The Third Coming of Harry Potter

[Jim B]

[Thought I would bring this discussion from another forum.]

I am interested in your opinions on Harry Potter. The third movie in the series is due out next week.

I am pasting an article below that takes a different slant on the subject than what I usually hear from Christians and would be interested in your views.

Why Is Everyone
So Wild
About Harry? ​

A plea for a more balanced approach to the Harry Potter dispute​

Hey, personally, I am not so wild about Harry Potter myself. You would probably say that I am more, umm, apathetic on the subject. Indifferent, that is, compared to the fits of fury that has gripped some of my friends when Harry’s name crops up. Having watched the ebb and flow of opposition among conservative Christian circles against the bespeckled but beguiling little Potter guy, I am surprised by my ambivalence on the subject. My friends are foaming at the mouth and telling me that I should be denouncing the pubescent little wizard from the pulpit, maybe even carrying a placard outside a bookstore or theater or, if I were as committed to Christ as they are, perhaps I should be writing yet another book against the sweet little guy. At the very least, my apathy is part of the problem. I should be mounting a crusade.

But, personally, I just don’t get it. I’m having trouble understanding what all the fuss is about.

Along about the fifth release in the Potter series, one ministry called for a national prayer vigil at midnight on the release date, declaring that “curses will be released, especially against children. That's why we need to pray at midnight.” Furthermore, the ministry claimed, “As witches are commanding spirits into the earth's realm, we Christians need to set up the force field of God in binding those spirits from being released." The spokesperson even claimed that because of their personal anti-Potter efforts in their own hometown, their ministry was so effective that theirs “was the only city in the country that forbid the Harry Potter books in public libraries.” This is the same evangelist who has gained notoriety traveling the country in a 30-foot Winnebago called “The Demon Buster.” Don’t laugh. She has a following in the thousands and has “appeared on every major Christian network there is.” As is always the case when controversy arises, someone captures the spotlight and seeks a platform to exploit the hullabaloo for all it’s worth.

But, having seen variations of this tactic played out dozens of times before, my cynical side suspected a tape series in the works or yet another sensation-exploiting book arising out of the turmoil and arriving on store shelves along with all the media attention it will garner.

However, the mass exodus of our children from the faith into witchcraft that Berit Kjos, in an online article entitled “Harry Potter Lures Kids to Witchcraft with Praise from Christian Leaders,” predicted would happen in the wake of Harry Potter simply has yet to materialize. In fact, the furor over Harry of a couple of years ago has died out almost completely. There seems to be very little marshalling of troops as the third Ptter movie, “Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Having said that, I know I am throwing down a gauntlet and (as much of an oxymoron as it may be) I know I can be expecting some good old-fashioned Christian hate mail on this issue, demanding I take sides (i.e. their side). Either I’m with ‘em or I’m against ‘em in their crusade against Harry Potter.

Charles Colson received a good share of Christian venom after a Break Point broadcast in which he had the chutzpa to write an article "in defense of Harry Potter." He was summarily burned at the stake (metaphorically, of course) and probably wishes he had kept his mouth shut. After all, that’s what "go-for-the-jugular" rebuttals, book-burnings and library-bannings are designed to do -- shut your dissenting mouth. One writer even inferred, if not blatantly charged, that Colson, because of his religiously-incorrect views, was "showing his true [antichristian] colors." Other epithets I have read aimed at demonizing dissenters who do not share anti-Harry concerns include taunting phrases like "so-called Christians," "blind guides," "satanic," "blasphemous," "judas iscariots," among others. That kind of name-calling is uncalled for and could even be called unchristian itself.
Unless I have misread the scriptures, we are supposed to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12.21), not with malice and hostility, placards and book burnings, hate mail and letters to the editor. Despite our differences on this issue, we must patiently seek "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4.3). The unbelieving world knows us by our love, but they are always aware and ready to point out our hostility when we breach the boundary of good manners.

Anyhow, here goes . . .

(article continued tomorrow)

 

[peanutbutter12]

I had a really nice post about this and other fantasy movies on the Panheads forum a while back, but it's long since been deleted durring a cleanup.

