Obviously with Potter on the brain, my weekly column had to be about HP and his power to enchant the previously condemnatory constituency of which I'm a part. :)
Not everybody in the homeschooling or evangelical Christian world has been brought over to the HP side. My family groaned as I read the recent review of the HP 5 movie in Wold mag. :::sigh::: Why do they bother? It's like the secular news mags every Christmas and Easter feel like they need to write something about "true" Christianity, or the "historical" Jesus, or even Mary, when they are basically clueless about faith. Plus, more than a few people looked scandalized when I left quickly after my son's play last Friday to go get in line to buy HP 7. ;-)
Thanks for the great article, Julie. I was one of the few I knew who read HP before my kids did, and loved it from day one. But then, I guess when your dh play D&D with your kids, you aren't to hyper-vigilant about wizards and such! ;-)
I too am glad to see that Harry Potter has finally won the hearts and minds of many of his earlier Christian detractors...although...I noticed James Dobson is still holding the line on the evil influence of the Potter series. Too bad Dobson and others don't take a closer look and see what they could learn from what is going to go down in "history" as a pop culture phenomenon that one could argue has now surpassed Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings ...I confess I haven't read any of the books...shame...shame...shame...on me...but I am a big fan of the movies...just call me lazy...but I hope to find redemption in the end on the grounds that I did buy all the books and C.D.'s on tapes for my two sons....besides...one doesn't really need to read the books when you have kids, like yours and mine who read the books in one or two days and are running around the house spilling one spoiler after another
Yesterday, I was shocked that Kayla didn't have her nose in HP all day long. I asked her wasn't she worried about her friends spoiling the ending for her before she had the chance to read it. But, she told me that a couple of her friends weren't interested in it and at least three aren't allowed to read HP (presumably for religious reasons).
Lovely column I still worry a little when I mention at church or in hsing circles that we are HP fans because there will always be people who view HP as evil whether or not they've read the books I loved reading about the fact that some of your kids friends borrowed the forbidden books, too funny!
I liked your column. We watched #5 in the theater and came home and watched #3&4 on DVD. (I hated the #2 movie, so I hadn't bothered with 3 and 4 before, though I had read the books through Four). 5 was so compelling, at least in theaters, that Grayson (yes, GRAYSON!) pulled out Clark's copy of Six and has had his nose in it ever since. Clark and Chelsea have both finished Seven and loved it. I guess I'll have to get in line behind Grayson to read both Six and Seven. :-)
Interestingly enough, it was at our (Julie's)co-op that a teacher pursuaded my son to begin reading the books. He had told the teacher that he really wasn't sure he wanted to read the books because of all the controversy. Of course the teacher asked me if it was okay first.
Great article, Julie. Most of the homeschoolers in our church are pro-HP (not all), but no one looked twice when most of the kids brought the 7th book to church to read between services. :P
Books like Granger's Looking for God in HP have also changed a lot of minds. A homeschooling dad of seven kids, he's won over lots of Christians and homeschoolers with his insights into the Christian themes and symbols. He's a learned authority and a persuasive writer.
E still gets those sideways looks from her vry conservative cousins for having HP splayed all over her walls, but these are the people who were aghast that we owned Mosters Inc. and loved Star Wars. Ah, well.
Very well said, all around, Julie. Loved your final paragraph especially.
7 comments:
Not everybody in the homeschooling or evangelical Christian world has been brought over to the HP side. My family groaned as I read the recent review of the HP 5 movie in Wold mag. :::sigh::: Why do they bother? It's like the secular news mags every Christmas and Easter feel like they need to write something about "true" Christianity, or the "historical" Jesus, or even Mary, when they are basically clueless about faith. Plus, more than a few people looked scandalized when I left quickly after my son's play last Friday to go get in line to buy HP 7. ;-)
Thanks for the great article, Julie. I was one of the few I knew who read HP before my kids did, and loved it from day one. But then, I guess when your dh play D&D with your kids, you aren't to hyper-vigilant about wizards and such! ;-)
Hi Julie,
I too am glad to see that Harry Potter has finally won the hearts and minds of many of his earlier Christian detractors...although...I noticed James Dobson is still holding the line on the evil influence of the Potter series. Too bad Dobson and others don't take a closer look and see what they could learn from what is going to go down in "history" as a pop culture phenomenon that one could argue has now surpassed Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings ...I confess I haven't read any of the books...shame...shame...shame...on me...but I am a big fan of the movies...just call me lazy...but I hope to find redemption in the end on the grounds that I did buy all the books and C.D.'s on tapes for my two sons....besides...one doesn't really need to read the books when you have kids, like yours and mine who read the books in one or two days and are running around the house spilling one spoiler after another
Yesterday, I was shocked that Kayla didn't have her nose in HP all day long. I asked her wasn't she worried about her friends spoiling the ending for her before she had the chance to read it. But, she told me that a couple of her friends weren't interested in it and at least three aren't allowed to read HP (presumably for religious reasons).
Lovely column
I still worry a little when I mention at church or in hsing circles that we are HP fans because there will always be people who view HP as evil whether or not they've read the books
I loved reading about the fact that some of your kids friends borrowed the forbidden books, too funny!
I liked your column. We watched #5 in the theater and came home and watched #3&4 on DVD. (I hated the #2 movie, so I hadn't bothered with 3 and 4 before, though I had read the books through Four). 5 was so compelling, at least in theaters, that Grayson (yes, GRAYSON!) pulled out Clark's copy of Six and has had his nose in it ever since. Clark and Chelsea have both finished Seven and loved it. I guess I'll have to get in line behind Grayson to read both Six and Seven. :-)
Interestingly enough, it was at our (Julie's)co-op that a teacher pursuaded my son to begin reading the books. He had told the teacher that he really wasn't sure he wanted to read the books because of all the controversy. Of course the teacher asked me if it was okay first.
Great article, Julie. Most of the homeschoolers in our church are pro-HP (not all), but no one looked twice when most of the kids brought the 7th book to church to read between services. :P
Books like Granger's Looking for God in HP have also changed a lot of minds. A homeschooling dad of seven kids, he's won over lots of Christians and homeschoolers with his insights into the Christian themes and symbols. He's a learned authority and a persuasive writer.
E still gets those sideways looks from her vry conservative cousins for having HP splayed all over her walls, but these are the people who were aghast that we owned Mosters Inc. and loved Star Wars. Ah, well.
Very well said, all around, Julie. Loved your final paragraph especially.
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