At the end of the LoTR article, the CAPalert guy does actually go into the differences between how he sees Harry Potter vs how he sees Mary Poppins:
The "magic" in Mary Poppins presented nothing evil or sinister as did The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Indeed, the Mary Poppins character could have been of an angel for what she did. She was not hailed as a witch/sorcerer(ess) nor advertised as such. If Jesus had thrown Himself off the pinnacle at Satan's tease would the angels in Matt. 4:5-6, who would have lifted Him up from being dashed on the rocks, have sinned with their "magic?" Did Jesus sin as He used His "magic" to cast out demons? Heal the sick? Make the blind see and the lame walk? Re-attach a sliced off ear? There is a great deal of difference between the witchcraft/sorcery/wizardry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and the "magic" in Mary Poppins. The source of the power determines the holiness of it, not the use of it nor the user. And this very issue is yet another corruptive influence of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: to get people to think about P*O*W*E*R over others through sorcery/witchcraft; emboldening the viewer to be desirous of such power; emboldening the viewer to experiment or dabble ... just to see or find out for themselves. If you think movies and other forms of entertainment do not or cannot influence even our basic thought patterns, behavior management and coping skills, the American Medical Association disagrees with you. The American Psychological Association disagrees with you. The American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees with you. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry disagrees with you. God disagrees with you [1Cor. 15:33]. And I disagree with you.
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chiming
On Mary Poppins...
Date: January 16th, 2002 07:25 am (UTC)From:The "magic" in Mary Poppins presented nothing evil or sinister as did The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Indeed, the Mary Poppins character could have been of an angel for what she did. She was not hailed as a witch/sorcerer(ess) nor advertised as such. If Jesus had thrown Himself off the pinnacle at Satan's tease would the angels in Matt. 4:5-6, who would have lifted Him up from being dashed on the rocks, have sinned with their "magic?" Did Jesus sin as He used His "magic" to cast out demons? Heal the sick? Make the blind see and the lame walk? Re-attach a sliced off ear? There is a great deal of difference between the witchcraft/sorcery/wizardry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and the "magic" in Mary Poppins. The source of the power determines the holiness of it, not the use of it nor the user. And this very issue is yet another corruptive influence of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: to get people to think about P*O*W*E*R over others through sorcery/witchcraft; emboldening the viewer to be desirous of such power; emboldening the viewer to experiment or dabble ... just to see or find out for themselves. If you think movies and other forms of entertainment do not or cannot influence even our basic thought patterns, behavior management and coping skills, the American Medical Association disagrees with you. The American Psychological Association disagrees with you. The American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees with you. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry disagrees with you. God disagrees with you [1Cor. 15:33]. And I disagree with you.