Personally, I don't care much for HP. But not because of what's in the story, but more because the plot wasn't complex enough for me. It was a movie for children. I have yet to see the second and I will be seeing the third at a privite screening this week. I've heard the plot has grown up a lot so I'm really anticipating seeing it.

As for the faith view, I think Xians simply needed something else to call the bigger evil. They needed somewhere to put the blame for the problems of the world. Where better than a fake fantasy movie that deals in fake magic?

I've heard all the gripes and complains about how even fake magic is bad and it deals in "white magic" and things like that. People seriousely need a clue and to do some research. In reality, no one rides on broomsticks and shoots fireballs from their hands. It just doesn't happen. And I've even heard people use the excuse that "well, my kids will all want to be magicians and it will get them into witchcraft"... well that says a lot about their parenting skills then, doesn't it?

It's about maturity. From a young age, people should be taught the difference between reality and fantasy to they can discern the difference between the two. But it also shouldn't be done in a way to keep a child from having an imagination. There is nothing wrong with that and to keep a child from it is very unhealthy. But instead, teach them that the things in the movie aren't real.

One of the best things I've seen to come from these books is that it's getting kids away from the tv and getting them to read. The more kids read, the more they expand their mind and interests. I've been reading fantasy books from a young age, and I love them. They can take you to different worlds and see different cultures born and grow. Go to far away lands and see different life forms like elves and goblins. See things that you can't even dream of.

As for the church being against the book, I bet there are some people making money from it. How many people have made books and movies against the HP series? Someone's bank account is a little bigger as their morality shrinks. I don't think it's all about the wallet, either. As I said, they wanted something to complain about. There is no truth to the statments they toss. As stated above, how many kids have converted to witchcraft because of HP? -0-. I think if kids knew what true witchcraft was, they would be eminently bored with it anyway because it's not all about fireballs and flying.

When I was younger, I watched movies like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Labyrinth" and not once did I hear a complaint about those movies from the church. If anything, they are the same type of fantasy worlds as HP. It's just people looking for something to complain about, people love to complain...

CJ

 

[but'n'ben]

It was released in the UK yesterday and I took my litte bro and sis along to see it. I have to say I totally enjoyed it. I don't find it worrying at all the children like the Harry Potter or what he represents. (The idea of witchcraft) I know it goes against Christain ideals. Persoanlly I'd rather have my brother and sister watching a film about a boy fighting against evil than what they usually see on TV nowadays, ie blood, swearing. Gay sex was heavily indicated and gay kissing was shown on TV not too long ago, BEFORE the 9 pm watershed. I'd rather they watched Potter than that.

I admire JK Rowling for suceeding in getting children to pick up a book nowadays, when their lives revolve around playstations and TV. I mean, it's not like the books are thin and easy going. She's done something which very few authors would have suceeded in doing.

Harry Potter doesn't promote satanism, evil, or anything like that. Not directly anyway. Compared to what children are into nowadays, Harry Potter is nothing to worry about. Look at PS2 games like Vice City and State Of Emergency. These games score you on how many people you can kill in a certain time.

For people to campaign to ban HP books is ridiculous. Why aren't they banning action man with his weapons, or Barbie with her revealing clothes, or Pokemon with its fighting, or playstation games with their violence.... Harry Potter is no where near as bad as some of the things kids are into nowadays. If I had children, I'd much rather they sat down and read it than played Grand Theft Auto to pass the time.

 

[rachelg2004]

I don't really think Harry Potter is BAD depending on how you approach the subject. Yes it does deal with magic and somewhat witchcraft environment. If you read the books and watch the movies believing that it isn't the real world and don't take it literally I think it's ok.

 

[zoe_uu]

I'm looking forward to the 3rd movie, but would rather have the 6th book instead.

 

[feral]

I am quite looking forward to the movie, being an obsessive HP fan (can't you tell?). Sirius Black is my favorite character so I'm especially pleased about this movie.

Personally, I think Christians have bigger things to worry about. If you don't like the movies and books - either they don't interest you or you are concerned about content, then don't purchase them. I think making such a big hype only attracts more attention and makes your children more desperate to see it. If instead of making a fuss, protesting and having prayer vigils parents just substituted a different interesting series, or read the books with their child to explain fantasy versus reality it would be much less a deal.

