Okay, let’s get one thing straight. I don’t like Harry Potter. Sorry, I just don’t. Not my cup of tea. I ain’t gonna justify it, ain’t gonna explain it. I don’t like it, and that’s that.
But when people start attacking poor Harry, calling him “a corrupting force for leading children into the occult,” I mean, I gotta say something.
First off, Harry ain’t real. He’s made up. Just like Luke Skywalker, who advocates a distincly Zen Buddhist, animistic religion; just like Indiana Jones who not only found the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, but also meddled with Vishnu, Shiba, and Kali; just like Lara Croft who screwed around with the Illuminati; just like the Mummy proved that all that Egyptian Book of the Dead hokus-pokus was a bit too real for anybody’s good. Harry is fiction. Bottom line.
On the other hand, there’s another set of books — very popular — written by authors who claim — get this — that they are based on “facts that will come to pass.”
I’m talking, of course, of the Left Behind series.
These books pretend to be about factual events that haven’t happened yet. Specifically, events spelled out by the Revelation of John. You know, the last book in the Bible. The authors tell us that they’ve done extensive research, and they insist that their vision of the future is as close to the facts as possible. This is what’s going to happen, folks! Sure, there may be some slight differences, but they’re basing the books on historical and religious lore. These books are the closest we get to understanding our future as Christians.
Okay, so now I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this con myself, but otherwise — JUST HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT??? I would never let my child read that crap! Who the fuck do these guys think they are? Do they know God? Do they have a little golden phone that talks to Him? Maybe a telegraph wire to Heaven? Does Jesus come and tell them this shit while they’re dreaming?
Assuming to know God’s will is blasphemous and violates the “Do not use God’s name in vain” Commandment (which commandment it is depends on which version of the Big Ten you choose to follow; see a previous post). These people presume to know and understand God’s mind and are making money on their claims. If they were so interested in handing out “the facts,” they’d take no money at all for delivering the truth.
Oh, wait. Delivering God’s truth for free? That would be something Christ might do. (Thank you, George Carlin.)
Anyway, take care what claims you listen to. The claims that a book of fiction is warping your kids’ brains, or a book of presumed fact. You have been warned.