Cultural Gray Goo. Sermon Two.
Harry Potter: Particular Concerns
Larry Kirkpatrick ++ 5 July 2003
First published on 10 July 2003
Cultural Gray Goo, Sermon One: Harry Potter, Postmodernism, and Wicca
Introduction
In our first talk today we looked into the influence of the contemporary Western media, introduced the Harry Potter phenomenon, and discussed somewhat the theories promoted by Wicca. In this talk we will continue with five distinct points of observation regarding Harry Potter, and some particular concerns. In short, here then are our concerns:
- Harry Potter books and movies are not values-neutral (and neither is much else). The significance of this, is, no matter how “fun” such productions are said to be, the values they promote are subject to evaluation and critique in light of other value systems.
- Harry Potter presents a morally ambiguous message.
- God abhors the occult and warns His people against participation and familiarity with it.
- Harry Potter glorifies and promotes a seemingly empowering occulticism. Because untruth is systematically bondage-imposing, the false sense of empowerment will lead to a fatalistic worldview and the resulting lack of meaning and interest in life.
- Harry Potter fails the divine requirement for purity.
What is the Harry Potter Phenomenon?
British school teacher J.K. Rowling, a person with a lifelong interest in all things magickal and occult, wrote a fictional book about the adventures of a young man named Harry Potter. Harry is destined for greatness in the field of wizardry, but doesn't know it at first. His parents were killed by the dark wizard Voldemort, and Harry is raised from infancy by a couple of really unpleasant muggles (in Rowling's world, “muggles” are persons who do not believe in magick). Fortunately for Harry, he is eventually able to leave them for Hogwart's school of Wizardry where he begins to discover his power potential, entering into numerous adventures fighting the evil Voldemort.
British school teacher J.K. Rowling, a person with a lifelong interest in all things magickal and occult, wrote a fictional book about the adventures of a young man named Harry Potter. Harry is destined for greatness in the field of wizardry, but he doesn't know it at first. His parents were killed by the dark wizard Voldemort, and he is raised from infancy by a couple of really unpleasant muggles (in Rowling's world, “muggles” are persons who do not believe in magick). Fortunately for Harry, eventually he is able to leave them for Hogwart's School of Wizardry, where he embarks on a discovery of his power potential, entering into numerous adventures fighting the evil Voldemort. The books make “magick” their central motif, and children and adults across the world have so enjoyed the books that they have become enormously popular, to the extent that when a new Harry Potter movie comes out, children have actually been bussed from schools to the movie theater to view the film. Teachers are holding discussions in their classrooms and a great interest has arisen in magick. Meanwhile, contemporary culture's interest in neopaganism (new or renewed paganism) and Wicca (the practice of magick), have been blossoming. Because young children have taken an interest in Rowling's writings, they are being hailed as a great educational aid. At the same time some have opposed them because of the elements of witchcraft and wizardry they contain. Renewed anger has been directed against Christians who have opposed the Potter materials, and they are viewed as moralistic sticks-in-the-mud.
(We use the spelling “magick” on purpose in these topics because this spelling has come to be understood as the technically correct spelling for low magic, the casting of spells and so forth. The spelling “magic” has become associated with illusory magic, slight-of-handedness.)
Not Values-Neutral
Little in the world of art and culture, or that which masquerades as such, is values-neutral. The author or the creator of a written work or a film, brings to his work his own opinions, views, and beliefs. In a way, everyone and everything is prejudiced. That is, we all come to feed at the table of ideas from the ideological chefs who have already prepared the meal for us. The food was prepared according to its ingredients and with the purpose of coming out at the other end bearing a certain flavor, and by a cook with a goal.
If something is presented to me a split-pea soup, it is valid for me to critique it according to my expectation of what split-pea soup is. If something is presented to my children as a great educational help, then as a parent I am justified in critiquing it on the basis of whether indeed it is a great educational help for them. My value system will indeed differ from the values-system of others if I set out on a path to systematically shape it in accordance with a particular standard. If I let revelation (the belief that God connected with the inhabitants of His creation with an objective report of what His moral values are and presented that in the form of the Bible) inform me morally, my values will be shaped in one way, while another who does not accept the same authorities and follow the same methods of interpretation as I do will come out with an altogether different values-system than I do.
