Harry James Potter v. Fundamentalist Christians
Harry James Potter v. Fundamentalist Christians
In 1998, British author J.K. Rowling caused a stir about the religious world with the introduction of Harry Potter, the protagonist of a series of seven novels that would endure harsh criticism from Christian churches. Through the course of Rowling's publications, the series (starring a group of misfit young witches and wizards) would chronicle the tests and triumphs of young Harry and his companions as he attempts to fulfill his life's duty to defeat antagonist and representation of all evil, Voldemort. His adventures would involve mythical creatures, giants, dark forces, love, friendship, and honor; but most appallingly, according to conservative Christians, references to the occult and the central theme of the novels, magic. Virtually as soon as the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in America), was released, the series was viciously attacked and, according to the ALA, was consistently among the most challenged and banned books recognized during Banned Books Week (“Banned Books Week” 1).
Right-wing Christians formed a hypothesis that Harry Potter's “magical powers and wizardly aspirations...promote occultism and Satan worship (Miller 1).” They defended their claims variously; citing their God as having nothing to do with Satan worship, their religion as the correct religion and (perhaps most legitimately), a quote from Deuteronomy which states, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through 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 (Miller 1).” Unfortunately, Harry Potter happens to fulfill the quota of qualities to not have quite readily, adding strength to the argument of fundamentalist Christians. In an article by Jack M. Roper of CBN, Harry is touted as “the hero for modern witchcraft.” Roper asserts that young Mr. Potter has “captured the innocent hearts of many children,” thus asserting that Harry is not so innocent himself (Roper 1). By drawing connections between Potter and satanism, fundamentalist Christians are thereby assuming that Potter is an occultist who intentionally summons, perhaps, the deceased (Miller 1). This is false. Harry was just as surprised as anyone (except, of course, his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon Dursley, as they knew that Petunia's sister Lily Evans had been a witch) when an enormous man invaded his temporary home and announced that he was a wizard and would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). Contrary to conservative opinions, Harry is an innocent child himself, and Hogwarts is no work of the devil – it is an honest attempt to educate young and unfortunate, as conservative Christians may deem them, children who happen to posses magical powers. The institution is completely necessary as, firstly, it prevents young wizards and witches from using their magic wrongly and secondly, provides a basis for the setting of the entire series.
Prominent Christian figures such as James Dobson and Chuck Colson have expressed their views of Harry Potter, which differ greatly even within the fundamentalist school of thought. While Dobson vehemently opposes the literature and seems more in favor of having it burned than reading it, Colson accepts that “most kids will probably read the books,” but has firmly stated that he would not recommend them (Miller 1). The Potter books have expressed to young children, according to Marcia Montenegro, distorted and severely “un-christian” views of death including statements or ideas that refer to death as an adventure, claim that “there are worse things than death,” promote Pagan views as reality, insinuate that humans can communicate with the deceased, refer to death as “an old friend,” compare death to falling asleep, and propose that death can be mastered (which is an invalid point as only the supreme antagonist is ultimately focused on mastering death and he fails at doing so due to the forces of love that exist in Harry Potter but not in him (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows))(Montenegro 1). Not only are these views not thoroughly researched, they are oppressive to children. In order to breed an intelligent species, children should be exposed to as many sensory experiences as possible and left to their own devices to pass judgment on such experiences (protecting and scolding a child away from a hot curling iron will incite curiosity about the object while allowing the child to explore the object may repel them from it naturally and render them less likely desire it). The censorship of the Harry Potter series prevents this natural growth from occurring. A commenter on the forums of CBN justified censorship by writing, “This series is truly demonic in every sense of the word. I am protective of my children and I admit there are many things out today that neither of my kids are allowed to participate in or even look at. As a Christian parent I will do everything I can to keep the door shut so that Satan and his minions cannot penetrate,” clearly demonstrating the limitations that censorship and overprotectiveness places upon children (Sugden 1). Children should be taught to deny “Satan and his minions” him or herself while still having free reign to explore the benefits and ideas of the infamous satanic eleven year old, Harry Potter.
Fundamentalist Christians are opposed not only to the idea that Harry Potter may be related to the occult but the idea that it is a biblical novel, as well. Some criticize it for not resembling C.S. Lewis' The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings in religious symbolism (Miller 1). Others, however, criticize the very biblical nature of it. Chapter 35 entails Harry's visit to King's Cross train station after he willingly sacrificed himself to Voldemort for the good of his companions and those that he felt were as his family at Hogwarts. There, Harry visits Dumbledore, the late headmaster of Hogwarts, who is bearded and consistently emanates love. Dumbledore explains to Harry that although he walked to his death, he will be resurrected because of his love (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Some Christians deem this a biblical reference to Jesus Christ and God, but maintain a position of discontent because it is unethical to compare oneself directly to Jesus, and while it would be appropriate for Harry's moral compass and actions to be similar to those of Jesus', a direct parallel constitutes heresy (Miller 1).
Harry Potter is a children's novel. It is entertaining and promotes positive values such as morality, friendship, honesty, and love. The fact that these values happen to be related to magic instantly diminishes them for fundamentalist Christians, who view magic as evil and unnecessary. No matter why the magical aspect was developed, it is entertaining. Children are not intelligent enough to understand religious implications of the book and if they are, are likely tightly connected to a religion already and not easily swayed by Harry Potter. Furthermore, children who read Harry Potter are thinking much less about worshiping Satan than the wonder of Hungarian Horntails (a breed of dragon mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the forth in the series) and how Harry will go about defeating Voldemort (Rowling, Harry Potter series). The most continuous theme of the series is the fact that death cannot be mastered (Rowling, Harry Potter series). Though various views on the matter are presented, the ultimate truth is revealed in the end; no matter how hard one tries, one cannot overcome death (the only possible way to do so would be to posses the Philosopher's stone which, in the first novel, was destroyed by Dumbledore with the permission of Harry in order to prevent Voldemort from conquering his demise (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone).
