“You’re famous, Harry Potter.” 

It’s true! This prophetic remark in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first in a seven-book series on popular witchcraft, was fulfilled in record time. The first three books hit the world – schools, libraries, and the New York Times best-sellers list – like a spiritual tidal wave, breaking down barriers to the secret and forbidden mysteries of the ages and captivating children around the world. Just look around. You can spot some of the committed Hogwarts fans by the purple thunderbolt stickers on their foreheads. This mark bonds them to Harry, an embattled student wizard with amazing powers and an enticingly scary destiny.

Harry, like other students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry travels back and forth between two worlds: the mystical world of magic and the mundane world of muggles – those boring, blinded, and biased humans who either don’t believe in the world of witches or who despise it as evil. Harry’s cruel aunt and uncle fit the last category. And, from Harry’s point of view, so would you if you see witchcraft as dangerous and demonic.

Book 3

The skinny, green-eyed kid with glasses and a thunder-bolt scar under a shock of unruly black hair makes a sympathetic hero. Orphaned at age one, Harry mysteriously survived a murderous assault by the wicked wizard Lord Voldemort. This scary villain, whom more timid wizards dare only refer to as “Who Must Not Be Named,” killed Harry’s parents. When he tried but failed to kill their one-year-old baby, Voldemort lost much of his power. The thunderbolt scar on Harry’s forehead marks his peculiar psychic strength and triumph over evil.

For the next ten years, Harry lives a miserable muggle life in his uncle’s London home, constantly tormented by his cruel guardians and a spoiled bully of a cousin. But on his eleventh birthday everything changes. He discovers that he is a wizard of great fame, someone who once conquered death and crippled a devilish foe. Even better, he receives an acceptance to Hogwarts – a coveted boarding school for aspiring wizards.

The haunted grounds of Hogwarts may be out-of-this-world, but with its blend of earthly familiarity and practical magic, it has captivated more than seven million minds. Adults and children alike have, in their imagination, followed Harry through that mystical veil between ordinary reality and occult fantasy. Most find it hard to put the book down once they start it, and when finished, many read it again and again. Immersed in this mystical world of spiritual forces, they feel Harry’s struggles and share his fears. They sit with him through his classes on Potions, Spells, Transfiguration (“turning something into something else”) and Divination, and, like him, learn some tricks of the old Craft. They sense the pain of his miserable return visits to London, and they soar with him above the earth on a magical and magnificent broomstick.

Delightfully gruesome images and scary creatures become part of their memory, for the author, Joanne K. Rowling, knows how to make her characters come alive in a reader’s mind. “Oh, but it’s just fantasy,” you may argue. “We were raised on scary tales. It can’t hurt.”

Actually it’s not that simple. The stories and the times have changed, making the new generation of children far more vulnerable to deception than we were. Consider some of the changes:

1. Different times and culture. Unlike most children today, their parents and grandparents were raised in a culture that was, at least outwardly, based on Biblical values. Whether they were Christian or not, they usually accepted traditional moral and spiritual boundaries. Even the old fairy tales I heard as a child in Norway tended to reinforce this Christian worldview or paradigm. The good hero would win over evil forces without using “good” magic to overcome evil magic. Social activities didn’t include Ouija Boards, Seances, and an assortment of popular occult role-playing games. Nor did friends, schools or Girl Scouts tempt children to alter their consciousness and invoke the presence of an “animal spirit” or “wise person.” Occult experimentation was not an option.

Today it is an option. Children now learn their values and world view from a variety of sources. The entertainment industry is one of the most persuasive agents of cultural awareness, and it usually teaches global and occult values, since that’s what their global market buys. In fact, children have become so familiar with profanity, occultism, and explicit sex, that they barely notice – just as in Old Testament days: “They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return. . . . No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.” (Jeremiah 8:5,12) 

In this context, the occult images evoked through traditional fantasies threaten a child’s faith far more today than they did three decades ago. Reinforced throughout our culture, the old beloved books such as the Hobbit can stir curiosities and cravings that can easily be satisfied by darker, real-world attractions.    

Tactics for Change

2. Different type of fantasy. Books, movies, games, and television all involve the imagination, and the specific fantasy directs the child’s imagination. In other words, the imaginary scenes and images in books and movies are not neutral. As with guided imagery, the child’s feelings and responses are manipulated by the author’s view and values. For example, the stories and books children read in the classroom are usually selected or approved by each state because their message teaches the new global values, and because they provide useful discussion topics for the manipulative consensus process. “Good stories capture the heart, mind, and imagination and are an important way to transmit values,” writes Louise Derman-Sparks in the influential Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children, which is full of classsroom strategies for eroding traditional boundaries and teaching the new spirituality.