I started getting interested in the series when I was working at Barnes and Noble. All the kids and adults flocking in to buy made me think it would be too mass market and childish for me to enjoy. However, when the first movie was released and there were protests, pickets and bannings of books in school I started getting interested and wanting to see the film to spite the protestors. I read the first two books, went to the movie and immediately upon leaving the theatre ran out to buy the third book and the "Quidditch Through the Ages" book. Anti-Potter hype was the only reason I investigated at first - now I love the books and have read each one probably 5 times or more, am a fanfic writer and own the first two films on dvd. I was surprised to discover how many adults are hooked as well...and a lot for the same reasons - frantic anti-Potter rhetoric made them curious.

Oh, and I agree with Veggie.

 

[Jim B]

Continuation of article from #1

Is Harry dangerous?​

Is Harry dangerous? I would answer, yes and no. Yes, of course unsupervised and impressionable children can be influenced by negative input - of all kinds - from Saturday morning cartoons to Dungeons and Dragons, Gameboys to Ouija boards. It’s a sad fact we have to face in this high-tech postmodern culture - we cannot shield our children from every negative stimulus. Children without the discernment that maturity brings can certainly be led astray by Harry Potter . . . or anything else for that matter. Some people can misuse even the Bible in support of almost any cause or belief. So, yes, Harry Potter can be dangerous. But so can Grimm’s fairy tales - and for that matter Disney’s Fantasia (in which Mickey was, after all, a sorcerer’s apprentice), The Wizard of Oz, and even Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia - for those who are not discriminating or are hyper-impressionable.

However, we can carry our zeal to protect our families too far. Take this ungracious and less-than-Christlike indictment for example which charges that "the author of Harry Potter is nothing but a proselytizing witch." That’s a serious, and probably unfounded, charge. Actually, it’s just plain old name-calling, but not at all unusual in these kinds of emotionally-fueled debates. Despite accusations from conservative Christians, the author of Harry Potter, Ms. J. K. Rowling, has straightforwardly stated for the record that she is not a witch with a diabolical hidden agenda to corrupt our kids. ''I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft,” she said in an interview. ''I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children now, and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, 'Ms. Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch.' They see it for what it is. It is a fantasy world and they understand that completely." Of course, such a defense falls on the deaf ears of the truly committed witch hunter.

From my own (and admittedly less-than-scientific) poll on the matter, it turns out that I may be one of the few conservative Christian critics of Harry Potter to have actually read one of the books. I also saw the movies (for the record, I have also seen Lord of the Rings). Because I actually took the time to investigate it for myself, I hope my appraisal is tempered by a more objective and unprejudiced view. At the least, I hope my reaction to it is less of a knee-jerk conformity to the more vocal conservative anti-Harry Christian viewpoint. If Harry Potter is dangerous, I certainly want to know it - first-hand - and not be guilty of group-think or spoon-fed what I am to believe by those with an agenda or a book to sale. I do not want to be influenced by others opinions on the matter or by books which, I sometimes suspect, are written to capitalize on the hysteria they have created from yet another crusade. I am not naive enough to dismiss the fact that anti-Harry books have generated a nice little cottage industry for some writers and publishers. Unfortunately, at least as I view it, Christian publishers have learned from their mainstream counterparts that controversy is marketable.

Let every word be established​

Furthermore, my memory is not so fleeting that I have forgotten those catastrophic, even apocalyptic, Y2K predictions that dominated bookshelves and airwaves such a short time ago. Christians who bought into the Y2 hysteria spawned by the as yet unrepentant doomsayers, selfishly stockpiled supplies in their basements and attics in anticipation of an imminent world techno-economic collapse. Once the furor passed and the prophesied destruction failed to emerge, still not a single Y2K doomsayer, to my knowledge, apologized for their false predictions and the hysteria it produced – not even the ones who offered their prophecies in the “name of the Lord.”

I, too, have, I am embarrassed to admit, been caught up in some of these reactive responses to things like, for example, the infamous but bogus Madelyn Murray O’Hair petitions and other equally fallacious Christian urban legends and hoaxes. I as once convinced that the Rapture of the Church must occur before 1982. I had charts and mathematical calculations (all based on scripture, of course) to prove it.

