the potter boy

Do the Harry Potter books by Joanne K. Rowling promote witchcraft?

The question is important. No one can deny that Harry Potter has taken the world by storm. Children are reading again. British author J.K. Rowling has captured the imagination of millions ith gripping, well written stories about a childhood hero who engages the forces of evil with his own magical powers.

Many parents are concerned especially because of the Bible's strong condemnation of witchcraft, sorcery, and magical arts (Jeremiah 27:9; Revelation 21:8,15). Many wonder whether Harry Potter, innocent as he seems, might contribute to an acceptance of more dangerous kinds of sorcery lurking in the shadows of postmodern culture. An answer to this concern needs to be balanced between the warnings of Scripture and the legitimate use of creative imagination in fiction.

Witchcraft approaches the supernatural as a means of providing a substitute for dependence upon the one true God. The pursuit of witchcraft therefore involves a moral decision to turn away from and against God – something that seems contrary to the main thrust of the Potter series.

Like most of the things in our popular culture, the Harry Potter books contain potentially dangerous elements. But their popularity is at least partially attributable to the fact that there are many things about them that are good. Further, their popularity means that they are part of our cultural environment – whether we like it or not.

In a secularized world, believers should pick their battles carefully. In most cases, it would probably be better for Christians to be familiar with the Potter series, understanding its strengths and weaknesses, than to think they can keep their children – or others – from reading it or being interested in it. If we are familiar with these books, we can help the children we influence see their possible dangers, and use them as a means to lead unbelievers towards a Christian worldview.

With that precaution in mind, it is important to realize that the magic described in the Harry Potter books is not real. This is apparent to any adult or child who reads them. Broomsticks really don't fly, and wands and spells with magical powers don't exist. The fact that they do in this engaging fantasy is no more likely to make a child or adult reader believe in real magic than reading about Peter Pan would generate belief in magical pixie dust. Children who read about Aladdin and his magic lamp don't usually end up believing in genies. Neither do Grimm's fairy tales generally make kids believe that princes can really be transformed into frogs, that trolls lurk under bridges, or that cannibalistic witches live in marzipan houses in dark forests.

The magical world author J.K. Rowling constructs isn't dependent on gods, demons, or other occult powers. The fantasy world Harry has entered is one of magical "science," resembling the world our ancestors might have thought possible before alchemy, astrology, and other medieval "sciences" turned out to be scientific dead ends. 1 It brings the reader back to the mindset of a less sophisticated time when technology and magic were not clearly separated. It uses folk beliefs and legends to entertain us and engage our imaginations, but it never suggests that Harry's world is real or accessible.

Although clearly fantasy, the adventures of Harry Potter do put sorcerers and witches in a positive light. These positive portrayals could possibly encourage a belief that there are some forms of real-world sorcery that are OK. This is why we need to use these books as an opportunity to educate children about the difference between fantasy and occultism.

The supernatural in Harry's world doesn't seem designed to mislead the unwary into witchcraft and the occult, but to awaken readers to the non-material and spiritual aspects of their own lives. As in real life, in Harry's world things often aren't as they appear to be. The seemingly harmless sometimes conceals something deadly, and apparent coincidences may turn out to be important events that are part of a significant turn in life's journey. Harry's world makes the reader vividly aware of an underlying cosmic struggle between good and evil. These books have depth, and that is part of the reason so many readers find them delightful and emotionally gripping.

When fully perceived, real life has supernatural dimensions that make any fantasy world superficial. Life is stranger than fiction. Good fantasy makes us aware of those supernatural dimensions. Bad fantasy either deludes us (if we willfully use it as a means of circumventing a reality we can't face) or bores us.

As with all good secular literature, Christian readers are responsible to mind its content using tools forged by their own Christian worldview. When we read secular literature, we should keep in mind Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15:

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment.

The real world is marked by sin and the curse, but the Scriptures call us, in the pattern set by our Lord Jesus Christ, to use the opportunities that the world offers us to witness to the truth. Certainly, good secular writers challenge Christian thinking and require us to grapple with issues we may not have otherwise understood. Faith in Christ, however, is based on a God who is the author and source of all truth and beauty. Christians are in a position to evaluate and learn from secular artists – like J.K Rowling – without paranoia or fear.

