Harry Potter is the age-old battle between good and evil, and teaches a LOT of good things such as friendship, trust, self-confidence, standing up to bullies, etc. There is no blurring.
It's a world of witches, demons, magical powers, darkness, etc. In short, it is an occult worldview. And if I simultaneously teach an occult worldview is both good and bad, have I not blurred something?
It's fiction, fantasy! Occult? C'mon, we live in the 21st century, not 1692 Salem, Mass.
I suppose CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien are both authors who wrote similar books of the "occult?" No, they get a pass. Why? Because personally they were know Christians, so everyone says the Good-v-Evil stories of their books are somehow Christian-themed, whereas JK Rowling hasn't expressed any devout Christian faith, so her similarly-themed books must be of the occult.
Nonsense.
Of course it's fantasy. That's a given. Of course it's fiction. That's a given.
The pope is no dummy. He's knows what literature is as well as we do.
He's saying that we should think about how the lines between good/evil can be blurred. Is there even one thing wrong with that? How can thinking about it injure anything?
Imagine a fantasy world. It's got a young hero of the Revolutionary People's Brigade who goes around fighting evil capitalists who are attempting to pillage people and bring them into economic servitude.
He draws strength from 2 spirits named Stalinsky and Leninsky. His latest soul-mate is an elderly, Obi Wan type Lawyer named Ramses Clakke who leads him in opposition to the evil empire, Etats Unis, after it's invasion of a helpless, religio-socialist desert state.
Now, you might let your kid read it, right? But would you have some concern that might prompt you to think about distinctions in your child's mind that might be blurred by that book?
I admire Tolkien and C.S.Lewis and consider their books uplifting for children and adults not because they have the label "Christian" but because (a) they were actually good writers, especially Tolkien, and (b) their books are not only finely crafted, but lead the reader a little higher in understanding, promote simple virtues, the characters go through internal struggles and become morally strong. I am not against "occultism" in books, it's like money or strength - how it is used is paramount.
Rowling's books, OTOH, are crappily written, the characters are shallow, selfish, cartoonish, there is no good or evil, just two teams. The only reason Harry is "good" is because someone "bad" wants to kill him. There is no character growth, and her use of the occult gives it a glimmer of attraction in a somewhat perverted manner. She actually did a tremendous amount of research to make it very authentic.
She appeals to the desire to have power over others, not power over self.
My nearly 8-year old and I are staying out late tomorrow to get HP at midnight, and we're getting the Narnia series as well--I haven't read them since childhood.
My nutshell take on the whole "controversy": Good parenting is what teaches a child about good and evil. If the child has that foundation, the parent need not fear literature.