Points to Ponder On I hereby take upon myself to fulfill the mitzvah, "Love your fellowman as yourself".

The Harry Potter movie is enchanting and great fun. The whole experience makes one walk away with a good feeling and happy thoughts. This then is the big problem. Harry Potter extols the value of witchcraft and wizardry by portraying them as such innocent,exciting and enticing pursuits. Witchcraft and wizardry have a long and dangerous history. They are not matters that should be aggrandized, taken lightly, and marketed to children. Let us put matters into context. The Harry Potter books and film ever so subtly promote the use of witchcraft by children. Anyone truly familiar with real witchcraft should be appalled by such an endeavor. If you see nothing diabolical in witchcraft, then you obviously know nothing about its practices or its practitioners. This is what real witchcraft is about: the casting of spells in an attempt to manipulate the minds and feelings of others, the sacrifices of animals, the ripping out their organs and the drinking of their blood, the invocation of demons, and other dangerous mind alteringpsychological practices. Witchcraft goes under various names today to disguise itself. Under such names as Wicca and Goths, witchcraft and the likes are responsible for numerous teenage mental breakdowns, suicides, and murder. The Dungeons and Dragons craze that causes so much psychological harm to its practitioners has its source in witchcraft. The two boys who perpetrated the murder of over a dozen of their classmates at Columbine High School in Colorado were members of a Goth witchcraft cult that taught them to glorify death and suicide. Harry Potter homogenizes witchcraft and makes it appear so deliciously magical and innocently fantastical, even glamorous and desirable. Young impressionable children will therefore be drawn not only to the fantasy of Harry Potter but to the reality of modern day witchcraft. I make no apologies. Any attempt to homogenize witchcraft in any way, in my opinion, is extremely dangerous for our children. Are there not enough temptations surrounding our children? Do we really need to expose them to something that can lead them to practices and beliefs that will endanger their lives and the lives of others? Unfortunately, we adults are enchanted by the surface delight of Harry Potter and we do not pay enough attention to what lies underneath. Parents will not foresee the inherent danger to their children while they are still young. While they are young, messages like those in Harry Potter merely plant the seeds of delight in witchcraft. Once the children become teenagers, they have the ability to use their local libraries and the Internet to find out about real witchcraft. Granted, not every student of witchcraft becomes a cold-blooded murderer or commits suicide. Nonetheless, we already have so many examples of those who did. All these poor unfortunate souls shared one common trait: their passionate pursuit of witchcraft led them to the darkest sides of human behavior. If the usage of drugs, the mutilation of animals, acts of violence and suicide were being presented in such appealing forms with subtle invitations, people from all walks of life would rise up in unison to condemn such horrible perversions. Yet, by polishing upwitchcraft and making it so appealing and accessible, this is exactly what the Harry Potter phenomenon is doing. Informed individuals should avoid Harry Potter as responsible people avoid illicit drugs and other destructive vices. One thing in life does lead to another. We cannot blame others for falling into snares if we do not help them to avoid them. Harry Potter magically transforms a dark part of human life and makes it so appealing. This is why Ifind the Harry Potter phenomenon so dangerous. Please feel free to share this review with other. Copy it and reproduce it freely.

Copyright © 2002 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved. By: Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok - KosherTorah.com

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