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Do you think that exposing children to fantasy movies and books conditions their mind into accepting that magic, spirits, and gods can exist in our world?

I noticed 10 years ago that there was a backlash against Halloween and magic by fundamentalists because they thought that it was competing with Christianity (the Occult). I don't see such resistance these days. I'm wondering if they realize that getting kids interested in Harry Potter, godlike creatures, and magic help condition their minds to believe that these things can really happen in our world, and thus gods, spirits, and heaven/hell are believable, too. Harry Potter is a stepping stone to God.

That's the deal right -- indoctrinating the kids minds as young as possible so that the beliefs can better withstand the onslought of Reason when they get older? Get that crazy idea in their minds so that it sticks.

GlyndonD 7 Apr 6
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48 comments

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I agree ET the extraterrestrial is selling sentimental magic to kids and most of this kind of crap is anti-science

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Kids outgrow magical thinking if you let them.

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There was a similar backlash about Harry Potter. Not only teaching kids about the occult, but romanticising it in the process.

Kids are actually pretty good at telling fiction from fact. They make up their own stories, and they know that they're not the truth. If they really couldn't tell fact from fiction, they'd be in pieces every time Tom maims Jerry, or the other way around. Instead, they lap up cartoon violence because... well... it's funny. And nobody's actually coming to harm.

Kids don't believe for a minute that Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, or any of those are actual real people. They easily understand the concept of fairy tales. They believe in Jesus and Santa Claus only because adults present them as being real, rather than just stories.

Similarly, violent comic books, films and video games don't turn them into sociopaths. Though if they have sociopathic tendencies, then they might be drawn to particularly violent content.

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Most fundamentalist parents are very opposed to stories like Harry Potter.

I'm going to take a while to get back to that point. My son had a difficult time with reading at first, which frustrated him, because he knew he was missing out on some really great stuff. He was still smart for his age, he loved to take things apart and put them back together from about the age of four or so. The reading thing just wasn't clicking for him.
This was about 20+ years ago, and I don't know about now, but they were not teaching phonics then. Just endlss lists of memorized words.
I found something very similar to the Hooked on Phonics progam for him, but not nearly that costly. Within a couple weeks he went from Sonic the Hedgehog comic books to yep....those 800 page Harry Potter books.

Bless JK Rowling and all of those fanciful characters and rollicking romps. She made not just my son, but an entire generation of children eager to read some intimidatingly thick books.

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Imagination is among our greatest human gifts; it'd be ridiculous to try and stifle or starve it.

I'm writing a fantasy novel right now. Many of our best fantasists have been atheists, rationalists. (L.Sprague de Camp; Poul Anderson; Fritz Leiber, etc.)

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I don't think reading fantasy necessarily leads to a belief that gods are real, as long as adults point out the difference,
. Kids learn to accept that Santa and the Easter bunny are make believe, while at the same time most of their parents will insist that god and the devil are real,
. Children talke these cues from their mentors , protectors and trust that we aren't lying to them,
No wonder it's so hard to let go of what is basically an imaginary friend that we carry into adulthood,
I believe that fantasy and science fiction are very beneficial to growing brains as long as adults are responsible and keep the lines between reality and fantasy well defined

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Being an authoritarian parent rather than an authoratative one prepares a childs mind for religion. Every time you tell them to "Do as I say!" and refuse to give a reason, that prepares a child's mind for religion. Fantasy and mythology don't, as others have said the fantastical, if anything, teaches them not to believe everything they read or hear. Now if we could only teach people that about the internet.

Kimba Level 7 Apr 20, 2018

Agreed -- one must not dangle forbidden fruit in front of their eyes.

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Understanding fiction vs fact is key. Most fantasy has elements characters animals etc that are obviously fictional.

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No .

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That's kind of a stretch, but the future Alchemists and engineers find inspiration in the HP series. A truth potion in a fantasy story.....or a serum when the gov't uses it.....?

Mbow Level 2 Apr 18, 2018
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I think it is the other way around, you train kids to believe in God, Angels and life after death, they are going to far more open to believing in fantasy as reality, especially when witches, demons, ghost, unicorns and leviathan are all in the freaking bible anyway.

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No need to avoid delightful entertaining fantasy fiction. But parents should teach the kids how to think rationally and understand these things are make believe.

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Wow, I had to read this twice to make sure I understood. I didn't go look at your profile, but I do have to wonder if you have ever had anything resembling a childhood?

I see no reason to deny children access to facts or fantasy, fiction or non-fiction. It is important to teach children to think and discern for themselves, and the only way to do that is to have balance in their lives.

I'm not into denying. But encouraging is another thing. Balance -- so you're advocating taking your kids to Sunday School? Exposing them to all religions? What other ideas do you feel you should expose children to so that they are more balanced? Racism? Boys are better than girls? Violence is a rite of passage?

Well, as a matter of fact between their father and i, we have exposed them to pretty much all religions. We have taught them to question everything, and we answer to the best of our ability. Racism? Can't live in the US and not be exposed to racism. Their dad took them to see the movie "Selma" when it came to our area. They have heard Dr. King's speech.

Sexism? Can't live in the US, and be female and not experience sexism first hand, I have raised strong young women.

Violence as a rite of passage? Again, we live in the US, there's a mass shooting virtually every day here. We talk to our children, more to the point we listen to our children, and given them straight, honest answers.

