Harry Potter and the Devil's Influence

In the middle of my usual scramble to get to work a few weeks ago, I turned on my favorite morning show just in time to hear Chio hyping the newly released Order of the Phoenix movie and the upcoming final Harry Potter book. It sounded like a good start. Except, the show featured a guest author named Steve Wohlberg who contends that the Harry Potter series is luring young people to practice Wicca and Witchcraft, which inevitably leads to devil worship.

Several things flashed in my mind: the Dungeons and Dragons paranoia of the 80s, heavy metal music and Satanism, Tipper Gore and the PMRC censoring music. We've heard all this before. For every pop-culture phenomenon that achieves a certain level of popularity, there comes some well-meaning, thoroughly outraged parent or organization who starts their own personal crusade to rid the world of its' negative influence. And, more often than not, they're afraid that worshipping devil is becoming a teenage national pastime.

For the sake of playing Devil's Advocate (pun intended), I decided to check out Mr. Wohlberg's website and look at the evidence myself before writing him off as another of world's never-ending spoilsports.

As quoted from his website, www.avoidharrypotter.com, here's the blurb that piqued my interest the most:

In a nutshell, What's wrong with Harry Potter?

Wohlberg Answers:

In the midst of fun and fantasy, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels make witchcraft appear cool and exciting, especially to teenagers. It doesn't matter that these novels are only "fictitious stories." Stories are powerful. They influence both individuals and society. Just look around. "Wicca" (a religion that practices witchcraft) is exploding in popularity among kids, teens and adults. Even nine-year-olds are frequenting Wicca websites, lighting candles, casting spells, joining covens, and practicing so-called "white magic." The Harry Potter craze and Wicca's growing popularity go hand in hand. Harry's last name is "Potter." A "potter" molds clay, which is exactly what's happening. Make no mistake about it, the Harry Potter books (along with other magic-made-fun films and TV series like Charmed, Buffy, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch) are whetting kid's appetites to check out real witchcraft. The biggest danger is witchcraft itself, whether "black" or so-called "white." Unknown to Wiccans themselves, it's all a doorway to the demonic. Witchcraft itself (and the supernatural forces behind it), this is what's wrong with Harry Potter.

Isn't it amazing how conspiracy theorists always find the subtlest connections between their subject matter and its' negative impact? I'm absolutely sure that J. K. Rowling purposely named her fictional character Harry POTTER so that he could mold the minds of children all over the globe. I also bet that if she's read that quote herself, Rowling probably had to pick herself up off the floor when she fell out of her chair laughing.

I'll only briefly touch on the fact that I think Wicca is a perfectly valid - and often grossly misunderstood - religion. And, I have to point out that I'm a lot more worried about Mr. Wohlberg's religious intolerance issues than I am about Harry Potter conjuring up new generation of dabblers and wanna-blessed-bes. His fear of the Wiccan religion borders on hysterical and I definitely would not want to be a Wiccan invited to one of his family barbeques.

But, all cheap shots aside, there IS a connection between Harry Potter and Wicca that has nothing to do with devil worship. A lot of Wiccans are Harry Potter fans. But, then again, there are about 250 million Harry Potter fans world wide according to the book sales. Some claim there are more people alive today who've read Harry Potter than the bible. In other words, there are a lot of Harry Potter fans out there.

J.K. Rowling has given the world a creative, inspiring series with lively characters and exciting stories. That's exactly the kind of thing, along with TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that creative people flock to for intellectual nourishment. Many of Rowling's fans are people who "think outside the box" and not only imagine the world as a better place than it is, but actually try to make it better through their own creativity. From what I've learned, Wiccans definitely fall into this category. But, so do writers, musicians, painters, and actors. Creative thinkers flock together. That's not a bad thing. As the Roman philosopher Apuleius said, "Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration."

The Harry Potter series, through magical metaphors, encourages children to live up to their full potential. Those that have read the books know that the solution to Harry's dilemmas often come not from finding the right spell or incantation, but from discovering the strength and courage within himself to do what's right. Harry Potter's true power likes in his heart and ingenuity, not his bag of tricks. That's the message behind Harry Potter. Find your own inner strength and be the kindest, most loyal and loving, best person that you can be. Isn't that supposed to be the message behind Christianity as well?

If Steve Wohlberg is worried about losing good Christian souls to the horrors of Wicca than I won't begrudge him the right to his opinions. But, don't blame popular culture. Books, movies, and TV shows don't become cultural phenomenons just because they're foisted unto us. They achieve that success because there is a genuine public need for the entertainment they provide. Any messages we take from them implied or otherwise, come from how we choose to relate to the material.

If Wicca is rapidly growing in popularity - which I strongly doubt based on the growing number of people I've encountered who still believe that Wiccans worship Satan and try to hex people - then look at what's happening around us that leads people to seek out an "alternative" religion. Maybe social climate has something to do with it. Or, maybe it comes from society's continually waxing and waning intolerance of people that don't comply to social norms. There's a multitude of factors that can be blamed if you look hard enough.

But, the Harry Potter series are just books. Even more so, they're good books that encourage literacy and self-confidence in a generation of readers that seem to be losing positive role models left and right. There's an old adage that says: It's a poor carpenter who blames his tools. Well, if we all start blaming popular culture for our differences, religious or otherwise, then we'll become a poor society.