Posted on 11/27/2001 9:28:58 AM PST by John O
The release of the first Harry Potter movie is pouring gasoline onto a controversy that already has many parents burning. Parents everywhere are grappling with the presence of Harry Potter in their child’s book bag, toy box and even their classroom.
Last spring, the children’s series reached a milestone, hitting the 100 million worldwide sales mark in only three years.
The J.K. Rowling series continues to top sales charts internationally. Four of seven titles have been published so far—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Each has been translated into 42 different languages, including Zulu and Albanian.
“This is an unprecedented publishing achievement anywhere in the world—either for adult or children’s books,” said Rowling’s agent Christopher Little. “Every time we publish a new Harry Potter book, the first one goes back up to the top of the bestseller list.”
Warner Brothers has spent about $150 million on the movie version of the first book, directed by Chris Columbus of Home Alone fame. A sequel is planned for release next year. And when anything is this captivating for children, there is marketing.
Harry Potter-themed school supplies, bed linens and toys are on store shelves waiting for the pandemonium expected from the movie’s release. Sears, Target and J.C. Penney are heavily marketing Harry Potter toys, bedding and even clothing. Mattel is marketing Harry Potter action figures. Hasbro is producing a trading card game, and video games are also available. Potter will appear in McDonald’s Happy Meals this fall, and the boy wizard will also become a new Coca-Cola spokesman.
Even before “Pottermania” reached this level, parents found keeping children away from the book’s occult themes an uphill battle.
“Beginning last school year, my 6- year-old grandson Jesse was ostracized from the reading class that his teacher conducted everyday,” said Verda Unrau of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Her daughter, Jesse’s mom, went to the teacher when she learned that the first Harry Potter book was to be read in class.
“She was told that Jesse could either sit in with the other kids or go to the office and sit. We assumed this would only be for a week or so, but it turned out to be the whole school year that this teacher dwelt on this book,” Unrau added. “Jesse and another little boy missed the reading time for their whole first year of school.”
That has been the essence of the two-year-old Potter-in-the-classroom debate. Parents who have been told that Christianity must be kept out of schools due to the “separation of church and state” are now trying to protect their children from classroom discussions about paganism and the occult.
Now, publications by Scholastic and Beacham’s SourceBooks have upped the ante. Not only are the Potter books featured on school shelves and read aloud in class, some teachers are also incorporating them into lessons. This means the Harry Potter phenomenon requires parents to deal directly with the topic of witchcraft, whether or not they allow their children to read the series or see the movie.
“That’s the way with all cultural change,” Rev. Robert McGee, co-host of the video Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged, Making Evil Look Innocent told Family Voice. “Cultural engineers establish change one small step at a time. Now that Harry Potter is seen as acceptable children’s literature, it’s not surprising that this series, and other occult themes, are being pushed deeper into the classroom.”
‘Shape Shifting’ and Druids
Beecham Publishing’s Exploring Harry Potter is written by Elizabeth Schafer, Ph.D.,* an expert on children’s literature. This immense volume directs teachers and parents on how to incorporate Potter into history, geography, science and English lessons. Ideas include sports played at the mythical Hogwarts school, the foods Harry and his classmates eat, spelling lessons on Potterisms, and the books’ symbolism.
The Beecham Sourcebook manual goes so far as to undermine Biblical faith by referencing theologians and mystics who deny the inerrancy of Scripture and the deity of Christ. Further, it covers mythology, witchcraft, and Wicca—a natureworshipping pagan religion. The book’s suggestions include:
“Make a collage of the habitat and food for an animal you would like to shapeshift into.”
(“Shape shifting” is a psychic phenomenon in which a person voluntarily and temporarily thinks he is taking on the form of an animal. In Harry Potter, Harry’s dead father appears to him in the form of a stag. Many pagans—those who follow occult religions—believe that meditation and concentration can change their form into that of an animal.)
“Write a paper about how efforts to ban the Harry Potter novels because of their themes of evil, sorcery and witchcraft, and to forbid children from wearing witch and devil costumes, resemble historic witch hunts.”
“Learn about the role of witchcraft in different cultures. Either make a costume for yourself or a doll, or use paint, crayons, or construction paper to design the attire of witches in a specific geographic area.”
The book also provides a bibliography of 28 books on magic, witchcraft and other occult variations that highlight the making of potions, casting spells and communing with the dead. Titles include:
Miranda J. Green’s The World of the Druids, which “describes the history, mythology and literature associated with Druids in addition to discussing modern witchcraft and sorcery practices that are Druid-inspired.” (Druidism is a pagan religion that attempts to recreate the practices of ancient Celtic peoples, which historically included human sacrifice.)
Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today, which “describes modern witchcraft practices in the United States.”
Further, Exploring Harry Potter includes a large reference list of Web sites, including links to active pagan, Wiccan and Druid groups.
Enter Scholastic Publishing
Scholastic, the American distributors of the Harry Potter series, also offers online teacher discussion guides written by Kylene Beers, assistant professor of reading at the University of Houston, Texas.
