The Importance Of Satanism In The Harry Potter Series By J. K. Rowling

The Harry Potter series, written by author J.K. Rowling, has been a subject of religious controversy since the first book was published in the year 1997. The seven part fantasy series focuses on the life of a young wizard by the name of Harry Potter and his two best friends whose names are Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Many religious groups argue that this series glamorizes Satanism or Witchcraft to the young adults who are reading them. All over the world some have been denied the pleasure of reading these best-selling novels. J. K. Rowling writes these novels not as a Christian trying to persuade people towards certain religious beliefs. These novels are of pure fiction and should not be condemned on alleged views of Satanism or Witchcraft.

They depict the quest for knowledge, wisdom and right action – the universal journey every human takes. The books condemn bullies, falsity, rudeness, [and] greed” (Foster). These themes were all demonstrated by Jesus’ actions and lessons, however, a novel with the same themes should not immediately be classified as religious nor should the parallelism allow Christians to criticize the novel. One of the most important points in the J.K. Rowling’s novel is love conquers power. Jesus always promoted love and one major example he demonstrated this quality is through his sacrifice to save humankind. Lily’s sacrifice to save Harry from Voldemort parallels Jesus’ sacrifice because of their love for a human or humanity. A quote from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone states “your mother died to save you…love as powerful as your mother 's for you leaves its own mark” (Rowling 299). The love parallel is evident through the love for another and the saving from evil. Julie Foster also mentioned the novels promote friendship. As stated earlier, Harry Potter has two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. This trio would do anything for each other. Through their bond they are able to fight against the Voldemort. The parallel that could be expressed here is how Jesus would have done anything for his friends. In the bible, Jesus states “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). Hermione and Ron were always by Harry’s side. Through saving Hermione from the troll, through trying to save the sorcerer’s stone, through saving Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets, all tasks that could have severely injured or killed them, were all done together because they couldn’t have done it without the help