Pope Benedict hates Harry Potter

[cynatnite]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Pope Benedict believes the Harry Potter books subtly seduce young readers and "distort Christianity in the soul" before it can develop properly, according to comments attributed to him by a German writer.

Gabriele Kuby, who has written a book called "Harry Potter - Good or Evil," which attacks J.K. Rowling's best selling series about the boy wizard, published extracts from two letters written to her by Benedict in 2003, when he was a cardinal.

Kuby, a devout Catholic, had sent him a copy of her Potter critique and he wrote to thank her, according to a passage from one of the letters published in German on her Web site.

"It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly," Benedict wrote, according to the excerpt.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/pope_harrypotter_dc

[karlrschneider]

1. And Harry's not all that fond of the old fart in the dress...

:eyes:

[liberaliraqvet26]

2. his favorite book must be...

mein kempf

[iamjoy]

3. They'd Burn Him At The Stake If They Could

and Ron, and Hermione and everyone at Hogwarts.

Lousy muggles.

[Windy]

26. shhhh,....he's really Valdemort....

[xray s]

4. He should speak out about the "Left Behind" series

Those books are doing far more damage to Christianity than a fictional book about witches.

[Flying Dream Blues]

24. Exactly...glassy eyed freeptards who read these are

downright scary.

[XemaSab]

29. word. n/t

.

[nookiemonster]

5. I could give a rat's ass regarding what he thinks.

n/t

[HockeyMom]

6. I seem to recall John Paul saying

he saw nothing wrong in the Harry Potter books. This new Pope is starting to sound more and more like Falwell/Dobson/Perkins, etc.

[CatholicEdHead]

10. You are correct

on face value there is nothing wrong with it. It is fiction, and does not conflict with the dogma.

[DanCa]

7. Batman and robin tv show

When I was growing up as as kid the catholic league of decency tried getting the tv show Batman off the air because robins pants were too tight. Also We got a letter from my Neices school not to take kids to see the chronicles of Narniah (sp) the Christmas because talking animals promote totemism.

Now I believe that they have the right to filter shows for themselves but they have no right to tell me what my neices and nephews can watch. For instance I think its abhorent for a child to watch the passion of the christ but I dont have the right to force my views on anyone else. I guess the worst you can call me is a cultural neutreal.

PS Gandalf the White can beat Dumbledore any day of the week :D

[bullimiami]

14. well you see what you see.

the catholic league saw robins tight pants.

most of us did not. we were too busy watching catwoman.

[CatholicEdHead]

8. I saw that yesterday

It is a completly assinine position to take. The series is FANTASY, which is FICTION!! You have WAY too much time on your hands if you take it to any other level.

[applegrove]

9. Who here thinks that by luring the Vatican into acting like the GOP

and reinforcing the structure of the 'big tent' Rove has created...Rove is trying to diminish the Roman Catholic Church? I mean rove & the GOP have already goaded the MSM into not giving a good product to news interested people and they lost numbers. McCain was goaded into acting like a puppy and he is no longer as respected as he was. Lieberman has been goaded into sleazy hawk backup.

All of them get diminished. And what is the prize? New outlets loose numbers and have to cut back. Less information is available to people who think. And the pillars of Rove's America increase in strength.

I'm just speculating - but has the GOP targeted the Roman Catholic Church for diminishings so that more Americans belong to American Churches as opposed to a 'foreign one'. And those American Churches will keep the 'American creation myth alive' in a way the Roman Catholic Church will not.

Who knows. It seems getting with the GOP and towing the line is a recipe for diminishing of your product - whatever that product is. While their 'product', the big tent they create out of hatred, is made all the more powerful.

[Mojambo]

11. He's powerful and all, but should he really be taking on JK Rowling? n/t

[cindyw]

12. Vatican refutes claim. Read this Podcast by Monseigner in response to this

The following is an article from the website www.the-leaky-cauldron.org

You can also read the actual Podcast on http://www.catholicinsider.com

"Vatican Radio Broadcast Addresses Papal Opinion of Potter

Many Leaky readers have forwarded us links to reports that Pope Benedict disapproves of the Harry Potter series, based on two 2003 letters supposedly authored by Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) to German Gabriele Kuby, author of Harry Potter - Gut Oder Böse (Harry Potter - Good or Evil). From one letter:

It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.
According to transcripts of a Vatican Radio address aired today and made available by Catholic theologian Roderick Vonhögen of CatholicInsider.com, however, remarks from the Vatican and from Pope Benedict have been misinterpreted. Said Monsignor Fleedwood in the radio address:

