Welcome to Gaia! ::

Unless the book implies that you should join in with the Magic World [which it actually does the opposite of, especially since in that book, there are quite a number of times where one character or another implies the actual inconvenience of Magic] and worship some god that isn't who you should in your religion, Harry Potter isn't evil.

I've read all of them at least ten times each, and if there is anything even remotely evil about the ideals it wants to impart to the younger generation, then I must be blind.

I said it leads to ignorance, stupidity, and prejudice - not that all the people who have relgion are any of those things. In other words, radical thinking promotes radical action. And if you want to come at me like that. Shut your pro-religion yap until you have somethign factual to say about it, but neither of us can say anything factual about religion since religion isn't factual.

Also, I respect several religions Christianity just isn't one. I didn't say anything rude about people who are relgious. Furthermore, I never even said that the phrase "religion only leads to ignorance, stupidity, and predjudice" was factual. "Like I always say" implies that it is my opinion.

Actually I disagree. It is because in the bible using "witchcraft" is considered an abomination/a sin. But then again the bible can be interpreted to benefit anyone in just about any arguement.

While I as a christian see it as simply a story. A form of escapism as it was meant to be. While I dislike the HP series myself I read things like "The Wheel of Time" (captain obvious), "Mech Warrior", and the "Ordermaster" series. I am also slightly appalled how people are grouping all christians together like this. The majority of people saying that HP is "evil" are of the elder community. (notice my use of words like "majority" to avoid being a hypocrit). I do believe that the books can be bad if people over immerse themselves in it. Kinda like my cousin who swear up and down he can cast Luminos sweatdrop

On the subject of "The untapped powers of the mind" I think that would entail (personally) things like rapid regeneration and such. I have strong skepticism on the topic of actual "magic"

@animegirl: I don't care if I'm rude to people. Atleast I'm honest. I don't have to keep my opinions to myself. I'm in America. Also, I give a crap about peoples' feelings why? And next time you bring up "muzlms" do some research. They are no more prejudice than you are. You are prejudice against them. That isn't factual at all.

Next of all, I can cluster religions together however I want. When I say it leads to ignorance, that was an opinions, opinions are not fatual although it is to me.

Now then, I'm done argueing this with you. So just stop.

I'm done in here. Really, I'm just saying you don't have to hurt people when your stating your opinion. For example-instead of saying someone shouldn't bring their religious beleifs into a debate say that they should use facts. Seriously, it's not that hard.

starlight: I must say one thing because I know you're still popping in here to see what people say. You spelled Muslim wrong. And not ALL Muslims are prejudice. I'm not a Muslim but in seventh grade I had to do a report on that religion in my religion class. There is a certain banch of Islam (Suni, Shiite, Wahhabi, Sufi and a couple other that I forgot) that hates all other religions. They are the Wahhabi Muslims. A lot of people I know call them all terrorists. And in a way they are. But by lumping all the Muslims together in that kind of a group, just proves how much truth Marsh's opinion might hold.

I, personally, am a Catholic. And I absolutely hate being led blindly by the ear because the only answer I get for a question is "That's what the Church says" of "It's in the Bible". If you want to think of it this way, books like The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter (maybe) and loads of others are all allegories. It's mostly symoblizm(sp?). If you've read The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan is like Jesus who died to save someone and then returned from the dead. The Wizard of Oz; Oz is a powerful being who can answer and grant wishes. And Harry Potter can be like Jesus because he DIED for everyone else to be saved from Voldemort.

Harry Potter is not saying "Hey, kids. Look at this, I can make you immortal if you try and do impossible things like in this book." All throughout the book and series, Harry stands up for what he beleives in. He did things fairly and he thought of others' safety before his own. He was like Jesus, telling people that certain things were wrong and they should follow him for a better cause, and his friends were like the Apostles who followed him even though it ment they might die. After reading it millions and zillions of times, you find the lesson in the book. Good is better than evil. It's not telling people to try and perform magic. At certain times, some characters wished they had never known they could do magic. It's teaching children that you should always do what you think is RIGHT. And that you should put others before yourself.

I said taliban... I have family that's muslim(thanx for the correction) for pete's sakes. I wasn't clustering muslim's. I was saying that the taliban has done some pretty bad things. Taking away women rights, doing the whole 9/11 thing. Like I said, I have nothing against people who are muslim and I know they aren't prejudice. So please make sure you take note of small words like taliban. They really affect the whole post. I swear, I'm not a bad person.
So I didn't lump them together...if you read some of other posts, you would see I'm totally against that.