I thought I'd summarize some of my thoughts about Harry Potter, since I've been getting some good questions (read comments here) about it, both online and off.
1. Many of the shrill warnings come from those with something to gain. I've seen the books and heard the speakers who profit from warning church-goers of nonexistent threats, who then echo these fears without further investigation. Ignorance and fear often go hand in hand. For years now I've been asking the opinion of Christians who have actually given the books a fair reading and almost universally they respond, "what's the big deal?"
2. Harry Potter is not a Christian work but it's not amoral either. In art you can find redeeming qualities in even the most surprising places; anywhere you find justice, virtue, or beauty you find a testimony to the creator, whether the author intended it or not. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
3. Harry Potter is silly make-believe, a childish fantasy. Put simply, it's not real. A child who imitates Harry Potter mimics the imaginations of a British author… and that's it. They are not introduced to real witchcraft or real spells. It's all made up and nearly all children grasp this.
4. There are more serious concerns for Christian parents than Harry Potter. There are truly corrupting influences from a godless culture that will actually pull your children away from the Lord. Our schools inculcate our children in a godless naturalistic philosophy which must be countered before it erodes their faith. Our pop culture promotes a careless and personally destructive hedonism, which trains our sons and daughters in wanton sensuality. These are real threats. They destroy lives and faith every day. Here are the real threats.
In short, I'm not personally a fan of Harry Potter but I don't have a problem with it either. My boys may read it when they're older but I've got a long list of better books to offer them first. And if they do read it, it'll be far less harmful than many of the things they're potentially exposed to in a given day.
3 comments:
A few years ago I was highly against Harry Potter. Then as a "Hope-to-be-author" I thought it would be good for me (as an adult) to read it and see what the teen group is enjoying. I love the series, the complexity of the characters, the twist in the story lines. The authors improvement in sentence structure, descriptions, flow and fluency through the series has helped me greatly.
I decided to allow my then nine year old to read the first three. He was caught up in the story and no longer needed pictures in his reading books nor complained about them being over 100 pages long. He is reading the seventh at this time.
I too have a list of better books that will be required reading through the years to come. C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Dickens, etc.
As long as the parents talk with their kids about the different lures and influences they will meet in life to pull them from the Lord, the books and movies can be made harmless.
I grew up with "Freddy" and "Jason" on Halloween night. Tic, tic. I wasn't harmed. Tic, tic.
(from an iPhone on the plaza...)
"Far less harmful" sounds like you're ok with them being exposed to harmful things... Interesting. Please expound, b/c that raises another question-- where do you draw the line?? What's ok and what's not?
Let's just say we draw the line one step at a time. As we decide if something is not watchable, or readable we communicate with our kids as to why it is inappropriate. For instance, Shrek 3 which is suppose to be directed at a younger crowd is not appropriate as far as I'm concerned.
Other shows get to fleshy,crude in language, or violent for young boys to be watching. It's all a matter of leading them down the road of life with an adult testing the waters before them. Helping them learn to decipher what mental trash the world will be throwing at them. As you know, Dustin, raising kids is a 24-7 kind of job.
By the way, Good job on Coach Paul this week.
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