Dan Vander Lugt

(Radio Bible Class Ministry – the guys who do the Daily Bread devotionals)

speaking in codes

Is it more entertaining to watch Batman speak French or Spanish? Well according to Is, my good buddy and resident mitch, it’s suppose to be better to get a DVD from the source of origin. Yeah right, Is. Naz and I still think as Asians, hearing Batman spout his flowery lines in Tagalog, brings the man closer to home. *ohmigosh* Just realized I’ve fulfilled Is’ and Naz’s greatest nightmare. I’m finally bitching about them on cyberspace. In an obscure corner of the vast wonderment of bits and bytes. And guess who started it all eh? The dear boy who couldn’t settle for anything less than Code 1 and we spent so much time in HMV that us girls made friends with a really nice employee there. Men. And they think we spend too much time and money shopping. Dump them in an electronic playground like HMV or the Sony Ericsson store and watch them go gaga. Their eyes widen in amazement and suddenly, their normally rational mind goes blank with the plethora of choices as they pace up and down the huge store. Highly entertaining I must say. Just make sure there’s great music playing and a comfy sofa somewhere out of their way. And all this for Code 1. I’ll do Code 9 anytime.

treading the unknown

Here I am, coughing like crazy and absolutely refusing to take any form of medication. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m constantly treading on the path of self-destruction on purpose and where the hell is it finally going to lead to. I have a secret. I’m afraid of death. Seriously. Despite all the grand talk of not fearing death, there is still the wee bit fear of the dark unknown. Will it hurt? Will it be fast? Will I see flashes of light? Will there be someone at the end of the tunnel? Will someone be there to walk me home? Sometimes I wonder. At all the weirdest places too. Today i sat on the kitchen floor and ‘2 years’ just came to mind. 2 years to what I questioned. In 2 years, will my bargain be fulfilled? In 2 years, will I go home? Do I only have 2 years? What am I to fulfill in these 2 years? 2 years. Why 2 years? What 2 years? My mind raced as I scrambled to find answers but nothing came forth. 2 years. That seems like eternity and yet just a fleeting passing moment. A lot of things can happen. Why sit back and wait for it to unfold? Get down and do something. Anything. For now, I’ll just sleep. After tonight, it’ll be 1 year and 364 days.

loss & gain

Why is it that even though I seemed to have gained, I feel that I’ve lost much more? Am I doing a wrong exchange?

benjamin

I thought of you today. Many things crossed my mind. Your smile. Your infectious brand of humor. Your silly grin. Your zest for life. Your non-stop chatter. Your quiet air of gentlemanliness. Your simple gestures. Your willingness to share a portion of your life with me. And then I wonder where you are right now. Whether you’re married. Whether you’ve fulfilled your dreams. Whether you can dance to a tune. Whether your drumming skills have taken a step forward. Whether you’re still somewhere here in sunny Singapore or somewhere out there in another part of the world. The last time you were in Hong Kong. Are you still there? After so many years I suddenly thought of you. Bittersweet memories. I don’t think I’d ever get to say sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t laugh at your jokes everytime. I’m sorry I kept getting you in trouble with our drum instructor. I’m sorry I distracted you during practice that you’d miss your beat. I’m sorry I made you give up your jacket because I got all cold in the studio. But most of all, I’m sorry I left without saying good bye. I’m sorry that I stopped classes without telling you or even giving you a hint that I was going away. I’m sorry I disappeared one quiet day. I didn’t know any better. Now I know how it hurts. Now I know the bewilderment you might have felt. I’m sorry. There isn’t a day when I’ve wondered what might have been if I had stayed. Whatever it is, I hope you’re fine and living a great life. God bless you, Benjamin. There will always be a special place for you in my heart.

why i write

I write so I’d stop hearing these words vocalized in my mind because sooner or later, someone is bound to hear me muttering to myself and deem me fit for the loony bin. One of the rare pre-emptive measures in life, mine in particular.

worry

I worry. Who doesn’t? I worry that my liver will never be normal again. I worry that my eyesight is failing me. That some nerve somewhere is irreplaceably damaged and I haven’t discovered it yet. I worry that one day I’ll go completely deaf. I worry whenever I get itchy bites. Was it by a mosquito? More specifically, an Aedes mosquito? Will I get dengue again and start all that needle poking all over again? I worry. Who doesn’t? But then, night falls and my head throbs and I start to see floaters. That definitely isn’t a good sign. So then I stop worrying and creep back to bed because only then, in la la land, do I break free from all worries and sleep them all away until I’m ready to fight them all over again the next day. Nite. Sleep tight.

my letter to ping

Re: Hey how are you?

