a recent discussion about "Fake News" I confessed that I tended to engage in a lot of uncritical acceptance of content from secondary sources, and don't spend a lot of time double-checking things, so I don't necessarily consider myself above the fray. It's more a symptom of the general overload that exists in a world where there is so much going on and our resources for coping with it evolved millennia ago to solve different challenges. I recently faulted Roadie for believing largely propagandic claims of conservative sources, but as noted, I doubt I'm immune from doing likewise. My only personal gripe is a tendency, common among creationists, of misrepresenting sources and particularly of repeating claims from secondary sources and claiming the primary literature as a source. That practice has become a breeding ground for error among conservative religious people.

[mlmooney89]

Let me say first that I LOVED the world of Harry Potter. I mean all out geeking it for years. I had everything and knew everything about the world. Then book 7 ended and the worst thing happened. Everything was perfect and worked out just like it should. I could seriously go on a ten minute rant about the ending of the series. It ruined the series for me. That being said I will try to refrain from ranting off topic.

I had a HP themed party for my birthday when I was 12 and my aunt kept trash talking it because her "preacher said it was bad" as a newly 12 year old I sat down with her and asked her why. Mind you I was Christian at this point. I explained how it wasn't even about the magic it was about a boy finding a world that he belonged in with people he loved. She said "doesn't matter there is still magic in it which isn't okay."

Also being from a small town that only had a one screen theater it was a huge deal to us that the dick head that owned the theater wouldn't play HP because it was against his religion. Even as a Christian I hated that man and still hold a grudge against him.

[RoadRunner79]

I enjoyed the harry potter movies, although I'm probably more of a Tolkien fan.

However I would call this a fairly weak straw man argument (for many Christians anyway).

More of a Tolkien fan because you read both sets of books or watched the movies?

I never read the Harry Potter books; and I grew up on Tolkein.

Actually don't read too many fiction books lately. I just can't seem to get into them.

[downbeatplumb]

I enjoyed the harry potter movies, although I'm probably more of a Tolkien fan.

However I would call this a fairly weak straw man argument (for many Christians anyway).

More of a Tolkien fan because you read both sets of books or watched the movies?

I read a couple to see what the fuss was about, but honestly I've read much better books. I found them ok but I cant explain the adulation they received.

A couple? But after that long info about how the books get deeper she gave us you don't specify if you got through the filler books 1-4. There is more story in the last 3 books than the first four.

I read the last few.
and the prisoner of Azkaban.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It isn't so much that it "bothers" me as it is that this isn't the place for honest discussion about differing view points.

LOL

[robvalue]

It’s more likely to be real...?