Right-wing Christians formed a hypothesis that Harry Potter's “magical powers and wizardly aspirations...promote occultism and Satan worship (Miller 1).” They defended their claims variously; citing their God as having nothing to do with Satan worship, their religion as the correct religion and (perhaps most legitimately), a quote from Deuteronomy which states, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through 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 (Miller 1).” Unfortunately, Harry Potter happens to fulfill the quota of qualities to not have quite readily, adding strength to the argument of fundamentalist Christians. In an article by Jack M. Roper of CBN, Harry is touted as “the hero for modern witchcraft.” Roper asserts that young Mr. Potter has “captured the innocent hearts of many children,” thus asserting that Harry is not so innocent himself (Roper 1). By drawing connections between Potter and satanism, fundamentalist Christians are thereby assuming that Potter is an occultist who intentionally summons, perhaps, the deceased (Miller 1). This is false. Harry was just as surprised as anyone (except, of course, his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon Dursley, as they knew that Petunia's sister Lily Evans had been a witch) when an enormous man invaded his temporary home and announced that he was a wizard and would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). Contrary to conservative opinions, Harry is an innocent child himself, and Hogwarts is no work of the devil – it is an honest attempt to educate young and unfortunate, as conservative Christians may deem them, children who happen to posses magical powers. The institution is completely necessary as, firstly, it prevents young wizards and witches from using their magic wrongly and secondly, provides a basis for the setting of the entire series.
Prominent Christian figures such as James Dobson and Chuck Colson have expressed their views of Harry Potter, which differ greatly even within the fundamentalist school of thought. While Dobson vehemently opposes the literature and seems more in favor of having it burned than reading it, Colson accepts that “most kids will probably read the books,” but has firmly stated that he would not recommend them (Miller 1). The Potter books have expressed to young children, according to Marcia Montenegro, distorted and severely “un-christian” views of death including statements or ideas that refer to death as an adventure, claim that “there are worse things than death,” promote Pagan views as reality, insinuate that humans can communicate with the deceased, refer to death as “an old friend,” compare death to falling asleep, and propose that death can be mastered (which is an invalid point as only the supreme antagonist is ultimately focused on mastering death and he fails at doing so due to the forces of love that exist in Harry Potter but not in him (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows))(Montenegro 1). Not only are these views not thoroughly researched, they are oppressive to children. In order to breed an intelligent species, children should be exposed to as many sensory experiences as possible and left to their own devices to pass judgment on such experiences (protecting and scolding a child away from a hot curling iron will incite curiosity about the object while allowing the child to explore the object may repel them from it naturally and render them less likely desire it). The censorship of the Harry Potter series prevents this natural growth from occurring. A commenter on the forums of CBN justified censorship by writing, “This series is truly demonic in every sense of the word. I am protective of my children and I admit there are many things out today that neither of my kids are allowed to participate in or even look at. As a Christian parent I will do everything I can to keep the door shut so that Satan and his minions cannot penetrate,” clearly demonstrating the limitations that censorship and overprotectiveness places upon children (Sugden 1). Children should be taught to deny “Satan and his minions” him or herself while still having free reign to explore the benefits and ideas of the infamous satanic eleven year old, Harry Potter.
Fundamentalist Christians are opposed not only to the idea that Harry Potter may be related to the occult but the idea that it is a biblical novel, as well. Some criticize it for not resembling C.S. Lewis' The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings in religious symbolism (Miller 1). Others, however, criticize the very biblical nature of it. Chapter 35 entails Harry's visit to King's Cross train station after he willingly sacrificed himself to Voldemort for the good of his companions and those that he felt were as his family at Hogwarts. There, Harry visits Dumbledore, the late headmaster of Hogwarts, who is bearded and consistently emanates love. Dumbledore explains to Harry that although he walked to his death, he will be resurrected because of his love (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Some Christians deem this a biblical reference to Jesus Christ and God, but maintain a position of discontent because it is unethical to compare oneself directly to Jesus, and while it would be appropriate for Harry's moral compass and actions to be similar to those of Jesus', a direct parallel constitutes heresy (Miller 1).
Harry Potter is a children's novel. It is entertaining and promotes positive values such as morality, friendship, honesty, and love. The fact that these values happen to be related to magic instantly diminishes them for fundamentalist Christians, who view magic as evil and unnecessary. No matter why the magical aspect was developed, it is entertaining. Children are not intelligent enough to understand religious implications of the book and if they are, are likely tightly connected to a religion already and not easily swayed by Harry Potter. Furthermore, children who read Harry Potter are thinking much less about worshiping Satan than the wonder of Hungarian Horntails (a breed of dragon mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the forth in the series) and how Harry will go about defeating Voldemort (Rowling, Harry Potter series). The most continuous theme of the series is the fact that death cannot be mastered (Rowling, Harry Potter series). Though various views on the matter are presented, the ultimate truth is revealed in the end; no matter how hard one tries, one cannot overcome death (the only possible way to do so would be to posses the Philosopher's stone which, in the first novel, was destroyed by Dumbledore with the permission of Harry in order to prevent Voldemort from conquering his demise (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone).