Despite our immediate and natural desire to praise J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series for motivating youth to read enthusiastically, we should be questioning the true value of allowing Harry Potter into our children’s minds. The Harry Potter series is not necessarily evil because Rowling is spiritually misled. It is evil because it confuses right from wrong.

The main character, Harry Potter, is the hero, while the enemies are twofold: his fundamental and closed-minded foster parents; as well as Voldemort, the murderer of his parents and performer of black magic. The enemies are the villains because they are opposed to Harry, and not because of their lack of morals. Voldemort is evil because he tries to hurt Harry—not because he practices black magic to hurt other people. Harry’s foster parents are evil because they get in his way to try to stop him from becoming a warlock—not because Harry views them as irrational.

We must focus our attention on Rowling’s distinction between right and wrong. Harry is portrayed as inherently good. Though he lies, disobeys his foster parents and breaks the rules at school, he is good. He is portrayed as the hero from the beginning, regardless of his actions. Because he disobeys his foster parents, he can attend the elite Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft. The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right” (NASB). Harry’s escape is portrayed as a heroic act. Harry disobeys the rules at his school, and in the end is rewarded for the results of this disobedience, by earning “extra points” for his team, and thereby winning the coveted “cup.” If Harry is the “good” character, then we find ourselves forming the distinction between him and the “bad” characters based on Harry’s perspective alone.

I believe that this sends the same message that modern—or “benign”—Wicca¹ sends: that everyone is good, as long as they are not hurting anyone or saying that anyone else is wrong. The two oppositions to Wicca are 1) doing harm to others and 2) obstructing white magic. These two adversaries to Wicca are the two manifestations of the enemies (the evil Voldemort and his irrational foster parents) in the Harry Potter series.
Wiccan practice honors the “Goddess” and her partner “God,” as well as nature and humankind. The Neo-pagan Wiccan belief is “do whatever you wish, as long as it harms no one, including yourself,” according to B. A. Robinson from the organization Religious Tolerance. Wiccans believe that there is no absolute right or wrong, but that each viewpoint is correct according to the viewer’s perspective. Regarding a discrepancy of beliefs, they say, “It is a true statement to one group and false to another.” ²
This is the mindset of “relativism.” Relativity is the set of beliefs that embrace every truth as relative to he who experiences that truth. Relativists believe that every truth depends on how one sees the truth, and therefore the truth is “relative.” Wiccans believe that truth is relative, and this ideology is prevalent throughout the Harry Potter series.
Relativity is dangerous, because if nothing is absolute, then nothing is absolutely right. For example, relativists believe that the Biblical God is not the only true god because other people have different beliefs of God. To Hinduism, our God is not the only god. Relativists often think that each culture is right in its own ways. This is against the Bible, as God says, “You are to have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We are not to worship anything else. According to the Bible, Hindus are wrong. But according to relativists, they are right in their own ways. For more information on religious comparatives, click here. This is also dangerous, as relativists make decisions based on personal opinions and desires, and not because it is the right choice. Abortion is legal because we value “choice,” and not the truth—which is that a baby is killed by each abortion. To some relativists, 9-11 was not necessarily a bad occurrence. It was good to those who thought it was their calling to kill Americans, and it was bad to those who lost their lives or their family members to it.

Proverbs 14:12 reads, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Though relativity seems good, maintaining an “everyone is right” mentality, it is inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible. God makes it clear that He is the only right way. Magic exists, and is practiced widespread. There is a large margin for error in Wiccan censuses, but it is believed that there are approximately 250,000 to 400,000 practicing Wiccans in the US.³ It is estimated that 11% of Wiccans are under 17, and about 25% of Wiccans are 18-25.⁴ Exposure to magic, which fosters anti-Christian beliefs—as the Harry Potter series clearly does—only brings us further from God unless we can see it as God wants us to. Jesus said, “And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you…” (Matthew 5:30a). If the principles our children are learning through Harry Potter encourage false understandings of morals, reality and God, they should not be exposed to Harry Potter.

Many have clouded the debate by drawing comparisons to other books that use magic and spiritual science-fiction such as J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series—both written by renowned children’s authors and prolific Christians. But the arguments are not as cloudy, nor the similarities as close, as the proponents of Harry Potter would have you believe. Both Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia distinguish good from evil, as opposed to the relativity advocated in the Harry Potter series. Though The Lord of the Rings is about a “magical” ring, is filled with biblical undertones and allusions. There are messages of biblical truth and morals. People are classified as good and evil according to their actions, and not according to the perspectives of the main characters.

As each character develops in Lord of the Rings, the classification of good and evil is based on the choices that the characters make. One hobbit, Bilbo, finds himself on the good side because he forfeits the evil powers of the ring. The followers of Sauron are evil because they lusted after power and chose to follow Sauron to pursue evil and domination. Sauron is evil because he is consistently evil: killing and torturing in order to achieve absolute power. The main character, Froto, is good because he refines his character to consistently display biblical, absolute morals of truth and justice. The author, Tolkein, does not classify the characters and then decipher good and evil. He distinguishes good and evil and lets the audience draw the distinction to classify the characters. Characters are good according to the choices they make. Tolkein’s portrayal of good and evil is based on true, biblical morals.

We can investigate the messages of the Chronicles of Narnia, as well. Like Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia classify good and bad characters according to their actions, and not perspective. The story is relayed by a third party, who tells of the characters’ actions, and not their classification. When the storyline develops a “good” and an “evil,” it is not because of the perspective of the narrator, but because of the inherent value of the actions. Edmund finds himself teamed with the “bad” side as he selfishly helps the wicked White Witch pursue Aslan, the righteous and loving king—all in exchange for food.⁵ Edmund was only on the bad side as long as he was doing bad things. He only becomes “good” after he makes the right choices, and after suffering the consequences of his bad actions. Aslan is classified as the epitome of good because of what he was created to represent—Jesus Christ, in His purity and love. Each character in Lord of the Rings who lusted after the ring was only bad while they entertained their lust for the ring. Once they did what was right, they were on the good side.

On the contrary, regardless of his lies and disobedience, Harry Potter is always the hero, and always embodies the “good” side. He does not suffer consequences for his sinful actions—his lies nor his disobedience. This teaches children that the good guy does not have to follow the rules. Contrary to biblical teaching, the Harry Potter series teaches that one can and should do whatever one wants, as long as no one else is hurt. However popular relativity is today, Christians should see the difference between right and wrong. We need to teach our children biblical absolutes by adhering to the absolute truth of God’s word in the Bible. We need to teach our children that good people do good things.

In Matthew 7:18, Jesus says, “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” The morals advocated within the Harry Potter series are planting a young and fervent seed of relativity which will be nourished by the sinful ways of this world. The bad seed of Harry Potter will inevitably bear bad fruit.

To find out about seeing more movies through a Christian perspective, click here for ZOL Movie News & Reviews.

¹ “Wicca” is believed to be an Anglo-Saxon coined word for witchcraft. This increasingly popular word is less offensive, though synonymous, with “witchcraft.”
"Witchcraft," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

² “Is Wicca a Form of Satanism?” ReligiousTolerance.org. http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_sata.htm

© 2000 & 2001 Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.

³ B. A. Robinson. “Teens and Wicca.” http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_sata.htm

© 2000 & 2001 Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.

⁴ "Witches Count!," press release, Covenant of the Goddess, at: http://www.cog.org/cogpoll_final.html
⁵ Lewis, CS. The Essential C.S. Lewis. Lyle W. Dorsett, ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996; p. 74.

Article used courtesy of Amanda Chapman, ©2002 Zionline, Inc.