What am I saying? Simply this: of course I am ready to critique Harry Potter—or any other values-laden bearer which someone else purposes will come into contact with my own mind or the minds of my children. That's censorship you say? Fine. I have no problem with that. Only the most irresponsible adult would abdicate their parental charge to raise up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6)—to aid the child so that he can develop a working system of values that is morally compatible with that of God.
Complaints abound toward those who stand up and critique the values presented in Harry Potter or similar materials. We are called prudes, religious-right, bigots, book-burners, censors, morality police, and equated with those who burned the witches in Salem four centuries ago. What is up? As education and entertainment media become ever more perverse, and even our already morally-shocked sensibilities come finally to the place where we say, “This is enough!” Ours is the right to free speech, to deliver our opinion just as freely as the opinions of the horde of educators and idea-shapers who promote Harry Potter, and to voluntarily say, “Something is wrong here."
Harry Potter's Morally Ambiguous Message
Satan is a subtle worker. He knows that his program, delivered without the packaging, is easily detected for what it is. He watches for ways to camouflage his ideas. The classic meaning of camouflage is to disguise something so that it blends in with its surroundings, present but not readily apparent or obvious. This is precisely the way Satan is at work through modern media. He runs under cover of apparently noble principles, such as bravery and courage, while he incorporates humor to make it all seem like fun.
You and I both know his technique by experience. We have watched television commercials we would never have watched, concerning products we would never have purchased or become excited over purchasing, just to see the expected very clever or humorous outcome of the commercial—just to be entertained. The advertising hook is baited with humor, and we linger just long enough to take it into our mental mouth. It works. And it is not used merely upon adults!
It is said that Rowling makes her stories “fun.” She fills them with adventure, she makes the hero-characters of her story courageous. But there is more to a sound ethical values-system than bravery, courage, or boldness. While we general view these as positive virtues, the problem comes when they are blended with negative moral values. Listen at length to Richard Abanes, author of Fantasy and Your Family (hereafter FaYF):
In many situations, Rowling's good characters behave contrary to anything that might be considered “good.“ They, in fact, indulge in activities not too different from what the “bad” characters might do. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and other “good” characters habitually lie, steal, cheat, ignore laws, break rules and disrespect authority. This occurs because each character bases his or her actions not on any objective standard of morality, but on his or her own subjective feelings; the characters are the embodiment of moral relativism, a close companion of situational ethics. (Abanes, FaYF, p. 165).
Rarely does he [Harry] suffer any consequences for his behavior. (FaYF, p. 166).
Most if not all of Rowling's ‘good’ characters indulge in unethical conduct that is either rewarded or ignored. (FaYF, p. 170).
The only individuals who seem to care about discipline and following rules/laws are evil characters. . . (Abanes, FaYF, p. 171).
Rowling's good characters are hardly “good.” But if this is so, then why do they still appear good in the story? Why do so many people maintain that Harry Potter is a tale of good versus evil? Why do the lies, the disobedience and the self-serving nature of Harry and other ‘good’ characters remain relatively unchallenged by parents, educators, and religious leaders?
It is a kind of literary illusion due to Rowling's radical redefinition of good and evil. She has skillfully obscured the mildly evil deeds of her ‘good’ characters behind the horrendously evil deeds of her ‘bad’ characters. In other words, Rowling has made Voldemort and his followers so repulsive, that the immoral/unethical deeds of Harry and other ‘good’ characters (e.g. lying, cheating, etc.) take on an appearance of benevolence, fun and virtue. The result is a tacit acceptance of mildly evil characters as ‘good’ characters.
