I started reading the Harry Potter books just recently. I can't believe I waited this long! I have plenty of friends who told me all along how good they were but because I had been led to believe by the Church that they were evil, I was not about to get too close.
These books have got to be the furthest thing from evil. In fact they are all about Good triumphing over Evil. And, no, I don't just say that to make myself feel better.Voldemort, Harry's enemy, is obviously a parallel to many evil forces throughout the ages, including Hitler and Satan. Harry as the one who defeats him is an obvious parallel to the Savior. As to the accusations of the books teaching children witchcraft. Um, no. There are no mini-magic lessons hidden in the margins of the books. Magic is done but I don't think I'm going to be able to wave my wand at my sink tonight and watch my dishes wash themselves. Unfortunately.
The church that we used to belong to had good intentions I think. They just wanted to protect us from anything that would lead us away from God. And they felt these books had the potential to do that. I don't think the pastor ever read a page of even HP1, he just heard from other good pastors like himself and spread the word around. The problem I have now, looking back, is that we as Christians need to open our own eyes and make our own INFORMED decisions. That means knowing what we are deciding on with information in hand. I don't even know the stance the pastor at our new church takes on Harry, and that's ok with me. I'm sure there are some at this church who allow HP and others who don't, and that is their own personal choice. It shouldn't be dictated by the church and if you choose to do otherwise you are a "bad" Christian. That's not how God operates and it's not how we should either. Unfortunately sometimes I think that's the impression we gave. We can't tell people, "It's all about a relationship with Jesus", and then once they are in the church throw a bunch of rules at them that they have to conform to. That's not to say that we get saved and then run wild doing what we want. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in, it's His job to guide us and our job to listen to that guidance.
It is about a relationship with Jesus and I believe He's just fine with my relationship with Harry.
1 comment:
I don't know how far you are in the series, but the last book is just FULL of Christian symbolism! FULL! I wrote a post or two about it back in July or August after I finished reading it. Harry is one of the most blatant Christ figures in modern literature, I think. Anyway, enjoy! They are great books (though it would be nice if they taught us how to wave a wand and make the dishes wash themselves).
Elaine
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