Portal:Christianity/Selected article/November 2009

 

Religious debates over the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling stem largely from assertions that the novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. This opposition comes from orthodox branches of Abrahamic religions, with some Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians and some Shia and Sunni Muslims arguing against the series. Responses to these claims have come from many corners. Supporters of the series have asserted 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. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, both authors known for writing fantasy novels with heavily Christian subtexts. Far from promoting a particular religion, some argue, the Harry Potter novels go out of their way to avoid discussing religion at all. However, the books' author, J. K. Rowling, describes herself as a practising Christian, and many have noted the overtly Christian references she includes in the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the United States, calls for the books to be banned from schools have occasionally led to widely-publicised 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. The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have also campaigned against the series, and some members of the Vatican hierarchy have voiced opposition. The books have been banned from private schools in the United Arab Emirates and criticised in the Iranian state-run press. Religious responses to Harry Potter have not been exclusively negative. "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view", notes Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths".

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