Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opened on
November 16 at a record-breaking number of theaters across the country.
Across the country, "Christian" as well as public schools
bussed their students to see the long awaited movie based on the first
book in J. K. Rowling’s ground-breaking series. Teachers are
facilitating classroom discussions that train students to seek
"common ground" and conform to an ever-changing group
consensus. [2] While forbidding prayer in the name of Jesus, most
schools seem to welcome spells and sorcery in the name of Harry Potter.
The pressure to participate in the fun and frenzy
is intense. So what can a Christian child do in the midst of such hype,
hypocrisy and popular wizardry?
Those who know God can find answers in His Word.
Consider this list of Biblical warnings and wisdom, then put on the
Armor of God and pray that He lead you in His way.
1. God shows us that witchcraft;
sorcery, spells, divination and magic are evil. He hates those
practices because they blind us to His loving ways, then turn our
hearts to a deceptive quest for self-empowerment and deadly thrills.
Harry Potter's world may be fictional, but the timeless pagan
practices it promotes are real and deadly. Well aware that the final
result is spiritual bondage and oppression, He warns us: "There
shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a
soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the
Lord..." Deuteronomy 18:9-12
2. The movie's foundation in fantasy,
not reality, doesn't diminish its power to change beliefs and values.
Imaginary (or virtual) experiences and well-written fantasies can
affect the mind and memories as much, if not more, than actual
experiences. Designed to stir feelings and produce strong emotional
responses, a well-planned myth with likeable characters can be far
more memorable than the less exciting daily reality -- especially when
reinforced through books, toys and games as well as movies. Small
wonder Harry's fans have been counting the days until their next
fantastic journey into Hogwarts' classes on sorcery, divination,
potions and spells. "But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil
heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:24.
3. Each occult image and enticing
suggestion prompts the audience to feel more at home in the dark,
paranormal setting. Children identify with their favorite characters
and learn to see wizards and witches from a popular peer perspective
rather than from God's perspective. Those who sense that the occult
world is evil face a choice: Resist peer pressure or rationalize their
imagined participation in Harry's supernatural adventures. The second
choice may quiet the nagging doubts, but rationalizing evil and
justifying sin will sear the conscience and shift the child's
perception of values from God's perspective to a more
"comfortable" cultural adaptation. Even Christian children
can easily learn to conform truth to multicultural ideals and turn
God's values upside down - just as did God's people in Old Testament
days: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put
darkness for light, and light for darkness....Woe to those who are
wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!" Isaiah
5:2-21. Harry Potter Special [Magazine] interviews actors Daniel
Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Tom Felton (Draco), Harry
Melling (Dudley): If you could cast a spell on someone, what would it
be? Daniel: "If I liked them, it would be a spell where I'd give
them something special, like the word--it's very bad to say this--but
I like the word Voldemort." What magical power would you like to
have? Rupert: "I'd like to levitate." Do you prefer to play
a bad or good character? Tom: "Bad. It's more fun because it is
different. What magical power would you want to have? Tom:
"Invisibility. So I could sneak around and go places I
shouldn't." Did you find it hard torturing Harry? Harry M:
"No. I found it quite fun, actually."[4]
4. God tells us to "abhor what
is evil" and "cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9).
But when Christian children and teens love the Harry Potter myths,
delight in the movie and read the books again and again, they are
desensitizing their hearts and minds to its evil. Turning God's truth
upside down, they are learning to "love" what is evil. The
natural next step is to reject God's wise boundaries and
"abhor" what He calls good. "You love evil more than
good...." Psalm 52:3
5. Immersed in the values taught at
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, children become
spiritually blind. They lose their natural aversion for the devious
spirits represented by the creatures and symbols in this eerie world.
Caught up in the exciting story, they absorb the suggested values and
store the fascinating images in their minds -- making the forbidden
world of the occult seem more normal than the Kingdom of God.
