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The Harry Potter books
Negative reviews by conservative Christians

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Reviews:
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CBN News, a fundamentalist Christian news service
within Pat Robertson's broadcasting organization, published an article on
the Harry Potter books. This was in 1999-OCT, at approximately the time that Book 3 in
the series was published. Pamela Newby quoted parent David Williamson from
Columbia, SC who said that the stories about sorcery are just too dark
for their nine year old to be forced to listen to in class. The books teach
"the overall context of the occult -- witches and how Harry is being
trained through this school he goes to to be a better wizard." They
quoted Deuteronomy 18:10-12 which ends "For whoever does these
things is detestable to the LORD...." 1 Their
group has asked their board of education to review the Potter books for what
they say is violent content. Elizabeth Mounce, a group leader said: "Our
child came home; it was being read in his class. The concern we had with the
books was the violent tones in here: There's evil, there's death, there's
lack of respect for human life, and there's the occult." Stephen
Mounce suggests that the use of these books as a teaching school in public
school is unconstitutional because it violates the principle
of separation of church and state: "The witchcraft, the occult, satanism, all
the dark side that we see in these books -- the part about it that disturbs
us the most is we believe it's religious. The U.S. Supreme Court has said
it's religion." In an apparent reference to his child being
ritually killed because of his involvement with the imaginary witchcraft
in the Harry Potter books, Stephen Mounce said: "It's better to be
pro-active rather than re-active! I don't want to go pulling a white sheet
on my kid, screaming and crying on national TV, and saying, 'Why didn't
somebody do something?.' " 2
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World magazine: "World" is a national evangelical
Christian newsmagazine. Publisher Joel Belz commented: "We
know that what's in the Harry Potter books is not all bad and that
lots of Christian families will read them and enjoy them. No one wants
to be reactionary. But we have to take issues of good and evil
seriously and we just can't endorse the kind of moral ambiguity that
we see in these books." World's book division no
longer sells the Harry Potter books.
World's 1999-MAY issue was reasonably positive. Their book review
stated that: "Magic and wizardry are problematic for Christian
readers. Mrs. Rowling, though, keeps it safe, inoffensive and
non-occult. This is the realm of Gandalf and the Wizard of Id, on
witchcraft. There is a fairy-tale order to it all in which, as (G.K.)
Chesterton and (J.R.R.) Tolkien pointed out, magic must have rules,
and good does not -- cannot -- mix with bad."
However, a cover story later in 1999 argued that in the third book in
the series, Rowling's work has evolved and now resembles the "tangled
terrain and psychology of Batman." While the Harry Potter
books may seem innocent, this "safety, this apparent
harmlessness, may create a problem by putting a smiling mask on evil.
A reader drawn in would find that the real world of witchcraft is not
Harry's world." [It is not clear what World means by the
"real world of witchcraft."] 3 |
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Family Friendly Libraries: Although FFL describe
themselves as a "non-sectarian organization," it appears
that they are a conservative Protestant group. 4 Their
criticism of the Harry Potter books is based on a literal interpretation of
the Bible. One of the main featured articles on their web site deals with "Homosexual
Ideology within the library system." Their article on the Harry
Potter book series was provided by the Freedom Village USA ministry.
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The latter attacks the book series and its author on eight points:
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The article quotes a portion of the Prisoner of
Azkaban which says that if your brain and heart are still working,
you can continue to exist. But without your soul, you have no sense of self; you are
just an empty shell. The author appears to refer to a commonly expressed
thought that a person can lose their soul as a result of a devastating
experience. The article contrasts this
popular belief with 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 which says that when we die, we
are present with the Lord. (The passage does not mention soul or spirit;
only body; it appears to be unrelated to the excerpt from the Potter
book)
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The article quotes another passage of the Prisoner of
Azkaban which describes the death of a loved one -- Harry's father
in this case. The book suggests that we can recall them "more clearly than ever in
times of great trouble." Apparently referring to Harry's memories of
his father, the book continues: "You found him inside yourself."