Or who can forget the Siberian hole in hell with recordings of the anguished cries of the damned that circulated in our churches and was played on our Christian radio stations for the ever-gullible ears of activist Christians? Thousands rushed to buy tapes so their unsaved friends could hear the torments of hell.

Is it any wonder the Lord calls us sheep?

Perhaps the most shameful urban legend of all, in my opinion, were those hateful rumors circulated (unfortunately, in churches via video) regarding the alleged complicity of former President Clinton in murder-for-hire and nefarious international drug dealing. Despite one’s politics or one’s feelings regarding the personal scandals surrounding the life of Bill Clinton, those same Ten Commandments we so fervently want to see posted in our schools and courtrooms instructs us to “not bear false witness" against others. And the Word of God we so earnestly defend plainly tells us, "You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people" (Acts 23.5). Ignoring the truth we so adamantly defend, and allowing our politics to cloud our judgment, Christians, to our everlasting shame, hopped on the Clinton-bashing bandwagon and accused him of things for which we still had no proof. To his credit, Jerry Falwell recanted his complicity in such unfounded charges and stopped publication of the video. Unfortunately, though, I have yet to hear any retractions or repentance from the Christian media and churches that published, propagated, or aired those vicious and unsupported charges. In my opinion, the propagators are just as culpable as the instigators themselves.

Scripture insists that we "prove all things" (1 Thess. 5.21) - not that we fall for all things.

Rich Buhler, who catalogs and investigates Christian urban legends on his website at TruthorFiction.com, writes, "I don't fault every person who spreads a rumor; not every person has the time or money or expertise to look into it," Buhler says. "But I do fault the publishers and broadcasters, no matter how small they are; even if it's a church bulletin. Anybody who publishes or broadcasts has a responsibility to put time into checking something out." Buhler says that if a story can't be verified, it should not be repeated, or it should at least include a disclaimer that the story is unsubstantiated. "The investigation into [a] rumor is not intended to question the Bible,’ Buhler says, "but rather to clarify [an] unsubstantiated and apparently fabricated . . . story." The issue, he says, is truth. "The standard of truth should be the same everywhere: Is something true or is it not?" Buhler says. "But the stakes are very high for Christians because of whom we represent. We certainly don't want to be incredible when telling our very credible story about Christ."

(article continued tomorrow)

 

[jhollas]

No, I don't think Harry Potter is dangerous at all.
So there's magic in it, so what? I can't spot one thing in the books or the film that flies directly in the face of Christianity.
The point is, it's entertainment, and nothing more. If we as Christians decided to boycott every piece of entertainment that may have something that slightly goes against Christian ideals in any way... there wouldn't be much left to be entertained with.

 

[anastasiotrey]

I'm glad that my little brother devours Harry Potter books, most are over 500 pages, instead of letting his mind rot in front of the television.

 

[MissRowboat]

I personally don't like Harry Potter. But not because of any religious convictions. I'm just not into the fantasy books.

And I don't think that JK Rowling is trying to ruin children's minds. In fact, a girl at my school did her thesis on how the HP books don't threaten Christianity. I had only heard one side of the story, that HP was the devil and going to be the ruination of kids. But I know to never form an opinion on these kind of things without hearing the other side. And Kathleen's thesis was far more convincing that HP wasn't a threat to Christianity than "AH! HP IS SATAN!"

And that's my opinion.

 

[wonder111]

I know too many little kids who love this series and have not been effected in a negative way at all. They are also not into witchcraft I'm glad there is some imagination in it. Someone else mentioned the labryinth, that was probably my favourite movie as a kid

 

[theFijian]

I saw the movie last monday, I thought it was better than the first two. It had a much darker feel to it and the acting of come of the child stars had noticably improved.

I am always amazed when conservative christians foam at the mouth at things like Harry Potter, LOTR etc, they see fantasy stories about the battle between good and evil as more of a danger to society than the pervasive materialism so many of them spend their lives chasing after.

