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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Harry Potter: The Controversy

I've only read the first three books in the Harry Potter series. The beginning of the fourth was so disturbing I set it aside and have not picked it up again. I began to read the books because of the controversy over whether they introduce children to the occult. And, of course, they do. Are they dangerous? I believe they can be. Think of the children you see dressed in gothic attire and sporting tattoos, body piercings, and freakish hair colors and styles. I think "games" like Dungeons and Dragons and books like Harry Potter have real potential to damage these children further. What do you think?

Here's an article you might find interesting after watching the video below. Rowlings certainly seems to have an intimate knowledge of the occult. Did she gain it researching her books or has she actually practiced the black arts? Is the book dangerous to the formation of conscience? Can it undermine children's ability to make good moral decisions? There is so much good reading out there, should parents steer their children away from Harry Potter? Join the debate. What do you think?

10 comments:

  1. Here are some articles that discuss the very solid Christian foundation that underlies the worldview of J.K. Rowling, who is a classically educated, life-long member of the Church of Scotland and not remotely a "dabbler in the occult." These kinds of false insinuations have no basis in fact, and no place in Christian dialogue when she has repeatedly stated that she is a Christian. Simple, basic charity demands that she be taken at her word. The Harry Potter series is solidly in the tradition of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Our family has been greatly blessed by the many discussions of the Christian imagery in these books and the many beautiful presentations of sacrifice, redemption, and heroic virtue they contain.

    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/julyweb-only/130-12.0.html

    http://townhall.com/columnists/jerrybowyer/2007/08/21/harry_potter_and_the_great_relearning/page/full/

    http://townhall.com/columnists/jerrybowyer/2007/08/01/harry_potter_and_the_fire_breathing_fundamentalists/page/full/

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  2. Michael D. O'Brien who wrote Landscape of Dragons about the corruption of images in literature would disagree with you. His article is at http://www.familylifecenter.net/article.asp?artId=152

    Another interesting article, by National Catholic Register's movie reviewer, Steven D. Greydanus, is a balanced discussion of Harry Potter vs. Narnia and Lord of the Rings. He makes a number of sharp distinctions between the Potter books and those by Lewis and Tolkein. http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/magic.html
    He presents clear evidence of the "hedges" that Lewis and Tolkein put around their presentation of magic to protect readers that are missing in Rowling's work.

    As for Rowling's Christianity, what exactly does that mean? There are many nominal Christians today who do not believe what Jesus Christ taught. The Church of Scotland, Rowling's professed denomination, recently voted to allow gay and lesbian ministers and is debating blessing civil unions. Homosexual relations are directly condemned by the Bible, so how Christian is the church?

    Rowling apparently would have no problem with that since she publicly stated that Dumbledore, the icon of wisdom and intelligence in the series, is homosexual. What exactly was her purpose, especially given the promotion of sodomy acceptance across the culture?

    There certainly are elements of goodness in Harry and his friends. Who would care about them if they were identical to the villains? But the books also present the moral position that the end justifies the means. And that is a serious problem which you have not addressed. Truly Christian literature defends moral truth. Harry Potter confuses it.

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  3. I pray God's blessings on you, and honor your intention to defend against what you perceive (I believe incorrectly) to be an attack of some sort. I hope only that you can recognize that those who disagree with you on this particular literary issue are not by default either ignorant fools, or compromisers of the faith once delivered. I have read the entire series and love it precisely for it's very purposeful reflection of the great redemption story.

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  4. I agree with Michael O'Brien of studiObrien and other Catholic and Evangelical Christian writers who are against this book for the most part. I believe "Harry Potter" comes up short when compared to the Narnia Series and "The Lord of the Rings". For one thing, "Harry Potter", from what I have read about it, seems to undermine parental authority, and although "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" from the Nania series has magic in it, the witch and witchcraft are considered evil in the story. Those are just a few of the differences. When I worked at a public school as an instructional assistant, I read and donated the Narnia series to the school library, but I would not use "Harry Potter" with my students. As far as I am concerned, it is just too involved with the occult and gives witchcraft a good name which it does not deserve. I could not watch the movies since they seemed too dark and despressing to me.

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  5. Another important difference that the Narnia books and the "Lord of the Rings" have from the Potter books is that the human heroes never use magic in the first two series of books, whereas in the Potter books they do. Also in the first two series of books examples of the dangers of magic for humans are given.

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  6. Thank you for sharing the video. The reference Father was making to sit-coms was also right-on. I have a book on my "to-read" list called "Primetime Propaganda", or "The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took over your TV". Devastating analysis probing seemingly innocuous shows like "Get Smart", "Mary Tyler Moore", as well as more recent shows. NEA and Hollywood certainly collaborated not only to dumb the public down, but to twist them leftward, in the last few decades.

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  7. The whole magic and occult thing tends to be overdone I think. Satan is Lord of the world and a liar from the beginning, but we are not under Satan's thumb. I am reminded of Glenda's question: "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" from the Wizard of Oz.

    Magic in Potter and no less in Narnia or Middle Earth is a power that is not necessarily evil. Like all powers it can be used for good or used for evil. A gun (for example) is a magic metal thrower. When you understand the magic then it doesn't seem to be magic any more. But in reality we are all magic and all surrounded by magic. It has just become dulled through everyday expectations. How is it possible that I can see or imagine or write or draw ... there is altogether too much taken for granted because accustomed.

    The Harry Potter world contain good and evil as does the Narnia world and the Middle Earth world. The magic (the mysterious and wonderful) are presented in each and there are sinister possibilities in each as well.

    In the final analysis all of these are about the struggle between good and evil, forces outside the purview of magic. Good will win in the end, but that doesn't mean that evil doesn't have its day. I think it is wrong to label any of these brilliant works as bad because they depict magic or evil. We simply don't live in a Polly Anna world and you can't confront what you do not know. Evil is real, difficult, often mistaken by it's own practitioners as good. Plato thought we all acted for the good as we know it. I don't know for sure if that is true, but some imagine evil is good and some have no difficulty doing evil to other so long as they acquire some particular good in the process.

    A book doesn't become popular unless it speak eloquently to the human heart. I don't know if the Harry Potter books will show the sustainability of Middle Earth and Narnia ... we shall see. But demonizing them I think is wrong.

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  8. Personally, I've read the books and,for the most part, enjoyed them, though I can see where people would have a problem with them. If a child has not been grounded in the Christian faith, these books could most definitely lead to an interest in the occult. If the Holy Spirit in not within their hearts, something else will fill the void. I’m also very disappointed that Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was homosexual which was completely unnecessary to the story line. Where is it in the Bible about a “millstone around the neck" for for anyone who deliberately corrupts a child?

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  9. I mostly agree with you, Ray, except for your comment that books only becoming popular if they "speak eloquently to the human heart." Some become popular (pornography, for example) because they speak to human lust which I think is more located in the genitals and perverse imaginings in the brain.

    Siobhan, I agree with you about the possible danger to children not grounded in the Christian faith. Certainly the poor young men who committed murder and suicide at Columbine were influenced by vicious video games and movies.

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  10. I think people today really are being deceived by the devil and I like this article on Harry Potter:

    http://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/d003ht.htm

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