Rowling further downplays the dismal morality in her books by elevating two virtues above all others: bravery and courage. As she herself has stated, ‘If the characters are brave and courageous, that is rewarded.’ Rowling fails to recognize, however, that ‘evil’ characters are brave and courageous too. They save each others lives, heal each other's wounds, remain loyal in the face of persecution and sacrifice for each other. . . . Voldemort's method of operation may differ from Harry's, but the two characters share a similar motivation: self-interest . . . . The war in Harry Potter is a conflict between horrific evil (Voldemort and his followers) and a milder evil that only appears ‘good’ (Harry and his companions) because it is so less offensive than the greater evil. (Abanes, FaYF, pp. 171-172).
Here then is a story/book/movie/cultural-force that presents a morally ambiguous message. The heroes in the stories are heroes not because of virtue in particular, but because they are portrayed as the heroes, because they are put in a setting children will readily relate to (as students at a school), because they are learning to use magic which makes them very “empowered” people with which the reader/viewer is intended to identify.
Content, or Life Experience?
Which brings us to another crucial concern. As Abanes reminds us, “It is not necessarily content that most influences a child's response to any given piece of literature, but the child's personal background, prior reading exposure, life experiences, maturity and overall developmental level” (FaYF, p. 24). That is, how you respond to a book, television program, or movie, whether adult or child, will be very closely related to where you are on these other items, perhaps far more so than what the content was.
What is my personal background, and how does that play into how I react to the story? Do I have a history of conflict with authority figures? Did I at some point suffer unfairness or mistreatment at the hands of others in a manner that could subtly influence my personal identification with the characters of the story?
What about my prior reading exposure? What if I have never had a good experience with reading before, but for some reason it is this thing, this Harry Potter book that for the first time captures my imagination? That may create an emotional attachment and preference for all things Harry Potter. This is one reason why people find it difficult to leave churches where error is being upheld even when they learn what the biblical truth is on a given point. Their first coming to Christ was often a very powerful emotional experience. The first friends they made at their church, the first people who supported them in their newly discovered faith, may not be in a personal growth mode. The developing awareness that there is yet more beautiful life-changing Christian truth in the Bible, concerning the Sabbath, concerning the state of man in death, concerning righteousness by faith or Bible prophecy, may be unwelcome to others who are not going forward on those points at that time.
What are the life experiences of a child reading or watching Harry Potter productions? Unlike an adult, the child has considerably less experience by which he can sift, sort, and evaluate the messages explicit and implicit he is being introduced to by Harry Potter. With less life-experience to compare the behavior of Harry, Hermione, and other companions too, how will a child process a morally ambiguous message, such as that “lying is a frequently successful way of dealing with the requirements of adult authority figures.”
Remember, we do not baptize very young children. Why? Because they need to make a personal decision to follow Jesus, not just a decision that harmonizes with what their other friends may be doing. We believe that a young person should have an experimental, or experiential, element in their decision to be baptized. The smaller quantity of life experiences of young children means they have less to compare their Christian experience against.
Life experience is one of the most crucial categories where you are looking at children forming values. With a smaller sampling of ethically-aligning events to choose from, each early sample carries enormous influence. There is a reason why parents emphasize to their young children virtues such as obedience, right versus wrong, and controlling your temper. These values may save a young child's life. Children as compared to adults are in an especially receptive stance. They absorb like sponges. They should not be fed this combination of apparently positive virtues with ethically negative values in such a setting. Values must be based on more than “fun.” Few children come equipped with a round knob on the top of their heads that can be used to turn on their values filters!
Closely related to this but different is the maturity level of the child. Whereas life experience has to do with the life incidents that can serve as the patterns which inform ethical decision making, maturity has to do with your developing capacity to make ever more specific and intricate distinctions and decisions. Again, the younger are considerably less experienced than the older.
The other element on Abane's list was developmental. He has reference doubtless to Erickson's very widely accepted understanding of children's developmental phases. It is interesting to note that among the stages outlined by Erickson are the “school-age” child, who is working through the question of “industry versus inferiority,” developing a sense of self-worth, and the next stage “Adolescent,” which is presented as mainly the working-out of “personal identity versus role-confusion.”
(This link lists Erickson's theoretical stages.)
