Catholicism and Harry Potter?

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I’m just curious to see what the general Catholic opinion on J. K. Rowling’s popular saga. I understand that very fanatic people will call it satanic and evil, as they say it promotes witchcraft.
First off, I only liked Harry Potter from 1999-2003 and just gave up on it, because they were making the movies while the books were still being written and it took forever for book 5 to come out, and in that time I came to love J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

But why do Christians endorse J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, which he wrote as Christian (particularly Catholic) allegories, as well as C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, but believe Harry Potter comes from the depths of hell? I was always aware that true witchcraft was bad and that the only true faith was Christianity, particularly Catholicism. I never met anybody who was inspired to dabble in satanism and the occult because they read Harry Potter? This magic they speak of is fiction, and real magic is to be condemned. As long as they know the difference…? How can we endorse certain fantasy stories by people like Tolkien and Lewis, but we condemn J. K. Rowling as being inspired by the devil?
 
Many threads have been created on this topic.

The Church does not institutionally condemn Harry Potter. There is no need to rehash old arguments. You can run a search on this forum and find everything you could want.
 
JDGaney said:
I’m just curious to see what the general Catholic opinion on J. K. Rowling’s popular saga. I understand that very fanatic people will call it satanic and evil, as they say it promotes witchcraft.
First off, I only liked Harry Potter from 1999-2003 and just gave up on it, because they were making the movies while the books were still being written and it took forever for book 5 to come out, and in that time I came to love J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

But why do Christians endorse J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, which he wrote as Christian (particularly Catholic) allegories, as well as C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, but believe Harry Potter comes from the depths of hell? I was always aware that true witchcraft was bad and that the only true faith was Christianity, particularly Catholicism. I never met anybody who was inspired to dabble in satanism and the occult because they read Harry Potter? This magic they speak of is fiction, and real magic is to be condemned. As long as they know the difference…? How can we endorse certain fantasy stories by people like Tolkien and Lewis, but we condemn J. K. Rowling as being inspired by the devil?
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It doesn’t make any sense. Seriously. Stop trying to understand it.

My mom wouldn’t let me read the HP books as a kid, so I still haven’t read them. However, she said that was because she heard that the protagonists use magic to “get even” with teachers and students they don’t like, without repercussions. She didn’t think that was appropriate behavior for a children’s book series, but didn’t have any illusions that HP was satanic.

So I guess I’m saying that there are lots of different reasons that someone can be opposed to something. It makes sense to me that HP is inappropriate for certain kids. Does that mean it’s satanic? Of course not!

You will find that many people who condemn HP also condemn works like Star Wars, but they spend more time on HP. Sometimes Tolkien and Lewis are given a pass due to their firmly-held Christian beliefs, but the difference between them and HP is more one of degree than kind. It’s not that HP is evil while Narnia and Middle Earth are intrinsically good. From what I can tell, the Christian symbolism is just less explicit and less of a focus in HP.

I’m sure someone will come by attacking anything that they say “promotes” witchcraft, but most of the forum users see nothing wrong with fantasy.

And with that, I shall retire and see where the debate goes this time…
 
JDGaney said:
I’m just curious to see what the general Catholic opinion on J. K. Rowling’s popular saga. I understand that very fanatic people will call it satanic and evil, as they say it promotes witchcraft.
First off, I only liked Harry Potter from 1999-2003 and just gave up on it, because they were making the movies while the books were still being written and it took forever for book 5 to come out, and in that time I came to love J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

But why do Christians endorse J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, which he wrote as Christian (particularly Catholic) allegories, as well as C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, but believe Harry Potter comes from the depths of hell? I was always aware that true witchcraft was bad and that the only true faith was Christianity, particularly Catholicism. I never met anybody who was inspired to dabble in satanism and the occult because they read Harry Potter? This magic they speak of is fiction, and real magic is to be condemned. As long as they know the difference…? How can we endorse certain fantasy stories by people like Tolkien and Lewis, but we condemn J. K. Rowling as being inspired by the devil?
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It’s not about people being inspired to dabble in satanism, is about kids reading stuff that can be spiritually harmful for them. Kids don’t understand the difference between false and real magic. They assume that if they can read about it, no harm is done. That is false.

I personally know of a few people worth paying attention to who recommend that our children stay away from that stuff. But then again there’s so much that they need to stay away from and that the world presents as “normal” (especially regarding music)…
 
Hmm, I didn’t know if I was going to reply to this thread since someone said there have been other ones discussing it. I guess I’m not good at taking my own advice.

I am a great fan of the Harry Potter series for sure so am curious about this topic in particular.

