I have always approved of Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series. I do not approve of Harry Potter. Here is why. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has a clear distinction b/w good and evil and is truly a beautiful work of art. It contains many moral lessons of worth, and I have let my children watch the movie. I also have to say that when I watched it with them as opposed to the first time without, I gained so much insight into the lessons and values that were being taught. I had a much higher appreciation for it. Harry Potter I have only caught glimpses of here and there and never have read the books and have no desire to. But, it is obvious to me that it blurs the lines of good and evil throughout, and also subverts respect and authority for adults. There is a vast difference in the two that I cannot reconcile. I have no problem with children reading fiction that I have approved and in this case as in a few others, I believe it is a matter of individual judgement, not just something you can quote Mrs.White about and leave it at that. I do believe that Jesus was one of the greatest authors of parable and do not see why it cannot be used with spiritual judgement to further enhance our children's moral education.

Wendy

As a person I must know myself and findout what do I really want for myself, and what does God want. What ever I really want, those types of preferences and tendencies of how I treat those personal preferences will be known to my kids long before Harry Potter and Tolkin comes up.

As a parent, I would be responsible to gather information concerning the issues before hand, make my decisions before hand and so not get embroiled in a parent/child contest of wills at that moment.

Some of my sources of data would be :
Scripture - Phillipians chapter 4; 2nd Peter Ch 1; John ch 17; 1st Corinthians ch 13; Sermon on the Mount from the Gospels; The stories of the family life of Eli, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, Solomon, John the baptist, Jesus.

SOP {MYP} Messages to Young People - chapters 88 - 94.

Chap. 88 {MYP 271.1 - 274.3}- "Choice of Reading"
Chap. 89 {MYP 275.1 - 278.2}- "Example of the Ephesians"
Chap. 90 {MYP 279.1 - 282.3}- "Proper Mental Food"
Chap. 91 {MYP 283.1 - 284.2}- The Bible the Most Interesting Book
Chap. 92 {MYP 285.1 - 286.2}- Guard Well the Avenues of the Soul
Chap. 93 {MYP 287.1 - 289.4}- Building Christian Character
[THIS WAS SISTER WHITE'S LAST MESSAGE FOR OUR
YOUNG PEOPLE, DURING HER LAST ILLNESS.]
Chap. 94 {MYP 290.1 - 290.3}- The Effect of Fiction

I am not naturally inclined to family worship, would the preposed reading / viewing matter make me more apt to have family worship - or less inclined to do so? The repeatedly occuring answers - like concuring second opinions from other MD's when facing serious treatments of serious medical conditions - would set the tone and direction of my answer.

To complicate matters, if I desired Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings and had to act from principle despite my personal unfulfilled desires, I could then be swayed like Eli all together too easily.

If I looked at my self and my kids as my property, it would be my decision according to my perogatives and my rights and wishes. If I looked at my self and my kids as God's property, it would be God's decision according to His perogatives and His rights and wishes, but enforced according to my personality (hopefully tempered by His motives and methods).

BTW as a warlock I read Lord of the Rings three decades ago +, and it further fueled my lust for inordinate power and pride. To those who knew how to look it taught it's own lessons of witchcraft. Then fed desires for more.

That is the topic question that is implied "what would you do"? I replied. Others will do what they will.

Buy your kids the books "Escape to God" and "Empowered Living", have seperate copies for your own use.

Then there will be no need to gether them and in the darkness bind them. The ring of Saurgon is not fiction, it is the verbal picture of the desires of Satan's heart that he seeks to plant in the hearts of the readers. No Mt Doom can burn it up, but the Doom of eternity once ignited, then will incinerate all who hold it. I won't give that to my kids.

Thank you, Ed, for sharing something personal relating to The Lord Of The Rings.

What seems to be so innocent can be what captures us in its snare.

I think it has alot to do with your environment and upbringing. I, my brother, husband, and many many friends read the Rings series as young people, and none of us ever had the desire to become witches, warlocks or what have you. I know mine is not the popular opinion here, but I'm okay with that. I know people who keep their children practically locked away from the world as well, and what usually happens is that those are the children that completely rebel as they get older because they don't know what to do with the freedom. I'm a very good example of that. I do respect all other opinions completely though, please let me make that very clear. I think we all have to do our best with the knowledge we have and continue to pray for our children and for our friends.

God bless you all!

For all:


Mrs.White essentially opposed all fiction. So what do you think about the fables told as children? Or to be even more to the point...the Uncle Arthur? I've often wondered about this. I do not have a problem with it. But I'd be interested to hear other opinions.

Thanks (from an avid reader)

Yes, the idea can be obtained from her writings tha she opposed all fiction. That is the position that I once took. [NOTE: I am not saying that I have substantially changed it.]

However, she read short stories, written by great novelists of her day, to her children. I have to assume that those short stories were works of fiction. We have published some (not all) of those stories in a book we have titled SCRAPBOOK STORIES.

Ellen White was a complex woman. In her personal life she ws not nearly as rigid as some have gathered from reading her writings.

Are you saying that EGW went against her own writings?

Now, I find that somewhat confusing.

Daryl:

I am saying that we clearly know that Ellen White read short stories to her children that were written by novelists of her day. From the standpoint of authorship, and of story content, it is preetty clear that they were works of fiction.

Some comments:

1) EGW was human, and we can not expect perfection in her.

2) People have often made her out to be more rigid than she was. I suspect that this is the issue with her use of fiction.

3) People who know, see these aspects in her in the fictious stories she told her children, in her wearing simple jewelry (a necklace), and in her eating oysters.

Gregory, I find that very interesting about Sister White reading short stories to her children that were fiction. Can you provide us with the proof that these stories were fiction? I think we would all be interested in reading that proof. Thanks

I guess the question to ask is whether or not she did what she did prior to receiving what would be then known as new light on it?

And yes, I would also be interested in any references/quotes.