Christians who love Harry Potter

Anyone attending GMX in Nashville? I got approved to host a Very Potter Musical sing-along, and I'm doing a panel on the Redemption of Draco Malfoy (or lack thereof).

We're limited on what we can do at the sing-along. No performing, just gonna play the vids and invite people to enjoy it (in costume of course).

The main thrust of the Redemption of Draco Malfoy panel is talking about why so much of fandom seems invested in redeeming Draco, but Rowling chose not to. (or does stalling for a few minutes and following Voldemort's orders not to kill Harry count as a redemption?)

Any thoughts on the subject would be welcome. I know there was a cut scene from the last film where Draco tosses Harry a wand. Does anyone know where I can find that clip on a DVD?

I'm also looking for fan made material that show Draco going through a redemption process....the more popular the better. I've read the Draco Dormiens trilogy but if anyone still has the files on their computer that they could share it would be appreciated. Also would love a copy of "Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing....Rat?"

Any other fanfics you would recommend where Draco goes from bad guy to good guy? Fan films? Fan Art? Wizard Rock songs?

Also interested in the psychological, moral, and sociological implication of redeeming Draco, so any thoughts on that are welcome.

X-post to hogwarts_grads

x-posted to Hogwarts Grads

Anyone see Felicia Day on Supernatural Friday?

Lots of Harry Potter references. You can watch the whole episode on the CW website: http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/super…l/the-girl-with-the-dungeons-and-d…attoo/?play=7ca6851f-75b6-411c-b51…72af4360

"She actually saved Harry in practically every book, and then she ended up with the wrong-"

Priceless.

"Go Gryffindor."

Shameless plug and an ethics question.

My friend and I wrote a fanfic (bordering on parody) of Harry Potter with the premise.  "What if Lucius Malfoy had adopted Harry Potter?"  Link: http://hogwarts-grads.livejournal.…  (It's done, posted the last chapter yesterday, just waiting for the mod to approve it.)

One of the ethical/spiritual question in Harry Potter is can bad stuff/hard times be good for us?

I have a lot of trouble with Harry being left with the Dursley's given the way they treat him.  You'd think Dumbledore would check in on him once a year or so and go "hey, boys don't belong in cupboards".  I've seen lots of kids placed with nearest relatives in foster situations, which is a reasonable place to start....but I seriously question the wisdom of placing them with the grandparents who produced the screwed up parent they were taken away from in the first place.

However, if you go with the vague spiritual metaphor of Dumbledore representing "God" and Voldemort representing the "Devil", then you can also hit on the "rejoice in the trials that strengthen you" mentality.  Honestly I think Harry is both strengthened and weakened by his time with the Dursleys.  He's far more independent and has a deeper appreciation for how it feels to be ill treated, thus a strong ability to feel empathy.  But he's also far too reluctant to go to people who could help with his problems, and rather clueless in many interpersonal areas.

Anyway, one of the themes that came up in the story as we ran it through the seven years, is that yes, Harry's life is infinitely easier when he can go to adults with his problems and isn't in want of anything.  However he's a far weaker character.  Not really cruel, this isn't evil Harry by any stretch, but lacking the sort of willpower that would help with the world saving and moral guidance.

I have to admit that I'm a better person because I was ostracized and bullied a bit by my peers when I was young.  But I had God and some good parents to see me through that and keep me focused.  Still it brings up some interesting questions on suffering and just how much is "good" for us, because I think in an ideal world no one would bully each other.

To give you an idea of how busy I've been.  Saturday was my first time to see Deathly Hallows Part 1.

I was pleasantly surprised.  There are still things I would have liked to see done differently, but in general, I found it a vast improvement over the last few films.

And as an original H/Hr shipper, I did love the fan service.  However, I think the Ministry infiltration was the best part of the film.

What did everyone else think?

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b2…

I'm a little upset that the website for the Lexicon has gone missing.  I used it often to check story points for my RP and fanfic.  I hope this is temporary.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the book that was shot down.  It was bad timing for it...and I'm a little surprised not to hear any objections from Lexicon contributors, cause I know Vander Ark didn't put the Lexicon together single handed.  On one hand, I think Rowling has a point that it didn't fall under the same safe guards that a commentary would...on the other hand, there was a lot of word origin info on the site, which was speculation/research beyond cutting and pasting something that Rowling has said.  Because she had announced the idea of doing an encyclopedia herself, it was a bit more in the direct competition line...  on the other hand, more than one HP guide has been published without contest (or great amounts of originality). 

And I'm sure any HP fan dedicated enough to buy the Lexicon book, would buy the "official" encyclopedia anyway.

They're finally getting around to a mass release of the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

http://www.borders.com/online/stor…

I wish I could justify $100 for the collectors edition...it sounds pretty, but unless a miracle happens by December, I don't think it's a wise use of my resources.  All the same, I think I'll get the paperback.

This question popped up on my general Harry Potter discussion group, and I took it as an opportunity to finally write out my testimony in this area.  In some ways this just scratches the surface, since I don't go into specific passages or theological thoughts.  But then I don't think they're needed here.

 

okay, this isn't Harry Potter related, but it's Christian related. I've started catching Pastor Melissa Scott on late night, and I find her academic/linguistic approach to scripture refreshing. I was wondering if anyone else had seen her/had some thoughts about the University Cathedral.

While I'm at it, I'm interested in the state of Christian programming on TV. I think PAX/ION/TBN is taking a stab at it, but the quality is all over the place. My skyhigh dream is to someday create a commercial Christian TV channel/network...and I was wondering if you were programming a Christian station what would your ideal line up be? Any shows or types of shows that you would like to see?

What do you think of the current state of Christian television/mass media?

Jo made the short list for Time's annual recognition. The profile of her is at the following page:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/…

This article contains one of the longest and most complete statements I have as yet read about where she is in her own religious beliefs. I particularly found it interesting that she came from an unchurched background and decided to pursue it on her own. However, it confirms the previous indication that she is still somewhat of a seeker, and clearly denies Granger's premise that she was trying to emulate CS Lewis.

lametigersent me this link (thank you!).  I suggest skipping the user comments.

Luckily for us, Amazon was the one who bought that copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and they're sharing as best they can without violating copyright.  Follow the link and you can read summaries of each tale, plus see pictures of the book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.h…