While the general populace is being covinvinced of Harry Potter’s good moral conduct,there is a definite problem with the usage of witches ,warlocks,and etc.,in this series.He is a magician,which is against the Holy Scriptures and God because it is clearly written that:
There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer. 18-11: or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 18-12: For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.I cannot say this any simpler than that!!!

Yes Terre, but it is a work of fiction. When I think about Harry Potter, I think about it along the lines of traditional fantasy such as The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis or The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Both of those writers used magic in some sense but they were also deeply religious as well (Lewis wrote Mere Christianity and Tolkien coverted Lewis to Christianity).
While JK Rowling does write about the wizarding world, magic is simply a plot device. In the wizarding world, you’d expect problems to be solved magically but instead you have wizards who sharply disagree and a struggle between Good Wizards and Evil ones. I think that’s the point people tend to miss. She’s not telling us that we should go out and cast spells or wish us to be wizards, Harry Potter is a mythological story- meaning that what it looks like on the surface is not really what it is at all. There is a deeper truth to it, a spiritual point to the story.

Dobson is of the “if it’s not Biblical, then burn it” stripe. A fearful little man, IMHO.

Dobson is funny that way. Those who already agree with him know what he’ll say and no one else is listening.

I can’t help but think of what Jim Henson said when someone accused his Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie of insidiously giving pre-schoolers the impression that it’s all right for two men to live together in a close relationship, I.E. “gay”.
He simply replied, “They’re puppets.” A perfect answer to that sort of ridiculous accusation.
In other words, they’re not REAL! Neither is Harry Potter or anything in it.
You’d think people didn’t have any REAL problems to worry about the way they carry on about the products of a creative person’s imagination.
People are imaginative, and storytelling has always been with us, as an expression of imagination and of information, instruction and civilization. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t have this book Christians are so fond of, the Bible, which no doubt started out as people thinking, “Wow, what a great inspirational story about our God, someone had better write this down!”
Stories with supernatural and scifi elements have always been a favorite of children in particular. I think that’s because the young mind is more open to possibilities than those of older ones.
How can one censure that interest when it arises from the same sense of spiritual possibilities as an interest in the Bible or God, which are also supernatural beliefs, the last time I checked. I don’t get where this fear is coming from on the part of the religious right, except that many things they believe seem driven mainly by fear.
I find that terribly sad.

Having read the final book in the series, I can honestly say it was probably the most spiritual of the books, but without being preachy, or taking any sort of religious viewpoint. There is real loss, real love, and a real sense of purpose in the book, even beyond the main plot of the story. The way the characters interact, and the kind of man Harry becomes in the end is something to be admired.
Without giving away any plot details, I can say that Harry comes to a very startling realization near the end of the book, and he’s ready to face the consequences of that truth head on. He faces it all selflessly, without any regard for himself. And he does it without flinching, knowing that it’s the right thing to do.
Anyone who focuses on the magic is being far too literal and is missing the point. Yes, he’s a wizard. Yes, there are magical creatures, and spells, and all that, but they largely exist as plot devices. The real value of the Potter books is in terms of allegory. Harry provides a great example for kids, and it would be a shame if people got bogged down in a literal interpretation of the books, focusing on the magic instead of the morals that thread through the series.

Lidane,
And I think that is the entire problem with the Dobson branch of Christianity – they are literalists; beginning, middle and end. The Bible is taken a literal truth, rather than as a book filled with allegory, stories and symbology. Harry Potter, and books like it, are taken as literally advocating witchcraft and magic. To people such as this, unless it can be blatently shown as Christian symbols (i.e. it is hitting you over the head with the similarity to the Christ story), it must be evil and attempting to lure you away from the “true path”. I would almost feel sorry for them and their narrow view – except for two things: their attempts to inflict their viewpoint on the rest of the country and their giving my religion a bad name. Christ was more than His sacrifice and resurrection – He was the message, the Word of God made flesh and these literalists ignore 90% of His teachings in order to focus on the 10% they feel comfortable with. Yes, the Passion was important but I don’t think that is the whole reason He came – if that was all it was about, He wouldn’t have spent 3 years wandering around teaching all those parables and giving all those demonstrations. He spent a lot more time talking about how we should treat each other and showing us how to behave then he did talking about the Passion and His resurrection. Too bad the “Dobson Christians” and thier like don’t do the same thing. Imagine if all the people who listen to him, the 700 Club and the rest of the evangelical programming actually went out and did as He did – treating those at the fringes of society and those who are poor, sick, lost and frightened with the same kind of love and dignity that they show themselves and their friends. I am sure that some of them do – but the majority that I have met are too busy patting themselves on the back for their sancitity and telling everyone that doesn’t agree with them that they are going to be punished.