Though I think the stories are great, I do understand how some people could condemn them. The themes are unquestionably about good vs. evil in a very simplistic way, but the whole universe is designed with some snares I feel. First, I’d really like to meet the person who read the books before their 11th birthday and didn’t wait for a Hogwarts letter. Sin? No, but I do think it detracts from a very important reality, that we have something much better than Hogwarts, the teachers, and magic all together: Jesus.

Other points: polyjuice potion, which enables the drinker to turn into anyone. At whatever age they happen to be. And they’re another gender? No problem. This has very implicit purposes that until I read about it somewhere I didn’t catch as a kid. Also bestiality: Dumbledore’s brother is said (in passing but a few times) to have done something in appropriate with a goat. No details in the series of course but a fan asked Rowling herself, who refused to answer the fan based on her age (you can go google for this). And then there’s implied date-rape potions (under the name “love potion” of course).
None of these points is ever actually confronted in the books and as a kid, I was worried about more important things: if anyone I liked was going to die in Chamber of Secrets or what was going to happen now that Voldemort had returned to terrorize the wizarding community.

It also boggles me why Potter seems to score so much lower than say Narnia, when so many of the mythical beasts in that fantasy land have much more disturbing historical backgrounds. I loved the newer Narnia movies, but a part of my flinched to see Lucy alone in a fawn’s house. Anyone read Greek mythology and know who Pan is?

I don’t think the HP books are bad either way. I was rooted in faith and they did me no lasting harm. I have friends who are atheists and they are rooted in reality; I guess for them it’s even easier to realize the books are make-belief. Could they be spiritually harmful? Absolutely. But I’m not convinced they’re more harmful than anything else.
 
😃

Somewhere, I can also hear the sounds of a leather whip, as it strikes a horse which is strangely motionless; indeed, which is not even breathing.

And it’s back to another round of:

“Magic is always evil”
“Blah blah blah Gabriele Amorth”
“Blah blah blah Gabrielle Kuby”
“YouTube videos by random Puritan pastor, and of course they’re right because they’re on YouTube…”
…et seq.

🍿
 
R_C said:
Kids don’t understand the difference between false and real magic.
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This one-time kid, who grew up B.H.P (Before Harry Potter) but who had more than enough exposure to fictional fantasy, would respectfully disagree. And he suspects he’s not the only one. 😉
 
Not alone! For some more deja vu, I copied and pasted my usual response 😃

For some people, reading HP may lead them away from God, but for many others, they have found the theme of a struggle between good and evil that’s woven through the books and the movies of the Harry Potter series draws them closer to God; especially when so many parallels can be found between HP and what we face each day in our lives here on Earth and how Catholic teaching commands us on how to deal with the issues. I’ve been known to post this info and link on just about every HP thread that surfaces here on the forum (and there have been plenty), so it goes without saying, I’ll post it again:

Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) publishes a terrific book about Harry Potter that’s specifically for Catholic parents and includes an interview with Catholic novelist and homeschooling mom Regina Doman in the last section of the book. It also covers the concern over then Cardinal Ratzinger’s reply to a women who wrote him about the book (that note has been discussed ad nauseum here on many closed threads) and Michael O’Brien’s take on HP is included, too.

It’s called "The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide " and is authored by Nancy Carpentier Brown, a Catholic homeschooling mom who also wrote the Father Brown Readers from Catholic Heritage Curricula (homeschool curriculum provider).

For any Catholic that has concerns about HP, the book gives a balanced and hysteria-free look at HP and how to discern if it’s a good choice for your family and your children. I’m sure there are people out there who have read it and still think HP’s not a good choice for their family, but it gives a Catholic view of the series ( and the movies that were out when it was published) so that parents can make an educated choice for their own families, instead of getting caught up in the anti-Harry frenzy that seems to dominate the fundamentalist mindset.

catalog.osv.com/Catalog.aspx?SimpleDisplay=true&ProductCode=T497

I would also add that anyone (adult or child) that’s incapable of telling the difference between “fantasy fiction” and reality and fantasy “witchcraft” and Wicca should avoid any and all books, movies, and tales of that genre; Harry Potter included.
 
RPRPsych said:
😃

Somewhere, I can also hear the sounds of a leather whip, as it strikes a horse which is strangely motionless; indeed, which is not even breathing.

And it’s back to another round of:

“Magic is always evil”
“Blah blah blah Gabriele Amorth”
“Blah blah blah Gabrielle Kuby”
“YouTube videos by random Puritan pastor, and of course they’re right because they’re on YouTube…”
…et seq.

