What the heck is so satanic about Harry Potter?

Question

Some people (falsely) claim that Harry Potter is satanic even when they haven't read it. Isn't the theme behind Harry Potter the triumph of good against evil and the importance of love?And turns out christians oppose it more than anyone. I have been a Harry Potter fan for many years and haven't found anything wrong with it. Some countries even ban the series!!!It's amazing how people find fault with Harry Potter and yet ignore books like Lord of the rings, Chronicles of Narnia, etc.

Answer 1

Some people just arent happy unless they are moaning about something just ignore it

Answer 2

The answer is a bit more subtle than Christians don't like magic. I did some research on this a few years ago, and the reason that Narnia and Lord of the Rings were considered OK and Harry Potter wasn't was (according to the Christian books and websites I looked at) is that in LOTR and Narnia the magic stemmed from a higher power (both books make references to their magic stars, Gandalf and Aslan, being servants of higher powers, presumably God) and in Potter the magic comes from the individual, - so LOTR and Narnia worked as Christian fantasy while the Potter books didn't.



Personally, I think this was a load of crap on their part, with the real reason being that Tolkien and Lewis were Christian, and Rowling is not publicly anything, so they had to justify their reasoning. The Potter books are good, solid books in the genre - not as good as Tolkien (the master of the field), but on a par with Lewis, or maybe even a bit better.



Finally, as a former English teacher, banning the Potter books is just stupid. Bring on the final book!!



:)

Answer 3

The main reason why Christians believe Harry Potter is considered satanic, is because of the characters being witches and wizards. These types of characters are believed to be Satan's followers. Even though in the story you find good and bad witches/wizards, it does not matter. Children from a strong christian family, is not allowed to read it until the parents read it first. So some kids are considered lucky if they get past book 2. If you have read all of the books, you would know that they get darker and more sinister. But they will allow their kids to read Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. Both of these authors were very close friends, and extremely strong Christians.

Answer 4

There are many articles on this subject. Like that Mollry chick. She annoys me!Grr!! Most christians believe that Harry Potter is satanic for the fact that it contains magic, spells, potions etc. Mostly though it's been recently said that the big push was the horcruxses in book 6 because it is like a mystical ritual and in the bible(so my theology theacher says) God says that magic is making a deal with the devil Some christians though they claim it ,do not firmly agree that the book is satanic they just fear the consequences of reading. I am christian as well and a big HP fan and must say to the people reading this..IT'S FANTASY PEOPLE!! I agree though it is hard to comprehend when people can't see that's it's a fictional book and kids are only playing pretend. Stupid Laura chick..I'd say she's evil with the way she's trying to rule the rights of all those kids schools to read what they want. She still annoys me!This site should amuse you and the comments may give some more answers.It's an article, but it's pretty short.



http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2006/12/idiot_of_the_year_awards_1.html

Answer 5

I couldn't agree with you more about the theme behind Harry Potter. These are great books that not only teach about love and goodness, but also teach that doing the right thing is important although not always easy. I think these books have wonderful life lessons for children and are not satanic at all. As for the christians who oppose the books, I have to agree with other posts that it is only the absolute fundamentalists that have a problem with them. I am a christian and I think these books are wonderful - so does my minister and several other people at my church. And as my minister says, "the characters in the books celebrate Christmas, so how satanic could they possibly be?" Personally, I think the people who oppose Harry Potter need to come off their high horses and realize that they are being silly because they are making a big fuss over a series of fantasy books.

Answer 6

i agree that there is nothing wrong with the books! they are fiction and very interesting, i love them! i have a friend that is a devout christian and hates the harry potter books! she loves lord of the rings and the chronicles of narnia though. personally i think that one christian dude said 'all harry potter books are from the devil! the stories will corrupt our children and turn them into satanists!' the opinion is probably shared with more then one christian and the feeling spreads. thus some if them now oppose the books.

ok this maybe a little exaggerated and no one has said this exactly, but i believe this is how my friend has been influenced by her fellow christians.

on the other hand i know other devout christians that love the books and believe them just to be fiction, in the end its personal opinion!

