Pope's top exorcist claims Harry Potter "King of Darkness, the Devil"

By -
This is just too damn funny. Via Progressive Gold, we have this story:
Pope Benedict XVI's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, has called fictional wizard-in-training Harry Potter the "king of darkness, the devil."

Amorth made the statement about the star of the best-selling children's series by British author J. K. Rowling during an interview with Vatican Radio during the week.

"Magic is always a turn to the devil," said the Roman Catholic priest, according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
OK Catholicism defenders (that's you, Joe :)), convince me that this isn't the daffiest thing I've heard in a long while (Bush administration foreign policy statements excluded, of course). First of all, the idea that the Pope has a chief exorcist just blows my mind. Its sounds like something right out of Monty Python. Secondly, the fact that the Pope has a chief exorcist implies that he has a whole staff of exorcists, of which this Rev. Gabriele Amorth is the leader. Apparently they have an international association. Thirdly, the fact that anyone would take an exorcist seriously is hilarious and sad, especially journalists from respectable outlets like the CBC. Fourthly, that such a person would attack Harry Potter of all things is just wacky. Not civil wars in Africa, not murderers, not sexual predators (well, OK I understand why they might not want to go there), not actual Satanists, but Harry Potter. The gulf between their worldview and mine stretches forth before me like a vista of the Grand Canyon. Exorcists against Harry Potter. In 2006. My contempt-o-meter is broken.

On a slightly different note, I must say that as a Dungeons & Dragons player, I am jealous of all the attention that Harry Potter is getting from the "magic-is-the-Devil" crowd. Back in the early 80's, it was all about us. The D&D=Satanism meme is apparently still around, but we don't get nearly the flak from these loonballs that Harry Potter catches. Times change, I guess. Demons move on to new hosts. Sigh.

Comments

grishnash said…
I know you read Sullivan, so you probably saw what else exorcists are up to these days...

(No, Karl! The plan was for you to jump out the window when that happened!)
8:44 AM, September 07, 2006
Zachary Drake said…
Yes, I saw that. Pretty sad.
10:13 PM, September 07, 2006
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snarking The Odyssey (with AD&D)

By -
Image
WARNING: Those of you who are accustomed to pithy political remarks here on Internal Monologue should brace yourselves for a major dose of gaming geekitude. Here's a link to one "Jamie R." who does a very snarky close reading of Homer's The Odyssey (HT: Mad Latinist via email). I've only read book 1, but it's pretty funny so far. An excerpt: Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men… Sooooo, he’s in charge, and everybody dies. Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero and his colossal failure. What? … for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever rea
Read more

Where is 56th and Wabasha? "Meet Me in the Morning" Dylan Mystery Solved

By -
Image
Short version The lyric is not "Fifty-sixth and Wabasha", it is actually "Fifty-six and Wabasha", referring to the intersection of old Minnesota Highway 56 and Wabasha Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. If you listen, you can hear Dylan sing "fifty-six", rather than "fifty-sixth", particularly on the take that was released as the B-side to "Duquesne Whistle". Minnesota Highway 56 no longer intersects Wabasha Street, but from 1963 to 1974 it did intersect Wabasha Street, at what is now (in Feb. 2021) the intersection of George Street and Cesar Chavez Street in St. Paul, or possibly South Wabasha & Cesar Chavez.  Long Version "Meet Me in the Morning" is the first song on side two of Bob Dylan's celebrated 1975 album  Blood on the Tracks. In the opening lines of the song, according to the lyrics on Bob Dylan's official site (https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/meet-me-morning/), the narrator invites the listener to a rendez
Read more

Victim or perpetrator? How about both!

By -
Remember in the movie Adaptation , the main character's brother has this idea for a screenplay called The Three? It's about a detective trying to track down a serial killer before he kills his next victim. Pretty standard, right? The twist is that the detective, serial killer, and victim, are all actually the same person . Whoa, dude. Fight Club 's got nothin' on that one. Well, this isn't quite that weird. But apparently, Utah legal authorities are somewhat perplexed by a situation in which a 13-year-old girl and her 12-year-old boyfriend are both simultaneously the perpetrators and victims of the same crime: having sex with each other (HT: Feministing ): Utah Supreme Court justices acknowledged Tuesday that they were struggling to wrap their minds around the concept that a 13-year-old Ogden girl could be both an offender and a victim for the same act - in this case, having consensual sex with her 12-year-old boyfriend. The girl was put in this odd position be
Read more