![]() ![]() Some Christians have suggested that Harry Potter promotes the religion of Wicca, and so keeping the books in public schools violates the separation of church and state in the United States. In 2002, Chick Publications produced a comic book tract titled "The Nervous Witch" that declared "the Potter books open a doorway that will put untold millions of kids into hell." In 2007 Jacqui Komschlies wrote an article in Christianity Today comparing Harry Potter to " rat poison mixed with orange soda," and said, "We're taking something deadly from our world and turning it into what some are calling 'merely a literary device. In 1999, Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, an American Evangelical Christian group based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, outlined the reasons for his opposition: " some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil however, the positive messages are packaged in a medium –- witchcraft –- that is directly denounced in Scripture." Harry Potter has been the subject of at least six book burnings in the U.S. Much of the criticism of Harry Potter comes from a small number of evangelical Christians who hold that the series' depiction of witchcraft is dangerous to children. Scholar Em McAvan writes that evangelical objections to Harry Potter are superficial, based on the presence of magic in the books: they do not attempt to understand the moral messages in the series. According to Joy Farmer, it is a "profound misreading to think that Harry Potter promotes witchcraft,". After the final volume was published, Rowling said she intentionally incorporated Christian themes, in particular the idea that love may hold power over death. ![]() Christian analyses of the series have argued that it embraces ideals of friendship, loyalty, courage, love, and the temptation of power. The Harry Potter books also have a group of vocal religious supporters who believe that Harry Potter espouses Christian values, or that the Bible does not prohibit the forms of magic described in the series. Author and scholar Amanda Cockrell suggests that Harry Potter 's popularity, and recent preoccupation with fantasy and the occult among Christian fundamentalists, explains why the series received particular opposition. "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view," notes Rowling, " have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths." Christianity Ĭriticism has taken two main forms: allegations that Harry Potter is a pagan text and claims that it encourages children to oppose authority, derived mainly from Harry's rejection of the Dursleys, his adoptive parents. Religious responses to Harry Potter have not all been negative. ![]() The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and a diocese of the Orthodox Church of Greece also campaigned against the series. In America, calls for the books to be banned from schools have led to legal challenges, often on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the books to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state. Rowling, describes herself as a Christian, and many have noted the Christian references which she includes in the final novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Far from promoting a particular religion, some argue, the Harry Potter novels go out of their way to avoid discussing religion at all. Tolkien, both of whom are known for writing fantasy novels with Christian subtexts. Supporters of the series have said that the magic in Harry Potter bears little resemblance to occultism, being more in the vein of fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White, or to the works of C. A number of Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians have argued against the series, as have some Muslims. Rowling are based on claims that the novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. Religious debates over the Harry Potter series of books by J. Debates based on claims that the Harry Potter novels contain occult or satanic subtexts ![]()
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