You Can be a Good Christian and Read Harry Potter

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You Can be a Good Christian and Read Harry Potter

When my family and I bought tickets for the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, released shortly before Thanksgiving, my dad reminded me of one thing. “Just …don’t mention it to your relatives, when they come down for Thanksgiving,” he cautioned.

“If your relatives say anything negative about Harry Potter, just try to be diplomatic. Don’t start a fight,” was my mother’s request.

Harry Potter is a very sensitive issue to many people, especially now that a movie has been made, based on the first book – a movie that broke almost all US box office records as flocks of people came to watch it. The movie alone brought in just under one hundred million dollars in the first week (Brook). In addition, J.K. Rowling’s first four Harry Potter books (there are three more books planned in the series) have kept her on the bestseller list for the last four years. Each book has sold over a million copies (BBC News Online).

As a reader and lover of the books, and a fan of the movie, I am naturally interested in the Harry Potter controversy, which centers on some individuals, notably in the Christian community, who are concerned that the Harry Potter books are spiritually dangerous to their children. Many have even gone so far as to claim that the books are inherently evil, and J.K. Rowling’s intent, in writing the books, was to desensitize, and furthermore attract children to the occult. But while some in the Christian community have sharply criticized the books, others have given them high praise, leaving many parents concerned and confused.

The primary concern surrounding Harry Potter books seems to be that they are being marketed almost exclusively to children, yet present witchcraft throughout the story as an attractive, and even desirable thing (John Mark Ministries). The opposition to the books claim that this is causing a rise of interest in youth toward the occult, as well as opening our young people up to the influences of the Enemy (namely, Satan).

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