Andy

 

[katherinethegreat]

everyone just needs to calm down about it. it is not evil. it has not taught me to go become a Wiccan..this website and other exposure to "christian values" have shaken my belief in the Christian faith more than anything...the important thing it yeah..kids want this book to be real, they want to do all this fun stuff...i know when i was five and six i wanted to have magical powers to i could clean my room up with the snap of my fingers..and even now i wish i had the power to stop time so i could get a few extra hours of my much loved sleep, but the fact is, my parents went through this with me at a young age and told me there is no such thing as the "magic" proclaimed about in the book or in the movie...there is "magick" but that is not even close...

plus i think many christians still have a very midevil attitude towards witches...most of the stories about witches was made up by the catholic chruch in the midevil times...many of the people burned for those crimes were innocent..they were jsut midwives who knew too much about herbs, or an old mady with a wart on her nose that never married because she did not feel inclined to...todays "witches" are not devil worshippers..they are just pagans..they are a group of people who do not believe in the same thing we do...

so on that note..why would we hate harry potter? in no ways at all do they bring in wiccan ideals..the characters celebrate Christmas..in no way at all is there animal or human sacrifice...(wiccans don't do that anyways) so wy hate it..if anytihng it teaches kids the difference between right and wrong..in fact it has a very christian message..to fight against evil, and that even if you are a small child, you can still help in the fight.

and then the whole thing where it gets kinds to read! that is so important in this day and age. people complain about their kids reading harry potter but they will sit them in front of a tv all day...maybe once the kids read harry potter they will find their love of reading and begin to read other books..like oh! maybe the bible..or some of the classics..because i know that when i finished reading the first book the next booki wanted to read was the satanic bible plus if you hate harry potter then you should be talking about horrible friends is on tv..there is funs of sex on that, but i am sure they would let their kids watch it..
i think they need to pick their right battles and this is not one of them..j.k. rowlings has already said she was not even aware that there was still witches today

so everyone calm down

on a lighter not..i agree with veggie too...SIXTH BOOK NOW...third movie later!

 

[LadyDJ]

Personally, I'm rather grateful for Harry Potter those stories opened up the world of books to my oldest who hated reading. Now she'd rather read than watch TV, I see that as a very good influence and not once has she ever commented on the books or movies as something other than the fiction they are. So far my youngest seems to be intimidated by the size of the books and is reluctant to start reading them, but she's seen the movies and has no problem with them (although I'm considering holding the 3rd movie for ransom to get her to read one of the books first...eh, it worked with the oldest on the 1st movie...it might work again) lol

 

[violetstar]

I feel this movie is great for mature people that will not be influence by it, it is not for eight and ten year olds.

 

[peanutbutter12]

We saw it last night. It was better than the first two but the story is still too thin for my liking. Rating: 6/10

CJ

 

[Jim B]

Continuation of article from #7

Crying “wolf”​

When we persistently cry “wolf” when no wolf is there, who is going listen when one really does arrive? To mix a metaphor, we look like passengers on a ship of fools. When the focus of our energies and the crux of our message is on such ridiculous rumors and groundless anxieties as children’s fantasies like Harry Potter – or, for that matter, those endless Madelyn Murray O’Hare petition drives, holes in hell audio tapes, “proofs” of Proctor & Gamble’s satanic logo and mission, subliminal Microsoft messages revelations that Bill Gates is the Antichrist, recurring rumors of a mysterious vanishing hitchhiker, likenesses of Jesus (or the Virgin Mary) in cloud formations and screen doors, NASA computers proving Joshua’s long day, and the like - who is going to believe us when we offer Jesus Christ to them as the Savior of the world?

Didn’t the Apostle write, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Cor. 14.8).

So, having been burned a time or two, I feel a need these days to investigate things like Harry Potter for myself before I buy into the hysteria.

Having done so, I am prepared to say that, frankly, I found little of the dangers so widely reported about the Harry Potter books and movies. Despite dire prophecies, our children are not joining covens en masse, as was forecast, nor are they casting spells on their parents as was widely foretold. Much as it was on January 1, 2000 (the day after the prophesied Y2K collapse), and the dawn of 1983 (the year after the one in which I once believed Christ would return), I am beginning to believe that the Potter predictions may have been wrong and am disappointed in myself to have fallen prey to any hysteria they created. I am waiting for an admission that they were wrong from those who propagated – and continue to propagate - these fabrications. Unfortunately, those who continue to condemn Harry Potter have yet to admit that the predicted bewitching of our children has not occurred. Few have apologized for misleading us after Y2K, so why should we expect an apology regarding Potter now?

