19 responses so far ↓

• 1 seriously_black // Feb 4, 2007 at 2:20 am

  Travis, Well put - you said it yourself. “The problem with this kind of thing is that there is no way to begin arguing against it. They will not hear it.”

  If you send your response, chances are you will do nothing more than to confirm (for Laura and her sympathisers) that you too are in the service of what they’re choosing to characterise as “the antichrist”. You will therefore have either no impact at all on them, or your efforts will serve only to further strengthen their resolve and their sense of their own importance.

  You say that spending time on this might end up being a waste. But there is also the possibility that it may in fact add fuel to Laura’s self-righteous and self-serving rollercoaster.

  In this podcast (well done, BTW), you’ve exposed various aspects of their “arguments” and “evidence” which are transparently disingenuous. My advice would be to stand well back and allow Laura and her ilk to bury themselves in their own lies and deceptions.

• 2 Travis Prinzi // Feb 4, 2007 at 2:50 am

  seriously_black, thanks for your quick response to this podcast! I just sat down and listened to it again and was rather afraid that I’d been a bit over the top or too harsh. I think your advice is right - standing well back is better, because “it may in fact add fuel.” Wise words, and thanks for the input.

• 3 korg20000bc // Feb 4, 2007 at 7:13 am

  Travis,
  Thanks for responding to my e-owl and the nice comment.

  That was a rather righteous rant. I understand your point of view very well. I’ve had my own experience with anti-Potters that seem to be cast in the Laura Mallory mold (or mould). One woman at church told me that the Potter books lead kids into witchcraft. I asked her is she had read them and she responded by saying that she didn’t need to take heroin to know it’s bad for her… What can you say to that? I just kept my mouth shut. You are completely correct about the lack of dialog possible with these extreme views.

  My brother in law has that video -Harry Potter; witchcraft repackaged. I see it there and cringe. I know I’d end up throwing a brick at the telly. So it stays on the shelf.

  Chick Publications! I have the whole set of tracts and the “crusaders” comics. My favourite was “Dark Dungeons” where Mr Chick shows us the evils of role-playing games. I have read that Rowling doesn’t like roleplaying games either. I find this kind of strange as Voldemort seems to be a Lich in nearly every way (from a fantasy role-playing point of view) including the horcruxes that seem to fulfil the same role as a phylactery.

  The sound on this Pubcast is much clearer than the previous. No problems here.

  Thanks again.

  Matthew

• 4 Travis Prinzi // Feb 4, 2007 at 8:33 am

  Matthew, you absolutely have to check out Chick Tract Translations. “Dark Dungeons” is on the list, and it’s particularly funny. Pull the tracts out (or look them up on the internet) to see exactly what he’s commenting on.

  I’m an RPG fan (though usually the video game type, not the kind ol’ Chicky is commenting on). I’ve never played D&D, but a lot of people would be surprised to know that when I was a youth pastor, a group of the boys in the youth group met every Friday night for D&D. Oh yeah, and it was at the pastor’s house, led by the pastor’s son. (And both the pastor and I were/are what could easily be called “conservative”).

  Yeah, that type of argumentation is always my favorite…”I don’t have to try heroin to know it’s bad.” Right. And there are absolutely no Christians out there saying, “Oh, just give it a try. If you see for yourself, then you won’t think it’s so bad.”

• 5 korg20000bc // Feb 4, 2007 at 9:14 am

  Travis! That Chick tract site is really good. I didn’t really know that there was excellent resources like this on the net… hehehe. Thanks for letting me know about it.
  Did you ever read a Chick book called “Dancing with Demons”? That was… I don’t know how to describe it. All I know is that Michael W. Smith is send a lot of young Christians down the gurgler.

  I used to play RPG’s… well, I used to spend more time making characters than playing any games with them. Still have them on the bookshelf and some people do a double-take when they see them. I think that, like the Potter books, RPG’s have got a bad rap from many Christians. Some games are obviously contrary to a Christian world-view but many are just a set of rules to govern an imaginary story. I don’t have a problem with that.

  Matthew

• 6 Carla Lute // Feb 4, 2007 at 10:28 pm

  (okay, found the site)

  http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org is the origin of the ex-witch tract, I believe.

  I agree that it’s nearly impossible to dissuade the truly hardcare anti-HP people. But as one of my teachers said, “10% of people will reguardless. 10% of people won’t reguardless. It’s the 80% in between you’re fighting for.”

  I think we NEED to rebuttle Laura Mallory (and crew), not to convince her, but to show everyone else that she is not the representative voice of Christianity.

  Anyway, if you’d like to state rather than debate (bypass the blog wars)… I’d love a nice calm response to Laura’s arguments for parents to read through at their liesure.

• 7 Michael // Feb 5, 2007 at 3:28 am

  Great pod-cast Travis. Is there any chance to get Jodel on the pod-cast? I’d love to hear a voice to the woman who knows all about Harry Potter.