Answer 7

As a Christian, I could very easily be hung from the rafters for what I am about to write here. But oh well, I think I'll risk it. Personally I think those people that claim Harry Potter is satanic need to read the books and see it for what it truly is, a triumph of good over evil and the journey that all people face, (trying to fit in, finding love and happiness, pursuing dreams, making friends.....) It is just yet another way for the church to twist something completely innocent to best fit their beliefs. It is actually quite simple to explain how the church deems Harry Potter to be satanic, anything with magic is deemed to be witchcraft, witchcraft is pagan, the pentagram is pagan, the pentagram is also linked (by the church no less) to Satan. People need to stop over analyzing things and just look at them as what they really are, entertainment.

Answer 8

As two others above me said, Maximum Ride and The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series are fantastic. Although, Maximum Ride has no magic, and (especially in the later books) it acts way more YA romance than sci-fi awesomeness. Try The False Prince (Jennifer A Nielson), Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer), The Princess Bride (William Goldman), and Inkheart (Cornelia Funke). And this is a book maybe aimed more at kids, but A Tale Dark and Grimm is fantastic. It's essentially a lot more bloody Series of Unfortunate Events based on fairy tales. It's really good. I don't know exactly what kind of books your friend likes, but I'm a thirteen year old girl, and these are some of my favorites.

Answer 9

no, i don't get it either. hello, its just a good story! mainly, the religious people who dislike harry potter tend to be anti-witchcraft. they then don't like the fact harry's a wizard, and don't want anybody to read the books unless they get converted or something.



the same sort of thing happened with the da vinci code - religious fanatics got all worked up over the fiction about jesus and mary magdalene, and the idea that the readers might believe this as truth.



why people can't realise that stories are stories and not absolute ttruth i'm not sure. they're a bit silly though!



things like lord of the rings and narnia are slightly more subtle, and both give out intentional messages. People tend to respect these more are 'deep meanings of the author'. also, i guess most of the religious fanatics are christians, so they'd not mind about true christian messages through fiction than 'fake twisted messages'.



hope this makes sense!



rachel

Answer 10

Yeah I would have to say that Lord of the rings,and Chronicles of Narnia are way more satanic than Harry Potter. Not!

None of them are satanic.



If they want a satanic book than they should read:

Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor Lavey and Peter H. Gilmore



And leave Harry Potter alone.

Answer 11

The reason that Christians are primarily against Harry Potter, is the use of 'magic'. Magic is closely associated with the dark arts and Satan. It is claimed that the 'magics' are used to lure people into worshipping Satan, and only those pure of heart and soul will not be tempted.



The book is just harmless fun, and good reading for our future budding authors. It is better for children to read and educate themselves than sitting and mindlessly killing characters on the telly.



And YES Alice in Wonderland did happen. She was walking along picking mushrooms and eating them!! Hence the strange psychedelic nature of the book!!

Answer 12

You see, i'm a christian. i've read the potter books and eh, they're ok. a little boring, but still. witchcraft is condemned in the bible right along with sexual immorality, murdering, and cheating. witchcraft is shown as a great and wonderful thing in this book, hence encouraging it. however, if people knew how to handle media they would see no problem with it nor would anyone ever try witchcraft from reading it. i'm not overly against them but i wouldn't let my five year old read them, but still. The Lord of the Rings shows that good triumps over evil even though the odds and everything may be against them, if they stay true to good then they will eventually come through in the end, despite that they may take some pain. the Chronicles of Narnia is the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. if you knew the story, then i think you can put it together. (edmond represents humanity, he did a bad thing, Aslan came, died for him, then came back to life, then defeated the witch).

Answer 13

It's condemned by a few people who have not read the books all the way through, but who can tell others not to read them. These people are so poorly educated that they do not recognize that the magic words are just Latin. What they do know is that they can who is faithful in their flocks by who doesn't read Harry Potter. The intelligent few will quietly read it and make their own decisions and possibly find a different and better informed church, leaving the ignorant faithful behind.



God gave us the ability to question so we could use it. Unfortunately, religious leaders throughout the ages and in all religions have demanded that people accept THEIR truth based on faith, not knowledge. It's no wonder that the radicals in every religion are the ones who are poorly educated and have never learned to ask "Why?"