Books such as the Harry Potters series fit, because they reinforce the global and occult perspective. Page after exciting page brings the reader into the timeless battle between good and evil, then trains them to see the opposing forces from a pagan, not a Biblical perspective. In this mystical realm, “good” occult spirits are naturally pitted against bad occult spirits, just as in pagan cultures where frightened victims would offer sacrifices to “benevolent” spirits who could help ward off evil curses and other threats. Few readers realize that from the Biblical perspective, all occult forces are dangerous. But today, it seems more tolerant and exciting to believe this illusion than to oppose the lies. The words of Old Testament prophet Isaiah ring as true now as they did over 2000 years ago: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil….” (Isaiah 5:20)

3. Different purpose. Children don’t read Harry Potter merely to reach the conclusion and resolve the suspense. Many read the books over and over because they delight in identifying with the “good” wizards in this newly discovered world — and sometimes even with the obviously evil wizards. They build memories based on felt experiences in an occult virtual reality, and they are desensitized to the danger. The talent and knowledge of the author makes this seductive world all the more believable. Just ponder these diverse bits of wizard philosophy:

* Professor Snape who taught Potions: “I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses….” 1

* Two centaur’s views on astrology – “We have sworn not to set ourselves against the heaven. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?” ….”Or have the planets not let you in on that secret?” 2

* “He is with me wherever I go,” said Quirrell, referring to the murderous wizard Voldemort. “I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil , there is only power, and those too weak to seek it…. Since then, I have served him faithfully.” 3

* Headmaster Dumbledore: “To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” 4

* Hagrid, the grounds-keeper at Hogwarts, telling Harry about the strange power that saved his life, “Happened when a powerful, evil curse touches you – didn’t work on you, and that’s why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he [Voldemort] decided ter kill ‘em, no one except you…” 5 [Harry seems almost Christ-like, doesn’t he, with his wound or mark, his psychic powers, and his victory over death and Voldemort?]

Once introduced to spiritism, astrology, palmistry, shape-shifting, time-travel (the third book) and the latest version of popular occultism, many crave more. They can easily find it. In their neighborhoods and schools, our children are surrounded by peers who are fascinated by occult empowerment and would love to share their fun discoveries. Few children have the Biblical knowledge or discernment needed to evaluate good and evil or to resist such threats to their faith.

4. Different kind of classroom. It’s not surprising that Harry has suddenly soared to the peaks of popularity in schools across the country. His story fits right into the international program formulticultural education. The envisioned global community calls for a common set of values which excludes traditional beliefs as intolerant and narrow – just as the Harry Potter books show. The Biblical God simply doesn’t fit into his world of wizards, witches, and other gods.

Feminist writer Naomi Goldenberg knows that well. In her book, Changing of the Gods, she predicts that “God is going to change…. We, women are going to bring an end to God. We will change the world so much that He won’t fit in anymore.” She and other radical feminists must appreciate Ms Rowling’s part in this process.

Of course, God will never change. But people, beliefs, and cultures do. And some changes, such as today’s cultural shift away from loving God to hating His truths, have occurred a multitude of times. The words Jesus spoke to His followers long ago now fit our times: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. . . . because they do not know Him who sent Me.” (John 15:20-21)

5. A different education system. UNESCO’s “lifelong learning,” now being implemented through Goals 2000, takes education far beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Its goal is socialization and preparation for a global workforce. Everyone – in homes, schools, and workplace – must be mentally prepared to participate in the consensus process. In the name of “unity” and “community,” people of all ages must help form new values, challenge contrary beliefs, report non-compliant friends and relatives, and oppose all other obstacles to compromise, “common ground” and “mental health.”

There are many ways to persuade the masses to reject uncompromising Christianity and embrace a changeable blend of all kinds of religions – including a cross-less and universalist perversion of Christianity. Schools do it through books such as the Harry Potter series, through multicultural and environmental education, and by integrating social issues and politically correct ideology into more mundane subjects such as math and science. The media does it by selective reporting, redefining words like “fundamental,” vilifying labels such as extremist, religious right and homeschoolers, and by equating such groups with narrow-minded bigotry and hate.

Harry Potter’s author does it by creating a captivating world where strength, wisdom, love, hope – all the good gifts God promises those who follow Him – are now offered to those who pursue occult thrills. Likewise, her main characters demonstrate all the admirable traits our God commends: kindness, courage, loyalty, etc. But the most conspicuous muggles (ordinary people who are blind to these mystical forces) are pictured as mean, cruel, narrow and self-indulgent. These subtle messages, hidden behind exciting stories, turn Truth upside-down. But fascinated readers rarely notice the deception. This power-filled realm with its charms and spells soon becomes normal as well as addictive to those who immerse their minds with its seductive images.

The Harry Potter books, first introduced in England, are unlikely to fade from public consciousness in the near future. Scholastic, a major provider of popular books for classroom use, bought the rights to publish the books in the United States. Devoted readers who can’t wait for the sequel to be distributed in the U.S. are purchasing it on the Internet from Amazon.com’s British division. The series has already caused great consternation among those who fear the seven books will eventually crowd out adult fiction on the coveted New York Times best-sellers list. This concern will surely grow, since Warner Brothers (owned by Time Warner) bought rights to the live-action movie.

It’s not too soon to prepare your child for the increasing peer pressure to conform to the new social standards.

HOW TO RESIST DECEPTION

 KNOW THE TRUE GOD. When children know God as He has revealed Himself in His Word, they will recognize the seductive counterfeits.

SHUN OTHER GODS. It’s tempting to believe the beckoning voices that display enticing counterfeits of all God’s wonderful promises. The power is within yourself, they say. Don’t listen to the lies. Instead, take this sober warning to heart:

“When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who:
* practices witchcraft
* is a soothsayer or a sorcerer
* interprets omens
* conjures spells
* is a medium or a spiritist
* calls up the dead
“For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord….” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13)

All “these things” are demonstrated in the Harry Potter books. These stories are every bit as spiritual as Christian literature, but the spiritual power they promote comes from other gods. If you treasure God’s truth, may I suggest you encourage your children not to read these books? I know such parental intervention sounds grossly offensive, in fact, downright muggleish, to children who love Harry’s magical world and reject Biblical absolutes. Yet, just as “progressive” leaders fear the influence of Biblical truth on budding world citizens, so Christians parents need to guard their children against all kinds of occult “counsel:”

“Blessed is the man [including child and woman] who –
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of mockers;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

REMEMBER HISTORY’S LESSONS. The witchcraft and wizardry in Harry Potter books may be fantasy, but they familiarize children with a very real and increasingly popular religion – one that few really understand. Far removed from the terrors of tribal witchcraft and shamanism, Americans are oblivious to the bondages that normally follow occult favors. But historical and archeological records have traced the earth-centered myths, practices, and consequences through the millennia. They have verified the timing of certain Old Testament accounts of droughts, famines, and wars — three consequences that God’s people would face if they traded His truth and strength for the Canaanite gods and rituals. (Deut. 28, 1 Cor. 10) There, as in other earth-centered cultures around the world, the human cruelties involved in pagan worship included torture, mutilation and human sacrifice. Many of these practices continued in parts of the world until the 20th century, when the spread of genuine Christianity (totally different from cultural Christianity) with its emphasis on love and the value of life, made most of these cruelties intolerable. But now the world turns, once again, from God’s truth to the world’s gods and rituals. Its not surprising that Ms Rowling warned that, starting with her 4th book, the series will grow darker. Some good characters “that the reader cares about” will have to die.6

SHARE GOD’S LOVE WITH EVERYONE. God’s way to multicultural understanding and global unity is essential today. He cares for people in every culture, longs to set them free, and wants to love them through us. Harry Potter may conquor evil forces with witchcraft, but in the real spiritual world, no pagan power can counter the frightening consequences of dealing with demons. Only God can. That’s why He has sent missionaries to all parts of the world to bring His peace, love, and release from demonic bondage. Keep in mind, only Christian love has motivated individuals to leave Western comforts (soft beds, safe food and water, etc.) to serve and heal those who live with unthinkable physical hardships and the constant threat of curses, spells, and other spiritual dangers. His genuine love – as demonstrated through His faithful servants – can’t even be compared to the notion of politically correct “tolerance” so widely promoted today.

DON’T APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR FAITH. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:7) That sounds exclusive to some, but don’t forget, His loving invitation includes everyone.

REMEMBER THAT GOD IS FAR GREATER! By ourselves we cannot resist “the devil’s schemes,” but in Christ we are “more than conquerors.” Thanks be to God who leads us in His triumph! (1 John 4:4, Romans 8:37)

PRAY. Only God can slow the massive international movement toward conformity to pagan beliefs and values. In a nation that has traded truth and reality for politically correct tolerance and unity, Christians are called to remain faithful, prayerful and hopeful in Christ, who offers genuine love and unity.

