(Here via the interview with Autumn on The Commonplace YT channel.)
Thank you so much for this! I'm older than you, so I pre-screened HP in real time, just in case my nieces were going to read them. (I'm on my umpteenth re-read right now! On Book 4.)
I got hooked more than they did. It was a bit of a slow burn. I hated and still do hate all the rule breaking. (I'm a bit of a "Hermione", in that way. ) I hated all the making out in the later books. Of course, as a Christian, the "witchcraft" thing was a huge concern. That's why I was pre-screening them in the first place.
I finally concluded it's more of silly make believe than any real magic/witchcraft. The other lessons are so much stronger. Would I hand the books off to younger kids and let them read them unsupervised? No. But I would read the books with them and discuss them.
The themes of true friendship, marriage/family, standing for what is right, and self sacrifice are timeless. I also remember gasping out loud when I read, “ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death,” from 1 Corinthians 15:26.
Is it a perfect series? No. Is it worth reading? Absolutely.
Harry Potter is a read of requirement for our house too. Once my kids are ready for this level of chapter books we help them read them on their own. And they get a one-on-one parent date night to watch the movie afterward. My 11yo just finished the series and is already rereading them over the summer.
Once she was done with the last one (spoiler alert) she said, “Harry reminds me of Jesus”. Yes! That is a great connection! It’s such a powerful series that adds complexity as the series goes on and the kids (and readers) grow up.
Thank you for sharing your insight. For someone who has steered clear of Harry Potter, this gives food for thought. I still am questioning how you can teach ‘good/morality’ through something as biblically condemned as witchcraft? It still doesn’t sit right with me… for example if I read my kids a great story about drug dealers and one was standing for the ‘truth’, while the other was not… they are both cartelling drugs, so it kind of negates ‘the good character’ … does this make sense? They are still both functioning outside of God’s commands, so the story would be confusing for the child. Again I have not read Harry Potter, so I will need to, but my understanding is he participated in witchcraft.
Kira, I think it’s a good question. Witchcraft as condemned is Scripture is accessing (or attempting to access) demonic/evil spirits. Whenever this happens in Harry Potter it is the “bad guys” and clearly condemned. Harry and the other good wizards aren’t doing witchcraft qua witchcraft. The “spells” are just Latin names for what they’re doing. Learning about goblin rebellions, using an invisible cloak, caring for unicorns, and playing a ball game on a broomstick isn’t witchcraft. I wonder if it would be helpful to think in terms of Aaron vs Pharaoh’s magicians. Both turned the Nile to blood. One was a sign/wonder and the other was witchcraft. The good vs evil is very clear. A driving question of the series is whether the ends justify the means. Harry et al are fighting evil without resorting to true witchcraft. They refuse to join forces with evil or perform the forbidden spells. In fact, it’s explicitly stated that Harry’s strength is his rejecting evil magic to instead act in costly self-sacrificial love. I understand the concern because it was my concern, too. But I can’t imagine leaving the books confused between good and evil.
I also draw a line between fantasy (ie, a world that was concocted outside the bonds of physics) and witchcraft (which would be connection with the demonic world). The “magic” of HP is mostly just an exploration of the bounds of natural physics: “what if we could fly? What if we had a way to communicate with snakes? What if we had unicorns?” Etc., much like the world of LOTR asks “what if some people were hobbits or elves?” And then the darker books (4-7) really highlight that Voldemort is leading a dark, destructive movement that would be in tandem with the actual forces of evil in our world. Facing the twisted tentacles of real evil, Harry does get a little confused. I want my kids to know it can be confusing to face those things! I want them to know there are good and bad grownups, and that people who have compromised (in small or large ways) can absolutely keep seeking truth and trying to do the right thing. … but ultimately it’s also just a fantasy series. My 3/5th graders are in the thick of it right now and it has been a total blast. But it’s not the only thing forming their moral or spiritual imagination, just part of it.
This is so well stated/explained. The witchcraft/magic thing was my concern when I was prescreening them for my (at the time) young nieces. You are exactly right here. It's really just make believe.
That said, could kids go down that road if they're just handed the books and then go online to search the topic? Of course. But that's why parents need to PARENT (verb) and be intimately involved with what their kids are reading, as well as what they are exposed to online.
I have not read these… I will say, I am sure you can find these themes in other books. Don’t over think it, if you don’t feel right about introducing HP to your kids, don’t. I would definitely read them first if you do, though. If you really feel the need to find literature that addresses these themes, there is nothing new under the sun. You can find it.
The heart of the problem is many parents don't want to go through the work to pre-screen things for their kids! I read these books for my nieces who were kids at the time the books were coming out. Nobody told me to do it. But I knew they'd be influenced whether they read them or not because it was a cultural phenomenon. You couldn't get away from it even if you wanted to.
Really wonderful thoughts, Rachel! Harry Potter is important in our home for many of the same reasons!
Thank you!