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty
deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic
principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians
2:6-9
6. This inner change is usually
unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass
rational scrutiny. After all, who will stop, think and weigh the
evidence when caught up in such a fast-moving visual adventure? Fun
fantasies and strategic entertainment has a special way of altering
values, compromising beliefs and changing behavior in adults as well
as in children. This learning process has been named
"edutainment" -- a favored way to train multicultural
citizens for the envisioned 21st century community. Its
power to influence beliefs and behavior is illustrated by today's
marketing firms, which spend billions on entertaining ads that touch
emotions, ignore the facts, yet motivate people to buy the product.
"Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, …"
7. The main product marketed through
this movie is a belief system that clashes with everything God offers
us for our peace and security. This pagan ideology comes complete with
trading cards, computer and other wizardly games, clothes and
decorations stamped with HP symbols, action figures and cuddly dolls
and audio cassettes that could keep the child's minds focused on the
occult all day and into night. But in God's eyes, such paraphernalia
become little more than lures and doorways to deeper involvement with
the occult. In contrast, He calls a person "blessed" who
-"walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path
of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful
[mockers];" But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and
in His law he meditates day and night. Whatever he does shall
prosper." Psalm 1:1-3. It might be hard to escape the symbols
that remind people of Harry. His words and phrases help fuel today's
cultural transformation: The mainstream media uses the word "muggles"
to deride those who don't want children to read Harry Potter books.
"A columnist from the Chicago Daily Herald used Harry-Speak....
He said that a particular NBC Olympics commentator was the 'dementor
of the sports commentators.'" "Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is going
to name this year's snowstorms after the Harry Potter characters. The
first blizzard of the year will be called Albus...." Harry Potter
Special: Inside the Magical Magazine (Primedia, Inc.), pages 24, 26.
David Rockefeller ("search" for his name on this site),
Vice-President, Financial Operations.
8. The implied source of power behind
Harry's magical feats, tend to distort a child's understanding of God.
In the movie as in the books, words traditionally used to refer to
occult practices become so familiar that children begin to apply the
same terms to God and His promised strength. Many learn to see God as
a power source that can be manipulated with the right kind of prayers
and rituals -- and view his miracles as just another form of magic.
They base their understanding of God on their own feelings and wants,
not on His revelation of Himself. "You thought that I was
altogether like you; but I will rebuke you...." Psalm 50:21.
9. Blind to the true nature of God,
children will synthesize or blend Biblical truth with the pagan
beliefs and magical practices demonstrated in the Harry Potter movie.
In the end, you distort and destroy any remnant of true Christian
faith. For our God cannot be molded to match pagan gods. "For My
people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain
of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that
can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:1
10. God tells us to "train up a child in the way He
should go." It starts with teaching them God's truths and
training them all day long to see reality from His, not the world's
perspective. To succeed, we need to shield them from contrary values
until they know His Word and have memorized enough Scriptures to be
able to recognize and resist deception. Once they have learned to love
what God loves and see from His perspective, they will demonstrate
their wisdom by choosing to say "no" to Harry Potter.
"And these words which I command you today shall be in your
heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall
talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way,
when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7.
11. While some argue that Harry Potter and his friends
demonstrate friendship, integrity and honesty, they actually model how
to lie and steal and get away with it. Their examples only add to the
cultural relativism embraced by most children today who are honest
when it doesn't cost anything, but who lie and cheat when it serves
their purpose. "And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [depraved] mind, to
do those things which are not fitting.... They are whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,
unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God,
that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only
do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Romans
1:28-321.
12. God has a better way. When His children choose to follow
His ways, He gives them a heart to love Him, spiritual eyes that can
understand and delight in His Word, a sense of His presence and a
confidence in His constant care -- no matter what happens around us.
Harry Potter's deceptive thrills are worse than worthless when
compared to the wonderful riches our Shepherd promises those who will
ignore evil and walk with Him. "Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on
these things." Philippians 4:6-8