WEAR GOD’S ARMOR–-a set of strategic truths that exposes and counters every deception. When we “put on the whole armor,” God fills us with His life even as He covers us.7 Don’t forget that our real enemy is the spiritual hierarchy of occult forces, not globalist educators or well-meaning teachers. Only God’s power and protection will enable our children to resist and triumph.

Endnotes:

1. J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997); p.137.
2. Ibid., p. 257.
3. Ibid., 291.
4. Ibid., 302.
5. Ibid., 55.
6. Paul Gray, “Wild About Harry,” Time (September 20, 1999); page 72.
7. See also Romans 13:14, John 14:20

A revealing scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone shows Harry and his friends rushing into the night to find the magical stone supposedly made by a medieval alchemist. Guarded by a monstrous three-headed dog in a forbidden corridor at Hogwarts Schools for Witchcraft and Wizardry, this legendary “philosopher’s stone” could grant eternal life — something the disembodied villain Voldemort desperately needs. But who would reach it first, the evil wizard or Harry, Ron and Hermione?

Their friend Neville senses danger and warns the threesome that this is not a good time to break more rules. So Harry lies to his friend and Hermione lifts her wand and casts a spell on him. Neville turns stiff as a board and falls flat on the floor. Our three heroes rush away — and the audience bursts into laughter.

Why the laughter? Neville was a “good” guy. He was trying to be helpful. But never mind traditional kindness. The crowd has been mesmerized by the plot and is, for the moment, oblivious to home-taught values. The attentive gathering has learned to flow with the brilliant story which makes Ms Rowling’s untraditional values seem right and Christian caution seem wrong. The audience can feel their heroes’ need and sense of urgency, so their minds justify the spell as well as the unkind tactics and share a communal relief for a conflict resolved.

The communal part is important. Togetherness strengthens the illusion of reality. Harry Potter fans — like other special interests groups — share a new language with terms and meanings that they validate and cheer in each other. The fact that the new language makes little sense to mugglish parents and disinterested peers only strengthens their bond. Together, they explore and affirm the values defined by the story.

This exploration has been brought into classrooms across the country. Many schools that bussed their students to movie theatres on opening day (November 16) now use Harry Potter curricula to continue the informal dialogue led by trained teacher-facilitators. Keep in mind, crowds can easily be manipulated to accept and do what most individuals would not. Like a flock of sheep, they pursue the vision of personal empowerment — not necessarily into occult experimentation but into an acceptance of a pagan world view that turns God’s values upside down. [Isaiah 5:20]

For the fun edutainment frees them from the moral and factual guidelines which usually filters incoming information. It offers a mind-changing distraction from rational thinking and plants contrary philosophies into the unguarded mind. When the film ends, the images will remain in the viewer’s memory, ready to influence future moral choices. Few children or adults notice the change.

This involuntary and unconscious process is part of a century-old plan for change. Professor Raymond Houghton described the vision in a book titled, “To Nurture Humaneness,” published in 1970 by the ASCD, the curriculum arm of the National Education Association. He wrote,

“…absolute behavior control is imminent…. The critical point of behavior control, in effect, is sneaking up on mankind without his self-conscious realization that a crisis is at hand. Man will… never self-consciously know that it has happened.” [4]

Hard to believe? Then consider the research compiled by Dr. Craig E. Abrahamson, Assistant Professor of Social Work at James Madison University. He scorns the old factual or didactic learning and calls for the feeling-based, image-rich unconscious learning so popular among today’s educational change agents.

Storytelling is vital to this process, and few forms of communication transmit stories into the minds more effectively than movies — especially when based on myths created by master storytellers such as J. K. Rowling. Such movies create persuasive illusions (and delusions) through imagined experiences that stir strong feelings. As Harvard Professor Chris Dede, a global leader the development of education technology programs, writes, “Sensory immersion helps learners grasp reality through illusion.“[5]

No wonder educators delight in the Harry Potter movie. Filling and driving the imagination, it provides the right kind of “illusion.” It fits the planned “reality” that both US and UNESCO educators have been seeking for half a century — one that would help establish new values, new beliefs, new lifestyles and new ways of thinking. 

But our God doesn’t change. While federal “behavioral laboratories” explore psycho-social manipulation and seductive storytelling in order to mold global citizen, God uses His unchanging truth to set men free. “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples,” said Jesus. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Children whose daydreams soar into Rowling’s supernatural realm of flying broomsticks, empowering spells, golden snitches and everlasting ghosts may feel free — free from the old constraints and authorities, free from natural and spiritual laws. Few see the danger behind this new-found “freedom.” They forget that the author’s script, not their own imagination, guides their minds and defines their values.