Which is witch?​

In addition, theologically, I have serious doubts that the witchcraft and sorcery portrayed in movies and in the popular culture bears any resemblance to the witchcraft condemned in scripture. What we popularly view as witchcraft may be the creation of screenwriters and retailers, fantasy instead of fact. We may be talking about apples and oranges, or some hybrid of both, when we are attacking modern depictions of “witchcraft.” The Witch of Endor probably did not ride on a broom or wear a pointed hat or mix frogs and bat’s wings in a cauldron. Our distorted view of wizardry is more a product of Shakespeare’s McBeth, contemporary movies, and Halloween marketers than scripture. So, when we attack Harry Potter we may, in fact, be attacking a straw man. We may, ourselves, have been deceived by the culture (or Satan) to shadowbox demons that are not there. The modern term "witch" is an elastic, ill-defined term that has come to mean almost anything having to do with the occult.

Apart from the Biblical view of the subject, other views have influenced our modern perception of witchcraft. One comes from the Middle Ages when Roman Catholics, and even Protestants during the Reformation, identified "witches" by various superstitious criteria and condemned many supposed "witches" to death. In Salem Colony, they got it all wrong, didn’t they? Another view comes from those in our modern world who identify themselves as Wiccans, Satanists, Celts, Pagans, and others, none of which feel that Harry Potter resembles, much less represents, their beliefs. Their definitions of themselves, which has influenced our perceptions of what witchcraft is, have also clouded the Biblical view of witches and witchcraft.

Even the popular media has obscured our understanding of truth. We sometimes tend to associate witchcraft with Sabrina, Buffy, Bewitched, Charmed, McBeth, Oz, Fantasia, and even Harry Potter. It could be that we are aiming at the wrong target and jousting windmills when we throw down on poor old Harry Potter.

As interesting and important as this subject is, it is not our purpose to debate the biblical definition of witchcraft and will gladly leave that for another discussion. And I am not saying that Wicca and other modern forms of paganism are not dangerous, I am simply making a point that we may not have our enemy clearly in focus when we identify Harry Potter as an example of the witchcraft portrayed and condemned in scripture.

(conclusion of article tomorrow)

 

[Jim B]

(article continued from #17)

Another (and more constructive) approach​

Connie Neal, I think, offers a more constructive and balanced view of the Harry Potter issue. Mrs. Neal is a Christian mother and author who decided to join the Potter fray in 1999 with her book, The Gospel According to Harry Potter and later with, What’s a Christian to Do with Harry Potter? Her approach has won the admiration of many Christian leaders, Chuck Colson, Ted Olsen, Madeleine L’Engle and the editorial staff of Christianity Today among them.

The following online account is from GospelCom.net:

When Connie Neal settled onto a sofa in her family room with a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on her lap, the Christian author and lecturer steeled herself for the plunge into a world of mysticism and magic she was certain would clash with her beliefs.

Three Harry Potter books later, Neal adores the bespectacled kid wizard - and he has become one of her greatest evangelization tools.

"I thought I was reading the book to explain to my kids why they shouldn't read it," said Neal. "Once I had made [the] distinction for my kids about the fantasy world versus our real world, I realized these books were so rich and really had lessons that directly connected to the Bible."

Take the story of how Harry becomes an orphan.

In the first book, Harry's mother dies when she throws herself between her son and the curse of death that Lord Voldemort has thrown at Harry to kill him. The curse is broken, and Harry doesn't die.

"It's a beautiful picture of the protection from evil that we have because of what Christ did for us on the cross when he broke the curse of death," Neal said.

Or take author J.K. Rowling's portrayal of Dudley, Harry's jealous cousin.

"He's a good example of someone who was covetous, so I'd talk to my kids about his selfishness and gluttony, and then we'd discuss how the Bible says we're not supposed to be a covetous person," she said.

