It is clear that the Pope opposes these books.  I cannot believe this article is on this site.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2005/jul/05071301

Our children should not be subjected to this kind of reading.  The Devil will sneak right in there and grab them and not let go.  This is terrible.  I really can’t believe you, editors of this site, have allowed this to be here.

Karen,
have you read any of the books? I believe there is a lot of debate about whether the Church has taken any position about them (your link is from 2005 and there has been much discourse on the subject since then). but I agree with the author that there is much good for our children in them, if read together and discussed appropriately.

As a Catholic and the publisher of several books by John Granger, I was pleased to see this reprint of his article from Catholic Digest. For those who appreciate Granger’s perspective and would like to learn about other books that discuss faith and literature, consider visiting http://www.Zossima.com or http://www.WingedLionPress.com - you’ll find a number of books on C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald as well as a nice introduction to Les Miserables and the early Romantic poets. There is also a new memoir of the Catholic poet Roy Campbell with an introduction by Joseph Pearce. Keep up the good work!

Thank you for this article!  I’m also a Harry Potter fan and, having read all of the books, truly enjoyed the Christian themes throughout the series.  Certain lessons I pray my children take from the tales:
-It is our choices that define who we are.
-We should strive to do what is right instead of what is easy.
-Treat others with dignity and respect.
-Love is a force stronger than hate.
-True friends will stick by our side (even though sometimes human nature means we may squabble or disagree- forgiveness is also a mark of friendship).
-Even when it seems like we’re on a scary path alone, we’re surrounded with the love of others.  We’ve never truly been abandonded.
-Positive thinking and happy memories can help keep negativity at bay.

Fiction is the greatest moral education a kid can get, aside from catechisis of course!  And wonderful stories like Harry Potter are a treasure trove of examples to draw on, when you’re trying to make a moral point to your kids.  What I particularly love about the Potter series is that Harry and the others really goof up sometimes.  Rowling doesn’t hold your hand and go into a moralizing sermon, either—you just see the situation play out!  Saves me a lot of speech making around here, I’ll tell you.  Harry, Narnia, Anne of Green Gables,  and later LOTR and Austen, do all the talking for me.

The arguments back and forth about Harry Potter sound very much like the arguments that used to be made about rock music.  Only now, I hear rock music being used as the bumpers on Catholic Radio!  Go figure.  The same sorts of things were actually said about the waltz back in the day—too intimate! Evil! An occasion of sin!  Gives young people inappropriate ideas!  That’s laughable to us now, but I’m sure they were dead serious at the time.  I think Harry Potter’s number one problem is that it’s recent and very popular, so it’s easy to hate.

You’re comparing rock and roll and the waltz to the occult? Since you opened the can of worms, there is a lot of dance that is inappropriate and can tempt us to sin (by sin I mean sexual/impure thoughts).  Just because time has gone by doesn’t make any of that any less dangerous.  It just simply means, in my opinion, that people got used to it.  So I guess the day is coming where we will be used to this occult culture we are creating and we will be able to laugh at it because it just seems so silly….

I also see the point that Mr. Akin wrote.  I get it.  It doesn’t make Harry Potter any less dangerous.  Cardinal Ratzinger wrote what he wrote for a reason and I will not dismiss it just because it wasn’t a FORMAL statement….  I guess it’s a good thing we live in a free country, huh?

