Carla Lute ([info]carlalute) wrote in [info]christian_hpfan,
@ 2005-12-01 01:34:00
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Current mood: productive

Mission Statement
Remember once upon a time, when I said I wanted to start a "Christians and Harry Potter" website. Well, I'm finally getting off my butt and working on it again. Hopefully, I'll at least get a skeleton up in December.

Please consider submitting a review, essay, or article, so the site won't just be me jabbering on.

Here's the Mission Statement:

"This website is dedicated to helping parents and Christians make well informed decisions reguarding the Harry Potter series. The information, reviews, articles, and debates are intended to encourage reading, thought, and discussion."

If you have ideas for improving the Mission Statement, please let me know.

Categories for which I will need submissions:

The Good...and the Bad This is for essays on any issue covered by the Harry Potter Series. The essays can be on any topic from witchcraft to drug use to the portrayal of love or any social/religous issue you can think of. I am looking for essays both about HP's positive effects in the these areas AND essays on points that make you uneasy.

Religious Leaders Say If anyone has good research skills, I want to collect quotes made by religious leaders in regards to Harry Potter. Again, can be positive or negative. I think people will respect this site more if it's balanced.

Reviews This is the big one. I want to collect 5-10 well thought out and well written reviews on each Harry Potter book and film. Specifically looking for things that deal with age appropriateness, issues/moments/passages that might concern parents, and positive messages/quotes. You can certainly make comments about quality of the book/film as well.

I also want reviews for books ABOUT Harry Potter, particularly ones with a religous slant, whether for or against HP...and I know both exist.

Testimonies Christianity is not a dead religion. We have a live and active God who can use all things to His Glory. If you have a story about how God has used Harry Potter to give you a spiritual insight, please share. Or if you had a spiritual crisis concerning HP and have found a solution, please share this as well.

Links: I have mugglenet, the official HP site, JK Rowlings site, Tom Felton's site, and The HP Lexicon...mainly I'm looking for actors personal sites and major HP fan sites (no fanfic at the moment, that's a different animal). I currently have three categories.

Kid friendly, Teen friendly, and Christian Harry Potter communities (which so far lists this one)

If you would be willing to post your review/essay/article on this community for the time being, I would prefer that, just make a note on your post that this is for the website. I'm afraid things would get lost in my e-mail box if I gave my address out.

If you have ideas but aren't up to writing out articles, go ahead and post your ideas, and they maybe integrated into the website.


(Post a new comment)


[info]cmwinters
2005-12-01 08:44 am UTC (link)
As I'm pagan I'm quite certain you aren't at all interested in having an essay or article from me, but you might want it pointed out that Snape is one of the few truly layered and dimensional characters in the series, that while he professes to hate Harry he goes out of his way to protect him quite regularly, and that what isn't said about Snape is usually far more important than what IS said.

I've heard Dan Radcliffe has a site (I think it's danradcliffe.net or somesuch) and I just saw a link for Jason Issac's site (doing a Google search for "Lucius Malfoy Pimp Cane"...of all things *headdesk*)

There are several quotes by religious "leaders" about Harry Potter; depending on who you consider a "leader" and what you're looking for. I've seen everything from "burn all the books and exorcise those who have read them" to a book called The Gospel According to Harry Potter.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 09:01 pm UTC (link)
The site is definitely geared towards Christians, so I want all the articles to have a Christians values spin. But if you can do that, I'd be open to taking it. Snape doing the right thing, even protecting people he doesn't like...his coming out of darkness and joining the good side, definitely are things that would help explain his appeal.

I'm looking for a range of quotes....may poke holes in some of them, or note if they "haven't read the book". But I think people who are uncertain will respect the site more if we show both sides of the argument.

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[info]cmwinters
2005-12-02 06:25 am UTC (link)
Are you quite certain such a site doesn't already exist?

Have you tried googling on, I dunno "Christian+'Harry Potter'", or something similar?