dear all,

i'm much better now. ping, sorry you had to worry. no internet in sgh ward lah! is, didn't you say you'd let ping know? did i just sabo you? *grinz*

anyways, my hospital leave ended on 28/10. had to go for outpatient checkup aka take more vials of blood. at the rate i'm going, i can be a regular blood donor!

well, tests were to test my blood platelet count and liver enzymes coz previously results showed platelets too low and liver ones too high. bad part was the doc couldn't find a proper vein since they've all been pretty bruised (i've got some pretty bad blue blacks to show) by my 5 days of blood donation & i do have rather small & inconspicuous veins so taking blood is even harder. therefore, he had to poke me TWICE to get blood. test results: platelets are fine. liver enzymes not normalized aka back to normal level so i've to go donate blood AGAIN one month later.

good part? i didn't get hysterics and faint. tho i did get kinda giddy and pale.

current situation:

think my brain's kinda rusted and rotted. thought processes are really really slow. my mum's trying to feed me everything possible (no seafood, no alcohol, no red meat, no spicy stuff) since i've lost my appetite as well. nothing appeals and it's so strange since i live in food paradise singapore. i get tired really easily now which so sucks. so now i'm going really slow with things like sleeping early and most prob leaving sch before my usual 6pm and not working myself into 12 hr days. thank goodness exams are all over but now i've gotta get their report bks ready and my first day back and i've got a meeting to attend. my mum thinks i'm not ready to face huge crowds for prolonged periods (she's kinda right tho i'm so not admitting it to her plus i don't want her to worry so much since she had a pretty bad scare over me) so guys, i'm really really sorry i couldn't break fast at geylang this year AGAIN! i keep trying but it always doesn't work out. nxt year's goal = break fast at geylang.

well, naz i'll call you once i've settled with sch on mon. i'm trying to get well asap since is asked for such an easy present this yr:) and is, I GOT MY OWN ENTRY!!! thxs. but did you have to use that hungry hungry hippo pix? *sheesh* could have got a more glam one... then again, i don't think i have a glam pix do i?

ping, i'll update you once in a while k. fret not, you won't be left out. promise.

alrightz, system shut down

still surviving, liz:)

my brush with death

My brush with death. Sounds pretty creepy doesn’t it. But honest to goodness, I suppose that’s what happened last week. I was on the brink of life and then I was given life. Again. It’s pretty amazing when you get things you don’t expect to get. I really didn’t expect to get dengue fever. Yah yah… it happened to you, and to you as well? But don’t worry, it’d never ever happen to me. Think again my friend. It happened to me. 5 straight days of fever. The kind that just makes your brains all jellified and you shiver constantly from a raging temperature that refuses to go down. Your limbs are all weak and they feel funny and there’s this constant buzzing in your head. Just like there’s a mosquito in there that’s trying desperately to get out but it can’t so it just buzzes around, over and over again, until it drives you almost completely insane. So that was how it was. Bad. In fact, let’s make it terrible.

I’ve not idea why I want to write about it. No one in their right sense of mind would but I suppose I’m doing this as a form of catharsis. To get it out of my system. Or perhaps I’m just typing out my testimony for everyone out there to read someday somewhere somehow. Strange. I’ve finally turned into a full-fledged exhibitionist and I’m using one of my most terrifying experience to become one. Wonder whether I’m turning psycho or isit when you’ve experienced something strange and wonderful all at the same time, you just want to yell out loud to the people around you? I can’t begin to even fathom the complexity of the human mind or the human psyche. Like I said previously, life is strange. You never expect to get things and then you do get them. Strange but wonderful. Like a bittersweet taste left in your mouth after you savour a piece of authentic dark chocolate. The kind that melts in your mouth and leaves a lingering aftertaste. Even Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’d get.”

a personality test

Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality

A natural leader, one who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones.

They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure.

They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

*bottomline: you're crazy, implusive and a complete klutz*

a lost one

suppose i've been mighty grouchy lately
no... no... it's not that time of the month
in fact, i'm hardly ever PMS 'cept i tend to eat a fair amount of chocolate then

anyways, like i said, i've been pretty grouchy lately
had this thought floating ard in my mind
had to put it down. to reach some form of catharsis i suppose

i don't appreciate pple walking out of my life.
i don't like hi & bye friends
pples, i've counted on to be there till the end of time
and suddenly, because of the lamest of all lame excuse of 'busy at work', they suddenly vanish *poof*
not a call, an sms or even an email. and when they finally are contactable of deign to let you into their whirlwind of aww... working life, the best they can come up with after that long absence is 'sorry, i've been busy' crap

k like i don't know how it feels to be busy. to be overwhelmed with work. literally submerged and gasping for breath kinda workload. come on, i work for the government. the one employer in singapore that squeezes every living bit of life out of you. point is, there's no such thing as i don't have time for you.

