Vatican blasts Potter again
The Telegraph reports on an article in the Vatican newspaper condemning the Harry Potter books.
In L’Osservatore Romano Edoardo Rialti called the teenage wizard “the wrong kind of hero”, and concludes,
The violent manipulation of things and people comes thanks to knowledge of the occult.
The ends justify the means because the knowledgeable, the chosen ones, the intellectuals know how to control the dark powers and turn them into good.
This a grave and deep lie, because it is the old Gnostic temptation of confusing salvation and truth with a secret knowledge.
The characterisation of common men who do not know magic as ‘muggles’ who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude.
Looks to me like Romano Edoardo Rialti hasn’t actually read the book he’s talking about: but that’s only par for the course. Peter Vardy’s Emmanuel Schools banned the series (and the kids from even referring to it) in their schools some time back for the same reason.
It’s good that they talk this way, because like the current Tom Cruise “Scientology know’s better than everyone, including doctors” video shown (and removed from) Youtube over the past few hours, all they really do is serve to make themselves look like complete fuckwhits.
Hysterical. Could any Italian readers please sit him down and break the news to him that it’s pretend.
NoJags Neil: “Could any Italian readers please sit him down and break the news to him that it’s pretend.”
He believes in the power of pretended things, like the existence of a supernatural deity, he believes therefore that magic/miraculous events counter to the physics of our universe can happen and can be directed by human (Jesus was human!) agents. Therefore he must believe that the events in Harry Potter are possible and so real and so, it goes, people like him must protect children from getting involved with them in case they get hurt.
Phsychologists have discovered (not that recently) something called a cognitive lock-in and it strikes me (paritcularly after reading a book by some new-age guru) this is part of the problem. There’s a simple article on in here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070604123820.htm
Essentially, it says that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Some other sage (whose name escapes me) once also said something like “be careful what you put into those heads because it’ll be a lot harder to get it out later.” (I think the original quote appears from one of Dawkin’s books.)
Most successful people [who often tend toward atheism] are able to think “outside of the box” and I rather suspect the two ideas are intertwined. Religion is taught as a fact from a very early age (which is why it doesn’t belong in schools) and because of lock-in many people find the idea impossible to shake.
Strikes me that this would be an interesting area to study since it appears to explain why these crazy ideas get so firmly embedded.
But what about all the other lies we tell kids? Like Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny. Most, if not all, kids seem to be able to figure that one out, just as they do with Harry Potter and other ‘pretend’ things.
“The characterisation of common men who do not know Christianity as ‘heathens’ who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude.”
Fixed that for him.
I went to a ‘father ted’ school, as did my sister. We were talking about it the other night and found it highly amusing that everyone we know from those schooldays is now an atheist. We spoke about all the attempted brain washing with prayers after everything, and the involuntary attendance of mass twice a week. Eventually you just sit back, take stock and realise what a load of old bollocks it all is.
Neil, sorry for the delay in responding (monitor, we do need email notifications, pleeeeeeeeeeze).
Cog-lock is not as straightforward as Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy (Harry Potter is always sold as fiction anyway so that doesn’t count in the same way).
Culturally, Santa and the tooth fairy are debunked fairly early on before the lock has had time to fully solidify; but religion isn’t. Why do you think it’s required in schools up to 16 years? I discuss this in more detail in my book which, if I ever get it finished, will be free to some MWW regulars.
Martyn also has an interesting point, many alumni (ahem) of Catholic schools also end up atheist (or at least, agnostic) but that probably comes from a different path. However, we also have to consider how many go on to raise their children in the same way so I would question if they really are avowed atheists or just cultural ones.
I think my sister is going to send her two sproggs off to “father Ted” school, but just because it’s got the best place in some sort of league table for where she lives. But she did say she’ll be keeping the pair of them fully informed on just what the squadders of god are trying to brainwash them with. That and my input should keep them on the right path, or get them expelled! 😉
Lies, damn lies and league tables.
They have the best results because they get the best students – just like the fucking Academies do. QED. From the cream, the cream of the cream shall rise.
I wonder if she’d be allowed to exclude them from religious worship just like we can in normal state schools (but don’t get me started on that one – I already had a fight with my ex over that tonight.)