I was sent a letter from a lady in Germany who claimed to have written to the then Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that she thought Harry Potter was a bad thing. And the letter back, which I suspect was written by an assistant of the then cardinal Ratzinger in his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that there was a subtle seduction in the books. What that subtle seduction was, was not specified, which makes me think it was a generic answer. And she had written a book on these subjects and so the Cardinal's signature was at the bottom of the letter, suggesting she should send me the book. She sent me the book, and I found it a very unsatisfactory book. I don't think she understands English humour.
Monsignor Fleedwood also said:

I remain firmly convinced that the Harry Potter novels are very well written. They are written on the classical plot of good versus evil in the standard way that the old myths were written. The characters are built up around that: the goodies and the baddies so to speak, and I can't see that that's a bad thing for children, when goodness, and the people on the side of goodness are portrayed as the ones who will eventually win. Harry's ennemies resort to all sorts of evil things, and they are the ones who lose in the end. I don't see what's wrong with that, and I can't see that does any harm to children. What my advice would still be to parents: if you're in doubt, read the books yourselves, the first one, that's the shortest one, and see what you think. Don't simply rely on somebody else's opinion, not even on my opinion, since it's only an opinion.
Click through to Catholic Insider for the rest of the transcript, as well as thoughts on the issue from Roderick Vonhögen."

**link edited**

[CatholicEdHead]

13. Here is more about the letters

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html

It has the translations and PDF copies of the untranslated letters.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerletter.pdf

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerpermission.pdf

This website of course takes the Voldemort position on everything Harry.

http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/

It is roll your eyes reading.

[retread]

15. As would any clear thinking 12th century monk! n/t

[Rex]

16. Someone call the Spanish Inquisition!

No not them!

[MN ChimpH8R]

17. Pope Adolf I = idiot

nt

[The River]

18. It Promotes Imaginative (Magical) Thinking

therein lies the rub.
(if) Religion itself is a manifestation of pre-rational (fearful) thinking then Magical thinking is pre-religious (wonderous) thinking. Imagining what if, questioning, and thinking is not conductive to believing. With out obedient belief where would religion be?

A Rotary Club?

[MN ChimpH8R]

21. Ding Ding Ding!

Anything that makes people think beyond the mundane is intolerable to the fundie mindset. They might not shut up an obey if their minds are open.

[The River]

30. I think the "Fundies" are Spiritually Lazy

Acting in a Christ-like manner is way hard dude.
You know? Like helping poor people and being humble,
forgiving and all that stuff.
It's much easier to just go along being an unrepented
asshat and simply BELIEVE that you will be rewarded
in "Heaven". No muss, no fuss eh?

[dbonds]

19. Muggles in big hats all full of themselves.

What does he think about how the Christian Extreemist are doing to twist the religion to one of hate?

[Drewskie]

20. Pullman

He should read Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. Are you trying to give him a heart attack?

It's probably more anti-church establishment than the Da Vinci Code. Mind you, the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks it ought to be taught in religious education lessons:

Dr Rowan Williams said there was a place for critics of Christianity in lessons on religion.

Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials has been attacked by some Christian teachers and by the Catholic press as blasphemy.

But the leader of the Anglican church suggests such books can be a useful part of discussions about faith.

In a speech to religious leaders and academics at Downing Street, he said: "To see large school parties in the audience of the Pullman plays at the National Theatre is vastly encouraging.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3497702.stm

[Solly Mack]

22. in 22 hours I'll have my copy of book 6 and I'll give a hearty shout-out

to all the idiots before I start to read it.

Something along the lines of "Fuck you, dipshits!!"

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Only book yer s'posta read is the bible, folks.

Just like the only time yer s'posta have sex is when you want kids.

[Bleacher Creature]

25. Hmmm... So I have to choose between the Pope and Harry???

Whatever will I choose?? ;-);-);-)

[PurityOfEssence]

28. Showmen hate being upstaged, especially by NEW acts

The Roman Catholic Church is the longest running dinner show in western civilization. It's creaky and has merely been going through the motions like a done-on-the-cheap roadshow for, oh, about a millennium and a half now. Of course the new leading man hates the rival act.

More than anything, religious practitioners demand the right to get children young so they can indoctrinate them and kill inquisitiveness. Any popular culture that gets in the way of their brainwashing is lashed out at with the highest dudgeon. Get 'em while they're young. That's why fantastical stories that play in the no man's land of superstition and magic rankle reactionaries more than anything. It is their proclaimed right to fuck with the minds of children, and anyone who messes with that is EEEEVIL.

I'm glad to see Ratzywinger being such a hard-nosed asshole; it exposes that particular church for what it is: mind control bent on world domination. Let's just hope that the other equally ugly institutions of certainty turn as hard right as this one has.

Remember: there are more Roman Catholics than there are Muslims. What with the cynical unchecked breeding, it's going to be a hard-fought battle for inundation.