Focus on the Family or Focus on Hypocrisy?

Colorado Springs based Focus on the Family's founder was recently misquoted in a Washington Post article regarding the release of the new Harry Potter book. This misstatement was corrected and apologized for by the writer of the article; the Christian group believes that Harry Potter promotes witchcraft and advised people not to let their children read or watch this material.

While I understand this viewpoint among many Christian organizations thinking that Harry Potter is the work of the 'devil', I believe that it is a children's book and movie depicting the battles between good and evil presented in a fantastical way. However, despite my disagreement with their assessment of the situation, they are entitled to their beliefs and I can respect that.

Then I became curious about what Hollywood based movies they did find acceptable for children of their faith to view. So, I did what any good online individual would have done, and went to their website. I looked at their list of acceptable Hollywood movies for children that they have "found enjoyable, inspirational and generally positive."

I found a lot of movies that I expected to find such as Cars, Amazing Grace, The Nativity Story, Fly Away Home and other similar titles that most children would enjoy. Then I found some that threw me for a loop, such as Rocky Balboa, Ice Age and The Chronicles of Narnia.

I would have thought that Rocky Balboa would have been too violent, and that Ice Age would have been generally contrary to their beliefs about the actual Ice Age period and evolution. The big kicker for me was The Chronicles of Narnia! I had to re-read the reasons that Harry Potter was so shunned in this particular Christian organization.

Confused, I continued the search for information and answers on their website and found another article entitled, "Is a Christian Illusionist Really a Wicked Magician?" Interested I started to read, wondering exactly what their take was on magic of all types. The article was a response to a women asking for their opinion on an illusionist performing for the children of her church and wondering about the Bible's take on witchcraft.

She was concerned about the illusionist's act causing "people --- especially our kids --- to stumble." She was responded to by a Dr. Bill, where he gave the poor illusionist the go-ahead after recommending that she learn more about the performer and the type of "magic" that he performed.

However, Dr. Bill made the Bible's stance on witchcraft very clear to me by citing Deuteronomy 18:10-11 out of the Old Testament. "There shall not be found among you anyone who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." Then he followed with another paragraph for further clarification of the situation. "Satan is alive and well, and scripture tells us that he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Not a pretty picture. That's why it's so critical for us to warn our kids about the dangers of modern day movements like Wicca. Teenage girls in particular are being drawn to Wicca in record numbers. As Christians, we need to boldly proclaim God's truth about the dangers of witchcraft and dabbling in Satanism." Well the combination of those statements cleared everything up for me!

I finally understood why The Chronicles of Narnia was on the acceptable movie list for good Christian children (and why some of these good Christian children are later becoming teenage girls and converting to alternative religions, but I'll save that for another time), because Focus on the Family is a Christian organization of misinformed hypocrites. It seems that when it suits them, magic can either be a wonderful thing or a sign of the devil.

Let's examine The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, from both Christian and Pagan philosophies. I want to be fair about this so let's begin with the reference to the children as the Daughters of Eve and the Sons of Adam. There were also references to Christmas and Santa Claus. There was the sacrifice and resurrection of Aslan the Lion as a representation of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, however this can also be seen from a different perspective.

I will also allow the other situational references to the Bible for the White Witch's tyranny over the land of Narnia, and the forgiveness that Aslan showed the traitor Edmund. I have read the Christian reviews of this movie, and they seem to be twisted to fit them and only them. Where there are instances in the movie that I understand can be construed as Christian, and also understand that C.S. Lewis was a devout Christian, I can, however, see this from a completely different point of view.

While there is no disputing the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve being a Biblical reference, there are many interpretations that can be taken from this movie. While Christmas is a Christian holiday, it didn't start out that way. The holiday was originally an Egyptian holiday for celebrating the rebirth if the Egyptian God Horus and the coming of the Sun, then after a lot of geographic migration and changes to the basic belief depending on the culture, it evolved into the modern day Christmas.

In addition to Christmas originally being a pagan holiday, there is also the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus which mirrors that of Osiris, an Egyptian God, and Dionysus, a Greek God. I'm not going to point out which came first and I'll save that for another day as well. Oppression and tyranny are long lasting, worldwide themes and still occur today. This tyranny and oppression would have carried over from the war the children were attempting to escape into their new magical world.

Other than the above interpretations, there were several other pagan references involved in this movie and book. First, lets looked at Mr. Tumnus, everyone's favorite fawn. Mr. Tumnus uses a flute to enchant Lucy so that he may turn her over to the White Witch. The half human, half fawn, bears a striking similarity to the flute playing Greek God Pan with a nice red scarf.. Pan later in history became the historical image of Satan. Secondly, you need to look at the ceremony where Aslan was sacrificed by the White Witch. It takes place at night, at a stone altar, with a willing victim and the White Witch acting as a priestess. This is very similar to the fertility sacrifices that were practiced by the Druids and the Celts, with a willing sacrifice, at night, a stone altar and a priestess.

Reviewing Deuteronomy 18:10-11, you can see where The Chronicles of Narnia should not be considered your ideal Christian movie. This is a movie where everyone is practicing magic or witchcraft, both good and bad, healing and damaging. As we enter the Wardrobe, we find an already established soothsaying in the story, where the children are prophesized to be the catalyst to the White Witch's removal of power and to restore the balance in Narnia.

In addition to the soothsaying in the story, there are omens being interpreted by both people and animals. Conjuring spells, magic healing potions and enchanted arrows are wonderfully common place in Narnia. We also have children witnessing the resurrection of the willingly sacrificed Aslan the Lion. While all of these things make a wonderful movie and book, they also seem to disagree with what is acceptable to Christians to view, according to Deuteronomy.

There are several other pagan principles in this movie and book series. Most importantly and obvious is the need for the change in season and the balance between the heroes and heroines for the story. Pagans are dependant on the seasons and their changes, and openly celebrate them, the lack of Christmas, or the Winter Solstice, would signify no change in the seasons. Notice that Good Ol' Saint Nick shows up just in time for the season to change finally.

There are two of each sex, two boys and two girls, which symbolizes the Pagan need for duality. There must be an equal balance of male and female, the yin and yang, of life as shown in nature. Nothing would continue without an equal balancing counter, for example, no light without dark, no male without female, no good without evil. There is a necessity for balance.

To me, and a lot of other people, there is no question that there are very many pagan aspects to the movie The Chronicles of Narnia. Whether this was intentional or purely coincidental is beside the point, but the fact remains the same. While Harry Potter may be the boy magician living in a magical world, the Boy That Lived is no different from the boys and girls that saved Narnia by using magic.