Excellent topic kath.
I have given the matter some thought [ I have young kids, who though not going to public school stil have friends that were into HP way before I or they were] as it touches near to home on a few issues.
First off, I am very fortunate, in that even though I belong to an
extremely Traditionalist Orthodox Church, my Bishop and our Archbishop are not stuck in a Salem witchcraft level of intellectual analysis.
One of our Bishops rightly pointed out that it is fantasy and should be given the same liberties we have always given fiction and more importantly fairy tales for many hundreds of years.
I agree whole heartedly.
On the other hand, HP is very different from M-E in that the setting is not 'in a galaxy [ or time] far, far away. It is set in present day England.
Other than wordly references to Christmas there is so far a complete avoidance of religion.
Which seems odd as I would want a bit of prepping for dealing with Muggles in that regard if I went to a school dedicated to the stuff - but, realism issues aside, this avoidance of something so big and profound is not irrelevant. Magic is certainly the most important thing going on these kids lives [on one level at least]. Nobody prays, nobody even says so much as the word God, in the course of thousands of discussions JKR has recorded.
So harry lives in a very magical yet agnostic world, hmmm
that is the downside. I have dealt with that by simply pointing it and it;s ramifications out to my girls [6 and 9] and I will do it more than one more time I am sure!
As for how 'magic' is dealt with in the books, it is rather comical. It is so far from any real magic [ I used to study the Golden Dawn and Crowley so I know a little bit about at least one aspect of the 'real thing'] or witchcraft that I am tempted to beleieve JKR meant it as a joke of sorts. Note her [speaking through Hermione and Dumbledore] attitude towards divination, the only subject that they study that comes close to the real subject in theory and practice that we see in Potter world.
If you want to see books that blur the line between 'real magic' and religion and fiction, the Deryni series is it. Not Potter.
Is there danger in HP being so popular and influencing kids toward witchcraft and magic, I will say, at least indirectly yes.
But, the real problem lies in parents who can not or are afraid to teach their children discernment and how to sort wheat from chaff.
Traditional Christianity sets a very high bar for what is 'good' and 'true' and thus worthy of our study and bringing into the sphere of our minds and hearts, and I will flat out say that for a Christian to spend alot or even much time in Potterworld is dubious, and I am guilty hardly immune to it's considerable non-Christian charms.
But to remain ignorant of it and not be able to speak to my daughters about it from 'within' to me is far more dangerous.
I am sure many of the same parents who forbid Potter to their kids do not draw the line at violent video games or even hours of video games in general.
There is my 2 cents for the moment, again excellent topic.
I have to add this from Anguirel:
Quote:
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Today, sadly, though democracy is generally recognised as a Good Thing, religious extremism is our new bogey man, the new Ring, the new Dark Lord, if you like. Just as Sauron's imminence made Denethor into a hard and harsh man, the terrorism of Islamic extremism has brought into being disturbingly similar feelings in Christianity. Why, it's enough for a whole other thread. "You serve the Dark Tower or the White." "You're with us or against us."
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Excellent, excellent insight A. I personally do see militant Isalm as a real threat to Christianity and much of civilization in a way, but I also can see why many in the Muslim world see America as 'the great Satan'. I do not by the whole analysis, but many of their critiques of our decaying 'Christian' but really Materialist/Corporate culture are spot on, Tolkein often expresses the same reservations of modern 'civilization' in his Letters.
Is harry potter dangerous? Yes! and so was Gandalf, by his own admission to gimili
!!!, and so are we all, for we are surrounded by dangers. But the answer I think is in a good deep understanding of the whole issue from a higher intellectual vantage point than most reactionary 'ban it' mentality comes from.
edit:
I recall posting on one of the aforementioned 'LotR banned' threads that if I were the girl going to the prep school that banned LotR I would quit in as loud a huff as I could. I would not trust the intellectual 'forming' such a narrow institution is doing.