(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)A school district in Tennesee has banned all Harry Potter books, the popular series written by J.K. Rowling. The move comes after Catholic priests gave school officials a warning about the content of the novels. You don’t want to miss this.
A Roman Catholic school in Tennesee has banned all Harry Potter books, which are wildly popular in the United States, and which were made into high-budget Hollywood movies. The Harry Potter franchise is worth a whopping $25 billion dollars reports Entertainment Weekly.
“The Reverend Dan Reehill explained his decision in an email to the parents of students at St Edward Catholic School in Nashville, declaring that he had consulted with exorcists in the US and at the Vatican before outlawing the seven-volume tale of the boy wizard’s career at Hogwarts and his battle against Lord Voldermort and the forces of darkness,” reports The Independent.
“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text,” the Reverend Reehill wrote.
Skeptics are mocking Father Reehill’s decision.
Even the article in The Independent couldn’t believe Father Reehill wrote that “in all seriousness.” However, one of the most renown Exorcists in the United States, Father Chad Ripperger, who is also a noted theologian has given dire warnings to parents about J.K. Rowling’s famous book series.
In this YouTube video, Father Chad Ripperger lays out a few eye-opening facts about Harry Potter books. First, people should be aware that even though J. K. Rowling denies that she’s a witch, she went to “witch school” before writing the books, he said, which could explain why so many of the spells in the books are real spells.
“How do we know that? Well, witches tell us they’re real,” Ripperger said.
As an example, he told the audience about a woman in Spain who decided to try one of the spells for fire that is included in one of the books, and it burned her house to the ground.
Personally speaking, he has had to exorcise three children who all read the Harry Potter books.
Exorcists have told him that as many as 60 percent of the names in the Potter books are the names of demons who have been exorcized out of people. He is personally familiar with a case of possession in which the person was possessed by five demons who claim they were the spirits who inspired J. K. Rowling to write the books.
“Demons are always looking to get the glory,” Ripperger explained. “What is glory? It’s a manifestation of excellence, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. And they get glory in this life by their name being pronounced under certain circumstances – obviously, when you’re talking about subjugating Satan he’s not getting any glory out of it – but when their names are pronounced, they can say to their buddies, ‘look my name is up there.'”
“That’s one of the reasons why every time you read these books or pronounce those words – without being in the proper context – you’re actually giving glory to them,” added the Exorcist. “For this reason, I tell people, ‘avoid it.’ All the other exorcists I know that are experienced, are very clear, stay away from it.”
Father Ripperger also makes the distinction between the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien, who was a practicing Catholic, and the Harry Potter series.
“In Tolkein the magic was a literary device,” Father Ripperger said. When the wizard Gandalf “does something magical he isn’t glorifying himself.” It was just noted “that something beyond the natural means was needed to happen, but with J.K. Rowlings it’s made to be so glorious and so enticing.”
Father Ripperger was trained in exorcism in Rome by the Vatican’s most renowned course taught by experienced exorcists. The majority of priests who become exorcists are called to do so by their Bishop. They do not volunteer for such a difficult ministry.
The exorcist also says the children growing up in the current horrendous spiritual condition of society today surely are vulnerable to “a spirit of paganism due to the sexual depravity” evident around us today. But he also gives us hope claiming he has seen children with some of the extraordinary graces.
“Exorcists know that the introduction into the occult is almost always accomplished through immorality, especially immorality in the areas of the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. Once a person has fully indulged himself in those areas, the demons begin leading the individual down a path toward the worship of demons and involvement in demonic activity such as witchcraft,” wrote Father Ripperger.
“Extraordinary graces appear to be given to the children of this younger generation which have rarely been seen,” said Father Ripperger. He claims God bestows each generation with the grace needed to combat the evils of that generation. This is why he is seeing a variety of young children who are drawn to prayer life, who want to “fast and give penance,” and it has blown him away. Father Ripperger’s YouTube videos on Exorcism, Spiritual Warfare, and Demonology have garnered tens of thousands of views.