Interesting times, if Erickson's assessments are accurate, for children to be participating in Rowling's ethical taste-testing exercise via Harry Potter! And remember, this blurry mix is served up as fun adventure. As Anita Oliver put it, “humor disarms one's sensitivities.” In this respect, she is dead-on correct. This is post-modern thought carefully packaged, englossed, and served up as a treat. It comes filled with its particular values riding in low under the radar, appearing as an innocent help, an unexpectedly beneficial means to lead children—who are immersed in a maze of media and electronic distractions—to be interested in reading. Here is something we are told is harmless, and we are just being narrow-minded in making such issues out of.
But remember the challenge of the scriptures to look beyond the mere appearance:
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. (John 7:24).
For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. (Proverbs 1:32).
God valls people to beware the existence of factors beyond those immediately apparent. He asks us to weigh things thoughtfully.
But consider again now more carefully. In Harry Potter we find (1) a blending of apparently “good” values such as bravery, courage, loyalty, with (2) a world in which the consequences of unethical conduct are for all intents and purposes, nonexistent, with (3) “heroes” who habitually do evil, with (4) a pleasant wrapping-paper of fun, humor, and adventure, and this all (5) in the setting of young people figuring out just who they are and sorting out the difficult journey toward adulthood.
Of additional interest is the fact that the Wiccan stance toward morality is so-closely echoed in Harry Potter. As contemporary proponents of Wicca have pointed-out, the concept of good and bad, of moral absolutes, is denied by Wicca. At the fountainhead of Wiccan ideology is the assertion that “There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.” Such is the sentiment voiced in Harry Potter by the character Quirrell.
But Rowling did not come up with this herself. The phrase is quite similar to the core philosophy of one Anton LeVay, contemporary founder of the church (so-called) of Satan. LeVay adopted some of his thought from the philosopher Friedric Nietzche. LeVay said that good “is what feels good,” and that evil is “what doesn't feel so good, what pains you, what hurts you, what you find abrasive, what you find unpleasant.” LeVay said there is no God, and that the chief result of the worldview dividing things into good versus evil was that it “kept the church in business so many years.”
As Wiccan's themselves say, “There is no White or Black Magick, there is only Magick, and it is the use we make of it that defines its purpose.” The basic Wiccan approach to morality is, “if it harms no one, do what you please.” While the Harry Potter books and movies themselves do not make it their purpose to teach Wicca, they vry largely harmonize with it and its amoral credo. But it is not just Rowling. It is the culture that is rotting out from under us. As one popular author of chidren's books has said, “Modern tales reflect the society from which they emerge.” (Jane Yolen, cited by Abanes, FaYF, p. 134). This is not a philosophy restricted to Wicca. It is post-modern at its core. It was presented equally well in the 1995 film Hackers where the sentiment was expressed that, “There is no right or wrong, only fun and boring.” (cited by Abanes, FaYF, p. 165).
God Abhors the Occult and Warns His People Against Participation and Familiarity With It
We know already that God abhors the occult. We don't often approach the question, however, of why. The first “occult” experience of humankind was found in Genesis, chapter three. Remember, to “occult” means to hide or obscure. Satan told Eve that the reason for God's restriction upon them had been to hide from them the secret knowledge which, the serpent claimed, would make them like gods (Genesis 3:1-5). What was it that would make them like gods? It was to disobey God in order to acquire the occult knowledge—the secret knowledge of the moral domains.
Now remember. Humankind was made, designed, created, in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27). God is a moral being. He is holy and good. We were created to be like Him in our sphere. Would He have withheld from Adam and Eve knowledge of the moral domains? Of course not. Then they never could have truly reflected His glory, they couldn't have emulated Him and His moral government. No, it is very clear: God would have given them this knowledge in due time.
But remember. What was God waiting for? Perhaps what we already noted had something to do with things: “It is not necessarily content that most influences a child's response to any given piece of literature, but the child's personal background, prior reading exposure, life experiences, maturity and overall developmental level” (FaYF, p. 24). Adam and Eve had little personal background. They were brand new. Prior exposure? None. Life experience? Just getting started. Maturity? Ditto. Developmental level? We don't really know the details, do we? But we know that God would have given them the knowledge eventually, and that without their having to experience the sorrows of sin. But (now this is interesting) perhaps He planned to wait until they were sufficiently prepared in their life experiences, maturity, and so forth, to carefully weigh God's counsels.
