My friend is an avid church member. He refuses to watch Harry Potter because it deals with witchcraft. Witchcraft in its original context referred to Satan worshipers (which is why they called John Proctor a witch in The Crucible). It was also why many people who criticized and left Catholicism when they found it to be led by corrupt leaders, were burned alive and called “witches” for going against the church in the 1600s. My friend is primarily against Potter because he says it misinterprets witchcraft from its original context and will lead young, nave viewers to think witchcraft is cool.
I compare this situation to a Swastika. Originally it was a symbol for luck and prosperity. Then Nazis took it and now it represents an evil regime that murdered millions of innocent people. I know there are people today, usually associated with India, who still associate the symbol with its original context. But the symbol has changed context and it needs to at least be acknowledged –otherwise you run the risk of offending people.
I think my friend should at least watch the movies. Everyone else has seen them at this point, and to say it will lead kids to demon worship is kind of an insult to parents and young kids who are perfectly fine right now. The “witches” are more of a theme. The underlying story is the same classic one t has always been: Good v. Evil. Many kids have actually said they were inspired by Harry Potter –not because of magic or witchcraft- but because he was raised alone and unwanted. He was poor. He always knew he was different. He never thought he was “special”. Then he was brought into another world where everyone knew him and he was treated like a celebrity. They all assured him he was special. But he still couldn’t really believe it. Then the man that killed his parents came back and vowed to kill Harry. How many kids/teens/young adults could have handled all that crap? Kids go through more than people think they do. Not everyone is granted a perfect childhood. Kids who are struggling need hope that they still have some say in their lives even though everything seems out of their control. They need a role model that shows, You will struggle. Life won’t be easy. But there are people here that love you and will always have your back. You just have to believe in yourself and know you can achieve anything –even when you yourself think you can’t.
I’ll compare this to Pirates of the Caribbean for a second just to further my point. Pirates in their original context where men who pillaged, raped, murdered, and stole. Even modern day pirates exist almost in the same fashion –only this time with machine guns. But that doesn’t mean kids will watch the Disney movie and then decide they want to buy a boat, drink rum, and find gold. Most people are smart enough not to take fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars out of their context and apply them to reality. It’s just a story. There aren’t any real giant lizards storming through Tokyo or talking wooden cowboy dolls.
Harry Potter isn’t a gateway drug to Satanism. You might as well say watching Peter Pan will encourage kids to jump off high places. Even if it does –it is a parental responsibility for adults to teach their kids not to act the way they people do in moves for obvious reasons. If a kid or teen tries to do actual witchcraft either: (1) Nothing will happen, they’ll get bored, and stop trying or (2) They’ll end up delving into bad things and either quit or become addicted the way some teens do to drugs. Teens are rebellious and stupid. They are going to do stupid, rebellious things. They don’t need any excuse –they do it naturally. Just look at Marilyn Manson’s story. He didn’t watch Harry Potter. Some punk from school bullied him into participating in devil worship –some crazy things happened- it seriously altered Manson’s life after that.
Things that can be achieved in Harry Potter through Witchcraft | Both | Things that can be achieved in Reality through Witchcraft. |
Flying Cars | Levitation? | Conjuring up Evil Spirits |
Riding Brooms | Wearing Cloaks | Fear/Anger/Pain |
Defeating Dragons | Talking to the Dead* *With a Ouija board anyone can *Psychics aren’t Satanists | Communicating with Demons |
Turning a Rat into a Cup | Murder | |
Changing Physical Appearance to look like someone else | Looking Stupid | |
Moving Photographs | Doing Rituals | |
Defeating a Basilisk | Joining a Cult | |
Healed by Phoenix Tears | Chanting from a Book | |
Living Forever from Unicorn Blood | Getting really good at drawing Pentagrams | |
Breathing Underwater with Gills | Becoming a Douchebag | |
Hanging out with Mermaids | Isolation and Depression | |
Repairing glasses in under 30 seconds | Rejection | |
Turning Invisible | Self-Loathing | |
Killing Giant Spiders | Being pressured into doing things you don’t want to | |
Fighting Werewolves | Being tormented by spirits and/or demons | |
Going Back in Time | Suicide | |
Riding Hipogryphs | False sense of Superiority | |
Killing someone via Wand | Overwhelming sense of Inferiority | |
Being sorted by a Talking Hat | Getting picked on/Bullied |
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