“The following discussion guide … features summaries of the plot, theme, conflict, setting and characterization, as well as a number of questions designed to encourage conversation,” writes Beers on the Scholastic Web site.
Discussion questions include comparing various Potter characters to those in ancient mythology. Another asks about similarities between the masked wizards that torment “muggles” (normal humans) and real group members who have worn hoods when tormenting others.
Still other questions ask students to ponder moral themes, like self-sacrifice, choosing what is right over what is easy, and free will versus preordination—themes better left to parents, since they will likely lose their value under the morally relativistic constraints of today’s public school system.
Christian anti-cult expert Caryl Matrisciana finds this intrusion into classrooms disturbing.
“This is a complete indoctrination program in the schools,” Matrisciana says in the Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged video. “First they interest children in the occult with delightful fantasy literature, then they bring the books into the schools, along with teacher’s guides to fuel the interest in exploration of the occult. Now with this Beecham’s Sourcebook, any computer-literate child can access genuine witchcraft training classes right in his home or classroom.”
A Dangerous Trend
Many applaud the Potter series as harmless fantasy literature and credit the long tomes for getting children to read. But those familiar with the reality of the occult world aren’t taking them lightly.
Matrisciana says witchcraft is real, and she adds that elements of the books symbolize pagan deities. “J.K. Rowling majored in Mythology at Exeter University in England. She researched the occult in order to present an accurate representation in her books.”
Harry Potter is part of a larger trend to bring occult themes to younger children. Just as the seemingly innocent Sabrina the Teenage Witch is followed by darker, teen-themed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so Potter is followed by darker and more ominous books like the Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.
But Rev. McGee points out that the Potter craze has a particular danger.
“With Harry Potter children are for the first time seeing other children, step by step, learning to access demonic power to get what they want,” he said.
Marcia Montenegro, occult expert and founder of the ministry Christian Answers for the New Age, disputes claims that the books center on the theme of good versus evil.
“There is no moral center in Harry Potter,” said Montenegro. “Good and evil are depicted as being two sides of the same coin, which is an occult worldview.
“Why is Harry considered good? He breaks the rules, gets away with it, and is even rewarded for it. As one of Harry’s professors says in book three, ‘Harry is a law unto himself.’ From a Christian perspective, this cannot be.”
A former astrology professional and occult practitioner, Montenegro now serves as a missionary with Fellowship International Mission of Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is also working on her master’s degree in apologetics.
This seeming “training ground” for occult beliefs comes at a critical time in our culture. The Pagan Federation International claims its numbers have grown tenfold in the past decade. Online pagan networks estimate there are anywhere from 150,000 to 600,000 practicing pagans in the United States alone—and the Internet has provided an easily accessible resource for those seeking deeper occult involvement.
“The Internet is fabulous for learning about it,” 19-year-old Kes Davidson told the Evening Times of Glasgow, Scotland, where occult practices are flourishing. “There are millions of Web sites out there.”
Occult influences are also growing rapidly in the United States.
“When I first began speaking on the occult in 1995, it was mostly older teens who were experimenting with it. Now you see children as young as 11, 12 and 13 involved,” Montenegro said.
“The occult … is very attractive to kids who are seeking power, affirmation and acceptance, especially those from dysfunctional homes,” Montenegro added. “Harry Potter—targeted at children in the critical ages of 9 through 13—feeds that thirst with practices prohibited by the Bible. I can’t understand why Christian parents wouldn’t be concerned about it.”
Rev. McGee, who founded Rapha, a Christian counseling ministry, agrees with Montenegro about the power of occult influences.
“I counseled many with backgrounds in witchcraft and the occult,” said McGee. “Breaking an addiction to drugs or alcohol is easier than leaving demonic spiritual forces behind. Several of my patients confirmed that many of today’s witches, pagans and other occult practitioners continue the practices of the ancients including drug use and ritual sex.” he added.
Yet, the American Library Association (ALA) and other liberal groups label parents who oppose the trend of occult fantasy literature as “book banners.” Last September, the ALA issued its annual report on challenged or “banned” books. The ALA’s Judith Krug, head of the Office of Intellectual Freedom, told The Tennessean that the Potter books now top that list, becoming one of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the decade.
“The challenges we have had [to Harry Potter] have been in schools, which means the children are going to be deprived of what appears to be the biggest phenomenon children’s publishing has ever known,” Krug said.
Despite the heavy-handed influence on schools of liberal organizations like the ALA—and the book industry’s attempt to exploit the Harry Potter phenomenon in the classroom—Rev. McGee says parents can’t give up the battle for the hearts and minds of their children.
“Parents have to be prepared to look ‘foolish’ if they plan to stand their ground,” said McGee. “The media have been feeding us a candy-coated version of what the occult is really like, and kids today have lost the sense that witchcraft is dangerous.
“The challenge is also on churches to once again educate parents and children to the realities and dangers of the occult and spiritual warfare,” he said.
