Adults and Children are different

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Adults and Children are different

Forum: Messageboard
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Could someone shed some light on... (simpleman)
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It is all in the mind. (Interested )
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Wrong! (prophet)
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If you are scared of something then you should do something about it. Fear is a bondage. n/t. (Interested )
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Truth (prophet)
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Sorry, don't agree with you. (Interested )
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A word of caution -Fro Interrested (John Doe 666)
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Fear of the Devil (from the Net). (Interested )
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maybe word use is NOT FEAR EVIL BUT TO SHUN & AVOID EVIL (Little Man of God)
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Well, the Lord by His Spirit is speaking to us to have no fellowship with the demons promoted thru' whatever form.eom. (Ivan)
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Most amusing thread (Eveline How)
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Thread 648-3 (Joe)
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"H Potter" is fit for the potty, no matter how many accolades and box office records set (Ivan)
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Untitled
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On the contrary..... (John Doe 666)
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Please (Eveline How)
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Casting down every imagination (Ivan)
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So (Eveline How)
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It's all about choices, knowing the difference and doing what's right (Ivan)
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If (Eveline How)
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Of (Ivan)
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Untitled (Eveline How)
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To Ivan/Eveline (John Doe 666)
Date: 2001, Dec 12
From: Christopher Yip CKHY

For adults:
1. Some will avoid it totally because they see it as pure evil, a tool of the devil. You can call it irrational frenzy or fear or superstition. These folks don't even want to get near the books and probably will call for an exorcist should the books be brought into their homes accidentally.
2. Some will read it just for pure entertainment. Once they put the book down, it's out of their minds until they pick up where they left off. They do not read between the lines or analyse the book to death, they simply read the lines as they come off the page into their mind. These folks don't understand what the hoo-ha here is all about. Harry Potter is just fairy-tale to them.
3. Some will read it for academic-like research. They break down the book into its themes, structure, and analyse it in terms of its literary merits, then compare it with other such books in the same genre. They can tell you where it portrays reality accurately, where it crosses into fiction, and how it contributes to the progress of humanities and literature. Yawn.
4. Then there are those who will read it for apologetic reasons. They basically need to do what the preceding three categories do to a different degree. They need to examine its contents to see if they should press the PANIC button (#1) or if it is just harmless entertainment which fires the imagination (#2). And to support their contentions and conclusions, they must do what the academic does - understand and analyse the book to see where it comes from. And then compare it to Scriptural teaching before concluding.
To be able to say that Harry Potter poses a serious danger to the Christian adult mind requires a reading at the level of at least #3. Those who are in #1 are not looking for rational arguments, they are looking for an equally irrational flash of intuition to assure them otherwise. Those in #2 cannot even be bothered. Their maxim is "spare me the facts".
Now, if a Christian can read at the level of #3 or even better, #4, then this person has essentially trained himself in comparative reading, whether formally or informally. This person has learned to read comparatively and as such, has forced his mind to suspend judgement until all the facts are in. He is able to see where the views converge and diverge and why.
You will note that a person who has reached #3 means that he has to read the book more seriously and attentively than #2. In other words, such a person cannot possibly be called an irresponsible person or one who spouts nonsense. He has actually gone into the woods to see if the lion is still there in contrast to the one who continues to pontificate from the safety of his home. It's like the TV commercial which had the person say, "If I hadn't gone in, how would I know I didn't need to go in?" In other words, before we say the pudding is delicious, we must eat it first.
So, then, a person skilled at this level should be free to make his own conclusions based on his own analysis. And when there is disagreement between two such persons, then it is fair to agree to disagree. The ability to recognise when there is insufficient data to conclude with absolute certainty either view is part of this skill of reading comparatively.
It is clear that both parties agree that the ability to read comparatively and with discernment is an essential and critical skill which even children should be equipped with. Now, it would be meaningless to tell our children that they should first learn all the facts about a case, then compare it critically to what the bible teaches before making any conclusions, and then disallow them to open that very book they are asked to compare with the bible.
What about the danger of the frog which got boiled in slow-boiling fire? Well, perhaps for children, we should also first determine at which level each child is capable of reading before we put Harry Potter into his hands.
Mortimer Adler, in his excellent book "How to Read A Book", suggests that there are 4 levels of reading:
1. Elementary reading, closely akin to mindless reading.
2. Inspectional reading, which means essentially you read the foreward and you have actually used the index at the back.
3. Analytical reading, ah!, the high road of reading; this is where you disagree with the author every other statement he makes, and where you scribble your comments and rebuttals by the side of the margin on every page
4. Syntopical reading, aka comparatively reading, ah ha! the you-have-arrived-in-reading type of reading skill; at this stage, you should be able to quote 20 other notable authors who usually lived at least 500 years ago in rebuttal or in support of what the author says; you should be able to syncretise and pulverise.
For children:
Despite my disrespectful humour, Adler's book is one of my best loved books and it will be one of the first I save should my bookshelf be burnt like the library in Alexandria.
We all hope that our children will grow beyond the elementary level of reading. Alas, many are stuck in the inspectional phase and they are there only because of the requirement of school to do book review and comprehension. Few really want to move on beyond this phase.
Why? Because it is hard work and unless you have some death-wish or secret desire for self-flagellation, you wouldn't want to go there too! But for the Christian apologist, there is no choice. An apologist who reads nothing else but the bible is a contradiction.
So, the question is really, does Harry Potter rate G, PG, or R(A). I doubt even Eveline and bluemarc would rate the book G. What I hear is that it is at least PG. Perhaps JD and Ivan would rate it R(A) or worst, Beyond Death.
The point is that no one, I believe, rates Harry Potter G. If the book is really that bad, then our children should know why it is so. If the parents feel that the danger can be adequately conveyed to their children without the need for the children to read the offensive material themselves, then the parents should not be criticised.
On the other side, if the parents wish their children to first read and understand the offensive material (this does not apply to Playboy - there is nothing really much to read, only pictures, although a case can be make for reading it) and then they personally supervise the thinking process, then these parents should also be left to do what they think is fit.
And for the two sides to pillorise or deride each other is really not necessary.
The fact that Harry Potter is influential and popular does mean that we should not throw caution to the wind but to shield our children entirely from whatever danger it poses is also not the prudent way to prepare our children for their own journey through life.
Christopher