|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
And
While We’re On the Subject…
By Kent d Curry "The
aim of every discussion should be to find truth, not to prove one's personal
point of view." C.S. Lewis, Between
Heaven and Hell At
the risk of upsetting those who can’t be convinced, I’ll share some thoughts
on why I think reading Harry Potter isn’t especially dangerous. In
every case, I have attempted to use spiritual discernment to find my answers.
This is a necessity, as the writer of Hebrews is quick to point out: “But
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews
5:14) To
me, discernment is spiritual wisdom in action. Wisdom comes from God, experience
and knowledge. In my points below I've tried to use discernment by studying and
experiencing the facts through a filter of prayer. I have read the first two
books, started the fourth and read a generous amount of author J.K. Rowling’s
interviews, book reviews, and general media coverage. One fact I noticed amidst
all of the email forwarders I heard from (Cover Story)
was that none claimed to have read any
of the books. The Charge: Harry Potter’s incredible popularity could be due to demonic forces.Actually,
the history of children's literature shows Harry Potter to be just a
continuation, not an aberration, in a long line of wildly popular children’s
classics that include magic. Similar to all of those series, Harry Potter
contains all of the genre’s usual devices, which include children (or weak
protagonists) caught in adult circumstances in a strange world that often
includes talking animals or mythical characters, powerful enemies motivated by
greed, pride, or power, and an abundance of supernatural elements. Here
is a short list of child-lit hits that were the rage of the world in their day.
All contain heavy doses of magic, fantasy and adventure. Most are still in print
today. ·
Fairy (or morality) tales
began it all, of course, with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White (among
others), containing good witches/fairy godmothers, bad witches, potions, spells
and other supernatural elements. ·
At the beginning of the
century, the Oz stories took the country by storm. This was a long series of
books (40 titles ending in 1963) that featured young children with fantastic,
imaginative buddies in all sorts of wild, magical adventures. The best known
title, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
includes good witches, bad witches, flying monkeys and, of course, a wizard. As
opposed to the famous movie, the book is not a dream. ·
In the 1950s, C.S. Lewis’
“Chronicles of Narnia”
were allegorical biblical tales that included children transported into
another world where animals talked, an evil witch connived and a variety of
supernatural events occurred. ·
In the mid-to-late1970s, J.R.R.
Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy received a supernova of world
attention. These classics featured dwarves, monsters, good and bad wizards and
magical rings. ·
In the early 90s, the
“Goosebumps” series captivated children worldwide. While I’m less familiar
with these books, it is my understanding that the “goosebumps” attacked
readers because of scary, unexpected happenings that included elements of the
supernatural. ·
Harry Potter burst on the
scene in 1997 with children caught up in a strange-but-similar modern Britain,
replete with strange characters, a school sport played on flying broomsticks and
magic. To be alarmed at a trend that occurs nearly every decade is to willfully ignore history. Non-reading children in every decade read these books due to their stratospheric success, not because there was sinister intent behind each. Unless Harry Potter books
highlight specific scenes of seductive evil¾and
three of the books have yet to be written¾the
presence of witches, wizards and magic is underwhelming evidence in the context
of these other children’s classics. The
Charge: Other
authors are just-as-or-more-talented than Rowling. Perhaps there’s a sinister
reason why she is so successful.
Let’s be honest, no one
knows why any one talent, book series or musical act skyrockets into
“household name” status. Indeed,
for every talent that deserves the attention, there are probably dozens who
don’t. Almost every year there’s a Ricky Martin or Tiger Woods who is
covered ad infinitum by every buzzing media outlet. The reality is that it
happens regularly and can’t be explained easily. The
Charge: J.K. Rowling is lying when she says she doesn’t believe in magic
This is possible. Maybe she does believe in magic. It’s possible that she’s a secret Satanist trying to introduce witchcraft into the minds of children by making it seem fun and charming in her books. Though it never hurts to be skeptical, why are we willing to believe she’s lying in person, but her fiction is real? At some point, you have to give people the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. The
Charge: The Bible clearly condemns witchcraft
Of
course, scripture condemns witchcraft. The Pentateuch proclaims it an
abomination (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), and instructs that no abomination should
enter our house (Deuteronomy 7:26). In the New Testament, Paul, when discussing
the works of the flesh, specifically includes witchcraft in one list, ending
with “they which do such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) All
are powerful verses against witchcraft. However, amidst this biblical summation,
there is no evidence that Harry Potter is witchcraft, a book of spells or an
invitation to enter the occult. No one¾and
there are many Christians disturbed by this book¾seems to be able to point to any particular proof. No one has produced
evil passages from the books, verbal slips by the author, and/or news stories
about children being led astray after reading them. Simply claiming that Harry Potter is “witchcraft” and
using scripture to refute witchcraft (thereby condemning Harry Potter by proxy),
just doesn’t work. For
some reason, story “magic” in children’s literature is being confused for
the very real forces of the occult. In
fairy tales and children’s literature, good and evil magic can never mix. The
magic in Harry Potter, and all of his fictional predecessors, is clearly not the
type of real-life witchcraft condemned by the Bible. Except for the terms used
for the magicians (and characters are called witches and wizards), I see no
similarities whatsoever. The Charge: The magic portrayed
in Harry Potter books will desensitize children to the true power of the occult.
Desensitization
is always an issue in today’s world, be it to magic, violence or sexual
content. Anytime magic and the supernatural are emphasized there is the
possibility readers (of any age) will take the occult more lightly than they
should. The clearest method of
combating this problem is to know what the Bible states about witchcraft,
contrast it with the stories and use the contrast as discussion points with
children (or adults) to understand the topic better.. We must apply John’s words (“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (I John 4:1) to everything, in every situation, because false prophets don’t just “preach,” they write books, sing songs and lead nations. Having
said that, there is a chasm of difference between being worried about
desensitization and making headlines about these books being gateways into
Satanism. To me, you can’t mention the former and then emphasize the latter.
That’s disingenuous. The
Charge: These books don’t pass the Philippians 4:8 test.
Paul wrote, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) Some charge that Harry Potter, being neither true, pure or holy, should be avoided due to this verse. I take this verse to mean “Avoid anything that will corrupt your mind.” The newspaper isn’t pure, but it informs and doesn’t corrupt. I see most magazines, radio shows and books in the same light. As a friend wrote, “Shakespeare doesn't make me want to go and pray for an hour or it doesn't reveal to me anything about God, but it's good reading material. However, if this is all a person read it would be wrong since he wouldn't be reading the Bible or putting true, wholesome things into his/her mind.” It is my experience that Harry Potter doesn’t corrupt. It is simply well-written children’s literature. But others might find it leads them toward darker experiences. In that case, they shouldn’t read Harry Potter. This is Paul’s argument about meat offered to idols (the most difficult argument to “prove” from either vantage point because it’s different from person to person). In his epistle to the Romans, he states, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:1-4) ---------- I
don't reference all of these answers to prove I'm right, so much as explain how
I have reached my conclusions. I've tried to use discernment by studying and
experiencing the facts, comparing them against scripture and praying over
everything. Jesus states, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Matthew 7:16-18) After four years in Britain and almost three years in North America, no
dark evidence (fruit) yet exists against Harry Potter. As one reader
emailed, “It seems to me that these are people who are overreacting to dangers
that don't exist.” Of
course, the evidence could change tomorrow. But it hasn’t in four years. Until
it does, I am comfortable with these answers for this situation at this moment
in time. ninetyandnine.com © Kent d Curry, 2000 -------- Kent
d Curry is an Executive Editor of ninetyandnine.com.
|
|
|