• 8 LMB // Feb 5, 2007 at 7:40 am

  You need a transcription elf! Keep up the podcasts, build up a following, and you’ll soon have people beating down your door to transcribe for you.

• 9 Travis Prinzi // Feb 5, 2007 at 8:33 am

  Michael, John Granger suggested I get Joyce on the podcast as well. It may happen. My only fear would be that we’d spend the entire podcast arguing, since we rarely actually agree on anything concerning Harry Potter (which could make for fun listening, of course).

  Anyway, there are other interview-type podcasts I’d like to get in first, and after that we’ll see.

  LaShawn, yes, a transcription elf would be very, very helpful!

• 10 Carla Lute // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:40 pm

  I found Laura Mallory’s e-mail address. I’m glad, as it’s my preferred means of contact. I want to interview her or something. Trying to cook up some good questions. (That’s my way of asking for suggestions.)

• 11 Michael // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:57 pm

  Oh no that would be awesome. Whenever I read her theories and thoughts, I always wonder and think what would the someone else say. So a great debate/discussion regarding her theories would be awesome! I’m sure she’d be up for the challenge!

• 12 Gaines // Feb 6, 2007 at 9:51 am

  Hey Travis,

  Good podcast. Thanks for pointing out the Laura Mallory/Benny Hinn connection. I wasn’t aware of that, but it speaks volumes, for many of the reasons you already mentioned. And honestly, I really don’t think she’s worth your time. I think she realizes that her legal manuevering is fruitless, and I doubt she’s having much impact beyond those who already share her opinions. (The local news here in Atlanta doesn’t really give her much coverage, other than reporting her latest legal setbacks.) I think rebutting this woman is a waste of time and that your blog-time is better spent looking at the Christian influences within the HP series.

  Keep up the good blogging!

• 13 Ms. Jan // Feb 6, 2007 at 12:05 pm

  Alas, Laura Mallory has a quest to pursue. It seems righteous to her. Surrounded by sin and evil, we all struggle to fight against it…sometimes, we’re misdirected. There are worse things in this world than a book that uses magic in its imagery. She’ll never hear it, though. This is a perceived ‘evil’ that is within her ability to attack and control, and so she has pursued it. Let her have it. We move on. If Harry Potter is evil, then I guess it’s my wicked pleasure. But it’s not and we all know it, so that’s all that matters. Keep on keepin’ on Travis!

• 14 shadowquill // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:56 am

  I think what frightens those against Harry Potter the most is that Harry Potter DOES have excellent morals and DOES promote good behavior. I mean, it promotes Christian values all over the place! How outrageous! A book about a wizard who is good by our own definition! Blasphemy!

  Even if we convinced Laura Mallory that Harry Potter promoted an excellent moral code, she’d just go back to pointing out that the characters practice magic, therefore the books promote magic and evil.

• 15 shadowquill // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:59 am

  I agree with Ms. Jan. Laura Mallory can fight against Harry Potter, her percieved evil, and so she does so. It makes her feel like she is triumphing over evil. That’s why we enjoy the Harry Potter books, too. We join Harry in his adventures against Voldemort. Ms. Mallory’s methods are just a bit less…rational. For lack of a better word.

• 16 seriously_black // Feb 8, 2007 at 10:50 pm

  Her actions are also a bit less *honest*, despite all her ostentations claims to godliness.

  She is making claims about books she hasn’t even read - claims which she is therefore not in a position to substantiate - and the ‘evidence’ on her website is full of fabrications and falsity.

  Laura has, very publicly, demonstrated a complete disregard for fact and truth. So much for the ‘purity’ of her intentions.

• 17 Leslie // Feb 9, 2007 at 3:08 am

  Fascinating podcast, especially the “view from the inside” you were able to give. Thank God for my lukewarm mainstream Protestant upbringing.

  Another thing - I also bought my copy of Half-Blood Prince at Wegmans (in Buffalo). I hope you haven’t ruined the relatively quiet and uncrowded atmosphere by spilling the beans on it.

• 18 korg20000bc // Feb 12, 2007 at 8:56 pm

  I was thinking why you got so fired-up during this pubcast, then it hit me. You were drinking porter- the wild man’s beer of choice! The drinking of this alcoholic beverage led you to come under a demonic influence. No wonder you were all negative and no fun.

  Thank goodness you weren’t drinking rum!

  Matthew

• 19 dawningoftime // Apr 16, 2007 at 1:21 am

  I just stumbled across your website and first let me say I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. Secondly, I really appreciated your comments on the whole Laura Mallory. I run a website for the series Adventures in Odyssey and I, in a round about way, address this on my blog.

  One thing that I find interesting about the whole thing though is while she seems to be against the Harry Potter books because of their links to witchcraft. There are Christian fiction books that do depict spiritual warfare not only in our realm, but in the spiritual realm (which do include conversations with angels and demons). The Harry Potter books are a convenient target because of their popularity.

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