And Professor Gilderoy Lockhardt, who is vain and selfish, is a character parents can use to teach what the Bible has to say about arrogance and ambition, she said.

Neal concedes that those lessons are easy enough to overlook and have been by critics who have slammed the Potter stories as too cozy with the occult - anti-Christian, even.

"To a large extent, we let other people think for us" on certain issues, said Neal, a youth leader at her church and former youth pastor. But this issue is "too personal" to let someone else decide whether your children should read the books. "You have to know your own child, whether this will scare them, whether they are sophisticated enough to understand the distinction between fantasy and reality."

Each week, Neal gathered her husband and three children (ages 8, 10 and 15 at the time) in the family reading room of their Sacramento home for what developed into an open-to-the-neighborhood study class of Harry Potter and the Bible.

"As a Christian parent, I need to be able to put these books in the right context for my kids, so I . . . said: 'Here's how we're going to do it. We're going to pray before we read so we're not opening ourselves up to any deception," Neal said. If any chapter had occult elements, she would find a biblical passage to show her children why she believed those practices are forbidden.

Neal thinks Harry Potter is less a Satan in wizard's clothing and more the literary cousin of fairy-tale favorites like Cinderella.

So she approached the Harry Potter books by first teaching her children to understand fantasy literature. "We love 'The Wizard of Oz,' but my kids know there is no Glinda the Good Witch and that the Bible makes it clear that witchcraft is idolatry."

But the distinction between occultism and the literary devices of fantasy children's literature is lost on many Christian readers, Neal said. For example, if Rowling had named Harry's school the Hogwarts School of Magic and Mystery -- instead of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, which sounds like a pagan religion -- "you wouldn't have had this kind of hysteria in response."

"What most Christians don't get is that Rowling shows you the dangers of believing in things like divination and omens," she said. "You see the way that getting sucked into trusting those things brings danger."

Using the Potter tales as a springboard to the Gospels might seem strange at first, Neal concedes. But she points out that Jesus and Paul adopted similar tactics, using stories and examples from the culture of the time and relate them to their messages.

"We have a whole generation of kids who are biblically illiterate, so I share the Gospel story with them through things they can relate to, like Harry Potter or the Power Rangers," she said. "It may seem strange, but it shouldn't."

What’s a parent to do?​

With our grandsons caught up in the Harry Potter frenzy, we decided to take a more positive approach. We resolved, rather than lecture them on the imagined evils of Harry Potter and prod them to burn the Potter books, to take time to investigate it for ourselves. To our grandsons’ minds, this earned us the right to talk about it. Shooting in the dark is no way to hunt for witches or wizards. Had we been their parents we would have sat down with them (after we knew, firsthand, what we were talking about) and discussed what the Bible says about the occult, magic and witchcraft, then we would have taken them to the movie ourselves and afterward discussed what we had seen in the light of scripture.

From Connie Neal’s website she offers the following guidelines from Romans 14 to help defuse the Harry Potter debate and be more effective in our witness in helping others make better cultural and spiritual decisions.

--Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.
--Stop judging each other!
--Teach kids not to look down on Christians who have a different opinion.
--If a Christian assaults your position, be willing to discuss but refuse to argue. With differing perspectives and definitions, these quarrels go nowhere and become hurtful.
--Agree to disagree, knowing that each of us are accountable to the Lord.
--If you’re free to enjoy it, don’t flaunt your freedom or announce it to those with stricter limitations of conscience. Keep it between you and God.
--Don’t urge conscientious objectors to "try" Harry Potter. You could lead them to violate their conscience, and sin by doing so.
--If it’s lawful for you, make it profitable for God’s kingdom.

Whether or not you allow Harry Potter, share the gospel as a parallel to Harry’s story. Kids who enjoy Harry, will probably be open to Jesus’ story. Share it with them.

(end of article)

 

[Pastor_Benjamin]

Enough is Enough with the harry potter

 

[ptsofathrty]

I haven't read the books, but the movies are pretty good. They have great cinematography and a great story to them. The third I didn't think was as good as one and two, but I'm looking foward to the third, the fourth etc..