I am not going to write an essay about why Christians should believe in Harry Potter, because quite frankly, the very premise that someone is unable to separate fantasy (i.e. - a novel) from their reality of their life and/or their spirituality, I find truly offensive. I mean, people will criminalize Dick and Jane books, too, for all the same reasons brought forth here. I don't think that it is absolutely a requirement to attach "good manners" with "spirituality"....I can be courteous and decent to someone because they're a human being, without having to fear that if I don't, I'll burn in eternal hellfire. Unfortunately...it seems like an awful lot of people can't do that.

From some of your statements elsewhere, I'm not at all certain YOU have any idea what "real witchcraft" is about, so I'm not sure why you feel compelled to preach to others why Harry Potter isn't it (although I will concede that Harry Potter is, in fact, not it...and more's the pity, because lemme tell you, the minute I learn to Apparate and perfect the Scourgify spell, my life will be MUCH IMPROVED....)

*sigh*

There were a couple of articles I posted on my other journal a few months back; I might be able to find them. I was rather disgusted with the entire thing.

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[info]cmwinters
2005-12-02 06:34 am UTC (link)
Here's one of them, I dunno where the other one is, but this one covers it all anyway.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ladydiana/1130222.html

I dunno if the DMN still has the article up or not. *shrug*

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-02 07:24 am UTC (link)
yah, I did google. I found a few articles, but no organized website.

I definitely agree it's important to be able to separated fantasy from reality, and hope to make this one of the main points on the site. But I think fantasy can help give us insights into reality.

Mainly I'm disturbed by people who invent things so that they can show that the Harry Potter books are "evil". I think it reflects badly on Christians in general, and is annoying/embarrassing for a lot of Christians who see value in the series. I've also had several parents at my church ask me what my thoughts on the books were, because they didn't know when or whether they should try to get their kids or let their kids read them. These are my main reasons for wanting to put the site together.

I don't claim to be an expert on witchcraft, though I may have a better grasp of it than you think. I'll just claim I know enough to recognize as you said that "Harry Potter isn't it". I've rather avoided that subject in general fan communities, because I understand a lot of people go to these communities to escape reality for a bit, and religious discussions can be a reality sledgehammer.


Thank you for the article, btw. I think it'll be helpful.

And I'll fess up to being one of the people whom the film won over. I was willing to make a two hour investment to see what all the fuss was about...and then I was both put at ease and hooked.

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[info]cmwinters
2005-12-02 11:18 am UTC (link)
Well, now, this is STUPID. If they have questions about whether or not the books are appropriate for their children, WHY DON'T THEY READ THE STUPID THINGS THEMSELVES??? How did YOU get appointed as in charge of the kids' moral direction???

I have a friend who is a devout Christian, who, although she hasn't read Harry Potter (I do think she'd like it), has read some other series' in the general genre...and she has a lot of the same feelings you do. I'll try to remember to direct her this way.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-02 05:23 pm UTC (link)
That's generally what I recomend. Either read the first book yourself or watch the film. But some parents just aren't big book readers, some are busy, and some just don't enjoy fantasy. Some just want an opinion before they try the books themselves. They ask me because they know I've read them.

I don't want to dictate to anyone or set myself up as the true authority on the subject. But I think it would be nice to provide busy parents with quick search answers. Also I think the books bring up many interesting discussion points, and I want to encourage parents to talk to their kids about them. Because dialogue is good.

My dad and I both read the books, and it got us talking on some things we haven't talked on for a while. It was nice. We haven't really had a fandom to share since Star Trek: Next Gen went off the air.


Cool, thanks for sending her along. :)

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[info]ashesfor_trees
2005-12-01 12:06 pm UTC (link)
That sounds like a great idea!
I've written up a review for the 4th movie, I can fix it up a little and submit it for you.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 08:56 pm UTC (link)
Coolness, post it in the christian_hpfan community (this one) please. :)

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[info]ashesfor_trees
2005-12-02 01:35 am UTC (link)
sure thing!

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[info]browneyedfaerie
2005-12-01 02:58 pm UTC (link)
I'm gonna do one on why Harry POtter is not different than Disney movies in the magic that they use. I dunno how, but I will.

