Chawlk

1. Drawar
2. Fenxy
3. Decaflon
4. Two Credits
5. Wriging
6. Loose Suits
7. Chixe
8. Dud3s
9. Wing Colors

 

Human's seem to have this 'fear of the unknown' inbuilt. It's what caused the 'burn the witch' and the myth of cameras taking your soul when you had your picture taken. History has countless instances where human's on seeing a new theory or something new clutch to the religious context they have been taught - darwin being sacrilegious and the earth being flat are just a few.

Everyone like's to think we've progressed far but when it comes down to it the paradox is human nature just doesn't like change or something they can't put in a box and say x. Usually religion is the thing you can trust - it's constant and that is part of the reason it is such a strong power.

Fear of the unknown is by no means a human-centric characteristic.
Many creatures react with fear/aggression when faced with an unknown, especially if it's alive. Zoos have cages for a reason.

Adding an abstract layer of crap (religion) to an already built-in biological defense mechanism results in things like idiots calling for the burning of "witches", the banning of books and denouncing fictional characters. Morons. Aren't we lucky that many of them will reproduce and pass on these absurdly irresponsible ideologies?

Religion is the last thing anyone should trust. It's not constant, it regularly finds ways to conveniently explain away gaping holes in logic, timing, etc. Fabricated boundaries of thoughts, morals, and ideas are reprehensible. Especially when the protection of those boundaries has resulted in the deaths of countless innocent people, simply because they thought differently.

Personally, I find it completely ironic that these Christians would rather burn a fictional character--were he real--at the stake (based on the OT verse that states, "Do not suffer a witch to live") than try to preach the salvation message to him. One'd think they'd believe Christ died for HP as well (were HP real, that is) and would want to show him the same grace and mercy they received themselves, you know?

Yes, it's very hypocritical, not to mention telling a bunch of kids HP deserves to be burned at the stake is--IMO--a scare tactic. Sigh.

That is so unfortunate. At the same time, what a waste of a newsbit. Who gave these guys publicity? I'd be curious to see the actual newsclip. What kind of Christian group is this? Not that it matters; you don't hear about the Christians who take issue with even the most "prominent" Christian groups such as "Focus on the Family" but there are tons of Jesus followers who do. But it's just easier to sensationalize the ones taking the extreme, black-and-white, my-way-or-no-way stance. And the reason why is because they have to prove through their fear of the unknown (discussed before) that a mainstream following is somehow truly dangerous to their beliefs.

You're exactly right--their criticism of Harry Potter reeks of hypocrisy and straight-up contradiction of the core of the Christian belief system. And I thought Jesus taught that the most important of all things is love. It's these Christians that obviously don't have their priorities right who gotta muck it up for the rest. There are tons of people starving in The Third World that could certainly use your energies wasted making press kits on the perils of movies showing a fictional supernatural narrative.

Carmodyarc: Do you have the link to that clip?

I reeks of the odor of the Salem Witch Hunt.

I wish I did Lori. I was using the damned Stumble Upon button and I didn't think to bookmark the thing. Sorry.

carmodyarc: Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't Stumble Upon keep a log of the sites you've Stumbled, on their site? I think you should be able to just go to the site, log in, and look through your recent stumbles to find it.

Then again, I could be totally wrong. It happens, far too frequently for my tastes, but that's life. ;)

I'm a Christian minister in a Southern Baptist Church and I LOVE Harry Potter. Some of the best fiction ever written, as evidenced by the MASSIVE following of people of all ages.

As for this Christian group, bah. Morons. Did they forget that C.S. Lewis, one of the more prominent Christian writers and theologians, created the character called Gandalf? He was a wizard, doing battle with veritable demons on a seemingly regular basis. To embrace Lewis and reject Harry Potter is ultimate hypocrisy.

"Personally, I find it completely ironic that these Christians would rather burn a fictional character--were he real--at the stake (based on the OT verse that states, "Do not suffer a witch to live") than try to preach the salvation message to him. One'd think they'd believe Christ died for HP as well (were HP real, that is) and would want to show him the same grace and mercy they received themselves, you know?"

HAHAHAHA! Exactly my thoughts.

It's nutball Christians like this that give the rest of us a bad name. I swear, I literally spend more time refuting the wayward (and often harmful) beliefs of Christians than I do arguing with those who are of a different religion. Perhaps that speaks more of me than anyone else though. Dang, I'm gonna get flamed for that last statement.

You're right Josh, they do. I'm looking through there now, but it looks like I stumble through a couple hundred sites per day (I do it when I'm bored and waiting for games of Halo to load).

And, Ben I feel like I spend far too much of my time defending my faith than I do sharing or discussing it positively. I wonder why that is sometimes.

Did they forget that C.S. Lewis, one of the more prominent Christian writers and theologians, created the character called Gandalf?

You mean JRR Tolkien. Gandalf's in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

No problem, carmodyarc...thanks, anyway.

C.S, Lewis' Narnia series which includes seven books is wonderful, and the first book of the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published in 1950.

I don't know if it's the page carmodyarc read, but a quick Google search turned up Harry Potter is Evil!

I haven't looked through the site thoroughly enough to convince myself it's not just a TrueChristian.com-style hoax, though they sound sincere enough at first glance.

carmodyarc: I've thought along the same path, if you will, as you've eloquently stated.

My wife and I were at Church and a man came up and asked, "Hi. Are you saved?" I thought that was kind of an odd question to ask strangers, I glanced at my wife and said, "Yes." My wife on the other-hand, has her own spirituality, which I respect and don't pressure her to believe nor disbelieve anything; she looked at me with the evil eye, grabbed my hand and walked away. She is a believer, prays and practices her beliefs in her own way.

Do you guys think that was wrong of my wife to walk away? Or, was the gentleman wrong for asking his question?

The gentleman wasn't so wrong as to ask that question, he just has a problem in lacking of charisma, tact and community.

If you were to answer no, he just set up a potentially polarizing and uncomfortable situation. You, as attendees of a church, haven't forgotten where you are in the context of that interrogation just as he certainly hasn't realized that he has essentially qualified his interaction with you as fellow people. It is an off-putting question and there could have been many other things he had asked you, first. Instead, he put an issue on the forefront that might have been divisive. People aren't stupid--it's amazing how many Christians get under my skin by forgetting that first and foremost God is about love. He is not interested in mindless drones filling his churches, but people who have been touched by and are interested in the loving Spirit.

What he is doing by that is basically putting people on trial.

:P Ugh.

I often wonder about "our collective moral being" - I am not a Christian, I was brought up that way but anyone with half a brain can see the utter hypocrisy displayed by the majority of its members, the fallacy of a literally translated Bible, and general hate that has spawned countless wars and kept happy gay folk from being married. Christianity was used as the crux for racism, sexism, and countless other acts.

I do not count myself as being part of a moral collective that includes Christians, or any other religious fanatics. Don't get me wrong, I know there are plenty of Christians out there who are nice, regular people, such as my mother, but unfortunately, the zealots are the ones always throwing their beliefs in your face and acting on behalf of God...