Have your kids been imploring you for permission to read the Harry Potter series? It seems like everyone is hooked on these books, making your kids feel awkwardly quarantined from their peers over the divide on principles. After all, Scholastic book orders provided by the indoctrination centers of public schools are brimming with Harry Potter selections, serving up an alarming dose of witchcraft for the youngest readers to the oldest. Isn't everything sanctioned by the schools supposed to be in your child's best interests? Hardly.
Not only is the book addiction rampant, but the frenzy is intensified by movies, museum exhibits, and video games. A full line of merchandise supports the franchise, offering consumers Harry Potter board games, magic wands, apparel, cups, calendars, umbrellas, necklaces, and other fan fare products. If Harry Potter is so evil and insidious, surely the bandwagon would be fairly empty, right? We find the answer in I Corinthians 2:14, The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. In other words, people who enjoy Harry Potter books are spiritually blind to the negative impact these books spawn and think anyone who has an issue with them are being silly.
Proponents of Harry Potter shrug off the Christian argument springing from Deuteronomy 18:10: There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer. Advocates for the series are dismissive of this scripture, simply because it's the one Christians often turn to in their case against books that propel kids towards witchcraft. This scripture is not cliche--it sets the standard for what is expected from Christ followers.
For those who now find this biblical account too blase, here's another reference point to consider. According to Acts 19, God was doing miraculous things through Paul while he was ministering in Ephesus. The sons of Sceva, the Jewish high priest, also tried to imitate God's power by exorcising demons in the name of Jesus. The demons spoke and acknowledged that they knew Jesus and Paul, but they did not know the sons of Sceva, so the demons leaped on them and overpowered them. In other words, the devil knows whether you have Jesus or not, and if you don't, you're in trouble if you try to tangle with him! Everyone who heard about this was afraid and began to accept Christ. As they did so, verse 19 says, And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. As a result, the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Translation: people with books filled with magic spells, like you find in Harry Potter, realized how evil these books were and got rid of them. What were these books replaced with? The word of God, and word is what made them start to see real power in their lives--it was the power of the spirit of God though, not the diet soda version of power offered by the devil and his minions that leads to destruction.
The question is, do you want your kids to learn the devil's contrivances as prescribed in the Harry Potter series, or do you think your kids would be better off learning God's precepts?
No parent wants their child to be led astray or to be harmed. For this reason, we train them to avoid drugs, drinking and driving, and sexual immorality. We guard our kids against human traffickers and shady characters in our communities. We keep our doors locked and arm them with phones and emergency numbers in case they need help. We encourage them to make good friend choices and not follow the wrong crowd. Our chief concern is often the physical and emotional safety of our kids, but what about their spiritual safety? We should be equally, if not more, vigilant when it comes to guarding their souls and training them up in the way they should go spiritually (Proverbs 22:6).
Some parents scoff at the notion their kids might join Wicca or some other coven as a result of reading Harry Potter. They are right. Few actually do pursue a life of sorcery for themselves. However, I Timothy 4:1 warns, Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons. Look no further than Harry Potter to learn more about doctrines of demons. In fact, an ex-witch who became a Christian expounds on the dangers of occult practices and demonology that are the substance of the Harry Potter series, and it is downright scary! You can read her startling revelations about witchcraft and Harry Potter here.
Harry Potter books lead kids astray by making them more interested in things that are magical than things that are spiritual. Satan wants to weaken their faith, and he does this by shifting their focus away from things of God. Harry Potter books are a Pandora's box--open them, and all kinds of chaos emerge that war against principles of faith. When your child was a toddler, remember how you used to distract her from touching things you didn't want her to mess with, like the TV screen or the electrical outlets? You introduced something new, shiny, or exciting to divert her. She grabbed onto the new object and was re-directed. Harry Potter books use the same bait and switch method, only it's the devil's way of keeping your child's eyes off of God and fixated on mysticism.
Some parents argue the Harry Potter series is about good overcoming evil with a powerful underlying theme of friendship, loyalty, and bravery. You've heard the old axiom about the bad apple that ruins the whole bushel. Any truth that is sprinkled with a lie is ultimately a lie and not the truth. The witchcraft in Harry Potter books is the lie, the bad apple, and it overshadows and ruins any positive topics the books address. The devil keeps playing this same trick card, and people keep falling for it. It started in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve she could eat the apple because it wouldn't hurt her--God just didn't want her to know as much as Him. Harry Potter is that apple, and it's your responsibility to make sure your kids don't take a bite.
Other parents argue their kids would never read until they stumbled upon the Harry Potter series. Now, their kids are suddenly voracious readers--of Harry Potter only. Anyone who has read the series vouches for its compelling powers, but one could argue the source of this fascination is the result of succumbing to the seducing power of evil, as outlined in I Timothy 4:1. Would the same parents reason their kids would never try meth before, but now that they have, they are addicted to it? Yes, the love of reading is one of the best things you can inspire in your kids, but if you get them hooked on the wrong ones, it can be a matter of life or spiritual death.
Harry Potter books are just fantasy, many proclaim in their defense. You are feeding your kids the wrong fantasy then. The Bible clarifies what things we should be thinking about in Philippians 4: 8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Witchcraft is satan's imitation of God's power. Just as no human can perform the miraculous without the power of God working through them, no one can practice magic and spells without the power of the demonic working through them. God's power is life-giving; the devil's power is death-giving. God's power leads to freedom; satan's power leads to bondage and destruction.
The books you approve your kids to read leave an imprint on their psyche. Is the stamp of the demonic how you want to brand them?
Moderates on this issue advise waiting until your kids are older to introduce the Harry Potter series. Is there really a "right age" to do something harmful to your children? Is it okay to introduce narcotics to them when they are 18 rather than 12? Is it okay for your kids to view pornography at age 21 but not 15? The answer should be obvious.
If fantasy is what your kids crave, give them healthy choices. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien are Christian alternatives to stories about good triumphing over evil, but they are minus the demonic element. Instead of satiating your younger kids with magic presented in the famed Magic Treehouse series, offer them adventure through the Christian substitute, the Imagination Station series. When your kids are hungry, you don't feed them poison. Likewise, don't let them feast on spiritual poison when it comes to the books they consume.
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How can you be sure your kids won't rebel and read the Harry Potter books anyway when you're not watching? They don't like being the only ones in class who have never read Harry Potter. It makes them feel weird and uncool--the literary outcasts of academia. If you have built a solid, Christian foundation in your home and your kids trust your judgment and respect your example when it comes to making safe choices for them, it shouldn't be an issue. Your kids look to you for guidance in discerning right from wrong. They aren't interested in intentionally making bad choices that will result in personal harm. Talk it through and keep aiming them in the right direction, and they will continue to grow in independence and strong character and eventually learn to choose the right path for themselves.
Are you modeling the right behavior for your kids when it comes to the books you read and the movies you watch? If you are a Christian parent who loves Harry Potter movies and books yourself, don't be a hypocrite. Your kids won't respect your counsel when you don't follow your own advice. Furthermore, if you are a Christian parent who sees nothing wrong with this series, you have a serious problem. You are either uniformed, or your spirit is not in tune with God and you have been led astray by sin or else you would feel conviction and repent.
Something isn't right just because everyone else is doing it. Harry Potter books are open doors to the occult. It's your job as a good parent to make sure that door is closed and locked.
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