The Question I Refused to Ask

Years before I was a Christian, I had an experience that was...  unsettling.  It centered around the newly popular Harry Potter series and my oldest child.  Quite honestly, it freaked me out.  From that point forward, I wanted nothing to do with the books. I won’t detail the experience except to say that it aligned the Harry Potter books in my mind with the occult. I jumped to that conclusion, one many Christians have jumped to, because of the theme and the fact that there was a “spell book” available (albeit unofficial, not written by the author).

I didn’t read the Harry Potter books.  I didn’t want to read them.  I didn’t let my children read them.  Well, a few did, in later years, but not in my presence.  I simply was that freaked out by them.  When I became a Christian, my resolve that they were horrible was only strengthened. 

But...  I never read them for myself. 

I began homeschooling a couple years after becoming a Christian.  Suddenly, I was faced with deciding which books were what I wanted to have in my children’s minds and hearts.  Over the years, as I have jumped into Children’s literature, I would come across a lot of “Harry Potter” defenders.  Articles, blogs, podcasts, other Christians; people I respected were fans of the Harry Potter series. Still, I adamantly refused to consider them.

I have loved to read since I was six, but access to quality literature wasn’t always there for me as a child.  I loved the Little House series,  Louisa May Alcott, and Caddie Woodlawn, but missed many more than I read.  Fantasy wasn’t a first choice for me as a child.  As I have been homeschooling my children, I find myself delving into the books that I missed.  Two years ago I read The Chronicles of Narnia with my daughter.  

I think I was shocked at the use of magic in what is a Christian series by a Christian author.  Last summer I read Inkheart with my youngest.  Again, the use of magic was apparent, but the books weren’t labeled as Christian.  Looking back, many of the books I have read to my daughter had mythical creatures and/or magic in them.   Personification seems to be very routine, and the magic that occurs in novels is often second nature.  Many times, I don’t even think about it.

I loved Narnia.  I loved this alternate land, this alternate reality.  To me it symbolized the spiritual battle that we cannot see, that happens all around us every day.  It is a battle of good against evil, Jesus versus Satan.  I sometimes think, what if we could see the battle?  How would that change our perceptions?  How would it change our actions?  Would we react differently if we saw the times we were protected supernaturally, and often unknowingly?  Would we react differently to the lies whispered in our ears if we saw who was doing the whispering? Would we fight differently if we saw power released when we prayed?  The greatest discouragement comes from feeling powerless, as if our prayers and actions are meaningless and ineffective.

But still, the witchcraft that seemed to be the crux of Harry Potter deterred me.  

As I studied Children’s Literature for a college class, I looked at fairy tales and fables.  I began to learn about the tools of literature, as symbolism, not reality.  Magic is prevalent in children’s literature from ages past to present, even Christian literature.  C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were both Christian writers, famous for their imagery and the representations of the Bible, and magic is used liberally in their stories. 

I picked up the book, What’s a Christian to Do With Harry Potter, by Connie Neal.  I wanted to understand the draw.  The books sit on the shelves of some of the strongest, most dedicated Christians I know.   What is it about this boy studying witchcraft and sorcery can be made okay when lined up against Scriptures that day to stay away from these things?

As I read the Connie Neal book, I learned some things that I didn’t know.  I delved more deeply in the use of magic in literature as a tool to symbolize the battle of light versus dark.  I learned about other books that are usually accepted, but that also have witchcraft or Biblical “issues.”  Dickens' A Christmas Carol, for instance, has Scrooge communing with the dead and spirits.  Did I never catch that?  

I think it was that Harry Potter talks of “spells” that threw me.  I mean, there was a spell book.  I didn’t want my child thinking she could cast spells.  THAT was too much!  Um...  no.

Connie Neal has a section in her book where she brings out some facts about the life of Daniel from the Old Testament.  I knew Daniel had lived in a very pagan nation, a captive of Nebuchadnezzar.  I guess I never realized that Daniel was considered chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune tellers. (Daniel 5:11-12). Daniel’s power was from God.  He never dabbled in the occult, but he studied their literature.  He was trained in their schools with those that did study those things.  But Daniel remained faithful to the One true God.  Knowledge didn’t bring occult worship.

My daughter still found a way to read the Harry Potter books, despite me not wanting her to.   She loves the Lord deeply.  So what was I missing?

I realized that I could read Narnia and other books with magical elements and not think twice about it, but Harry Potter was different for me because I had experienced a negative situation concerning something to do with the books.  In all honesty, my daughter was an advanced reader, but emotionally, she was not ready to read the Harry Potter books at that time.  

Later, when she was older, she could see them for what they were: engaging tales of light versus dark, good versus evil.  

My youngest is now wanting to read the books.  Torn, I knew that I needed to make a decision not based on fear and presumption, not based on other people’s opinions from articles, but based on actually reading the books for myself.

Last week, at a resale shop, there was the first Harry Potter book in paperback.  I bought it and read it for myself.

And...  I enjoyed it immensely.

Yes, there is magic.  Yes, there is a school of wizardry.  Yes, Harry flies on a broomstick.  But in Narnia’s The Dawn Treader, Lucy reads from a spell book, and I never thought it was “occultist.”  And so, I have had to accept that there is a difference between reading a book with magic in it and delving into the occult.  The symbolism in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was too great to ignore.

Harry, living a life for years in oblivion to the alternate world that exists.  Isn’t that the way most of us live, unaware of the spiritual world we can’t see?  His eyes opened, Harry is chosen.  Aren’t we that love God chosen by Him?  Then comes Hogwarts...  school... training.  It seems similar to discipleship and studying the Word of God to learn how to be what God has called us to be.

Hogwarts is full of petty rivalries and alliances.  I have found the same in church, and been wounded by those “in my house.”  Learning to deal with others, even when they do wrong or hurt me, has been a true battle. Harry deals similarly with not only his peers and teachers at Hogwarts, but also with his terrible Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. We might run into a few Dursleys and a Draco Malfoy in our lives.  

I haven’t read the second book... yet.  I do believe I will preview the books, one at a time.  I have agreed to let my youngest daughter begin the series.  We are listening to The Sorcerer’s Stone on Audible together.  I want to discuss the book, especially the ideas of literary use of magic versus actual occult participation.  Mostly, I don’t want to make these decisions based on fear.  I have made too many decisions in my life based on fear, and that is not Godly.

There are going to be messy books, just as life can be messy. I can either approach from fear or from faith.  There will definitely be books that I don’t want my children to have anything to do with.  I think that is different from messy books that leave us having to answer tough questions.  I need to answer the tough questions. 

I may be late to the “Quidditch” game, but I am still a “seeker” wanting truth. (Ha ha...  corny, I know.)  I am reading, a book at a time, prayerfully, as I dig into the most popular book series in years.