Christendom Blogosis

You can see my original comments on this subject here.

I ran across this interview with Richard Abanes at challies.com and I wanted to reproduce some of his comments because I really liked what he had to say on the subject.

The above interview shed some light on Richard and where he stands on certain issues that I was unaware of. Up until reading the interview I had only disagreed with what I have read from him (specifically about Rick Warren, which isn’t much). Apparently, Richard has written a book titled Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings : What You Need to Know About Fantasy Books and Movies that touches on the Harry Potter subject in more detail.

In addition to the quote below, I liked what he had to say in regards to “soft calvinism”. If need be, I personally don’t have a problem shedding the label of a “calvinist” because of my differing opinion on a few “points”. However, I also don’t have a problem with the term he uses and how he explains it. You can read the full interview (linked above) if you want to see what he has to say on that.

We happen to be doing this interview only days after the release of the latest book in the Harry Potter series. I know you’ve written a book about this subject. Here is a quick chance to pitch your book! What are your thoughts on Harry Potter and whether Christian children and adults should read it?

Regarding the Harry Potter books, I have tried very hard to avoid telling people to either read them or not read them. My newest book Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings is primarily about fantasy literature in general, which I happen to support. In fact, I am a major fan of fantasy, so what I have tried to do is simply show that fantasy, like so many things, can be “good” as well as “not so good.” To illustrate the differences between such types of fantasy I take an in-depth look at the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. I also examine/discuss Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (which is excessively anti-Christian) and R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series (as well as Goosebumps). Additionally, I cover marketing to children through TV and movies, consumerism, child development, and culture’s influence on kids.

My concern about the Harry Potter books is two-fold: 1) by J.K. Rowling’s own admission, the books contain references to real-world occult symbolism, lore, subjects, practices, and beliefs that she has gleaned from her hobby-like study of things like occultism, witchcraft, and magick (this is verified and documented); 2) the ethics and morality in the series exalt relativism—i.e., there seems to be no objective standard of right and wrong. If the good characters in the book feel like something is just fine (or fun), then they simply do it, even though it may be bad/wrong (e.g., the good characters habitually lie, steal, cheat, use foul language, break laws, deceive each other, behave hypocritically, and have no problem pursuing revenge). The books do not strive to show kids a better way, they instead, appeal to their most basic/naturalistic instincts: e.g., crass/gross humor, the desire for revenge, the want for power over adults.

Some people say, “So what?” But my worry is that children—who we all know tend to copy what they think is cool, or fun, or exciting—will begin emulating some of the poor ethical/moral behaviors exalted in Harry Potter as well as some of the occult aspects of the books. This is not a far-fetched concern. Kids are already copying various aspects of the series: e.g., registrations for boarding schools in England have sky-rocketed; a surge in buying owls for pets has taken place; and one group of kids had to be rushed to the hospital after mixing a poisonous “potion” and drinking—all in direct response to Harry Potter. We also have a 2002 Barna survey that found 12% of kids who saw the Harry Potter movies were more interested in witchcraft. And, most alarming, is how REAL wiccans/occultists/neopagans are writing their own pro-occult and pro-witchcraft books (both fiction and non-fiction) and using the popularity of Harry Potter books to lure young readers to their materials. Clearly, concerns about Harry Potter are not misplaced.

My book also debunks the absurd view of Harry Potter offered by the likes of John Granger, Connie Neal, and Francis Bridger, and John Killinger—i.e., the claim that Harry Potter is actually a Christian series in the tradition of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. In a nutshell, their assertions are plagued by a myriad of flaws that can be distilled down to two main issues: 1. The plainest reading of Harry Potter reveals that it is not a depiction of anything Christian, but instead, is a depiction of the magick worldview. (This has been confirmed by Witches, occultists, and neopagans.) 2. Rowling herself has explained both her work and her faith in ways that clearly contradict the assertions being made by the “Harry-Potter-is-really-Christian” group of supporters.

Should Christian children and/or adults read them? Well, what adults do is between them and God. I could no more tell an adult Christian to not read the books than tell them to not go see an R-rated movie, or not have a glass of wine with spaghetti. Reading Harry Potter as an adult, I think, would fall into the category of a freedom not explicitly discussed in scripture. Children, on the other hand, need guidance. But guiding someone else’s child is not my job. My job is to get good, solid, documented information about Harry Potter to parents, then, it is their decision. Personally, however, I do think it is a very poor idea to have some kids, particularly younger ones (e.g., ages 6-10), reading the books—especially the latter volumes (4, 5, 6, 7), which become progressively darker and more violent.

I think Richard did an excellent job commenting on the subject matter above and I thought it worthy of reproducing here. In addition, I differ with Richard on other things he has written about and I had no problems writing about those particular issues. I may even have to pick up his book (linked to above) on the subject.

Addendum 7/29:
Ran across another good article on the subject so I am just adding the link to this post.

AMDG

This entry was posted on Friday, July 29th, 2005 at 12:08 and is filed under AATBB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.