Thanks for your reply Rachel. Sorry for my late reply as we have been traveling through the Summer. I appreciate your thoughts on this.
(Here via the interview with Autumn on The Commonplace YT channel.)
Thank you so much for this! I'm older than you, so I pre-screened HP in real time, just in case my nieces were going to read them. (I'm on my umpteenth re-read right now! On Book 4.)
I got hooked more than they did. It was a bit of a slow burn. I hated and still do hate all the rule breaking. (I'm a bit of a "Hermione", in that way. ) I hated all the making out in the later books. Of course, as a Christian, the "witchcraft" thing was a huge concern. That's why I was pre-screening them in the first place.
I finally concluded it's more of silly make believe than any real magic/witchcraft. The other lessons are so much stronger. Would I hand the books off to younger kids and let them read them unsupervised? No. But I would read the books with them and discuss them.
The themes of true friendship, marriage/family, standing for what is right, and self sacrifice are timeless. I also remember gasping out loud when I read, “ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death,” from 1 Corinthians 15:26.
Is it a perfect series? No. Is it worth reading? Absolutely.
Harry Potter is a read of requirement for our house too. Once my kids are ready for this level of chapter books we help them read them on their own. And they get a one-on-one parent date night to watch the movie afterward. My 11yo just finished the series and is already rereading them over the summer.
Once she was done with the last one (spoiler alert) she said, “Harry reminds me of Jesus”. Yes! That is a great connection! It’s such a powerful series that adds complexity as the series goes on and the kids (and readers) grow up.
Thank you for sharing your insight. For someone who has steered clear of Harry Potter, this gives food for thought. I still am questioning how you can teach ‘good/morality’ through something as biblically condemned as witchcraft? It still doesn’t sit right with me… for example if I read my kids a great story about drug dealers and one was standing for the ‘truth’, while the other was not… they are both cartelling drugs, so it kind of negates ‘the good character’ … does this make sense? They are still both functioning outside of God’s commands, so the story would be confusing for the child. Again I have not read Harry Potter, so I will need to, but my understanding is he participated in witchcraft.
Anyway curious on your thoughts on this?
Kira, I think it’s a good question. Witchcraft as condemned is Scripture is accessing (or attempting to access) demonic/evil spirits. Whenever this happens in Harry Potter it is the “bad guys” and clearly condemned. Harry and the other good wizards aren’t doing witchcraft qua witchcraft. The “spells” are just Latin names for what they’re doing. Learning about goblin rebellions, using an invisible cloak, caring for unicorns, and playing a ball game on a broomstick isn’t witchcraft. I wonder if it would be helpful to think in terms of Aaron vs Pharaoh’s magicians. Both turned the Nile to blood. One was a sign/wonder and the other was witchcraft. The good vs evil is very clear. A driving question of the series is whether the ends justify the means. Harry et al are fighting evil without resorting to true witchcraft. They refuse to join forces with evil or perform the forbidden spells. In fact, it’s explicitly stated that Harry’s strength is his rejecting evil magic to instead act in costly self-sacrificial love. I understand the concern because it was my concern, too. But I can’t imagine leaving the books confused between good and evil.
I also draw a line between fantasy (ie, a world that was concocted outside the bonds of physics) and witchcraft (which would be connection with the demonic world). The “magic” of HP is mostly just an exploration of the bounds of natural physics: “what if we could fly? What if we had a way to communicate with snakes? What if we had unicorns?” Etc., much like the world of LOTR asks “what if some people were hobbits or elves?” And then the darker books (4-7) really highlight that Voldemort is leading a dark, destructive movement that would be in tandem with the actual forces of evil in our world. Facing the twisted tentacles of real evil, Harry does get a little confused. I want my kids to know it can be confusing to face those things! I want them to know there are good and bad grownups, and that people who have compromised (in small or large ways) can absolutely keep seeking truth and trying to do the right thing. … but ultimately it’s also just a fantasy series. My 3/5th graders are in the thick of it right now and it has been a total blast. But it’s not the only thing forming their moral or spiritual imagination, just part of it.
This is so well stated/explained. The witchcraft/magic thing was my concern when I was prescreening them for my (at the time) young nieces. You are exactly right here. It's really just make believe.
That said, could kids go down that road if they're just handed the books and then go online to search the topic? Of course. But that's why parents need to PARENT (verb) and be intimately involved with what their kids are reading, as well as what they are exposed to online.
I have not read these… I will say, I am sure you can find these themes in other books. Don’t over think it, if you don’t feel right about introducing HP to your kids, don’t. I would definitely read them first if you do, though. If you really feel the need to find literature that addresses these themes, there is nothing new under the sun. You can find it.
The heart of the problem is many parents don't want to go through the work to pre-screen things for their kids! I read these books for my nieces who were kids at the time the books were coming out. Nobody told me to do it. But I knew they'd be influenced whether they read them or not because it was a cultural phenomenon. You couldn't get away from it even if you wanted to.