“See No Evil,
Read No Evil . .
.”
“Harry Potter”—a harmless
enough name (wasn’t he the colonel on the TV
series M*A*S*H?) Whatever,
seems he has stirred considerable controversy in
christendom.
(We saw this coming—we ran a column
commenting on the books several years ago.) The
series, already one of the hottest selling items
on the market, got a big boost with the release of
the movie on Nov. 16. (The movie
has stayed at No. 1 for 3 weeks.)
Should Christian parents be
concerned?
Are the books introducing kids to
witchcraft, desensitizing them to evil? Should we
have a book burning?
Are the stories, on the
other hand, harmless tales of fantasy (with the
concomitant, moralistic duel between good and
evil) which entice computer-logged children
actually to read?
A few comments:
The
controversy is healthy. Anyone who
denounces the warnings of naysayers out of hand
may miss the point. Dialogue
and countering opinions are critical to healthy
Christian life. People on
both sides of the issue need to be heard—not one
of us has the corner on the whole truth and its
implications.
Keep
it in perspective. The
release of Disney’s Snow White (complete with
witch, magic and the heroine living with not one
but seven guys) was also accompanied with its
respective measure of hysteria. Use the
books as a way to introduce children to Narnia,
Perelandra, A Wrinkle in Time or maybe even
Peretti.
See
this as a teachable moment. Time to
talk to kids about what is good and what is
evil.
Talk about real evil and
the Christian response to it. Talk about
imagination, wonder and mystery (things about
which our kids can teach us!)
Ask
the (I think, more important)
questions: Why is
this series such a huge hit? What chord
does it strike in the soul of children and adults
alike?
What does the phenomenon say about the
needs of people in our culture? Is what we
are doing as a church helping to fill those
needs?
(we
will talk more about
this)