Even when he makes a moderate statements, Dobson gets clobbered. The NT does forbid involvement in sorcery and godless philosophies, that’s pretty clear. You may feel that in your religious freedom you can partake of these things without incurring God’s wrath. Indeed, somebody has to to be informed about what these things are about. Whatever! But, if people don’t want to be involved with Harry Potter isn’t that within their religious rights? I’ve seen three of the movies. Are they corrupting? Maybe? It seems that depends on how strict your measuring stick is. David implies increasing mysticism adds value to life. Does it really? With Christianity’s lengthy list of mystical heresies, some of which are very recent, the matter seems open to differing opinion.

“And I think that is the entire problem with the Dobson branch of Christianity – they are literalists”
No, he/they are SELECTIVE literalists. I doubt even his staunchest followers would agree that victims of incest should be put to death. Or kids who sass their parents. Or deny communion to the disabled.
I have yet to be convinced, though, that they wouldn’t put to death a homosexual if they had the chance and thought they wouldn’t get caught.
“Even when he makes a moderate statements, Dobson gets clobbered.”
I have yet to hear him MAKE a “moderate statement”. Specifically in regards to Harry Potter. How can you make a rational, let alone a “moderate” statement about a FICTIONAL character??? (Is Tinky Winky still gay, by the way?)

Mindmelda says:
In other words, they’re not REAL! Neither is Harry Potter or anything in it.
You’d think people didn’t have any REAL problems to worry about the way they carry on about the products of a creative person’s imagination.
People are imaginative, and storytelling has always been with us, as an expression of imagination and of information, instruction and civilization. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t have this book Christians are so fond of, the Bible, which no doubt started out as people thinking, “Wow, what a great inspirational story about our God, someone had better write this down!”
However:
Just because its “not real” is not sufficient to dismiss the issue. Its precisely because stories mean things and stories do things by shaping our perceptions of things. If this were not true, why study moses? why study abraham? why study jesus? The history of our nation and our poltics will continue to be shaped by the stories told about folks like our Founding Fathers, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Irrespective of that issue, I simply think cultural engagement is a far better alternative than demonization on this issue.

I think the Post is going to be wrong about the next great Potter type book(s). I’ve read LaHayes “Left Behind” series and the more recent “The Minor Protection Act”. Both were preachy and self absorbed as well as not being particularly believeable. Purely silly, even, unless you’re an Evangellical Christian. It just won’t happen until Christian authors stop looking at their fictional works as “ministries” and start writing to entertain their audience.
The last overtly Christian books that I read and liked were Zenna Henderson’s “People” books clear back in the early 70s. The difference was a good dose of humility on the authors part.

What does Dr. Dobson think of The Chronicles of Narnia or of the Lord of the Rings? These books use pagan archetypes to illustrate stories that on a deeper level expound Christian values, because they are Christian allegories.
Aslan might be seen to represent Christ for example, and Sauron and his minions the forces of evil against the fellowship…
C.S. Lewis was a fervent Christian as was Tolkien and they were in fact brothers in Christ and letters
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2003/augustweb-only/8-25-52.0.html
What do others think?

The earth is flat and God and I will kill you if you disagree!

Galileo,
I don’t think “Christianists” like Dobson GET allegories. Metaphors and similes seem foreign to him too.
I mean, if “a thousand years is like the blink of an eye” to God, just how many “blinks” are there in, um, 6,000 actual people years? Nope, gotta be 6,000 years old this earth.
Allegory? It is beyond him.

Dear citizens of the World,
I Stand against this po-tter trash. In The NAME And BLOOD OF YAHUSHUA my MASHIACH (JESUS CHRIST. And it shall be destroyed. harr-y pot-ter is a school of sor-cery and wit-chcraft and it is ev-il. This is common knowledge by wit-ches all over the world. Whether is is fantasy or white or black it is all wit-chcraft. Wake up people! Do not say that you belong to YAHUVEH (The FATHER)while supporting this kind of blashephemy.
with much love and hope in YAHUSHUA, David