If a child is mentally and spiritually mature enough, Montenegro says parents don’t necessarily have to be seen as strict disciplinarians. She has spoken with many Christian children who have decided to stop reading the Potter series on their own.
“Explain to them why you are concerned. Show your child the Biblical passages condemning the casting of spells and contact with demons,” Montenegro said.
“Parents needn’t be alarmed or fearful. The Holy Spirit is on their side.”
Despite the impact her family’s opposition to Harry Potter had on her grandson, Verda Unrau says they will hold firm to their convictions.
“We are prepared to make the same stand this year,” she said. “If I have to go wear a placard and picket the school, I will!”
Martha Kleder is a writer and policy analyst for CWA’s Culture and Family Institute.
Chants suggesting thinking spell
"dr p.epper greater than Coofee"
"Dr .Pepper greate than cofee"
"DR. PEPPER Greater than coffee"
I'll be back later. I have to go to the store...
Frankly, this is an extremely silly contention. Repeat after me: "There are no real witches, there are no real witches, there are no real witches..." and continue until you feel better.
If there were, why aren't they winning the lottery? Every time !
*waves wand*
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Uh oh!
Hands a towel to you
They were playing a fantasy! They were PRETENDING! Just like when little boys play cowboys and indians.
If true, wouldnt that make "Archie" evil?!
Why would I want to sit around with old ladies in dresses and big hats drinking tea?
Comic-book Sabrina vs. comic-book Buffy, maybe....
Melissa Joan Hart vs. Sarah Michelle Gellar, not a chance. ;) Althougth either one are welcome to ride the ol' broomstick whenever they want.
I love it!
And phonetically, "Claus" = "Claws".
"Santa Claus" = "Satan Claws"
Lord save us from ourselves.
There are some of these thought police on this forum who actually say that the terms used in the Harry Potter books are actual spells. That is completely nuts. For example there is an inscription on the mirror of Erised which at first glance is some obscure language. However, if you look closely it is an English sentence spelled backwards. (All you "Paul is Dead" people may jump in anytime.)
Since J.K. Rowling is a college graduate with an English degree, I have had fun pointing out that the "spells" she makes up are actually using Greek and Latin stem words, which my sixth grade daughter is learning in school.
If the spells in Harry Potter are real, can someone show me where I can go watch the Quidditch World Cup? Sounds like fun! But seriously, the books are a lot of fun, and are not real!,
For those who like to quote scripture, the attitude of the anti-HP crowd reminds me of the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee.
Scripture: Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
While the tax collector humbled himself before God, the pharisee boasted to God that he was glad he was better than all the other worthless sinners. We are all imperfect before God, and should continue to humble ourselves before him. Before passing judgement on the hearts of those of us who do not believe Harry Potter to be a message from the devil, search your own heart to see if perhaps a little bit of the pharisee is showing up in you.
Potterphiles? Can't really make an argument about labels when you are not only labeling people, but making up words to use as labels, much less inappropriate and inaccurate ones, but I suppose the irony of that is lost on you as well.
I have no real pro or anti Harry Potter stand, I have read the first one, its an ok book... nothing fancy, decend for a childs book. Its mania I believe to be more a product of mass marketing than of its stories inate greatness. I would not put it on a required reading list for life, nor would I put it on the banned list of satan worshiping mind rotting scum.
Its a book, nothing more. Its no more a stepping stone to the "black arts" and satan than "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a stepping stone to racism.
You say you doubt this is healthy for kids... I see, so reading is unhealthy? Using ones imagination is unhealthy? Finding entertainment that doesn't come in the form of a video game or television is unhealthy? Perhaps they should be out playing spin the bottle in the barn? I am sorry, but there's nothing unhealthy about a kid reading a fictional story, and as someone who has actually read the book in question, I can say first hand there is nothing unhealthy in it.
I honestly don't agree that this book should be cirriculum reading by schools (no more than the hardy boys, or nancy drew or sweet valley high etc) because it really does not represent anything from a literary perspective, not because it is devilspawn.
You are a comedian!! So, it is proof the man has not been saved because he goes around warning others about what he was saved from? Let's see. Following that logic, then AA would be a wash, and any other organization that is out to help someone be rescued / saved from a bad habit or evil. I like your logic! /sarcasm
I can see your heart is truly hardened. Trying to put yet another twist to something meant for good. It saddens me. I will pray for you and others here that are cynical, and blinded to the truth. May God touch your heart and open your eyes. May Jesus beome real to your spirit and soul, long before the hour of your answering.
You are a hoot!! Thanks for the laugh! We are going from a criticism of the content of the books, now to condemning NOVELS!!!! ROFLMBO!! You are TOO much!! If that were true, then my degree with a minor in English would mean nothing...???? The content of the Harry Potter books contain information that is against what I believe, therefore, my degree is non-existant? I am a reader! I love novels, and classics. My concern and that of others here is far from condemning the NOVEL as a literary tool. Stick to the point!
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