When Harry Met Satan
It seems that the world has gone wild about Harry again ... because the one-two combination of the movie/book release has put the spell of Potter-mania on the muggle world - driving the multitudes to the multiplexes and boatloads to the bookstores.
by Lane Palmer, Christian Today Guest Columnist
Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007, 12:01 (BST)
It seems that the world has gone wild about Harry again ... because the one-two combination of the movie/book release has put the spell of Potter-mania on the muggle world - driving the multitudes to the multiplexes and boatloads to the bookstores.
No matter how you feel about the "rightness" or "wrongness" of reading/watching the adventures from JK Rowling, it is pretty much impossible to miss the gi-hugous part of culture it's become over the last several years. It seems like everywhere you turn there's a Harry here, Harry there, Harry Potter everywhere.
Almost like magic!
The latest film instalment is The Order of the Phoenix, which evidently is considered one of the weakest in the series - but I personally see it as the critical turning point where the mostly-innocent-whimsical-magical world of the Sorcerer's Stone has disappeared in the rear view mirror as a much darker and troublesome landscape enters our horizon. From the opening scene to the climactic ending battle, quidditch matches are replaced with heavy duty fighting, and the seemingly inseparable trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine hit the rough seas of adolescence and many a storm breaks out.
Yet one thing definitely remains the same - which is the overarching "good vs evil" theme that keeps boiling down to deeper levels of eeeeee-vil and raising up higher and higher stakes each time. Obviously Voldemort is back (once again mostly missing a nose .... Is there just not enough cash in the budget to give the poor guy at least a CGI schnozzola???).
Without giving too much away, I noticed a key element in
The Order of the Phoenix fantasy world that instantly connected with the calling of the Christian in the real world. In the film, Harry forms a group called Dumbledore's Army, basically because the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher is completely worthless and is actually hurting the students' chances of successfully fighting Voldemort and his army. In a nutshell, Harry is running his own "Defence" class so he and his friends are prepared for the imminent attacks that are sure to come.
Again, this is fantasy. Dumbledore is fantasy. Hogwarts is fantasy. Voldemort's nose is fantasy (ok, I'll let it go).
What is NOT fantasy is the battle against real evil and the real attacks that are coming your way in a real world near you. So you need your own defence against not dark arts but Satanic attacks. These assaults have plagued the human race since the-man-without-a-bellybutton and his (literal) better half named Eve ate from the WAY wrong tree (i.e. Genesis 3). For thousands of years the children of God have been in the crosshairs of Satan, and it is only going to get worse.
Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Tuesday, July 24, 2007, 17:36 (BST)
Thank you healtheland for your comments. God says that His people perish because of lack of knowledge. If we as Christians could only understand that we are a peculiar people and that we are to be alert because our adversary is on the prowl. The enemy is sly, convincing, and perverts all the things of God. The Harry Potter series isn't even subtle about the things of the occult. It's not fantasy! If you do research, the names, words, etc. are from the "religion" of witches. It is a sad day when Christians take something of the world to teach their own children. We are to educate ourselves at what is really going on. There aren't good or bad witches, they are all evil in the eyes of God. Satan is slick and captivating and he knows that the way to destroy future generations is to reach the young people. Our childrens minds are being curropted by spells, and so forth, and we sit back and watch because it is all entertainment, and it's teaching our children to have an interest in reading. We are not to be lukewarm about these things. The enemy was an angel of light with a dark heart. He lures people to things that are not of God by deceiving them with false truths (anyone remember his conversation with Eve?) Please, my prayer to everyone is to be more vigilant in reading and understanding the Word of God. We are to hate the things that God hates. We are to be educated and know that we are not restling with flesh and blood. Our young people are under attack and many of us have added salt to the wound by allowing them to feed on things of the occult.
Savingourchildren, Chicago, IL
Added: Friday, July 20, 2007, 9:39 (BST)
"It is about going to heaven, and only those who have rejected the world and kept the commandments of Jesus Christ are going to meet that standard."
What gospel is that? Works dont get you into heaven my friend, we can never meet God's standard....why would his Son in the first place?
jath88, Sydney, Australia
Added: Wednesday, July 18, 2007, 15:42 (BST)
So now we are using witches (thou shalt not suffer a witch to live says Exodus 22:18) to teach our kids how to make better moral choices? What next, sending them to psychics to learn dating advice? Or to voodoo priestesses in order to gain better study habits? Look people, God judged Saul and every male in his household because he visited the witch at Endor. What makes you think that He won't do the same to us? Where in the new covenant does it say that playing around with witchcraft is OK? Quite the contrary, the epistles and Revelation make it clear that witches, sorcerers, etc. will be in the lake of fire.
Enough with this nonsense that we cannot ignore the phenomenon because it is so popular. Internet and child pornography are popular too, so are Christians going to get a piece of that? Why not? It would bring a lot of money in the church, and would pack the pews on Sundays! Christianity is not "morals and values." You want morality and good family values, go to virtually any Muslim nation under the shari'a law, that's clean living for you! It is about going to heaven, and only those who have rejected the world and kept the commandments of Jesus Christ are going to meet that standard. Even if J. K. Rowling is a professed Christian, Harry Potter will fill your children full of evil spirits rather than saving their souls, and it will be your responsibility for letting those things in your house and family by succumbing to the world in that fashion. Oh, you don't believe that evil spirits are real? Well then you do not believe in the Bible. So why not quit pretending to be a Christian and go be a witch if you reject the truth, inerrancy, and final authority of scripture while liking Harry Potter so much?
healtheland, Atlanta, USA
Added: Wednesday, July 18, 2007, 11:58 (BST)
well "JHC" (obviously not the real one, a false one i would say) your "filler" comment denies Christ (the real one that is) this shows what you really think about G-d. The word "anti" mean anything? Hope I'm wrong!
You made clear a well written column. Good.
G B, uk
Added: Sunday, July 15, 2007, 2:43 (BST)
Boogy boogy boogy boo! Anything that is a cultural phenominon will be considered to be the work of 'Satan' according to this sky surfer. If people could be influenced into Satan by Harry Potter, then when is the Pope going to come out with his trilogy of super-happy-we love you-church is great movies? No doubt you could simply combat this evil with a 'good message' movie and millions will flock to your church? Im not anti-god...Im just anti-idiots like this moron.
There are only 10 laws (commandments for those that lack brainpower) that God wrote that he wants you to really follow...The rest is 'filler' or commentary that was simply made up.
JHC, UK
