So do we blacklist Potter?

On Sunday, I used an illustration from Harry Potter in a sermon. Nobody challenged me over it afterwards. But they could have done because HP arouses strong feelings in some Christians.

The frequently asked question is: How bad is Harry Potter for us?

As I say, it’s frequently asked. Which is why I was glad to discover an article by Greg Clarke which reviews some of the attempts there have been to answer this question. He also gives Philip Pullman a look. Some helpful and shrewd observations.

His own conclusions include two very helpful points:

• How Christians treat each other over this issue is as, or more, important than the issue itself. To fall out with each other, condemn each other, mistrust each other because of a different take on HP is not biblical.
• The merchandising is more of a problem than the books, for various reasons

But read his article – as he interacts with 3 other Christian assesments of HP he makes some really good points that are often missed.

Had I been challenged on the damage that HP can do to us, I had thought through how to respond.

1. I would have said that Jane Austin is probably more damaging, because 18th and 19th Century Romanticism is responsible for a lot of misunderstanding about God in popular Christianity today.
2. We have been looking at Luke 19-21. The sermon on Sunday was part of that series. In that context I would also have wanted to say that the novels of Tim LaHaye and Frank Peretti are also probably more damaging.

I don’t know whether such a response would have pacified my imaginary interlocutor, but then perhaps pacify isn’t the right goal!