We have taught them to think for themselves, to question everything, and make their own opinions. I don't think you can get much more balanced than that.

Oh and yes they have seen fantasy movies, have read and continue to read whatever appeals to them. Heck I even called a teacher out because he didn't want my youngest to read "diary of Anne Frank" for a book report.

They don't seem to be any worse for their early years.

1

The crazy idea starts first. Believers in gods and religion start the children out early. They need this to "stay in the faith." Then Harry Potter, Halloween, spirits, the devil, and all the rest creep in there. Why do they believe it? The bible is full of it.

Yes, the Believers want to keep that idea in kids' minds that magical stuff might just be possible. It's like a cancer that never goes away, but just keeps popping up somewhere else but in a different form.

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I think younger parents are more laid back plus there is the rise in nonbelievers as well who see these holidays as just fun events for kids and don't attach all the supernatural crap past generations did.

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We got infected with Walt Disney who we now know never had a female as the mother. She was always wicked We had Alfred Hitchcock on TV and so on What I am saying the television or media entity will always be in our lives from now on. do not worry , look at the kids after the parkland shooting, They are wonderfully bright and together

EMC2 Level 8 Apr 10, 2018
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Isn't it more a question of how the parents deal with it? Children accept fantasy for what it is and seem to know that it isn't real. If their parents choose to make comparisons with religion then that is their concern but if they have read fantasy, I think the children are more likely to disbelieve, then.

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This is a ridiculous idea. Introducing your kids to Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, will certainly be better for them then if you did not.

1

I have to disagree.First you are exposing them to a multiverse of beliefs, from Potteresque witches to The Force to Vulcans to Wizards and hobbits. A t some point every kid realizes 1/ they can't all be true and 2/ they make as much sense as any "organized" religion's fantasies. And every fantasy world has good and bad people,but a recognition that being "good"is better. Finally, and this may be the most subversive part of it all - I can't think of a story-line where the protagonists are also "the powers that be" and the rules makers. Hogwarts comes close, but the real authorities are outside the school. Even C.S. Lewis' work, which is Xianity with a fur coat has the bad folk being the royals. so instead of teaching kids toaccept religion, they are teaching kids that rule makers are not trustworthy, there's goodness in you and taking care of each other is more important than being obedient to authorities.

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My son who is 29, is still involved with Marvel Comics...from Spidey to Thor to Black Panther to Captain America to whoever Stan Lee has cooked up...so apparently he. Still likes super heroes.

What are you saying they are NOT real? :0

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If that is the case it has most certainly not worked on me, my husband or our children. I was swept away by movies and books about fantasy when I was a child, because my childhood was rough. My husband was the same way. We raised our children watching and reading fantasy, and they are both non-believers. It's fiction, and my children, just like their father and I were well aware that it was not real.

Maybe that's the antidote. But my main contention was those parents now using fantasy as a means to an end.

@GlyndonD I know tons of parents ( like me) who supply their kids with Pottery stuff (there were many, better written fantasies before Rowling hit the jackpot) and not one of them has an ounce of religion in their bones. Most are actually progressives.Think of the bazillions of D and D, etc. players. How many of the do you think watch the 700 Club?

@RonWilliam53 OK, I'm beginning to believe that fantasy does not pose a threat to one's reasoning skills if handled well. But, I still think there are people who are using fantasy to help their kids believe in ghosts, goblins, gods, and supernatural powers.

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I think it is up to the parents to make sure the kids understand movies are just entertainment. Sometimes they put in current phrasing or social ideals but that is more for understanding and relation than it is for anything else. Very little is true. Even documentaries hold room for error and should be taken with grains of salt and backed up with solid research on the side if really that interested in the subject matter.

That little snippette about Harry Potter being a stepping stone to god is a first for me. Either its called fiction and fun, or a path to the devil, not god. Interesting angle though.

Encourage and teach logic and research. Allow for a wide range of views in the topics and subjects they find interesting. then let them choose as long as the research is serious and in depth.

AmyLF Level 7 Apr 7, 2018

I am theorizing that the indoctrinators decided that Harry et al could actually be their friend and not their foe in indoctrinating kids. I could see logic in that thinking. But most people here seem to want to defend Harry and mysticism just as fervantly as believers defend their god and their religion. Interesting.

@GlyndonD If so that's a new development. I've been a Potter-head since my son was little. For some reason my boy didn't like anyone reading to him at all. He was around kindergarten age when he started becoming more interested in what such scribbles on a page meant. This ended up being the first book he ever let me read to him back around the time they were still working on the first movie. Harry will always have a place in my heart for that reason alone.

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You'll find that the most religious countries are also the ones that ban the most books Explain to children "it's not real" is the best way to approach religion too!

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The agenda of the media is always to assume there is a god and when people die they go to heaven.......except if you're a really bad person....then you go to hell.

And it's done in a matter-of-fact way.

Which media? CNS yes, but Star Wars? Lord of the Rings? Okay, The Simpsons has Heaven but who wouldn't want to go to that Heaven?

5

I severely disagree to this statement. Exposing children to fantastic works of fiction only allows the, to easily recognize the religiols mumbo-jumbo as such too.

I think that can happen, but believe the flip side is more the case.

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