Opinion vs. assumption
For the past several days I have engaged in a debate about the evils of fantasy entertainment. The thread began as an individual’s statement of belief concerning The Golden Compass. Since I have not seen or read this book then I have no foundation for comment. Unfortunately, the starter of the thread did not feel the same. The starter of the thread also condemned Harry Potter as evil and dark, basing the assumption on a statement made by J.K. Rowling. In an interview, Rowling stated that book 7 was the darkest yet. I will agree, book 7 had it’s dark moments. However, no more violent than the battle scenes in Narnia.
I do not feel that one can make a valid argument based on assumption lacking personal knowledge and research. Yes you can find a tremendous amount of information on the evils of HP. However, many of the opponents have zero first hand knowledge and if you aren’t looking at both sides of the issue then your opinion has no firm foundation. If one completes the research there are also many Christian parallels in the work. Saying that Narnia is fantasy and HP is evil is ridiculous. Many of the character species in HP can also be found in Narnia. Magic can be found in Narnia, good and bad. Violence is found in both books. Overcoming evil, found in both. Ethics and morality, both books.
If someone hates HP, or any other work, I can deal with that. I simply believe that the opinion should be based on knowledge and careful examination of all research, not what someone has said the populace should believe.
