Harry Potter and the Christian perspective

[Karleen Cole <kcole@lakefield.net>]

Dear LM_NETTERS,

Here is a commentary that some of you may find useful with certain
parents who are questioning the Harry Potter books.


> BreakPoint Commentary #91102 - 11/02/1999
> Witches and Wizards : The Harry Potter Phenomenon
> by Charles Colson
>
> If you have a youngster between the ages of seven and
> 13, chances are a boy named Harry Potter has moved in
> with you.  So have wizards and witches and dragons.
>
> Kids can't seem to get enough of the Harry Potter books,
> all three of which are currently riding the New York
> Times bestseller list. But some Christian parents are
> wondering if Harry and his friends are suitable
> playmates for their kids.
>
> Book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,
> has the orphaned Harry living with cruel relatives
> in an English suburb.  On his eleventh birthday,
> Harry discovers that he is a wizard, endowed with
> magical powers.  Harry is promptly dispatched to the
> Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he
> takes classes in magic, befriends other young witches
> and wizards, and learns the fine points of flying on a
> broomstick.
>
> In the just-published third book in the trilogy,
> Harry discovers that a wizard named Sirius Black has
> escaped from the Azkaban prison and is apparently
> trying to kill him.
>
> The books are enormously inventive, and include the
> kind of humor that makes many parents want to borrow
> the books from their kids.  But if you're the parent
> of a Harry Potter fan, you may be concerned about the
> elements of witchcraft in these books.
>
> It may relieve you to know that the magic in these
> books is purely mechanical, as opposed to occultic.
> That is, Harry and his friends cast spells, read
> crystal balls, and turn themselves into animals--but
> they don't make contact with a supernatural world.
>
> Other parents are concerned with the dark themes and
> violence in the books.  After all, Harry's parents
> are murdered in book one, and throughout the books,
> Harry is pursued by followers of a murderous wizard
> named Voldemort. But as the author, J. K. Rowling,
> points out, "the theme running through all of these
> books is the fight between good and evil."  The plots
> reinforce the theme that evil is real, and must be
> courageously opposed.
>
> As this theme unfolds, so do the characters of Harry
> and his friends.  They develop courage, loyalty, and
> a willingness to sacrifice for one another--even at
> the risk of their lives. Not bad lessons in a
> self-centered world.
>
> Some Christians may try to keep their kids from reading
> these books, but with eight million copies of the Harry
> Potter books floating around American homes,
> it's almost inevitable that your own children or
> grandchildren will be exposed to them.  If they do read
> these books, help them to see the deeper messages. Contrast
> the mechanical magic in the Potter books to the kind of
> real life witchcraft the Bible condemns--the kind
> that encourages involvement with supernatural evil.
> Help them, as well, to see how the author presents evil
> as evil, and good as good.
>
> If your kids do develop a taste for Harry Potter and
> his wizard friends, this interest might just open them
> up to an appreciation for other fantasy books with a
> distinctly Christian worldview.  When your kids finish
> reading Harry Potter, give them C. S. Lewis's Narnia
> books and J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
>
> These books also feature wizards and witches and
> magical potions--but in addition, they inspire the
> imagination within a Christian framework--and prepare
> the hearts of readers for the real-life story of Christ.
>

Karleen Cole
Library Media Manager
Stangel Elementary School
1002 E. Cedar Ave.
Manitowoc WI  54220
(920) 683-4856
kcole@lakefield.net   (still waiting for our school to be rewired!)

--
Apply dog logic to life:  eat well, be loved, get petted, sleep a lot,
dream of a leash-free world.

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