The author of the article seems to interpret the book literally by
implying that it means that the spirits of our dead loved ones and
friends actually inhabit our body. He criticizes this as
non-Christian. There is every likelihood that the author intended that
this is to be interpreted symbolically.
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The author of the article states that the
Potter books are disseminating "witchcraft philosophy."
As shown in our companion essay, there
are six main, unrelated, activities that are commonly called
"witchcraft." The Potter books discuss one of
them: an imaginary, nonexistent form of witchcraft found only in
novels. It is unrelated to the other types of witchcraft. He also attacks Rowling because her "very favorite"
time of the year is Halloween. He states that Halloween is a High Holy
day for Witches -- apparently implying that Rowling is a Witch. Actually,
Halloween is a secular holiday; Samhain, not Halloween, is a Wiccan Sabbat.
It is the trick-or-treat celebration that Rowling enjoys, not
Samhain. (The claim that she celebrated Halloween as a child is
probably public relations hype without any foundation. Halloween
was not widely celebrated in the 1960's and 1970's when she was a
child.)
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The article criticizes Rowling for an incident in which
Harry has a conflict between taking the honorable action or following the
instructions of his teacher. This is an apparent reference to an
incident in which a student is injured during broomstick-flying lessons.
The teacher told the class to not practice with their broomsticks while
she took the student to the nurse. One student stole an object and flew
away with it, threatening to damage it. Harry disobeyed the teacher and
retrieved the stolen item. The author of the
article apparently believes that teacher's orders must be obeyed under
all circumstances.
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Muggles are portrayed as people who have an inferior
knowledge of magic. Freedom Village USA criticized this portrayal
of non-witches.
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The book's discussion guide is criticized because it
implies that we can find out truths about bravery, loyalty and the power
of love by reading imaginary fiction.
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The Sorcerer's Stone states that "there is no
good and evil, there is only power" That is, power is a
basic element of the universe that can be used either for good or for
evil. The author of the article states that "This presents
"good" (the weak) as losers." However most reviewers
disagree, stating that the main theme of the book is the war between good and
evil -- that the book always has good triumphing in the end.
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The Sorcerer's Stone has a professor telling Harry that
"after all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next
great adventure." The quotation tells nothing of the
professor's belief about life after death -- whether he believes that
when we die, we go to a
heaven and hell, or are reincarnated, or go to live in an alternative universe,
or to reach nirvana, etc. The article author
assumes it is reincarnation and links it to the Wiccan belief in reincarnation.
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Other essays on the FFL mistakenly associate the Harry
Potter books with Wicca. They point out that Wiccan covens have been
granted IRS status, and that the Army has appointed Wiccan chaplains. Thus,
Wicca is a formal religion. They assert that to read these books in the public schools is to
violate the separation of church and state as
defined in the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution. The FFL authors are confusing
Wicca with imaginary witchcraft. The Harry Potter books are fantasy novels;
they do not teach the Wiccan religion. The army did not appoint Wiccan
chaplains; they have appointed existing Christian chaplains to oversee the
activities of Wiccan covens on base. |

Related essay on this web site:

References:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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Pamela Newby, "Harry Potter Controversy," CBN News, at:
http://www.cbn.org/
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Pamela Newby, "Harry Potter Controversy," Christian Broadcasting Network, 1999-OCT-20, at:
http://www.cbn.org/
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Terry Mattingly, "Harry Potter 1," On Religion column for 1999-OCT-27. See:
http://news.crosswalk.com/
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"What is wrong with Harry Potter," at:
http://www.fflibraries.org/Book_Reports/HarryPotter/
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Julie Foster, "Potter books: Wicked witchcraft?: New documentary claims tales lead kids to the occult," WorldNetDaily at:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/



Copyright © 2000 to 2007, by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-JUL-3
Latest update: 2007-OCT-19
Author: B.A. Robinson 

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