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[info]mathjedi
2005-12-01 04:56 pm UTC (link)
Personally I think that's a great idea. Problem is, I imagine many of the people who think HP is evil think Disney is evil too.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 08:52 pm UTC (link)
Funny thing is we have Disney movies at church for kids to watch during those odd times when they're there late.

I think it's good to point out that J.K. isn't promoting Wicca or real witchcraft...she doesn't believe in witchcraft (last I heard). She's drawing on lots of old fairytales and legends, the same places Disney draws many of their films.

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[info]browneyedfaerie
2005-12-02 04:10 am UTC (link)
Damn straight!

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links
[info]aureolesia
2005-12-01 02:58 pm UTC (link)
in the links, do you have the leaky culdron? That's key. Also you could link to the mugglenet and leaky podcasts.

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Re: links
[info]browneyedfaerie
2005-12-01 03:20 pm UTC (link)
Ooooer! Leave a mention of it on the MuggleCast mails and maybe they'll mention it on the show so that they can help promote the good image as well.

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Re: links
[info]aureolesia
2005-12-01 04:05 pm UTC (link)
yeah yeah yeah! deffinately send them an email that you linked their podcast! Good idea!

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: links
[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 08:44 pm UTC (link)
That does sound like a good idea, but I'm gonna wait until the site has some content...remind me in a few weeks.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: links
[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 08:53 pm UTC (link)
What's the address? I'm still kind of new to the fan community.

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Re: links
[info]miss_tibbles
2006-08-10 11:41 am UTC (link)
I took a look at the website (great idea!) and I saw that The Leaky Cauldron isn't there, and I'm guessing it's because you haven't had time yet, but just in case, here's the address:
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org

Also, Connie Neal's website (she's the author of What's a Christian to do with Harry Potter? and The Gospel According to Harry Potter) has some links to articles for Christians:
http://www.connieneal.com/special-harry-potter-section.htm

And Veritaserum is a reasonably popular fansite, with a "Should Christians read HP?" page:
www.veritaserum.com

:)

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Re: links
[info]carlalute
2006-08-10 02:40 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I've been neglecting the site a bit. :/

This summer in particular got hectic. Thanks for the links. I'll check them out and add them. Just need to figure out if they'd go in teen friendly or kid friendly...

Thanks for essay too. I'm gonna have content *squee*.

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Re: links
[info]miss_tibbles
2006-08-10 05:28 pm UTC (link)
TLC is probably more for teens, not sure about Veritaserum. Connie Neal's stuff is meant mostly for parents so it'll be clean but probably a bit boring for kids.

Do you want me to clean the essay up a bit? It was quite a spur-of-the-moment post. Or you can just edit as you see fit.

About the name - I'm a bit nervous about using my full name on the internet, so maybe just Andrea or Andrea V. Unless you'd prefer to use my full name?

By the way, do you know about [info]harrynthepotter? It's also a Christian HP community, although not a very active one. I x-posted my entry there and I was looking at some of the older stuff they have up - there are some interesting discussions there, and a couple of short essays that you might be able to use for your site. And I'm sure that if those people knew about what you're doing some of them might want to contribute something. It's worth a look :)

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Re: links
[info]carlalute
2006-08-11 10:13 pm UTC (link)
Andrea V. is fine...I don't give my real name out online to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary, so I can't fault anyone else for it. (I joined in the paranoia era.)

Do you want me to put up a link for people to leave comments about the essay? (I think my default is going to be to tell people to comment to this community, but I could link an e-mail address or your journal if you wish.

I didn't know about harrynthepotter, but I'll try to join now. :)

Where on veritaserum is the "Should Christians read HP?" page?

This is all very helpful, thanks. :)

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Re: links
[info]miss_tibbles
2006-08-13 06:36 pm UTC (link)
Sorry this is a bit late.

Could you link back to my journal for comments? Thanks.

