Pope versus potter.

The church has never really been happy with Harry Potter and I always imagined that its because of all the hocus pocus involved and the number of children who actually believe it. That was until I read an article about a certain future pope being opposed to the stories because they blur the line between good and evil.

In all fairness, he didn't actually say exactly that. What he did was endorse a book Harry Potter- good or evil? by a German writer. That book claims that 'the Potter books corrupt the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a properly ordered sense of good and evil, thus harming their relationship with God while that relationship is still in its infancy'.

That writer is either so smart she sees things that I cannot possibly see, or very, very naive. This is what I think of the world. Its a relentless sea of gray where we are all asked to make moral choices on a regular basis. There is no right or wrong; only what we perceive as right or wrong. Some people tell me that I have a fucked up moral compass. Some call me a heartless bastard incapable of pity. I don't really think I'm one.

I think that good and evil is a very lazy way to think of the world. It saves you the trouble of finding exactly where you stand on an issue because it narrows everything down to two options. Yes or no. Nothing in between. I used to think like that as a child, thanks to a steady diet of Enid Blyton and Disney. Debating beat those beliefs up pretty badly, and now, I still slightly resent the people who fed me stories that have very attractive and likable protagonists and butt ugly and repulsive antagonists. I can still feel the effects of those years of conditioning till now. I subconsciously expect every asshole I meet to be instantly unlikable and my subconscious takes a bit of a jolt when I find that nice people turning out to be dicks and bitches.

Sure, when we read a story, we want someone to cheer for. I'm not against that at all. All I'm saying is that a good dose of reality for children isn't really a bad thing. Every hero can have a dark side, just like how every villain can have a good side. Its never too early to realize this.