Potions class = chemistry Just thought I'd throw that in there. I think every student should have to take potions.

Answer 14

That's ridiculous! I'm a Salvation Army christian and I love the Harry Potter books. I am reading The Half Blood Prince at the moment! I'm with you.

Answer 15

Well I'm a Christian and i've got no problem with Harry Potter. Those who complain about it have usually not read it! I think it's some right wing American fundamentalists who have been making all the hoo ha about it. As far as I'm concerned Harry Potter is getting children reading again, so it's got my vote.

Answer 16

As Hagrid might say, "It's a load of codswallop."



Seriously, though, presumably what has some people mad about the "Potter" series is that there's magic and witchcraft in them. But the Bible contains quite a bit of witchcraft and black magic.



For example, in the Old Testament, King Saul orders a witch to conjure up the spirit of the Prophet Samuel and even talks to his ghost. In Exodus, the Pharaoh's clerics engage in witchcraft to duplicate the miracles conducted by Moses. And the Hebrews are constantly falling back onto the worship of "false gods," which sometimes includes forms of witchcraft and magic.



In the New Testament, there's far less mention of magic, but there is a demon possessed man in a graveyard who undergoes an exorcism at the hands of Jesus himself. I suppose that's more supernatural than magical, but it doesn't sound too far removed from the plot of a Harry Potter book to me.

Answer 17

The reason why some religious people bad mouth Harry Potter and not Lord of the Rings is because Harry Potter is the only one of those stories that keeps using so called devilish words such as magic, wizard and broomsticks. Basically anything that associates with witches. Which are thought to be the brides of the devil.

Answer 18

The people who claim Harry Potter promotes satanism haven't read the books.

They are fundamentalists, who are clearly delusional, and have nothing better to do than have a pot-shot at the most successful childrens books ever.

They probably think Charlie And The Chocolate Factory promotes obesity, and that Alice In Wonderland really happened.

Answer 19

the basic act of human nature dictates that the average human mind cannot accept the success or prosperity of another without good reason.why do you think horror and gore is so well to do. people cannot accept anything good. take the news for example. blood and death are the main attractions whilst celebrity break ups etc are a crowd puller. mu point is people will point out at anything they find. i believe harry potter is an amazing piece of work. the dictation of plot is absolutely grabing and descriptions just jump out at you.believe me anybody who does say that cant and abolutely cant appreciate any work of art. da vinci and michaelangelo will fall in the same category as these harry potter for such people

Answer 20

The only reason they claim it's Satanic is because it's about witchcraft. They dont realise its about love and education and good and evil etc.



The reason it is bashed and not other witchcraft books is the fact it's got so much publicity. thats all.



Lord of the Rings isnt because it contains mythical magic not In Real Life magic, and Chronicals of Narnia is a metaphor for the bible. most of the books can be referenced to the bible (Aslan resurection, creation of the world, etc)

Answer 21

Christians are probaly just pissed cause people would rather read it than the bible. Thats the most stupidiest claim I've ever heard. I'm a big Potter fan as well. It makes me laugh at the thought of the HP series being Satanic. They probaly haven't even read the books.

Answer 22

Nothing at all satanic about it. Totally fictional stories, just entertaining reading !!



Narnia is a "Christian" story, as Aslan represents God, and there are many references to Adam and Eve. C.S. Lewis wrote other books on Christianity also

Answer 23

I believe that it is the use of "magic" that is the crux of the problem for some Christians. You are right, many of them have not read it and yet many of these books were burned when the first one came out.



One reason that they may not object to the Chronicles of Narnia is because of its Christian overtones - some read Aslan as a Christ figure who allows himself to be sacrificed for the good of the others.

Answer 24

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Answer 25

Quite right. Some people seem to have Satanic evil on their minds and see it everywhere.



And this from a religion of love and compassion. Go figure!



For two opposing views (one from the "Catholic Insider") the other (from some **** hot 'Evangelicals') see below! I know which one I agree with!



.

