WHY DO SOME CHRISTIANS OBJECT TO HARRY POTTER?
WHY SHOULDN’T THEY?
Why They Object:
1. Magic
2. Place
3. Violence
4. Language
5. Rule-Breaking
1. Magic
The first and most obvious reason for a Christian to object to Harry Potter is that it is about a wizard, who can do magic and whose friends (and enemies) can do magic. In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, we read, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you."
The Christians who object to Harry Potter say that this is the sort of thing that Deuteronomy warns us from. They say that Harry Potter is promoting paganism in those who read it.
I disagree. J.K. Rowling has said on video that SHE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN MAGIC, so she’s not trying to instruct her readers on casting spells, etc. And also, J.K. Rowling has said in interviews that she has always intended for her book to have Christian themes. “To me, the religious parallels have always been obvious," Rowling said. "But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going.” She used specific Bible quotations (Matthew 6:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:26) in Book 7 and said, “I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones ...they sum up, they almost epitomize, the whole series." So the books can’t really be encouraging people to paganism if they were intended to have Christian themes, could they?
2. Place
Another reason Christians might object to HP is the place. Books like Narnia and Lord of the Rings are set in their own world with their own rules, so the magic in them is not really forbidden. Harry Potter is set in Britain, so it is certainly closer to real life than Narnia.
However, I think it still isn't quite the real world. Wizards and witches in the books have little or nothing to do with Muggles usually (except for Mr. Weasley), and they see themselves as living in their own little world within a world. “About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer Parent’s world.” Hagrid illustrates this difference between the Wizarding and Muggle worlds to Harry in Book 1, page 50.
3. Violence
There are a lot of deaths and torturing and bad people in the Harry Potter series; they are definitely not books for little kids. It you or your family thinks that that makes them inappropriate reading material, and then that is your choice according to your standards. I think it is ok, though, because it teaches a lesson about the importance of standing up against evil.
4. Language
I don’t like bad language any more than the next person, but it’s not the like the HP’s are filled with profanity. There are probably only about 10 bad words in the entire series. I wish there wasn’t any at all, but it’s not like they’re really bad.
5. Rule-Breaking
This is really only one that parents would object to. Throughout the series, Harry lies, cheats, and breaks school rules. Usually he does it because he is trying to help his friends, however. If a mom or dad feels like this is inappropriate for his/her kids to be reading, then before they read the book you should sit the kid down and tell them that just because Harry does it doesn’t mean that it is right.
I personally think that Harry’s misdemeanors are a very important part of the book; they show that he, like us, is not perfect, even if he is trying to be good.
So here we see not only the reasons The HP book could be bad, we see whether or not they are reasonable- and some of them are- but if they are not, we see why not, and we also see why they could be good. In the end, though, is your choice if you think the HP book are something you want to read, and if they are something you would want your kids to read. You have to judge them to your standards and your family’s standards; I’m just trying to give you something to help with that.
Of course, it’s impossible to fairly judge a
book that you have never read :)
