Harry Potter (OLD)
To see other Christians' (and non-Christians') reviews of Harry Potter, please go to Talking Potter (Page One)
For more Harry Potter reviews, see also Steven Greydanus' excellent essay "Magic, Middle-earth, Merlin, Muggles, and Meaning: A Christian Reading of Spells and the Supernatural in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books."
Also, don't miss the section of Harry Potter's Wiccan origins - straight from the horse's mouth! - or rather, from the The Collector's Value Guide to Harry Potter Collectibles. A must buy!
Looking for an alternative to Harry Potter? Then also check out the Young Adult Pages, as well as the Fairy Tale Pages - Once Upon a Timers and Twice Upon a Time!
Want to discuss Harry Potter? Join us at Phantasmagoric Miscellanea - a web based bulletin board for the discussion of the Christian Guide to Fantasy!
The Baptisim of the Imagination
~Merry
© 2000
It seems to me that one of the most dangerous aspect of Harry Potter is that it could have the same effect on children that Lewis intended The Chronicles of Narnia to have, only working towards a different religion.
George Sayer wrote:
"His idea, as he once explained it to me, was to make it easier for children to accept Christianity when they met it later in life. He hoped they would be vaguely reminded of the somewhat similar stories that they had read and enjoyed years before. 'I am aiming at a sort of pre-baptism of the child's imagination.'"
That is the main good in Lewis' work and the main evil in Rowling's- because Lewis was working towards drawing the children towards the Light and the Way and Rowling is, perhaps all unconsciously, drawing them towards death. This is where the peril lies.
And yet, with the proper supervision and instruction from loving, Christian parents, I think the books could provide enjoyable reading and a slight lesson at the same time. The books could be used as a step in opening a youth's eyes to how easy it is to be ensnared. But children? Well, I suppose it up to the parent to decide. I would hope parents would read these books, decide if they want their children exposed to them, and then, if they like, read it aloud to their children, taking advantage of the opportunity for good discussions.
As long as the child comes away with the realization that in real life, Witchcraft and its like are evil and not to be tampered with at risk of their souls, I don't think that the books would, in general, cause much damage. One question I have is, if it did, even in these ideal circumstances, how much and of what sort? It hasn't harmed me in the least, but I am an independent, critically thinking, Christian, home-schooled eighteen-year-old who knew exactly what was going on when she walked into it. What of the impressionable children?
Harry Potter: By Whose Power?
~Cynthia
© 4 April, 2000
I have read Michael O'Brien's book, A Landscape with Dragons, a book that looks at children's fiction and analyses it from a philosophical and Christian perspective, and found it very helpful. (It is published by Ignatius Press, and includes a list of book suggestions) He stresses the importance reading books that reinforcing the moral order of the universe. Does the world in the book work the same way ours does? Is good rewarded and evil punished? In C.S. Lewis, that is most definitly the case. Most fairytales also keep the proper order. I would suggest George Macdonald as another author who succeeds in doing this.
Being a die-hard children's literature junky and fantasy lover, I was interested when I heard that there was a new series of books that was fairly well-written on the market. So I read the books with interest.
Given the guideline that the world in the book must reflect the moral order of our universe, I have three main concerns with the Potter books.
(1) End justifies the means. There are several instances, especially in the second book, in which the children steal or break the rules, in order to do a "good" thing. This is a distortion of morality, in which a good end NEVER justifies evil means. Period. This is a common problem in the world today (rational behind abortion. Most everyone knows that it is a child that dies, but it is okay, because the mother is freed from the burdens of child-rearing when she is not ready or able to undertake it) and you don't want to suggest that it is a good way of thinking.
(2) Harry gets a year older each book, and the books are coming out every 6 months or so. If a child is 8 or 9 when he begins reading them, how old will he be when Harry is 17 and the series ends? Not really old enough to deal with all of the potential issues that Harry at 17 will be undergoing. JK Rowlings has said that in the 4th book Harry is going to discover girls and death. Adolecense, hormones, sex? What morality will the readers be exposed to? How much do you want to have to explain to your child when they are exposed to it by a book that very likely will present it in a skewed fashion? Can you tell a child that it is okay to read the first book, and maybe the 2nd and 3rd, and then explain that the 4th and 5th books are not good, especial with their popularity and peer pressure?
(3) The children are portrayed as conquering evil on their own power. No adults are consulted, and those who are supposed to be teaching them how to counter evil in their "Defense Against the Dark Arts" course are frequently weak or incompetent. They go against possession of people by evil forces in both the first and second books. This is a real occurrence in the world, and the last impression I want to give children is that they can deal with that! Christ says that these are only conquered by much prayer and fasting. How much of that do we adults do? I was very disturbed by the 2nd book which I would place in the horror genre. There are traces of that genre throughout, with something feeding on unicorn's blood, ritual sacrifice of sort, etc.
If some of your kids have started to read them, I wouldn't necessarly forbid them outright. That makes things more enticing! I would encourage you to read them before your kids do, or at least along with them. Mark those parts that you get a bad feeling about. Pray about them! And talk to your kids about them. Frequently young people will be more sensitive to the "wrongness" that they find since they haven't a jaded palate yet. Challenge your children with the parts that are not quite right. Ask if it is worth the time it takes to read them when there are others that are good that they could read. Keep an open dialogue. Above all PRAY. God has given you these children to raise rightly, and he has also given you graces to help.
An Unsolicited Opinion
~ Found on SFF Net Webnews
I found while lurking about the sff.net (science fiction/fantasy) newsgroups, which is populated by published and reknowned sff authors, many of whom are contendedly pagan. I was in no way looking for or soliciting the following remark:
From: Catherine Hampton
Subject: Re: The awful truth ...
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 05:33:45 GMT
[snip]
By the way, whoever recommended the Harry Potter books was right, if you enjoy reading books written for children. (As I do.) And in your case, I suspect you might enjoy them even if you don't like most kids' books, because the books have a lot of paganism and magic(k) in them. I don't know real magic(k) from carnie tricks, of course, but a good friend of mine who definitely does bought me all three Potter books for Christmas.
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