Now you know the story of the fall. An immature Adam and Eve made destructive choices to rebel against God that plunged our race and the universe itself into the midst of a great controversy between good and evil—and we may have great concern that the effect of Harry Potter on young people will be similar in a sense. Not yet ready for the morality-bending experience, they will be prematurely confronted with a destructive worldview, and some, perhaps, led into a dangerous path away from God. In short, what Satan is doing today—stealthfully working with young impressionable minds—is just exactly what God refused to do with Adam and Eve.
God says this: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Through John He says, “No lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21). God insists through revelation that there is a moral domain of good and that there is a (temporary) moral domain of evil. God tells us that this is how things are. Satan in the beginning proposed a differing authority: his own. He proposed a differing value system: his own. He determined to go into competition against God.
But there is another reason why God cannot permit the endless existence of a system of spiritual authority that promotes a different moral system. Good is innately positive and constructive. Evil is innately destructive. The Bible reminds us that the truth “sanctifies,” makes holy (John 17:17). Evil does the opposite. God has told us that “Evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Truth is the objective facts of existence. Deception is an inherently biased portrayal of the situation of existence. Rather than to soundly perceive, to deceive is to willfully reshape the portrayal of objective reality. It is dangerous.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 says:
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Here we learn that occult practices are forbidden to God's people, that the reason why He is removing the heathen nations from the land is because they had practiced these abominations. Therefore “because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” But there is more. Leviticus18:26-30 tells us that the practices of the heathen nations defiled the land. God commands His people not to participate in such practices so “That the land not spue you out also” (Leviticus 18:28). We hear learn that this is a matter far above mere issues of local or ethnic custom. God told His people that if they acted in the same manner as the heathen nations, they, just as the heathen nations, would reap the consequences. This means we are dealing here with that which is ethically and morally transcendent, connected to a universal, timeless, system of values, or moral domains.
In other words, the actions of God's people are intimately connected with the home God made for them. Remember what happened in the garden of Eden. God placed Adam and Eve there and then told them what the values system was. He indicated what was acceptable and what was not. When they violated the moral boundaries that God had specified, there were immediate results. They were cast out of the garden, or “spued out” if you will. God is consistent, isn't He. Beyond this the Bible also records that when they stepped outside of the moral boundaries God had set up, a change came over both Adam and Eve (their natures became “fallen”), but also that their very choice to sin even impacted the physical environment (Genesis 3:17). Death entered the world through their sin (Romans 5:12). Things began to die. Thus an intimate moral linkage exists between the human race made in God's image, and the environment God prepared for them to dwell in.
It is fascinating that contemporary paganism urges that it preexisted Christianity and that it is a nature-embracing system of religious practice. In point of fact, the Bible says that God originally made man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29) and that it was only after his choice to rebel against God that both his spiritual nature as well as the very physical environment of planet earth was damaged by practices that God loathed.
Revelation, the Bible's last book, reports that God has the same issues with sorcery and immorality at the end of time as He did in the beginning. Revelation 21:8 states that those who persist in practicing sorcery will suffer the second death, while Revelation 11:18 declares that God will “destroy them which destroy the earth.” Both the Bible's very first and its very last book link morality with the very environment of planet. Moral decisions by humans impact the whole of the earth itself. The Bible presents a consistent picture of this linkage. God is opposed to magickal practice.
Harry Potter Promotes a Seemingly Empowering Occultism
Just as we already discussed, Satan proposes that his alternative authority and morality system is empowering. Humankind can operate on God's terms or on Satan's. Satan however, says in his system that humankind can do things for themselves, thank you. He proposed to Eve that she take and eat of the fruit of the tree that God had forbidden. That is, by her own action, she could manipulate outcomes, she could gain secret knowledge—empowering knowledge. This is precisely what modern paganism proposes to do for young people today, as glorified through entertainment media or by the practice of Wicca.