Answer 26

Some people believe that it encourages kids to turn to witch craft. It seems to me that most of the people who argue most vehemently about the books are the ones who HAVE NOT read them. They assum that it is evil and choose not to inform themselves in the matter. What really bothers me is how they impose thier beliefs on others trying to take the books out of schools and libraries. If you dont want your kid to read the book tell them not to read it. You dont want Harry Potter imposing his satanic ways on your children and i dont want your book phobia and ultra conservative views imposed on me. How about everyone decides for themselves whats good and bad for thier own children.

Answer 27

My seven-year old and I have read the first 5 Harry Potter books out loud at bedtime over the past couple of years. There is absolutely NOTHING satanic about it. This must have started when a few of the more paranoid/delusional fundie people got fixated on it. These are the same people who think a cartoon sponge figure (Sponge Bob) is gay, that Global Warming is an atheistic myth, that the world is really flat, that feminists caused 9-11, and so forth. It's raving conspiracy thinking that is totally unmoored from facts or reasoning.

Answer 28

Because they have no concept of a parable. Therefore they are unable to tell the difference between a fictitous parable and something evil. All works of ficiton are completely real to them, including their fictitious bible that says fictitious Harry Potter is evil.

Answer 29

Some folks think kids can't tell the difference between a fantasy and reality. Kids are smarter than that.



If your faith is destroyed by reading Harry Potter, it wasn't much of a faith. These are important books, getting kids back into reading after the assault of the PlayStation. J K Rowling deserves a big round of applause and a peck on the cheek.

Answer 30

I am one of those "evil" right wing fanatical nuts. I also have no problem with Harry Potter. I choose not to read it though. Not because I think it is evil merely because there are other books out there that I want to read. Maybe I will someday. Oh, my pastor has read the series along with his wife and child. And one of the most conservative families I know reads and enjoys the books. So please don't lump all of us conservative "fundies" into that catergory. There is a difference between fact and fiction and as long as we are all clear on that, hey, enjoy.

Answer 31

Hatin' on Harry is a fundie fad. It sounds like fun and all their friends are doing it.



for book 7 theories and info on the books and movies visit my personal HP site

http://rpccstudent.tripod.com/

Answer 32

You're right, about the inconsistency.

Christians tend to dislike any magic, considering all of it to be from Satan.

I have a friend like that, no Harry, no 'That's So Raven', no Pokemon, none of that genre. But she likes little fairy figurines and pictures, flying about with wings & fairy dust, thinks that's irrelevent.

Go figure.

Answer 33

there is nothing satanic about harry potter. harry potter is awesome. people are just being paranoid!!!!!!

Answer 34

Satanic? Rubbish! It's just a daft kids' book.

These people should get a life.

Answer 35

Because the wizards cast spells and brew Potions= EVIL!!



lol

Answer 36

These are the people who are stupid enough to be threatened by a child's story, the catholic church and those who are not happy unless they are whining about something.

Answer 37

it is only satanic in the minds of those who don't believe in anything that is not what they want it to be

Answer 38

i dont know its the whole witchcraft hystria but if there was it would make the boks more interesting

Answer 39

It's the use of sinster magic. Most people who get upset have lost touch with reality. They think because they live in a fairyland, that magic is really possible.

Answer 40

mwah ha ha haw !! satanic broomsticks !! hmmm ..... like, how retarded . soooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid . but i dont like harry potter anyways . soz

Answer 41

blame the catholic church. I've nothing against catholics (most people I know are) but their churc is a pile of bollocks and they started the whole Harry Potter is Satan thing.

Answer 42

I think you'll find that it's nutty Xtian fundamentalists - mostly in America - who say it's satanic. The mainstream Xtian churches aren't at all fussed by Rowling's works.

Answer 43

hype, in a word

Answer 44

It is the magic in all of them because magic is "satanic" .

Answer 45

WITCHES AND WIZARDS!!!!

That's SOO unChristian. It's going to make kids want to be like witches and wizards instead of like Jesus. It's going to make people think sorcery really exists. It disrupts the very network of our society. and is therefore Satanic.



Chronicles of Narnia embraces good Christian values while at the same time defied the bible.

Answer 46

because witchcraft is ment to be satanic

Answer 47

thats bobbins!!!!

Answer 48

The school teacher who wrote the books seems satanic to me or how can she mesmerize so many stupid kid to read such a lousy book anyway?