Admittedly, I have never read these books. But I do remember much of the controversy when the first movie came out and the oodles of research my mother did in trying to explain what was wrong with Harry Potter. I will not allow my children to read those books because, perhaps they are not inherantly evil, but they are tied to the occult and why would I want to open that door even a crack? Also, it seems to me that some of Granger’s examples of Christianity seem to be grasping at straws, especially “Harry is a name affiliated with royalty” and “Harry’s last name, Potter, may be viewed as a reference to God, who is sometimes called “the potter” “. Here are some occult connections I found referenced to the book by doing a quick web search: - “Harry Potter is well known for his thunderbolt scar on his forehead. The scar is described as: “...a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.” (Philosopher’s Stone, p. 17). As Harry grows older he eventually learns that the scar on his forehead came as the result of a powerful evil curses from the evil dark wizard, Voldemort (Philosopher’s Stone, p. 45). The startling thing about the thunderbolt, is that it is often used in occultic imagery, especially in Satanism.”
-“In the Philosopher’s Stone Harry becomes fascinated by images of his dead parents in the Mirror of Erised (Chapter 12). `Erised’ is the word `desire’ re-arranged, and those who look into the mirror are meant to see their uttermost desires. Of course, Harry’s desire is to see his parents.  In occultism, mirrors are commonly used for divination. This particular technique is called “Scrying”. In the A-Z of Wicca, Scrying is defined in the following way: “Scrying. The art and practice of interpreting the future, past, or present from images seen while gazing into a crystal ball, candle flame, pool of water, or gazing mirror; crystal gazing, mirror gazing” (Gernina Dunwich, A-Z of Wicca, p. 114)”  Alchemy, astrology, charms, and divination are also seen in the books. All these practices ARE expressly forbidden by the Church. It seems to me there are more examples of occultism that Catholicism.

Here are some quotes from Michael O’Brien’s “Landscape with Dragons” that, to my understanding apply to Harry Potter.
1.) “‘Good magic’ in traditional fairy stories represents these very realities [prayer, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and abandonment to divine providence], symbolizing the itervention of God in the lives of good men put to the test….Bad magic in traditional stories represents the evil power that the wicked use in order to grasp at what does not rightly belong to them-whether worldly power, wealth, or even love….Good magic and bad magic in truthful stories correspond to true religion and bad religion in our real world.” To my knowledge, Harry Potter uses “white magic” to defeat “black magic” which have the same source- evil.
2.) To distinguish between J.K. Rowling and Tolkien: Tolkien “portrayed original worlds in which the use of magic and clairvoyance is revealed as fraught with extreme danger. They demonstrate clearly the hidden seduction in the very powers that the neopagan proposes as instruments for the salvation of mankind.”

Just a quick thank you for your article.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the HP series and am waiting for my oldest to be old enough to read it in about a year or so.  I hope others find as much enjoyment in in the series as I have.  It was good to read about the struggle of good in evil in and around us.

I read the Harry Potter series a few years ago and have re-read it several times since. Obviously, I find them to be enjoyable reads! Frankly, a lot of the criticisms I’ve read regarding Harry Potter seem to be made by people who haven’t read the series. Harry Potter and his pals get punished MANY times for breaking rules. Bullying is exposed for all the harm it does - it’s never glossed over but treated as something to overcome. As for criticisms of the money earned by the books, it might benefit you to know that JK Rowling is a founding member of Lumos (formerly Children’s High Level Group) which is a group that works to help orphaned and disabled children. She’s contributed healthy sums for people in poverty, single mothers, and to find a cure for multiple sclerosis. And the end of the series shows very well how good triumphs over evil not through magical means, but through sacrifice and love of others before oneself. And yes, I do think the series will become a classic for future generations. After all, a classic is simply a work that is able to enlighten or entertain throughout the ages. The magic and fantastical creatures are simply devices to entertain and draw the reader into the series. J.C. Wright, former atheist turned Catholic, gives a wonderful defense of the Harry Potter series in his essay found at http://www.scifiwright.com/2011/08/harry-potter-and-the-christian-magicians/#more-3898. To sum up, in Wright’s words, “it is far more likely that the HP book will lure your child to a theme park than to an circle of occultists.”

This controversy, much like the yoga controversy, comes down what exactly did the Pope (or some other high official at the Vatican) actually say.  If there had been clearly expressed condemnation or reservations about the books (or the exercises), then Catholics worldwide would have an obligation to heed those words.  However, it seems that Cardinal Ratzinger’s words may have been improperly used in order to bolster a particular lay-person’s opinion (and promote sales of a book).  Without clear, official, Church guidance, we are left to muddle through using other resources and opinions or our own judgment. 