🍿
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Where’s that dead horse emoticon? It should come standard with the popcorn! 😃
 
Search: Keyword(s): “harry potter” …Showing results 1 to 50 of 156
 
Kelfa28 said:
I was about to break out the popcorn…🍿

Care for some?
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But of course. It wouldn’t be a Harry Potter thread without copious amounts of popcorn! 🍿🍿

Where to begin…

First off, Harry Potter is set in a fictional universe. And being fictional, it can have different laws. Notably, magic (in Harry Potter) is as much a fundamental law of nature as is gravity in ours. Or for a better analogy, nuclear fission. In our world, nuclear fission can be used for good (nuclear power plants) or evil (atomic bombs). Similarly, in Harry Potter, magic is morally neutral and can be used for good (like defeating Lord Voldemort) or evil (Death Eaters). Now in the real world, magic and the occult are always sinful and things of the devil, but in a fictional universe, that is not necessarily the case.

I mentioned the devil and demons. And I’ve seen blog posts online about Harry Potter containing the names of demons. That is false. Religion is never mentioned in any way, except for a Bible quote on a gravestone. 1 Corinthians 15:26, to be exact. Back on track, said blog post mentioned names like Azkaban and Draco. Well Draco is just a name meaning dragon, and on an antagonist nonetheless. As for Azkaban, it’s just a wizarding parody of Alcatraz with a made-up name.
 
catholicmamajoy said:
I found this on another thread: forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=10863962&postcount=167 😃
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That’s pretty awesome. 👍

I’d also have to agree with the points that Razanir makes. In a fantasy world, magic (or magic elements) are a part of the fictional universe; they are not demonic conjurations. They are an “ontological reality” of the world that the author has created, and (like the realities of our world, such as the laws of physics) they can be used either for good or for evil.
 
RPRPsych said:
This one-time kid, who grew up B.H.P (Before Harry Potter) but who had more than enough exposure to fictional fantasy, would respectfully disagree. And he suspects he’s not the only one. 😉
Click to expand...
Well, then you were smarter than me. I used to read some fictional fantasy and some comics that now and then had magic and sorcery and occult stuff and sometimes, being a child, I’d play to be a sorcerer or magician and try to do stuff like that. Sometimes it was a bad guy trying to evoke demons or spirits or trying to harm someone, and as a kid I found it quite awesome (as a game, of course) that you could say words and stuff and get spirits to attack your opponents or somehow interact with you.

Of course I was just playing. I also loved this movie about a priest so I also used to play I was a priest…but all of that had a toll on the long run, I am aware of it. It was not good for me. (the sorcerer part, I mean, not the priest part ;])

It is so unnecessary for other kids to be exposed to stuff like that. That’s all I am saying. Mind you, I am not a parent (and I am kind of very afraid of the perspective in this sad little world we live in, which is quite sad) so I am talking from the perspective of how I wish I had never been exposed to a few things.
 
Well, as a 21 year old who grew up with Harry Potter, I’d have to say that I always knew that what was happening in the books wasn’t real. However, growing into my adult years, I find that the books really do have a Christian message.

There is the concept of redemption for everyone, including those who are evil. The consequences of living a sinful life are apparent, and there are some inclinations as to what will happen to those who don’t repent (in some fashion.) See Harry and Volvermort’s conversation at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Furthermore, the books teach children and adults the importants of loyalty to family and friends. Also, the book shows that even when families can be cruel, there still may be love, and it can manifest itself in different ways.

Also, I’m not sure if this is uncalled for, but I’d like to show everyone this:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/260424_2151639680043_4951488_n.jpgis some of Christ’s message to be found in Harry Potter.
 
Well, as a 21 year old who grew up with Harry Potter, I’d have to say that I always knew that what was happening in the books wasn’t real. However, growing into my adult years, I find that the books really do have a Christian message.

There is the concept of redemption for everyone, including those who are evil. The consequences of living a sinful life are apparent, and there are some inclinations as to what will happen to those who don’t repent (in some fashion.) See Harry and Volvermort’s conversation at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Furthermore, the books teach children and adults the importants of loyalty to family and friends. Also, the book shows that even when families can be cruel, there still may be love, and it can manifest itself in different ways.

Also, I’m not sure if this is uncalled for, but I’d like to show everyone something…

That’s my tattoo of the Deathly Hallows symbol, and I must say I’m very proud of it. Notice the words around it, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” It is from 1 Corinthians 15:26. The protagonists see the quote (on Harry’s parents’ grave) and link it to what the Deathly Hallows means, the eventual possible triumph of Good Over Evil/ Life over Death. etc. I know I’m not doing it enough justice, but there is some of Christ’s message to be found in Harry Potter.
 
I have never understood why some people get so worked up about the Da Vinci Code. I just regarded it as a reasonably written book of fiction, on the level of James Bond
 
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