Abanes makes the following observation:
Wicca, Neopaganism and the occult also tend to eradicate feelings of powerlessness—something that most children/teens struggle with daily. It is a normal burden all young people must bear until they mature into adults, at which time they gain complete control over their personal lives. Herein lies both the danger and the draw of occultism: Its practices and philosophy promise power—power allegedly accessible by adults and children alike.
A magick spell, incantation, rite or ritual can be performed simply by knowing how to execute the formula. Most attractive to children is how these occult techniques can be done in complete privacy and without having to obtain approval from authority figures. Whether or not the expected results actually materialize is inconsequential. The sheer promise of a result, coupled with the personal feeling of power received from occult involvement, is enough to form a bond between a youth and occult activity. Wielding power—even the mere hope of wielding it—can be a very tantalizing thing. (Abanes, FaYF, pp. 130-131).
As Pete Smith points out, “Casting spells gives them a feeling of control over an increasingly confusing world at a time when many youngsters feel powerless” (Pete Smith, spokesperson for England's Association of Teachers and Lecturers cited by Abanes in FaYF, p. 154). Here we see the power of the seduction. Just as young people are invested in the most tumultuous time in their lives, a time when they are under authority so hard for them to bear, when they are shaping what they soon shall be as adults, as they are chafing under the necessity of school and the first deep social crises they are experiencing in relation to peers of the opposite gender, along comes the lure of the supposed fun and adventure and empowerment of magick, and the novelty of being one in supposed possession of the ancient lore of the wizards.
This supposed empowerment is perhaps one of the most dangerous issues. The Bible reminds us that we are worshipping beings; it is inherent in our nature (Revelation 4:11). But because of the Fall we are born broken and participate in our world as a moral battlefield, as forces aligned with good seek to lead us to freely align ourselves with good, while forces of evil seek to enchain us in the bondages of evil. Good is constructive, evil is destructive. Jeremiah 2:13 reminds us of the outworking of just such worshipping beings gone awry. We forsake our Creator as the source of life and then we go about digging cisterns that can hold no water, i.e. engaging in religious practices that cannot change us for the better but will only harden us in our ever steepening collapse into the inward black hole of selfishness.
The false sense of empowerment produced by the passing euphoria of the movies, or the escapism offered by a book of the Potter variety, or the quick-fix sense of exercising authority that comes with participating in the occult, are all dangerous dead ends. Far from empowerment, they represent the turning of attention to unhealthy directions, a focus on that which seduces but does not heal. And along the way you have the moral ambiguity that will later, at the collapse of the interesting fad outlive it. The outcome for many will be a form of fatalism. Young people will adopt the view that there is no moral right or wrong, and develop instead a sense of just the opposite, that one is not in control of their environment in sufficient measure to alter it. It is a dead end cul de sac. This is the last thing a young person today should prime himself for.
Harry Potter Fails the Test of Purity
Finally, it must be noted that Harry Potter fails the test of purity. Philippians 4:8 gives us the test:
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
The human brain is intricate in its operations, and delicate. That which we permit to enter it will have its effect upon us. The brain is where what we think of shapes into what we become. The admonition to “think on these things” is linked to a list of eight points:
Is Harry Potter true? It is fiction, but does it portray the truth about God or the truth about our world? Does it portray the truth about moral domains of good and evil? Does it portray that which helps its readers/viewers face their life in this world wisely? Is it true that bad behavior often elicits no negative consequences? These materials would seem to fail the test of “that which is true.”
Is Harry Potter honest? Over and over again we find that honesty is one of the greatest casualties in the Potter series. Harry and his friends lie more than almost anything else. The series does not appear to qualify as “That which is honest.”
Is Harry Potter just? The good guys win in Harry Potter, except that there are no good guys. There are only the more evil and the mildly evil. Principles of bravery and courage are rewarded, but the basic principle of justice is not well addressed. On the contrary, the unjust are portrayed as heroes. Harry Potter fails.
