A Christian’s / Pastor’s / Teacher’s / Father’s Response to Harry Potter

Several years ago, I noticed a student reading a Harry Potter book in class. The phenomenon was not new; the first two books were already out and the third was due to be released within a matter of weeks. For whatever reason, this was the first student that I had noticed reading one of the books in my classroom. He was reading the second one, and when I asked about it, he offered to let me read the first.

I’ll be honest: my motives in reading the book were less than pure. Frankly, anything that gets the Christian right in such a tizzy generally attracts my attention. I read the book to see what all the fuss was about, and I determined that once again, this was a serious case of much ado about nothing.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opened this past weekend to huge numbers. According to Yahoo! news, the film grossed $101.4 million this weekend, putting it in the top four three-day openings ever. So are these numbers indicative of a world that is going to hell in a handbasket? Or once again, are Christians fussing about nothing? Points to remember when discussing Harry Potter:

This is a work of fiction. Unlike instruction manuals for making bombs or crystal meth, the books are works of fiction. The movies are not ducmentaries. These books are the product of the imagination of a writer who sat down and put pen to paper to give her ideas life, much as I am doing right now. If a person is looking for spiritual truths in popular culture, she is looking in the wrong place.

As far as works of fiction go, these aren’t half bad. There are characters that are believable and likable, that you can find yourself interested in. There are universal themes throughout the storyline, themes of loneliness and solitude, of good vs. evil, of the alienation of adolescence. Are the books likely to win the Pulitzer? Probably not, but they have accomplished what no Pulitzer-prize winning book ever has… they have gotten kids reading again.

As a father, teaching my children how to think is more important than teaching them what to think. There are people (some very close to me, in fact) that are missing out on a huge opportunity. One family in particualr comes to mind. Their adolescent son, a veritable poster-child for ADHD, has wanted to read Harry Potter for years. His mother has taken huge stands for what she believes to be right by refusing to allow him to read the books. On more than one occasion, I have seen the son walk off muttering, “I will read what I want to when I get older.”

I doubt he does. You see, I believe that his mother could take this opportunity to invest in her son by reading them with him. This way, when she comes across something that seems contradictory to her faith, she could discuss it with him. This way, he is growing closer to his mother instead of growing to resent her. He is learning how to think critically and analyze the work instead of just rejecting it outright. (For the record, the mother has never read one of the books ro seen one of the movies.) Instead, she is blowing the oppotunity and creating an attitude of bitterness and resentment within her son.

I think if I were to continue this at this time, I would end up being just as critical as those who are condemning Harry Potter… except I would be critical of them. I don’t want to become that critical, so I will wrap it up… at least for now.

Suffice it to say, the books are great, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie last night. ‘Nuff said.