The reason I first picked up the original Harry Potter book was because I kept receiving forwarded emails from Christians who claimed that the Harry Potter books promote Satanism, witchcraft, and all sorts of evil. Rather than ignorantly forwarding those emails to other Christian brothers and sisters, I decided to read the books to see if there is any credence to these attacks. While I do believe we ought to be very careful to monitor what our children are reading, and as I mentioned above, I think the late Potter books are too dark for younger kids, I do not think that these books promote evil. It seems to me that too many Christians have adopted the methods of protest and boycott as their only means of engaging society, so they quickly apply these methods to the Potter books. I’m sure such Christians are well intentioned in their attempt to avoid compromising their values and to protect their children from evil, but I am yet to hear a convincing argument for why the Potter books are so evil. Here are my main reasons for saying this:1. Most Christians who attack the Harry Potter books simply because they include witchcraft, wizardry, and magic often fail to criticize so many other books and stories that include these same elements. The same people who preach against Harry Potter for all of its magical aspects are typically the same people who praise stories like The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings which include magical elements themselves. My point here is not that Harry Potter is in the same league as Narnia or LOTR; I’m simply pointing out that they need to do a better job of explaining why the magic in Harry Potter is so much worse than the magic in all other fantasy books that they tolerate.
2. I tend to think that the witchcraft/magic in Harry Potter is only a plot device that isn’t supposed to be taken seriously or seen as being in any way real. Some Christians have responded to this “plot device” argument by saying that witchcraft is in fact real, and they quote Deuteronomy 18:10-14 to back up the grave nature of its reality. Let me just say that I do believe in the reality of evil spirits, Satan, witchcraft, etc… and I don’t mean to make light of any of it. I will also readily admit that occult practices are real and should not be dabbled in. However, I don’t think the magic in Harry Potter resembles real witchcraft and occult practices. From my limited knowledge on the subject, it seems to me that true occult practices involve real spiritual elements like worshiping some form of spirit or interacting with spirits through séances, weegie boards, etc… The magic in Harry Potter includes none of these spiritual elements. It is not grounded in any spiritual reality at all. It includes things like invisibility cloaks, flying brooms, and the ability to transform into animals, and I seriously doubt that any of these are supposed to be taken seriously or are supposed to resemble real occult practices.
Of course, the seventh and final book could reveal that Harry Potter does in fact worship Satan, and if this is the case, I will certainly have to change my opinion.
3 comments:
Good post! There are a couple of different conceptions of magic out there. You correctly identify the Biblical explanation of magic/witchcraft as interacting with evil spirits. You didn't mention the other view of magic, though. The second view is that there are supernatural forces (often non-personal) at work in the world that can be manipulated if you learn the right spells or other spiritual techniques. In the same way that you can learn to harness natural forces like gravity or the wind to serve your purposes, you can harness supernatural forces. Those who hold to this view are just as non-Christian as those who knowingly interact with demons. And when the "forces" do respond, it's really demonic activity. So, the Biblical definition of magic is the true one, but it's not the only one, and the other is actually worse in many ways because it's not part of the Christian worldview and the participants don't realize what they're really dealing with. I think both need to be opposed (though not necessarily through boycotting).
Is this second conception of magic present in Potter? Also, what difference does it make if a person is a muggle or a ??? wizard?
Peach
Peach,
Thanks for the clarification on the second view of witchcraft/magic. That’s helpful. I don’t doubt that there are people out there who practice this kind of witchcraft, and you’re right that Christians should oppose such practices. Those Christians who oppose Harry Potter probably do so because they think this kind of witchcraft in HP, but I would disagree with that assessment. There may be a few people who become interested in a form of real witchcraft after reading HP, but I would argue that it is due to their inability to distinguish between reality and fiction, not due to HP propagating the second view of witchcraft that you mentioned.
The magic in HP is not centered on harnessing nature through magic. It is true that the characters in HP make potions, cast spells, and learn skills that help them increase their magical abilities, but there is no mention of any great source or force behind their powers. Also, all non-magical people (muggles) have no access to magic. I would liken the magic in HP as a kind of sixth sense that wizards are born with. Imagine if only 10% of the world was born with eyes and the capacity for vision. This small population would be able to do many things that the remainder of the blind population could not do. Moreover, the seeing population could use their innate abilities to help the blind population or to repress them. This use of sight is similar to how magic is used in Harry Potter.
Does this answer your questions?
Peach seemed to suggest that there are two different conceptions of magic, (1) the known or believed interaction with evil spirits and (2) the interaction or manipulation of certain supernatural forces which are really demonic but aren't known as such.
But since both concepts of magic involve the actual interaction with evil spirits, and Harry Potter mentions no such thing, isn't this sufficient to get the Potter series off the hook as a story about real magic?
I mean, unless there is a third type of magic, one which manipulates (or tries) non-personal supernatural forces (if this means anything at all), AND THIS 3rd type is also BAD, then the Potter series is off the hook, right?
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