There are many rational arguments against the HP series.  There are many rational arguments in favor of the HP series.  That some choose to agree with one group and others choose to agree with another group is not a moral outrage.  I listened to both sides and finally decided to read the series myself to decide what I thought.  I do not think the series is truly occult, because the “magic” does not take place in OUR world…the HP world is a separate world with different rules.  Only wizards can use the magic - and you are born that way.  True occult means that anyone can learn the magic.  And it is not black magic vs white magic, but simply magic used in good ways or bad ways much like we have the “power” to do good or evil with our own choices.  I have more concern over the teenaged behavior of kissing/dating in the last 2 books than I do with the magic aspect, and for that reason have not permitted my one son who is interested in the series to read those books (he is 11, but I won’t let him read those until he is closer in age to the characters in the stories - 15/16). 

Even classical literature, long considered good for children to read, has issues in the texts.  Tom Sawyer is hardly a model citizen, even a model child.  He has a poor work ethic, disobeys the adults in his life, allows everyone to think he’s dead…and the language in the book is not acceptable in polite society.  But our children should not read this book or any other in a moral vacuum.  Problematic literature should be discussed with children, so that we can help them see that getting other people to paint a fence for you may be clever, but it is not in accordance with the 4th commandment, and that pretending you are dead is a terrible way to trifle with people’s emotions, even if it is funny.

Most children understand clearly that Harry Potter is make believe and know that the magic is not real.  Nevertheless, parents should be aware of what the books contain if they choose to allow their children to read them.  If parents choose to keep HP out of their family’s life, then that decision should be respected.

Thank you for the links explaining the comments/letter regarding the Pope’s stance on Harry Potter. I was worried that I was going against the church in some way by reading the books when I first read the comments this morning - but I appreciate the clarification, and am so glad that I am not! I read the books just this past year and was stunned by the amount of Christianity within them, especially in the last one. I had also recently re-read ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and was surprised that book was represented so positively as a Christian-themed book, while Harry Potter was not. They both clearly have Christ-like figures and the theme of good vs. evil, and they both contain witches, so I was confused that one was vilified while the other was praised. I think they can both teach our kids about love, family, self-sacrifice, friendship, the real presence of evil in our world and being brave enough to take a stand against it. Thank you Faith and Family for opening up this often misunderstood topic for discussion and for sharing the John Granger article.

It amazes me how worked up people get about this! I myself, avoided reading the books for a few years, mostly because it was such a “craze”, and I don’t follow the crowds on things; never did. But having worked at a daycare where I ended up having to watch the first couple movies, I became intrigued enough to pick up a book. and, like the author of this post, was amazed to find I couln’t put it down! It is excellently written in my opinion, as a story. I too, gleaned much of the Christian themes from it, just like I did the Spiderman movies when they came out. Everyone loves heroes, I would think, and I found it wonderful that the BEST stories written, ALWAYS come back to the hero being a type of “christ” figure. Because what story is better than that one?
I do not see how people think there is all this “occult” business in these books, and usually means they have not read them for themselves.
I also will say that I would NOT recommend the books starting younger than 12 years old. You should realize that she wrote these books with the children PROGRESSING in age, and I think she meant for children/young adults to read them that way too. If you are the age of the character in the books, or older, that is the age you should start reading that book at, generally speaking, because yes, the themes of the books do become more serious, dark, and complicated/grown -up. I think she wrote them this way on purpose, so kids would “grow up” WITH the characters. These books should not be in the hands of young elementary children, because they will not glean the lessons from them.
There’s my two cents to add to this already heated argument. The books are GREAT fiction, I love how the characters are “real” in the fact that they are not perfect, but the lessons still shine through. Completely would understand if you didn’t go to see the movies because some are not that great at portraying the books anyway; I have my favorites.
Lastly, as a young woman in my 20s, after all the required high scool and college reading, these books jumpstarted my reading for ENJOYMENT again. They really did. I have continue to try to read good books, and it has led me to start picking up Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis (read all the Narnia books finally!), Thomas Hardy, and Charles Dickens.
They really are not a bad influence, if read at the right age. That’s my opinion. And yes, the spells are really just based off of latin.