Is Harry Potter pure? Its core motif is witchcraft and magic. By no means is it pure.
Is Harry Potter lovely? As noted, it pits the mildly evil versus the yet worse evil. Is there anything truly lovely about evil fighting with evil? No. Ironic perhaps, but not lovely. Failure then, for Harry Potter on this point as well.
Is Harry Potter of good report? No. while several have come out in favor of Potter, many also have come out in opposition to it. They have critiqued the materials and noted a variety of reasons why they could not have a “good report” concerning Harry Potter.
Does Harry Potter contain that which is virtuous and praiseworthy? Some have asserted this. But we have noted reasons why, as a general statement, this must be contested. If the postmodern worldview is your measuring stick, you might say that the materials have in them such. But the yardstick for Paul (Philippians 4:8) was the Christian worldview, not the postmodern. On that basis, Potter is an abysmal failure.
In fact, no matter how you slice it, Harry Potter fails the test of purity. Its showing is poor indeed. Remember, the test of purity is not independent of other Scripture. Romans chapter one tells us that God condemns those who hold down the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). The biblical explanation of this is that the reason for which those who do this are condemned is because there is sufficient evidence of the existence of God available to us to confirm that His value system is legitimate and to condemn us for counteracting it (Romans 1:16-32).
Satan pushes his alternative view. He has always sought to turn humankind to different sources of authority which counteract revelation. For example, one case of many that could be cited is that the Potter books teach a spiritualistic view of death. In one Potter book, the sage Dumbledore states that "After all, to the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Quoted by Abanes in FaYF, p. 146). This directly contradicts the Bible's teaching concerning death. The Bible actually teaches also that “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Yes, there will be great adventure beyond the grave for those who live eternally in God's kingdom, but first is the judgment. First is morality and ethics. Potter makes it last.
One of the first items in the book of Proverbs is Proverbs 1:10: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” The counsel goes on to recommend that one not participate in the destructive activities of those who do evil. Is there some good counsel here for potential readers/moviegoers of Harry Potter? Sinners entice thee, says the Scripture. The New Testament also says that when they do entice and we refuse to join them in their behaviors, that “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you” (1 Peter 4:3, 4).
Conclusion
There is a difference between truth and error, light and dark, good and bad, even if Potter in his culturally relativistic (See Sermon One) pajamas refuses to teach it. Our children today will not be presented this reality in the schools or in the popular media. They need today, more than ever before, mom and dad to be responsible, to stand up thoughtfully, and be willing to draw the boundary line, willing to critique to split-pea soup that is being fed our children. Little of it is truly split-pea soup.
H.K. Rowlings' Harry Potter is the glossy cover, the entry point, the culturally approved agency of seduction. After our two studies we see that these materials are hopelessly unusable by parents and educators who have a meaningful recognition of their values-teaching role.
Part of our challenge is to negotiate the narrow pathway between definite changes rattling through our age and the convenience of conspiracy-plot thinking that not only provides inadequate explanations but also, when we repeat them to others, destroys our credibility. God's purpose is not that we be conduits for the latest urban legends. He would have us be persons with our windows open both to truth on the one hand and the pulse of our age on the other, so that we may persuasively connect with others for Christ. Harry Potter is morally stillborn, all fun and adventure notwithstanding. May persons with concern for the values and virtues that will prepare young people for a positive and truly empowered approach to life rise to the occasion and carefully take their position as guardians of selfless values that will build rather than destroy the precious children that are our heritage.
Additional Links of Interest:
- Cultural Gray Goo, Harry Potter, Postmodernism, and Wicca, Sermon One.
- Twelve Reasons not to see Harry Potter movies, by Berit Kjos at http:// www.crossroad.to/articles2/HP-Movie.htm.
- The Scholars and the Goddess: Historically speaking, the “ancient” rituals of the Goddess movement are almost certainly bunk, by Charlotte Allen at http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/01/allen.htm
- Hundreds of Potter links: http://www.sirlinksalot.net/potter.html (Just in case you thought we were exaggerating the degree of interest out there in Harry Potter!)
|
