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Thank you for posting this thoughtful article. It's always most illuminating to read what other Christians think of current social fads such as Harry Potter.

Recently, I participated in a Popular Fiction class at a local university, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was on the reading list. I found J. K. Rowling's writing style captivating and her characters quite compelling. Not to mention, she sure knows how to produce a plot that kids will lick up faster than ice cream.

Interestingly, the students who did a presentation on the Harry Potter book displayed some of the pro-occult characteristics that O'Brien mentions in his article. One girl stood in front of the class for several minutes proudly describing her Wiccan beliefs. Another "educated" us on various spells & magick of witchcraft. Two more students spoke of the "paranoid Christian-driven backlash" against the Harry Potter series, implying that it was "stupid" to adhere to such a value system.

From a Christian persepective, I think O'Brien makes an *excellent* point in saying that "there are a great many things to be cautious about in our present secular culture." And yes, IMHO, Harry Potter is one of them.

It's startling to see how many folks seem to have such passionate views on the pro-Harry side of the aisle. Their responses only tend to reinforce my general agreement with O'Brien's observations.

It's startling to see how many folks seem to have such passionate views on the pro-Harry side of the aisle.

If it was just Harry Potter, I don't think you'd see a "passionate" reaction. But it's everything. We must beware of Smurfs, Teletubbies, Barney and Britney Spears. They are all integral to a huge plot that is going to destroy us. Meanwhile, as OWK pointed out, we have missed our chance to say anything of import. Tinky Winky has occupied the place of prominence in our discourse.

Let me add this. As a Christian, one will be doing some sort of filtering of the culture at all times. But this is to be done internally as an individual, communally as a body of believers, and in the home as a family. It's not necessarily a subject for press releases, crusades and campaigns that only serve as platforms for people who want to be in front of the camera or behind a microphone. If you don't know "magic" is something to be considered carefully as a Christian, then you've already lost. And no amount of chicken-little articles will change that.