Why are the Hobbit books considered edifying and Harry Potter books are considered "satanic"?

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WannabeSaint

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The Harry Potter books glorify people who use magic and other preternatural abilities. These books have been said to be dangerous to read because of it. Some exorcists say its even satanic.

Yet, the Hobbit books have the same thing. Gandalf is one of the main protagonists in those stories. These books are almost unanimously praised within the church.

What exactly is the difference?
 
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Well, “the Church” doesn’t have a stance on either book.

People, now that’s another story. Put 3 people in a room and you’ll get 4 opinions. That’s what they are, opinions.
 
Here’s my snarky answer: because HP was published during the age of social media, when off-the-wall theories spread like wildfire.
 
Or 6 opinions if the people in the room are either Jews or Jesuits.
 
Rowling consciously incorporated Christian symbolism into Harry Potter as well… she, the author, has stated as much. She, the author, has also stated that Wicca has no place in her fictional universe. There’s no invocation of demons or Occult like powers. The magic of Harry Potter is more akin to X-men’s mutants…a power some people are born with. Frankly, I don’t understand what these exorcists are talking about.
 
Excorcists discourage people from reading the Potter books because it contains names of demons and it glorifies magick. Scripture even warns us from saying the names of demons.
Besides, what better way to lead a Christian that isn’t strong in their faith astray with magick and sorcery than through an innocent looking children’s book. Many a new ager cite Harry Potter as their inspiration.

Excorcists don’t just say these things for no reason or want to be apart of the “No fun allowed” party. They warn people for a reason. As for the Hobbit books, I never heard of an excorcist warning agianst it.
 
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It should be noted that there have been plenty of children’s authors from the late 19th as well as all eras of the 20th century who wrote books that in some way promoted “good magic” or paganism. Pretty much all the old fairy tales and Wizard of Oz had “good witch “ characters trying to undo the evil spells of the “evil witch” characters. Some of the authors were also publicly pro-pagan or anti-Catholic. In those days I think most people filed away fairy tales and Egyptian or Norse myths as make-believe folk tales for kids’ entertainment, and kids were supposed to understand the difference between make-believe and real life. The personal beliefs and antics of the authors also weren’t being spread and monitored all over the Internet like they are now.
 
This is the claim… but it always comes across as hearsay. No one who makes these claims seems to know anything about the books. What are these demonic names? No one seems to know. It’s just boils down to an appeal to authority.
 
Why? Because some people have a fairly narrow definition of acceptable fiction.

Someone - no idea who - started the critique that there were demonic matters in the books, and it has continued to spin off that direction. It makes entirely delicious fodder for certain subset of readers/non-readers and sounds oh so judicious in its anathemas. And juicy, too!
 
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I am actually reading the Harry Potter books to my children now (we’re taking a break from some of the classic stuff). I have actually been thinking about this exact topic, given that both HP and the Tolkien works incorporate magical beings. My take: HP is fun, and there are actually a lot of Christian virtues present in the works, such as self-sacrifice and defending the innocent. With regard to the witches and wizards, they seem to be fundamentally different from the witches of Christian tradition. Witches in Christianity are those who sold their souls to the devil in exchange for powers, and who use those powers principally for evil. The witches and wizards in the fictional HP universe, however, inherit their powers genetically, thus making them more or less a human subspecies with no supernatural or demonic qualities. They are not opposed to Christianity, and frequent references are made to Christmas and Easter breaks, implying that at least some worship Christ. Of course there are evil witches, but these are no different than evil human beings. Overall, both Tolkien and the HP stories have much to give to young minds. I would say that those who condemn HP probably haven’t read any of them.
 
Elias said:
Excorcists discourage people from reading the Potter books because it contains names of demons and it glorifies magick. Scripture even warns us from saying the names of demons.
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Except that … it doesn’t.
 
I was homeschooling when the HP books came out, and I saw some of the proposed lesson plans, which included looming up Wicca sites online, etc.

This may have played a part in why some people ended up thinking badly of it. Think of parents whose children come home from school and say they are reading HP for school and being told to investigate pagan sites?
 
Fuerza said:
The witches and wizards in the fictional HP universe, however, inherit their powers genetically, thus making them more or less a human subspecies with no supernatural or demonic qualities
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HP witches and wizards are more akin to the way “Bewitched”’s witches and warlocks work. It has to be passed on genetically
 
Which brings up a good point: I don’t remember any Catholics/ Christians getting all fired up about “Bewitched” when it was on.
Or "Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ when it was running in cartoon form.
Or any one of the dozens of other cartoons or childrens’ storybooks featuring witches during the 60s and 70s, and I probably watched and read most of them.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Which brings up a good point: I don’t remember any Catholics/ Christians getting all fired up about “Bewitched” when it was on.
Or "Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ when it was running in cartoon form.
Or any one of the dozens of other cartoons or childrens’ storybooks featuring witches during the 60s and 70s, and I probably watched and read most of them.
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Yeah, I don’t remember a hue and cry about the annual airing of The Wizard of Oz. In color if you were lucky enough to have a color TV!
 
And let’s not forget Narnia, where children walk into a wardrobe and are magically transported to another world where animals magically talk…
 
And one of the biggest takes away is how the love Lilly had over protecting her son was so strong it was able to hurt, more like severely damage, the Villain at the beginning of the series. Love winning over evil.
 
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There are defiantly some good ones in Disney films too. The live action film, Bed knobs and Broomsticks was a disney film about an English witch in WW2 using her powers to protect her country.
I don’t know if anyone knows what Movie i’m talking about.
 
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