3 Concerns for Christian Parents

Is the presence of Witchcraft and Magic the biggest problems with the Harry Pottery series for Christian Parents? Nope.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
0:48 - There is No Magic
1:43 - Evil is a Cliche
3:30 - It's Good to be Bad
#harrypotter #harrypotterfan #christianparents #booksforkids #worldview #goodandevil

[@dragonvliss2426]

The Harry Potter books are basic folktales in modern dress. There is nothing evil or demonic about them any more than the Three Little Pigs or Little Red Ridinghood.

[@BenjaminKreis]

You're wrong. Rowling build the world of her story inside our reality. That is not how folktales operate.

[@decegrease]

@@BenjaminKreis that's literally how folk tales operated. Before they were folk tales, it was considered history. History was story telling before the modern era, they had a much different idea of how to catalogue and tell stories and events, it wasn't like it was today. Why would you just tell someone they're wrong without knowing anything about the subject at hand?

[@Riley095]

@@decegreaseno it’s not.

[@decegrease]

@@Riley095 nice substantive rebuttal, you really proved your point there junior

[@josephfuhr]

If reading some fantasy novels is going to shake your faith, I'd say that faith started out pretty shaky. As far as kids go... I'd say if the parents are actually involved in their lives, they'll have a greater influence than pop culture and fantasy novels, too.

[@BenjaminKreis]

Each parent should decide what is appropriate for their own children. My video simply helps parents categorize what the issues with HP are.

[@rookieadventures5198]

Its not about faith. Its about obedience... why would one get involved with things that God clearly instruct us not to do? One could even say faith is to trust God when he instruct us not to do certain things

[@BenjaminKreis]

@@rookieadventures5198 I don't understand which things you are referring to as "things that God clearly instructs us not to do?" Do you mean reading Harry Potter?

[@supernovaskies5044]

I mean ur third point is weird as hell. sometimes you have to lie to stay alive and if any adult disagrees on that they’re idiotic

[@BenjaminKreis]

I actually agree with "sometimes". But Rowling has the kids lie "all the time". They didn't just lie to Umbridge, they also lied to Dumbledore.

[@decegrease]

​@@BenjaminKreisDumbledore did his fair share of lying to then so it sounds like a 2 way street if you ask me. Besides, Rowling's idea that is pervasive throughout the books (however clumsily written and poorly executed it was in practice) is to question authority and not believe those in charge are always after your best interests. That's one of the big misgivings of Christianity, that the big guy upstairs has a "plan" for you, and it leads to this susceptibility to cultist behavior that studies show is very prominent in those who are more religious. Teenagers are gonna disobey and be rebellious, you want kids to get those kinks out when they're young as opposed to being suppressed without an ability to properly express themselves

[@skater9221100]

@@decegreaseI am a Christian myself, and I totally support your decision. The author of this video has got some things about the world of Harry Potter seriously wrong, and I’ll definitely leave my own comment/analysis soon.

[@BenjaminKreis]

Um. Ok.

[@decegrease]

@@BenjaminKreis ? Something to add?

[@Based808]

Dumbledore congratulates Harry because he understands Harry’s nature, orchestrated the entire situation, but you don’t seem to grasp this.

[@sparklefulpaladin]

I think that if kids are going to read Harry Potter, it would be good for them to have conversations about this kind of thing with their parents or another trusted adult. It would be good to open up conversations about things like when it's okay to disobey authority or how evil can look very enticing and what to do about it.

[@BenjaminKreis]

YES! Rowling actually had a great opportunity to show Righteous Disobedience with Dolores Umbridge. But by that point in the series the kids had been rebelling against good and lawful authority so it didn't land with any power that they were disobeying a wicked authority!

[@lindildeev5721]

I totally agree. Dumbledore is totally OK with Harry breaking the rules, as long as it helps him. If I remember well, in the first book, after congratulating Slytherin for winning the Cup of the Four Houses, he gives Harry, Ron and Hermione 60 points each for their so-called bravery and only 10 to Neville for trying to stop them from breaking all these rules. If that's not hypocrisy and favoritism, I don't what it can be. Even Snape doesn't do that.

[@BenjaminKreis]

That example of D. giving Neville 10 points is sooooo idiotic and infuriatingly mind bending.

[@victorialastofka1534]

Why is killing someone bad? Because JK Rowling said so lmao🤣🤣🤣 If you need someone to give you an answer to why the unforgivable spells are bad then what even is your point?

[@Based808]

If you think Harry Potter is cliche, where can I find your original seven book fantasy series?

[@graydanerasmussen4071]

I like how you first point out how cartoonishly evil the bad guys are by demanding everybody do their bidding, then turn around and call "rebellion" (disagreeing with authority figures about ways and means) "real witchcraft"! The character of magic is not whether it is "spiritual", but whether it is allowable by the simple rules our universe runs on. Rowling's is absolutely the high fantasy kind, but it has been normalized to the point where it appears mundane. The bible has this kind of magic in it too: Pharaoh's magicians, all the miracles, all high fantasy (read: Impossible) feats of magic. Nobody, NOBODY has come up with even a single verifiable act that contradicts the rules of the universe, the "laws of nature". Not one, ever! Come up with one of those, and you might have at least the possibility of a god or gods existing.... Until then, all I see are impossible claims. Rowling's stories are child's tales of "What if?". Like all fantasy, like all literature worth reading, they superimpose human relations onto a made-up framework, and tries to tackle morality, unfairness, the problems of growing up, under other circumstances. Are they successful? Sales would suggest so. Are they any good, as literature or as moral guides? That is above my pay grade. Are they "satanic", evil or intentionally written to ruin all the programming christian parents subject their children to? Not at all.

