Harry Potter fans warn against dangerous effects of Bible

[J-J]

http://www.chaser.com.au/show_story....AME=harrybible

Harry Potter fans warn against dangerous effects of Bible



Walking on water ... Jesus criticised for misleading special effects

OXFORD, Tuesday: A number of concerned British Harry Potter fans have spoken out against the Bible, claiming that the holy text of the Christian Church can cause serious damage to children. “Reading the Bible teaches children to believe in the supernatural,” said one English Literature academic from Oxford University, Lewis Williams. “The tales of Jesus turning water into wine are fairly harmless, but there is a serious risk of children drowning if they try to walk on water,” he said. “And the chance of serious bodily harm isn’t exactly minimised by that whole ‘resurrection-from-the-dead’ story either.”

Christians have responded that reading the Bible assists with literacy skills, but Williams rejects this idea too. “The Bible is only ever read in very small chunks, a few paragraphs at a time. It’s never read as a long sustained narrative like the Harry Potter series. Reading too much of the Bible promotes a very short attention span," he says.

Critics such as Williams warn that without appropriate parental guidance, reading the Bible may make children unable to enjoy quality children’s literature. “Enjoying books such as Harry Potter or the Narnia series requires the ability to suspend disbelief,” he said. “When children are taught that the Bible is absolutely literally true, and that a story like Noah’s Ark actually happened, the imagination is completely stifled – it’s very detrimental.”

Williams has also pointed out that some of the scarier elements in fantasy novels will really frighten children if they think they are true. “Some children may think that murderous Dark Wizards such as Voldemort (the villain of the Potter series) are actually real if they’ve been corrupted by Christians who believe that devils and magic actually exists,” he said.

[Mamie]

JJ?

Good points though.

[J-J]

Honest...

[Mamie]

I like it!

[Hirta]

What would have happened if those comments had been made about the Koran?

[Theja]

Hi Hirta,

If such comments were made about the Quran, he would be on
the 'wanted' list of some Muslim extremists, similar to Salman Rushdie.

Today Christian-bashing has become a kind of sport, but these same people are so cowed by Muslims that they are on alert not to say anything negative about Islam.

Curse the Bible and Christians will disagree with you or try to love you back; but if you apply the same to the Quran, run for your life.

If the Bible played a role in Afghanistan like it did in Scotland, the people there would be enjoying similar freedom this nation has.


Theja

[J-J]

"Today Christian-bashing has become a kind of sport, but these same people are so cowed by Muslims that they are on alert not to say anything negative about Islam."

You are absolutely right,Theja,I have to admit.Although I am no longer a Christian,as you can probably tell,I recognise that christianity is no longer and will never again be the force for evil that,perversely as it seems for what is truly a religion of peace(if you ignore the old testament and revelations,of course),it at times was.The inquisition will never return.Islam on the other hand is a loaded weapon in my view,and it is ironic that it's ok to make fun of the relatively harmless christians while the Jihad spouting adulteress-stoning and apostate-murdering Islam is spoken of in only the kindest,most reverential terms,often by the same people,as you say.
While I do from time to time like to poke a little bit of fun at the Christians(remember they started this Harry Potter thing)I am fully aware that it is Islam that really deserves our attention,and scorn.