there's no such thing as i'm too busy to meet up with you. don't you need to eat sometime? feed that growling tummy of yours? or rest? i'm busy but i do remember my friends. the occasional sms to let the other people in your life know you still exist on the face of the earth would be rather helpful sometimes.

for a while, i thought you got kidnapped by aliens. even your best pal couldn't even locate you. had to ask me to ask about your current living status. and when you finally decided to acknowledge the people who have been through thick and thin with you, all you did was a 'sorry i haven't been ard and i don't think i'll be ard anytime soon since i'm currently so busy with work."

i'm glad i did that sms on you. not because i wanted to be mean but i wanted you to know how bewildered you made us feel and upset as well. and thank you for letting us know how dispensable we really are. honestly. thank you.

well all said and done. i'm too tired to ramble on.

so if i get hate mail i know i did the stupid thing and posted this online for the world to read. and for that, i really ought to kick myself in the arse.

nitez world. my life still goes on... only diff?

my phonebook just shrunk by one entry.

my gain his loss.

randomness

don't know whether there's such a thing as randomness but i've been thinking quite a fair bit lately *ouch* my head's been hurting from all the activity. suppose it's because i think my life's at the crossroads. well... was something that was already in the works so i suppose standing here sooner is better than later right?!

need some time to sort out myself... laterz...

steps to happiness

You can't be all things to all people.

You can't do all things at once.

You can't do all things equally well.

You can't do all things better than everyone else.

Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.


So:

You have to find out who you are, and be that.

You have to decide what comes first, and do that.

You have to discover your strengths, and use them.

You have to learn not to compete with others,

Because no one else is in the contest of being you.


Then:

You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.

You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.

You will have learned to live with your limitations.

You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.

And you'll be just you.

Dedication

*this is for my stinky smelly brother who is perpetually stuck to his computer and refuses to get out of his pig sty of a room to get a decent shower*

THE Cow

My brother the cow
Who smells oh so foul
He's acts like a child
And is pretty dull
I bet he only knows that now

If he sits any longer on the chair
He's bound to get piles
Not that when it happens
I won't be all smiles

Something Comforting...

And I will be there in the end to give you comfort and to see you safely home where you'll sit beside me in all the glory of heaven

*such reassurance that our dying kids have in the knowledge that He holds their hand till the end of time*

I would rather live my life as if there is a God
And die to find out there isn't
Than live my life as if there isn't
And die to find out there is

Something I Wrote...

the words just came in church one day...
*an apt description of my life right now*

Confused

I've gone blind
And I've lost my way
As I stand at the crossroads
Unable to move myself

Suddenly the road before me
Goes all bleak
And everywhere else seems
All so much fun

And I stand confused
Where do I tread?
Am I to go forward
Or stay rooted to the spot?
Somehow going back
Doesn't seem an option at all

I've gone blind
And I've lost my way
At the crossroads of life
I stand confused

Something Special...

an answer to my question...
http://www2.caringbridge.org/ga/chance/

A Child On Loan

I’ll lend you for a little while, a child of mine, God said
For you to love the while he lives and mourn for when he’s dead.
It may be six or seven years, or forty-two or three
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you and should his stay be brief
You’ll always have his memories as a solace in your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught below I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked this whole world over in my search for teachers true
And from the folk that crowd Life’s lane I have chosen you.
Now will you give him all your love and not think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come to take this lent child back again?

I fancy that I heard them say “Dear God, thy will be done.
For all the joys this child will bring the risk of grief we’ll run.
We will shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may
And for all the happiness we’ve ever known, we’ll ever grateful stay.
But should the angels call him much sooner than we’d planned
We will brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.”

Anonymous

Something Blue...

what is wrong with the world these days?
children suffering...
children dying...
children going missing...

*tis is so depressing*

why does God allow so much pain to happen on such innocents?

know i understand why pregnant mums always say
"it doesn't matter boy or girl. healthy is enough."

Something Borrowed...

'kay my arse & back hurts like hell
guess that's what too much sitting does to you...

sometimes i feel i'm living on borrowed time
pretty morbid thought i'd admit
whatever it is, the fact is i'm still here by grace
may i never forget that

Something Old...

i seem to have this innate ability to screw things up
as if this isn't anything new
life is pretty sucky right now...