I've been thinking about the 'electricity metaphor' I used. This sounds terribly idiotic but I honestly can't remember if that's mine or if I got it somewhere else. I've just thought about HP magic in that way for a long time (it's possible I made it up myself, I really don't remember, but I have a hard time believing I'm that clever).
If it is someone else's metaphor it would need a reference of sorts. Perhaps you could add a disclaimer in to say that if something in the essay needs acknowledgement, they must let you know (and preferably me too, in case they cite a text I've never actually read) so that you can add the reference. How does that sound?

On Veritaserum: mouse over "Books" at the top of the page - the "HP for Christians?" link is at the bottom of that menu. It's not a very long article so I hope it's something you can use.

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Re: links
[info]carlalute
2006-08-14 01:05 am UTC (link)
The electricity metaphor has been used before *I think*, but it's just one of those ideas that bops around. I don't believe it specifically belongs to anyone.

Okay, thanks...I'm working hard on a (possibly paying) project this month, so I'm slower than I'd normally be on this stuff, but I will get it up. All the info very helpful. :)

If you want to do a little editing, you can send an edited version to carlalute@aol.com . If not, I'll just give it a once over before sticking it up. I'll give you a ping or announce it on the list when I do.

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Re: links
[info]miss_tibbles
2006-08-14 11:13 am UTC (link)
Well, as long as you're ok with it.

I'm not sure if I'll have much time to do any serious editing (if I do I'll send it to you), but I have corrected a couple of spelling mistakes on my journal post.
:)

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[info]_youngblood_
2005-12-01 05:42 pm UTC (link)
A very interesting community concept! I have written a few unofficial reviews of the books and movies, but I don't know if I have the time to clean them up enough to present to a prestigious community such as this. :) However, one coherent essay/rant I've written is about the abuse of Ron's character in the movies. This is the link, if you are at all interested: http://www.livejournal.com/users/_youngblood_/77573.html#cutid1

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-01 08:48 pm UTC (link)
Heh, I dunno if we're prestigious...just um, Christians who see some real value in fantasy.

The reviews don't need to be works of Shakespeare, but I do want the site to come across as intelligent. If they just need light cleaning, I can do some editing.

I love Ron in the films, but I'll check your essay out.

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[info]mnb123clowngirl
2005-12-01 09:41 pm UTC (link)
This is such a good idea, when I was younger my Catholic school treated me like I was dangerous becuase I liked Harry Potter and Batman and things like that.

THEY TOOK AWAY MY PENCILS SO I COULDN'T DRAW PICTURES OF THEM like most kids DO

Ignorant.


THank you for doing this (:

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[info]browneyedfaerie
2005-12-02 04:11 am UTC (link)
DID THEY REALLY DO THAT? You need a hug... *hug*

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[info]mnb123clowngirl
2005-12-02 11:40 pm UTC (link)
Awwww (: yeah, they did...
awww I feel loved!
THankyou!!!!!

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-02 07:35 am UTC (link)
Yipes...horrible pencil stealers.

I wore black a lot in highschool for no reason other than I liked black. Apparently I had some really crazy rumors flying around about me. I actually had someone asked me if I worshipped satan, which was hysterical because I was a very conservative, outspoken, good-two-shoes of a Christian.

Thankfully most of my teachers were more understanding...

I still can't get over them TAKING YOUR PENCILS. Conduits of evil though they may be, didn't you need them for tests and homework and things?

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[info]psychobrainwave
2005-12-02 02:47 pm UTC (link)
Carlalute, are you interested in being co-moderator for this community? I know I have been horrible at it, but college is one crazy busy time in my life right now, so if you wanted, I could make you a co-mod.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-02 05:28 pm UTC (link)
What sort of things does a co-mod to do? I've never moderated before.

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[info]mnb123clowngirl
2005-12-02 11:44 pm UTC (link)
YEah, of coures- but they took my art box and my drawing pad and had a meeting with the principal and my dad- they didn't take my lined paper and pencils or anything, I just got int trouble if they saw me drawing anything they didn't like.

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[info]carlalute
2005-12-03 04:34 am UTC (link)
Still, very mean.

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[info]mnb123clowngirl
2005-12-03 06:36 pm UTC (link)
*Shrug* (:

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