Comments on: Wicca Broadcasting

By: Cheap Grace

Cheap Grace — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Though it appears that some of the criticism is valid…………. the church herself is a font of the supernatural.

I noticed the lack of discussion toward Lewis–his Narnia "majic and fantasy" and—- sub creation as truth sought by thirsty men that are without direction hence the inception and attraction to myths and fairy tales.

Looking to Tolkein, I find the same thing. The Eucharistic Lord of the rings is seen clearly through fantasy for those who have eyes that see.

Do you allege that we cannot use this culture of myth that is overtaking us to teach the Gospel?

Paul did just that in Athens Acts 17——-"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."

As for church teaching—–Vatican II is clear on the truth being from God and our obligation and starting point in dialouge should be with the Truth we find——– as all men are built to seek God.

To quote Lewis Carroll: Curiouser and Curiouser!

By: Cheap Grace

Cheap Grace — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry, I posted an incorrect homepage. My homepage is: http://lourdesladyn.blogspot.com/

Cheap Grace

By: gbm3

gbm3 — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

"Do you allege that we cannot use this culture of myth that is overtaking us to teach the Gospel?"

No.

Please read:

'The first idea of the aforementioned speech was that fairy tales could prepare someone to accept Christianity. G. K. Chesterton, a great Christian author, credited fairy tales for letting him "see life itself as a story and to conclude that there must be a storyteller" and to prepare "him to accept the Christian faith long before he had any thoughts at all about the religion." The magical nature of fairy tales prepared him to accept two core beliefs of Christianity in that the God of Abraham and Israel (in the Old Testament) is the author of life in addition to accepting the magical reality that the Son of God was actually raised from the dead and came back to reveal it to the world. The affect of fairy tales on children including Chesterton make sense since, according to Michael O'Brian, author of the article Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children's Culture, the "realm of human imagination is a God-given gift, a faculty of the mind that is intended for the expansion of our understanding by enabling us to visualize invisible truths." '

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By: Philip Shropshire

Philip Shropshire — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Yeah, I agree. Fairy tales are great great preparation for the acceptance of the Christian Myth. No foolin. Look, Wiccans and Moslems and Mormons and Hindus and Catholics should all be granted their wondrous fantasy afterlives, which almost all offer a happy ending. Yep. Fairy Tales.

By: Lightwave

Lightwave — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I thought it might be appropriate to post what the US Bishops review of Harry Potter had to say. I think it has some application here.

"Parents concerned about the film's sorcery elements should know that it is unlikely to pose any threat to Catholic beliefs. "Harry Potter" is so obviously innocuous fantasy that its fiction is easily distinguishable from real life. Harry uses his "magical powers" for good to fight evil. Parents and children can enjoy this fetching tale in the same spirit of the time-honored tradition of sorcery in Eastern Literature, such as the magical figure of Merlin in the Arthurian legend. And the film ends with a very upbeat, positive message about sacrificial love. Older children should be able to handle it, although it is too long and intense for younger ones."

By: dlw

dlw — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Harry Potter is a little dangerous because it introduces paganist elitism in a seemingly innocuous manner and may be a gate-way to more serious paganism.

Pagans come in all stripes and sizes and are influenced by what religion they come from. There claims to historic continuity are pretty much bunk.

But I don't think protesting Smallville is the problem. I stopped watching Smallville because of the Clark and Lana "hookup" and because I had class on Thursday night.

dlw

By: gbm3

gbm3 — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Lightwave, when it comes down to it, just like sex and violence in the movies, you have to choose how much of the occult you (and your children) are willing to be exposed to.

The main point I had here was that wicca and the occult have to be included with sex and violence in self-censored content.

The Harry Potter piece included reasons why it should be added to the list (sex, violence, the occult).

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"Buffy the Vampire Slayer [I love that show. - Funky]..."

FD, I like Buffy too. The movie was hokey and the show was too. It's just when the wicca stuff started, I had second thoughts about watching it.

"[I'm not sure I can agree with more than about a paragraph of this post, but it's not offensive, so I'm honoring my promise of free speech to my guest posters. - Funky]"

I'm curious, what else don't you agree with?

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"Yeah, I agree. Fairy tales are great great preparation for the acceptance of the Christian Myth. No foolin. Look, Wiccans and Moslems and Mormons and Hindus and Catholics should all be granted their wondrous fantasy afterlives, which almost all offer a happy ending. Yep. Fairy Tales."

(1 Corr 15:14-20)
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.
Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

You can believe what you want. I have hope in the "resurrection of the dead", the main part of the good news. This is no fairy tale; fairy tales just open our minds to the possibility.

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By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

dlw, in other cases I could see why you'd have concerns about elitism, but Harry is the smart but unpopular kid who has magical superpowers. This is a big theme from Roald Dahl stories, who is the real ancestor of J.K. Rowling, much more so than Tolkien or Lewis (and hence comparisons to those two giants get problematic). It's also a big theme from comic books. Is Spiderman elitist?

Magic is considered something rational–not everyone has a capacity for it, but neither does everyone have the ability to cube roots in their heads or do vector calculus. And like science, it can be used for good or ill.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

"I like Buffy too. The movie was hokey and the show was too. It's just when the wicca stuff started, I had second thoughts about watching it."

I'm suprised you don't have a problem with vampires and demons, but draw the line with wicca.

The best thing about Buffy is that all the characters were a lot more complex than on most other dramas. Buffy was attracted to all the wrong guys obviously represented by the vampires she romanced, Willow was overcome with dispair, gave into rage and was corrupted by power. This was all exploered through her wiccan power.

By: Jerry Nora

Jerry Nora — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Sean, in gbm's defense, demons and vampires are Other, inhuman symbols of evil.

Wiccans, however, are humans that chose a particular way of life, and in fact there are real life Wiccans. I don't think any get black hair and veiny when their lesbian lovers get killed by stray gunfire, but you can find them floating around. Thus, a glorification, or alleged glorification of their lifestyle could have a real bearing on the world and shaping a younger viewer's beliefs.

I do agree that Joss does give unusual depth to his characters, and Willow was often reckless with her powers, especially in the 6th season.

I don't know. I didn't like how he portrayed Wicca and I thought he got a little too steamy with some of the lesbian love scenes, but in some ways the Buffy show was too incoherent for me to really say it was any sort of threat. Yeah, on one hand, Wicca is acceptable, but there were lines that shouldn't be crossed. The writers couldn't seem to quite agree on that. The show doesn't take itself overly seriously, and I try to respect that by not picking it apart too precisely, and I really like how they worked with the characters.

Ultimately, while I do have some qualms with the show, and wouldn't want a kid to watch it, I think there is truth and good within the show. Joss did enough to give his characters depth and that does give it some merit.