Catholic Fantasy Fiction

I have heard many criticisms of Fantasy Fiction in Catholic circles. There have been many blogs about Harry Potter and other fiction being immoral because of the magic involved. Even the pope, prior to his papacy, has spoken on Harry Potter, concerned about young readers and that:

It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly. 

Cardinal Ratzinger's concerns were correct. Having every wish fulfilled by the wave of a wand, is problematic for Christianity. There is no submission to the will of God in these acts. However, the courage and determination of Harry Potter to protect others shows the virtue of fortitude. So Harry Potter can be a mixed bag.

An important point to make, is that Pope Benedict has not spoken on the matter. Only Cardinal Ratzinger did. Thus the statements have no binding authority. They consist of a theological opinion, unless it can be shown that Pope John Paul II had approved the letters.

Full Disclosure
I am a Fantasy Fiction author. For those of you who do not know, I am the author of The Hammer of Justice, a fantasy novel with Catholic underpinnings (read deeply to see them, although some are more obvious). I have considered whether fantasy fiction is moral or not. It is very clear to me that it is, since it is fiction. If I were to portray it realistically, endorsing its practice, I would have failed. In fact, in my novel, I portray sorcerers as practicing evil and juxtapose good clerics against them.

Where I Draw the Line
I have a big problem with realistic magic, that was practiced by witches and sorcerers in that past, favorably portrayed. The Church has been clear about its condemnation of sorcery, and to even suggest that such practice is even morally neutral, is immoral in my book.

Thus Ex 22:18 condemned the sorceress to death without explanation. Lv 19:26 and 31 prohibited magic, astrology, necromancy and divination; Lv 20:27 added the calling up of spirits. Dt 18:10-11 summed this up by proscribing soothsayers, astrologers, magicians, sorcerers, charmers, those who summoned up ghosts or spirits and those who consulted the dead (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Christian Faith and Demonology).

Even J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed sorcerers as evil. The stronghold of Sauron, Dol Goldur (Hill of Sorcery), is described as a dark, evil stronghold. Sauron is, of course, the dark lord and archenemy of Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien, of course, is talked about on the Vatican website in a positive light. The challenge with sorcery is to make the word sorcery properly characterized as evil. What do you think?

Is Alabama's New Immigration Law an Immoral Law?

The New York Times would have you think so. However, the pope has already spoken on the matter:

Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity....States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person.

While he urges the bishops to support immigrants, he (see above) has also stated that nations have a right to defend their borders. For the simple, this is confusing, for the informed, it is clear. The pope is against illegal immigration. Keep in mind, he said defend the borders, not fling open the doors. However, as the Church has been clear, we should welcome the legal immigrants, while treating the illegal immigrants with dignity and respect while enforcing the law.

It is not surprising that the New York Times would support liberal, immoral actions regarding violators of the law. The pope, however, has a different view:

[Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens and endure all things and foreigners....They obey established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws....So noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed to desert it.

 This includes our Christian brothers and sisters from Mexico. Respect for the boundaries of the United States needs to be ingrained in foreign nationals.

In truth, the pope did not need to say this. Respect for the law is ingrained in Catholics who have been in the Church for a while, except for heterodox Catholics.

What do conservative Catholics want?  We want Mexicans to change their own Country, not illegally migrate.

If the leaders are corrupt, change them. If the powerful are abusive, jail them. If the drug cartels are murderous, capture or slay them. Do the right thing. Christian love begins at home.

Government Persecution of Catholics

It is accepted amongst many scholars that persecution of Catholics is on the uprise. Archbishop Dolan of New York and William Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut give good examples.

What the Obama Administration is doing, seems intentional according to Archbishop Dolan. This, after Notre Dame allowed the President to speak on its campus. It seems wisdom is sometimes lacking in Catholics. We are not supposed to give pro-abortionists a platform from which to speak, which makes them look legitimate in Catholic eyes.

Christians Persecute Christians
Perhaps, some Christians do not know the commission that Christ gave us, to preach the Gospel "Preach the Gospel to all Nations" (Matthew 28:19). However, recently, many Christians have tried to silence other Christians from preaching the Gospel. While, for Catholics, this applies only within your field of competency according to Christefidelis Laici. Certainly, any informed Catholic may give a basic Catechesis.

In my experience, some Catholics are trying not to rock the boat, any have silenced other Catholics from preaching the faith. Most often, these are cafeteria Catholics who do not take their faith seriously. Perhaps, many of these Catholics are wanting to preserve their income, over the sake of the Gospel.

Certainly, the virtue of prudence demands that one give due consideration to a proper time, method and place to preach the Gospel as John Paul II had stated:

This phenomenon [of cultural sensitivity] implies a particularly sensitive response which is entrusted to your own judgement and pastoral prudence.

However, total silencing of the preaching of the Gospel, has nothing to do with prudence. Even Pope Benedict XVI has called us to evangelize:

"We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for everyone, for every man and woman. ... It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received" (Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 2010).

Ongoing Persecution
More Christians have died in the Twentieth Century, due to persecution, than all centuries in the past combined. This often stated statistic seems overlooked by Catholics in the United States.  Some Christian Groups have called this the "Age of Martyrs." According to one set of statistics, 26 million Christians died in the 20th Century, compared to 14 million in all centuries before combined.

What would your answer be to deny your faith? Steve Centanni, of Fox News, was captured by Palenstinian Terrorists along with independent cameraman Olaf Wiig. As Olaf recounted it on Fox News, he told Centanni that the terrorists were planning to execute him if he did not take the Shihada, which is the muslim proclamation of faith.

Centanni stated:

We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and don't get me wrong here, I have the highest respect for Islam, and learned a lot of very good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do, because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the h**l was going on.

Centanni, if he was a Catholic, had an opportunity for matyrdom. He could have given an alternate Shihada instead of "There is one God and Muhammad is his prophet," he could have said:

There is one God, and He is Jesus Christ.

However, he did not. It is a sad dissappointment.

This just points to the loss of a sense of holiness in our culture and the growth of secularism. Certainly, sincere Catholics endeavor to be holy. I would hope they would all struggle to be Saints. However, persecution has only one true response: Saintliness.

However, there is someone who gave a different response. Mary of Egypt, "The Little Arab" was coerced to convert to Islam, but she refused. Her uncle wanted to marry her to a muslim. But Mary had a vision from the Blessed Virgin and would not go back on her promise. She suffered so much, in fact, that she was small from malnutrition. Mary, left her abusive uncle and worked for various families, eventually becoming a Discalced Carmelite Nun.  Mary, because her holy life, refused to convert to a false faith. Mary's uncle could have killed her, but she did not care. God was her all in all.

Today she is called St. Mary of Egypt. Several miracles are attributed to her. It all started by a simple refusal to submit to the coersion of muslims.

UPDATE
Bishop Aquila of North Dakota, stated that the Church may be persecuted in the future:

“We could see the possibility of it within the United States where we are no longer free to preach the truth from the pulpit or to present Catholic teaching."