Is Harry Potter Anti-Christian?

[The Antichrist]

I recently came across an article that accused the Harry Potter series of being anti-
Christian, denouncing it for propagating the occult, witchcraft, and nearly every other "bad religion" available.

What is your take on the matter? Is Harry Potter really anti-Christian?

[Filthy Tugboat]

I recently came across an article that accused the Harry Potter series of being anti-
Christian, denouncing it for propagating the occult, witchcraft, and nearly every other "bad religion" available.

What is your take on the matter? Is Harry Potter really anti-Christian?

What do you suppose a "anti-Christian" movie means? Advocating or "permitting" behavior in a themed way to promote it as acceptable which is incompatible with "Christian" teaching perhaps?

I suppose that's a reasonable definition.

Does Christianity encourage and extol the idea of occultism and witchcraft? Is it compatible for a "Christian" to practice witchcraft and occultism?

Probably not, does Harry ported advocate or encourage witchcraft? No. It specifically sets itself in a different universe where people are born witches and wizards. Normal people (muggles) are not able to perform witchcraft or wizardry which actually makes a point against encouraging people who are not witches and wizards to attempt witchcraft and wizardry.

Likewise, would you say that a movie that has a lot of free R-rated activity like American Pie and advocates it as a cool thing to do as "Christian"? If not? Why not? Is it Anti-Christian?

It depends on what kind of Christian assuming we are still using the definition for "Anti-Christian" that you supplied earlier.

So what is the difference between wanton intercourse and use of Occult Power in terms of its "Christian" entertainment-worthiness?

Witchcraft in Harry Potter was not Occultism. It was never presented as Occultism. Some Christian sects and individual Christian beliefs don't seem to take issue with wanton intercourse.

[Oldfarmhouse]

those who have most openly criticized Harry Potter as some sort of demonic and anti-Christian literature are a very tiny minority of Christians.

These are people publish by Chick Publications and similar sub-sects of Christianity. The criticisms have nothing to do with Harry Potter specifically but the popularity of the novels generally. They consider popular culture to be evil. these are the same people who rant against popular music, clothing styles, movies -- anything popular.

I think they're just jealous of the popularity they know they do not and never will have.

"We're more popular than Jesus."

-- John Lennon

[OnceConvinced]

People have already said most of what I would have said by referring to those other works similar to Harry Potter.

I say no, Harry Potter is not anti-Christian and I seem to remember reading or hearing something from the author that she was trying to incorporate some Christian themes into it.

It's all really about ignorance. I've even had debates with my Christian mother on it. She claims "oh it's bad because it attracts people to witchcraft".

I say "Come on, it's fantasy. Witchcraft isn't like that at all"

She replies. "maybe not, but it attracts them to it."

I say: "Well then they're gonna be in for a real shock when they find witchcraft is not like that. They won't be attracted then. So what's the problem?"

No reply on that one!

[Flying Tiger Comics]

I loathe Harry Potter, especially for the publishing industry manipulation behind it, and its endemic plagiarism and excruciating political correctness.

That the general level of literacy rises this higher and no further is cringe inducing, but that is the world we live in.

As for Harry Potter being anti-Christian, I don't think it's anti- Christian as much as it is a typical pro-materialist pablum, easily digestible by the mass media mind control system. To that extent, it's certainly anti-freedom and anti-imagination, as evidenced by the uncritical imitative behaviour of its cult-like extreme fans.

As to the assertion that such things don't lead people into "witchcraft", that is neither here nor there. But the Archons can take any form, and particularly seem adept at getting inspiration for their infernal cosplay from our media. In the same way people report meeting shapeshifting demons, elves and clowns, they also report meeting pop culture figures, although such encounters seem so absurd "they can't be true".

Naturally.

[Filthy Tugboat]

I loathe Harry Potter, especially for the publishing industry manipulation behind it, and its endemic plagiarism and excruciating political correctness.

Plagiarism, wait what? I might need a bit of a touch up on the matter.

That the general level of literacy rises this higher and no further is cringe inducing, but that is the world we live in.

It began as a kids book, why would you expect the author to finish the series at an incomprehensible level for children?

[Gunnarr]

In all the posts on this matter the fact that Pope Stated this little gem;

Pope Benedict speaks against Harry Potter: "It is good that you shed light and inform us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable and precisely because of that deeply affect (children) and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it (the Faith) could properly grow and mature"

http://www.tldm.org/News8/Pope%20Benedi ... Potter.htm

My view is simple it is a series of books.

[Gunnarr]

The author is a christian and the thing is a christian allegory, especially at the end.

The joke's on the fundy extremists who villified it.


bwahahahahahaha.

narnia, lotr, potter: all christian, by christians.

time to put this one to bed.

The three Authors are or were indeed Christian and as an overview there is nothing wrong with that statement, but I do not accept an overview as a complete statement of facts.

C.S. Lewis was a Atheist until introduced to the church by J.R.R Tolkien as they were great friends and members of a literary think tank called the 'inklings' at Oxford University.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewi ... ristianity

J.R.R.Tolkien was a devout Catholic but a very critical member of its congregation, but his passion was without doubt his work as a Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien#Religion

J.K. Rowling was raised in a home without Christianity her father and sister are Agnostic, She has admitted in many articles that she struggles with faith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowl ... ious_views


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inklings

[cnorman18]

I think the Harry Potter series is, most importantly, the first book in decades that interested American BOYS in reading. Girls have always read books; boys rarely, at least in my experience as a veteran middle-school teacher. "Reading is boring," was the opinion of many girls, and most boys.

Rowling began with a short book; I don't know if that was calculated or an accident, but if The Sorcerer's Stone had been as long as Deathly Hallows, the book never would have hit it big. Kids don't -- or didn't, before Rowling -- choose to read long books. Now they do. Teachers and parents everywhere owe Rowling an enormous debt. She made actual literacy cool again.

Besides growing in length, the books took on more complex and difficult themes as the series went on. And they were good themes; the books aren't by any stretch didactic or sermons in fictional form, but there are things to be learned or grasped there, and they seem to me to be healthy things.

Best comment so far, from Stephen King: "Harry Potter is about confronting your fears, finding inner strength, and doing the right thing in the face of adversity; Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." I love it. You want to talk about mediocrity in popular culture, Twilight might be a good place to start. Well, that and "reality TV," hugely popular with the networks primarily because it's cheap to produce.

Are the books Christian? They share some themes with Christian teaching, sure; but so did To Kill a Mockingbird. Good books often DO take on morals, ethics, and the concepts of hope and despair. Why wouldn't they?

I can tell you this; my rabbi's sermon two Friday nights ago was on Harry Potter and the Jewish themes there. He compared Harry, Ron and Hermione to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and talked about the themes of oppression, injustice and courage. Sure, the last book has Harry taking on a pretty clearly Christlike role, resurrection and all; but that doesn't make it anathema to Jews. I don't see why it would make it anathema to anybody.

Harry Potter isn't Tolstoy; it's not even James Joyce. But it's not crap, either, and for kids all over the US and perhaps everywhere, it opened a whole new world.

Besides -- they were a fun read. The movies weren't bad, either.