Jack Chick #fundie

Jack Chick #fundie chick.com

How does Harry Potter affect children? Here it is, in their own words:
"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic. I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells." (Dylan, age 10)

"If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells and potions and fly a broomstick." (Myra, age 12)

"It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things like teachers." (Jeffrey, age 11)

"I'd like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I'd make up an ugly spell and then it's pay-back time." (Catherine, age 9)

"I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school I'd study everything: spells, counterspells, and defense against the dark arts." (Carolyn, age 10)

"I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort drank its blood." (July, age 13)

Stop and think: what will these children do when invited to visit an occult website, or even a local coven?

81 comments

old comment by Papabear

"How does Harry Potter affect children? Here it is, in their own words:
"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic. I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells." (Dylan, age 10) I agree with Dylan, that would be totally cool. I bet Dylan knows that Harry Potter and Hogwarts school are fictional. "If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells and potions and fly a broomstick." (Myra, age 12) See previous answer "It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things like teachers." (Jeffrey, age 11) See previous answer "I'd like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I'd make up an ugly spell and then it's pay-back time." (Catherine, age 9) See previous answer "I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school I'd study everything: spells, counterspells, and defense against the dark arts." (Carolyn, age 10) See previous answer "I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort drank its blood." (July, age 13) Well, OK, I didn't care for that part, but I bet July knows that it was just a story. "Stop and think: what will these children do when invited to visit an occult website, or even a local coven?" They'll probably take a look and move on. I participated in some "coven" activities with a former girlfriend. I met some interesting people, saw some interesting things, and moved on.

old comment by tracer

How does Superman affect children? Here it is, in their own words:
"I want to fly like Superman, so I could go anywhere in the world, or even go to the moon!" (Joey, age 10) "I want to be indest-- inde-- instruckable like Superman. That way it wouldn't hurt when I get beat up by the Christian kids." (Dweezel, age 9) "I want super strength like Superman! I could put trains on train tracks and save people when buildings fall down." (Kenny, age 11) "I want Superman's X-ray vision, so I could see through Suzy Fenstermacher's clothes in gym class." (Dan, age 13) Stop and think: What will these children do when invited to visit a super hero website, or even a local comic book store?

old comment by Anonymous

All right, fine. Here's my interpretation of what the kids said.

"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic. I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells." (Dylan, age 10)

He's ten years old; when he gets older, he'll probably realize that it's make-believe. And what's wrong with having imagination?

"If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells and potions and fly a broomstick." (Myra, age 12)

Notice that she said "if." This could be an indication that she knows that it's just a story.

"I'd like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I'd make up an ugly spell and then it's pay-back time." (Catherine, age 9)

Who hasn't fantasized about getting back at bullies? Is it any different than praying for someone to have a bad accident, as I'm sure these fundies do?

"I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school I'd study everything: spells, counterspells, and defense against the dark arts." (Carolyn, age 10)

When you read, you often enter the world of the characters. It's normal, for heaven's sakes.

"I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort drank its blood." (July, age 13)

Okay, that is a little weird. But again, these kids would all probably get over it and recognize Harry Potter as a good book series, not reality. For fundies, unfortunately, I am not so sure.

old comment by Lithp

Actually, the last part is fairly easy to explain. Everyone identifies with the heros. They're generally just like you picture everyone else when you're that old.

The villains of the story go outside of one's normal perspective. They tend to have a lot more backing them than the heroes.

Basically, the villain is always cooler than the hero, but the hero somehow wins. Case in point: Final Fantasy Seven Advent Children. Cloud was Emo. Seph was a psychopath. Cloud won.

Okay, enough nerd analogies. Point is that people like the villains more because they just go against the norm.

In young kids, it isn't surprising they can make some awkward comments when the same idea is applied.

Does that mean they're evil?

No.

They're freaking ten.

Wait a minute, does that say age 13? The fuck?

old comment by David B.

Everyone here seems to be picking on Julie (not 'July', the quotes are from Sharon Moore's book We Love Harry Potter!). It's almost making me feel bad for cheering on Darth Vader and the Empire during the first runs of Star Wars IV and V!

People like fiction for a lot of different reasons; because it's well written, reveals a plot point, made them think or re-evaluate a character. Julie is old enough to know the difference between reality and fiction, if she liked the bit in the book where the unicorn got killed, find out why. Don't assume she thinks killing animals and drinking their blood is her idea of a good time!

Let's not forget that to a fundie, 'context' means 'twisted to my agenda'. Julie may have liked it because it was really scary, lots of people 'like' the bit in Aliens where the facehugger in the tube suddenly leaps at the glass, it doesn't mean they want to be impregnated by xenomorphic monsters or that this is a good thing.

old comment by David B.

Some more quotes from the same book:

"I get so involved reading the Harry Potter books that I feel like I'm inside Harry's world." - Carolyn (10).

"The Harry Potter books take you to another reality, to a place that's out of this world - a place you'd never think of by yourself." - Emily (14).

"The only bad thing about the book is that you wish you could do the stuff they do in the book, or you wish that you could actually be one of the people in the book, but you can't." - Molly (8).

"I don't like why some people are afraid to let their children read the books. They think it'll make kids bad to read about magic. Everbody knows magic isn't real but that doesn't make Halloween bad. Just 'cause books are exciting doesn't make them dangerous." - Don (13).

"Fantasy and adventures are my favourite kind of reading. The plots of the Harry Potter books are complicated enough to be interesting." - Anna (13).

"Me, I'm not a wizard. I like being a Muggle - nobody expects anything much from Muggles." - Nurya (11).

Gosh, rather than the bunch of would-be witches of Chick's sick imagination, this looks like a lot of sussed-up children enjoying reading books.

The horror!

old comment by LadyJafaria

About these quotes: no, they are not actually from the Onion, they are from letters a teacher collected from her own students and students all over to publish an unofficial kids' tribute to Harry Potter. So while they're real quotes, they're also taken out of context from letters that are mostly a few paragraphs long. For example, I'm sure Julie explains why she thought that was a good part of the book. (Probably just because it was scary. Everyone likes the frightening bits, and a lot of people are fascinated by the villains, even though they wouldn't act like them or even admire someone who acts like them IRL.)

And the worst any of them are going to grow up to be is nerdy fanentities, not evil witches.

It's the Jafar fangirls you've got to watch. Mwahahahahaha.

old comment by JSS

What will happen if a child is raised fundamentalist Christian?

"I want to follow God's way and love like Jesus did in the Bible!" (Dylan Age 7)

"The Bible is the perfect word of God. If I don't believe it, the god who loves me so much will watch me burn for all eternity." (Age 11)

"The Bible is completely infallible and never wrong. I can't stand people who think different!" (Age 16)

"I absoluetly despise anyone who disagrees with the Bible! All atheists, queers, feminists, and those of other religions should all be stoned or burned to death! Fucking infidels!" (Age 22)

"Okay you got the bats? Good. Let's kill some fucking queers!!" (Age 26)

Age 27: Dylan is sent to prison and tried for first degree murder. The jury finds him guilty and he is sentenced to death by lethal injection. His parents are extremely devastated.

"Where did I go wrong?" The mom sobbed. "I only taught him to follow God's commands and live his life based on the Holy Word of God!"

(Just an idea for a tract)

Jack Chick #fundie chick.com

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