An Article of Poor Quality
Dear Catholic Exchange:
I was browsing your website on 12/11/01 and noticed the article
“Who’s Just Wild About Harry?” by James K. Fitzpatrick. I was sincerely disappointed that an article of such poor quality was displayed by Catholic Exchange.
In his article Fitzpatrick maintains that Harry Potter is harmless. He justifies this on 2 grounds; 1) there are other items of entertainment (e.g. Bewitched and Snow White) that use magic that are commonly accepted which would be difficult to abstain from and 2) my mom and “Joan” said it was OK.
In regards to the first argument, it raises the question: should we be watching Bewitched or Snow White? Mr. Fitzpatrick doesn’t answer this question. Even if we decided that we shouldn’t be watching those shows, so what if it’s hard to weed them out? The difficulty in this situation has no bearing on the whether the response is right or wrong.
As for the second point, there was no proof that either Mr. Fitzpatrick’s mom or Joan has been thoroughly instructed in the tenets of the Faith, competency in theological matters, or reviewed the arguments against the Potter movie and books. Thus when they say that Harry Potter has an “implicitly Christian” message, the question immediately rises; to what depth do they understand the Christian message?
This entire article has a very condescending tone. He basically says, “Come on, we’ve been doing this for ages. Get real and get with the trend.” Then only to be topped off with, “Even my mom can see it is harmless.” He acts as if those who oppose the Potter books are pointing their fingers at little kids running around with black hats. He even throws Norman Rockwell into the fray on the side of Potter, basically giving ghost votes to his side of the argument.
I have avoided taking sides as best I could. My main point was to very briefly point out the poor quality of this article.
In the Lion of Judah,
Douglas Naaden
P.S. I have taken some time to scan different articles of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s. Most seemed fine, but in the article “Love Your Enemy,” Mr. Fitzpatrick seems to get some things confused. As presented by Mr. Fitzpatrick, there is nothing wrong with what the priest says. (I did not see that program.) The priest says nothing against going to war. Forgiveness does not and has never meant that the restitution demanded by justice is not needed, as Mr. Fitzpatrick seems to think. I suggest he re-evaluate his idea of forgiveness based on CCC 2844, and the lives of the countless saints who forgave those who martyred them. Also forgiving Osama does not preclude our duty to the good of our country and of the world and to Osama himself, of bringing him to justice.
Dear Mr. Naaden,
If you really believe that children should not be allowed to experience Snow White and Bewitched and the other works I mentioned in my article, I have no disagreement with you. You are being consistent in viewing Harry Potter with alarm. But I disagree. I don't view these fantasies as dangerous. I think children can put them in perspective.
And talk about “condescending tones…” I mentioned my Mom and the woman I asked about the movie only as anecdotal evidence of how ordinary Catholics were reacting to the film on opening day. They are not theologians, but the way they viewed the film is of importance nonetheless.
And as long as your understanding of Christian forgiveness does not preclude hunting down Osama bin Laden and his followers and killing them, I have no problem with it.
Sincerely,
James Fitzpatrick
Going Against the Teachings of the Church?
Dear Catholic Exchange:
Hi! Who is James Fitzpatrick to say that he thinks Harry Potter is perfectly fine entertainment, if many priests in the Church are going to great lengths to explain that it's not? Who is he to say it's OK, when the Church teaches that it is sinful to dabble in “magic,” whether white or black or whatever – that it violates the first Commandment?
I did not know when I was younger that it's sinful to go to a palm reader — how is indulging in this kind of entertainment different? We have a responsibility to teach children what's in the Catechism, not our own opinions. If he likes to do that so much, why not join the Protestants?
Sincerely,
WriterFran
Dear “WriterFran,”
The central point of your letter is your argument that “many priests in the Church are going to great lengths to explain” that the Harry Potter books are not acceptable for Catholic children.
No doubt there are priests who believe that is true. However, I would be willing to bet that more priests view the Potter books and movies as I do. The opinions of individual priests are not the official teaching of the Church.
Sincerely,
James K. Fitzpatrick
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick:
My central point was that YOU are going against the teachings of the Church by saying it is OK to dabble in magic entertainment. It is a violation of the first Commandment.
My central point is that you are directly going against the teachings of the Church, using YOUR opinions to encourage others to see a movie that is NOT recommended by the Church in any way.
Priests have the charge of protecting peoples' souls, and leading them. It's a shame that you place yourself above them.
By the way, I have “two-and-a-half Master's” [sic] degrees – the first is in Journalism from NYU, the second is in English Literature from Seton Hall, and the “half” is 15 graduate credits in Education at Caldwell College towards a post-bac teaching certificate. If anyone wants children to love reading and writing, it's me. This is the stuff of which CS Lewis would have despaired.
It's not redeeming, it's not uplifting – indulging an interest of witchcraft is a serious sin – Lewis and other wonderful [writers] wanted to bring people to God – not lead them away from Him.
By the way, I am going to be going back to my aol address.
I just need to let people know I am bummed about this site, and amazed that people who want to run a supposedly Catholic site don't know much about the first Commandment.
I think you are trying to be “hip,” and it's really a shame.
As they say, “flee evil.”
WriterFran
Editor's Note: The last thing we expected when we began running James Fitzpatrick's Wanderer column on Catholic Exchange was angry accusations from viewers about how “hip” we're trying to be. The unpredictable sensibilities of our diverse audience never cease to amaze us! (More hip for WriterFran, to be sure, will be the X-rated offerings she will receive from her new aol email account. All the best!)
