Pope's top exorcist says Harry Potter is 'king of darkness'

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In summary, Pope Benedict XVI's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, has called fictional wizard-in-training Harry Potter the "king of darkness, the devil." Amorth believes that the series contains many positive references to "the satanic art" of magic and makes no distinction between black and white magic. Amorth compared the Potter character to dictators Stalin and Hitler, saying they were possessed by the devil. This is perceived by Catholics as crackpotism of the religious kind: Instead of misrepresenting the laws of physics and just making up science as they go, in this case, sacred truths and souls are at stake.
  • #36
It should certainly be allowed to ridicule the top exorcist when he makes howling contradictions as the following:
1. "Magic is ALWAYS a turn for the devil"
2. "(Rowling) doesn't distinguish between black and white magic"

Eeh??
How can there be any "white" magic in the first place if all magic is a satanic art?
:confused:

Just because a guy puts the title Reverend before his name, doesn't make it into an fitting title.
 
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  • #37
I'm with Ivan on this one.

I see so many "Catholics" not following their doctrine. They get married as "Catholics" and so on.

My mom and sister say I'm "Catholic", but I don't follow their doctrine and speak out "I'm not Catholic and I don't believe in many of their doctrines or practice any." They still insist I'm Catholic because I got batized and did my confirmation. I was only 13 or younger at the time and did NOT have the ability to think rationally about it or even reject it.

And, no I won't be getting married in a church. Like I said, I'm not "Catholic" as well as many others out there.
 
  • #38
tribdog said:
it's easy to tell the dark side from the light. The dark side have red light sabers.
I'd like a purple (violet) one, or maybe blue, or maybe two-tone, or swirling rainbow would be cool. Higher frequency means more power. :cool: :biggrin:
 
  • #39
If a fellow needs peer-group affirmation (membership in a church) to shore up his ethical imperatives, I'm going to count my fingers after shaking his hand. I, too stopped attending Catholic masses at the first opportunity (around 14 or so), though my mother (French-Indian heritage) was a devout believer. One needs a "reality" filter derived from experience to realize that the chief exorcist's remark had entirely political and economic underpinnings. These organizations are all about building and maintaining political control and building wealth. I have studied extensively the teachings of Christ, Buddah, Confucius, and the Zen masters. They are remarkably similar, and they emphasise the responsibility of the individual, not blind adherence to codes and rules. So different from the organizations that pretend to derive their authorities from these teachers.
 
  • #40
Astronuc said:
I'd like a purple (violet) one, or maybe blue, or maybe two-tone, or swirling rainbow would be cool. Higher frequency means more power. :cool: :biggrin:
OK! Give me one visible only in X-ray frequencies (and equipped with a suitable shield ahead of the hilt!). :biggrin:
 
  • #41
Astronuc said:
The other thing - how come everyone out there speaks English?
The most amazing thing about the Star Trek translator is that it also changes the way their mouths move so that deaf people can read their lips in English. :bugeye:
 
  • #42
Gokul43201 said:
Ivan, all that's happening here is a bunch of people expressing their disbelief and perhaps amusement that someone in a top position like Amorth's would compare "Harry Potter" with Hitler and Stalin!

What I'm saying is that from point of view of the Catholic church as well as many other Christian religions, it makes sense. The HP story is considered a bastardization of the truth in which by definition [according to Catholic and other Christian beliefs] Potter would necessarily be using dark forces. By definition, according to these beliefs, the story lies about good and evil. It is corrupting the young with lies. To a devout Christian having these beliefs, this is about as important as things get.

Now where is the author and my hemlock tea? :biggrin:
 
  • #43
Oh I hate the bastardization of the truth.
Actually there may be something to all this. I don't think H.P. (Hell's President?) Harry Potter is the the devil, but I'd bet my appendix J.K. Rowling signed a deal with him.
 
  • #44
How do you get to be "top" exorcist? is it a seniority thing? special skill? who you know? I've always heard that the vice exorcist does all the work anyway.
 
  • #45
tribdog said:
How do you get to be "top" exorcist? is it a seniority thing? special skill? who you know? I've always heard that the vice exorcist does all the work anyway.
Hey! I don't want to have my vices exorcised. It took years to hone them to perfection.
 
  • #46
There's a difference between belief and religion. Belief (i.e.,faith) is belief in something in the absence of proof. Religion is the organized practice of a relativey uniform set of beliefs. The problem with that is that Catholic religious dogma stipulates that the pope is infallible, i.e., is the voice of Jesus on earth. There is no choice in believing or not - if you are a true Catholic, you believe the pope no matter what he says, even if he were to dictate something incredibly crazy, like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is now the only definitive bible. The only thing you take on faith is that the pope is infallible.

So, Ivan is correct when he says a true Catholic would by necessity be required to believe that HP is evil. Even if you think that's a crazy thing to believe, in order to be a true Catholic, you must believe this. However, I do think the majority of people who call themselves Catholic aren't true Catholics because there will most likely be one thing they won't believe (even if that one thing is the infallibility of the pope). In that case, you're pseudo-Catholic.
And in case people think I'm talking out my arse, I was raised Catholic no longer practicing), my parents are devoutly pseudo-Catholic, and I have a close cousin who is a priest.
 
  • #47
Ivan Seeking said:
If you are a Catholic you are bound by faith to listen to these authorities. That's how their religion works. If you choose not to have faith in their religion, why would you care? No one is twisting anyone's arm here.

There are very few american catholics that actually buy into this anymore. Child abuse scandals have done far more damage to the credibility of the vatican hierarchy in this country than anything like this could ever hope to.

This is a bit like the "did the reporter actually convert to Islam" question. Who cares unless the reporters themselves takes it seriously.
 
  • #48
daveb said:
. Belief (i.e.,faith) is belief in something in the absence of proof.
Please be neutral in your description.
Better say:
"Faith is belief in something without any sort of justification for that belief."
 
  • #49
arildno said:
Please be neutral in your description.
Better say:
"Faith is belief in something without any sort of justification for that belief."
That seems like pretty much the same thing, but yeah, that's essentially what I mean.
 
  • #50
This is a bit like the "did the reporter actually convert to Islam" question. Who cares unless the reporters themselves takes it seriously.
Well, even if the reporters don't take it seriously, they need to be weary because others may take it seriously. The punishment of 'apostasy' is death according to some, as was an issue in Afghanistan recently. If certain people believed the FOX reporters converted, and they decide they didn't, these guys may have to watch their backs for years (rest of their lives) like Salman Rushdie. :rolleyes:
 
  • #51
tribdog said:
it's easy to tell the dark side from the light. The dark side have red light sabers.
In this universe, the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black.
 
  • #52
NoTime said:
In this universe, the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black.

Eh, an enlightened pope vs. evil nuns?
 
  • #53
daveb said:
That seems like pretty much the same thing, but yeah, that's essentially what I mean.
Well, if we do have evidence supportive of some belief, but that evidence cannot be regarded as a PROOF of the truth of what one believes (in that case, you would KNOW, rather than believe), then your belief is of a higher order than beliefs that lack any justification in terms of evidentiary support (i.e, then you only have faith).

You can perfectly well hold RATIONAL beliefs even when lacking sufficient evidence to constitute a "proof" (or certainty), but I would deny that faith is a rational phenomenon.
 
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