Their Trouble with Harry

There's a thread over at SydneyAnglicans.net where some members are trying to convince the rest of us that it's wrong to read Harry Potter. After being asked why I found the discussion "Bizarre" and what my "Biblical Grounds" were for reading HP, I answered:

I find it bizarre that some people try to argue that Harry Potter is designed to be prescriptive, or that is fundamentally evil, or that it is anti-Christian, or that it is trying to lure people into sin. It strikes me as extraordinary than anybody can actually read these books and come to such conclusions (or, conversely, that people can pass such judgements without reading the books).

My “Biblical grounds” for reading HP are much the same as my biblical grounds for watching test cricket: I enjoy it, and don’t think the Bible has anything to say about whether I should do it or not - it comes down to personal judgement and wisdom.

I don’t think that the practice of magic in the books bears even a passing resemblance to anything that the Bible forbids (unless you have actually seen someone flick a wand, utter something in Latin and cause a teapot to turn into a hamster). The books avoid making any statement about the non/existence of God, or the religious practices of these wizards/witches (indeed in book 7, Ron actually says “Thank God!” when he learns that someone has returned safely from a dangerous mission - suggesting that the wizarding world is not devoid of concepts of God since Ron was brought up in a purely wizarding family). Magic is not treated as being in any way associated with religion, or forming a world view - with the exception of the prime villain who believes that magical folk are somehow superior to us Muggles (a theory which the books thoroughly condemn in no uncertain terms).

Just as all humans are gifted with certain talents and skills, in the HP series certain humans are gifted with the natural ability to practice magic. It is not something they seek, or seize, or even learn - most wizards (Harry included) are performing accidental spells as children before they learn to safely control their abilities at school. There are individual characters in the books who do seek more power for themselves, but these people are shown to be twisted and corrupt. Indeed the final book directly addresses this as Harry is forced to make some difficult choices.

With magic coming naturally, the key issue becomes the question of what are these characters going to use their gifts for? This, I think, is a question well worth exploring.

However I would not recommend the series for young children. It matures as Harry does, so whereas I would give the first book (when Harry is aged 11) to an eleven year old, I would only give the seventh book (where Harry is aged 17) to a seventeen-year-old. A young child is likely to grow up a little too quickly if they read all seven books at an early age.