[@decegrease]

Don't expect a thoughtful response from this goober, if you see the comment I made, we had a back and forth that showed his immaturity and cowardice to defend his beliefs against any kind of scrutiny. Idk why you'd make KZbin videos about your opinions if you fold like a wet paper bag as soon as someone challenges those opinions 😂

[@drbenben]

Cool video, you’ve got a typo in your video title though lol

[@BenjaminKreis]

Thanks! I fixed it.

[@welovettrpgs]

@@BenjaminKreis Did you though? Maybe read it again.

[@drbenben]

@@BenjaminKreis no problem, for a second I thought the title meant you could have 3 concerns or be a Christian parent 😅

[@decegrease]

I find it quite ironic that God commands his followers not to lie while having told plenty of lies himself. Not seeing a contradiction there? He lies to Adam and Eve at the start of the first book in the old testament, when he said eating the fruit of knowledge would kill them. Ironic that the snake was the only one telling the truth, and gets punished for it. Along with Adam and Eve, who literally didn't have knowledge of good and evil before eating the fruit. It's like locking a toddler in a kitchen with a hot burner and saying "don't touch it!" and just leaving lmao. Who finds this convincing?

[@BenjaminKreis]

You bring up questions that have been pondered for literally thousands of years. And there are good answers. If you ask in good faith, you can find those answers. Otherwise, you're a mocker. And mockers are never satisfied with any answer, no matter how true or reasonable.

[@decegrease]

@@BenjaminKreis "ask in good faith" buddy, it's called faith because it isn't knowledge. If you ask me what 2 + 2 is, or how the water cycle works, there's no "faith" involved, because there's empirical evidence to back it up. You can hand waive valid criticism and call me a "mocker" all you want, but that doesn't really lend validity to your own point, it reeks of cowardice and an unwillingness to defend your faith, as Jesus commands. So brave of you

[@BenjaminKreis]

*snore*

[@decegrease]

@@BenjaminKreis interesting that instead of pointing me towards truth, you just decided I wasn't worth it. Definitely not what I would do with claims I can support

[@decegrease]

@@BenjaminKreis and I though atheists were the pretentious ones? You believe in literal magic, champ. And your response is "snore". This is why people don't take your faith seriously, you're an unserious joke who can't even defend their "faith". It takes a lot of cowardice to curl up with your book of magic tales instead of dealing with reality on reality's terms. Most people grow out of that, though.

[@Based808]

For your third point, all interesting literature has flawed characters.

[@John-ev1rw]

Meh... the greatest ills of the world don't come from Harry Potter. I'm much more concerned about addiction both to drugs and social media. Harry Potter is a story and any harmful ideas that exist in it can be contextualized by parents who talk to their children. Harry Potter is the work of a human being and humans are flawed. Nothing we make is ever going to be perfect. I feel like the Devil not only does evil, but he lures us to be distracted by things that aren't very important, but it's easy for us to get mad at them. Harry Potter is bad... so what? Okay, so I don't let my kids read Harry Potter. That was easy. I didn't have to do any hard work and now I can consider myself a Christian in good standing with God. Did I teach my children to feed the hungry? Cloth the naked? Comfort the sorrowing? Do they know they should be kind to others? Do they understand Jesus's love for us? If you love and guide your child properly so they are full of God's love, they will never be misled for long and if they are misled by some popular idea, you and God will guide them back and they'll usually learn something from the experience.

[@BenjaminKreis]

So if Harry Potter doesn't matter, why did you click on a video about Harry Potter?

[@John-ev1rw]

@@BenjaminKreis Because It's important for people to focus on the right things in their lives and not be misled. Can children learn wrong lessons from Harry Potter? Sure, but it's up to their parents to guide their children and correct any wrong ideas in the book. If parents teach their children how to morally evaluate a piece of literature, that's more valuable than simply condemning one piece of literature. There are billions of books. Better to learn how to read them instead of avoiding them one at a time.

[@BenjaminKreis]

I agree with you. But from my experience most Christian parents done understand what is wrong with Harry Potter. You seem to have assumed something I didn't say. I didn't say, Don't let your kids read Harry Potter. In fact, I like the series. I've read the entire series twice. And so have my older kids. I probably should have said that in the video so people understood where I was coming from.

[@Based808]

Fantastic points! Harry Potter actually can help instill values of kindness, love, and bravery to children.

[@rookieadventures5198]

The bible is very clear that we should stay away from such things. Period.

[@user-uz7lu7ju1x]

Like what, bruh? Mid fantasy book series?

[@Joemccxc]

Good video. The ironic thing is that even the Nazis didn’t believe one race was superior per se. So Voldemort is a next level caricature even of them.

[@BenjaminKreis]

Are you sure? Aryan race?