God knows all that. Our Creator understands human nature far better than the most sophisticated psychologist. That’s why “Jesus did not commit Himself to them [the masses that flocked to Him]…. He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” John 2:23-25.

Armed with His truth and promises, we would do well to look more closely at today’s battle for the minds of our children. 

Hypnotic trance through story telling. “The best methodology for education is not simply the use of didactic instruction,” explains Dr. Abrahamson in his report, Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education (posted on the Encyclopedia Britannica website), “for it needs to be an awakening and moving experience in order for the content to have meaning for the learner.” He continues:

“…inspiration, encouragement, satisfaction, and fascination must be integrated with information in order to provide an education that has meaning to the learner and will have true, lasting effects on that person’s life and the society in which he or she interacts. What a person usually remembers the longest is information that has an emotional impact.”[6] Emphasis added

The emotional impact of Rowling’s storytelling has circled the planet like a giant tsunami wave, and social changes have followed in its wake. Abrahamson’s research may show the transforming power of storytelling within a classroom setting, but his analysis can be applied to the entire field of edutainment — especially to the Harry Potter phenomenon and its mind-changing movie.

In a section titled, “Implementation of Hypnotic Trance in Storytelling,” Dr. Abrahamson shows how captivating stories can suspend rational thinking and open the door of the mind to a new view of reality:

“…People remember what happens to them, and they tell other people what they remember. It is this sharing that can enhance an understanding of what occurred, both to the teller, as well as to the listener. Often, when we are either telling or listening to a story, our habitual mental sets, common everyday frames of reference, and belief systems are more or less interrupted and suspended for a moment or two.

“Milton H. Erickson defined hypnotic trance as the evocation and utilization of unconscious learning. He believed that people are most open to learning in this state due to the fact that one’susual frames of reference and beliefs are temporarily altered so one can be receptive to concepts and information that may be somewhat different from what already has been assimilatedinto his or her cognitive and emotional frames of reference….”[7] Emphasis added

There are many ways to lead young and old subjects into “the state of receptivity that is called hypnotic trance.” Dr. Abrahamson touts a “five-stage paradigm of the dynamics of trance induction and suggestion through storytelling:”

Stage 1. “Fixation of Attention.” During this stage, the audience is so caught up in the story that the real world is forgotten. That may sound good to those who need a break from daily tensions. But this mental distraction is followed by an intrusive form of mental manipulation. While diverting attention away from facts and truths, the movie bombards the audience with captivating images, virtual experiences and vivid sensations that clash with home-taught values. 

The movie shows Harry communicating with a powerful snake, magically removing the glass barrier to its freedom, walking through a brick wall at Platform 9 3/4, exploring occult shops, selecting his magic wand…. These scenes may all seem “normal” in the context of Ms Rowling’s alternative reality. They also fit the need for suspense and surprises that capture a viewer’s attention, block rational thinking and prepare the mind for a trance-forming focus. Dr. Abrahamson summarized it well: “…if the stage is successful, consciousness has been distracted.”

But God warns us to “be on guard” and “keep alert.”[8] He tells us to “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Naturally, these warnings don’t “win friends and influence people” these days. Potter fans may accuse Christians of spoiling their fun, but God knows our weaknesses. Because He loves us, He gave us His Word to guard us against deception.

Stage 2. “De-potentiating [destroying the potency of] Habitual Frameworks and Belief Systems.” This second stage weakens the influence of traditional beliefs and habits. Harry Potter does it well. The first stage has already freed the mind from the old boundaries. Now, as the movie screen sends a fast-moving stream of occult ideas and supernatural images, the mind begins to switch from the old mental framework or filter based on God’s Word to a pagan perspective. Viewers who have identified with the aspiring wizard are learning see the world through his eyes, values and feelings.

And what do they see? Scenes such as the occult shops in Diagon Alley may look innocent compared to the scary forest scene showing Voldemort’s desperate need for Unicorn’s blood, but they carry a potent message. In contrast to three-headed dogs and Nearly Headless Nick, they can be reproduced in the real world. Consider these words remembered by Potter fans who read the first book:

“They bought Harry’s school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books… Even Dudley, who never reads anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges….) ‘I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley’ [said Harry]”[9] Emphasis added

Spells and curses have always been used to oppress people in the world’s pagan cultures. In parts of Africa, Asia and South America, where primitive shamanism and witchcraft continued while the West embraced Christian values, their victims still face the terrifying consequences. In today’s post-modern world, the same ancient practices have been revived and redefined. Marketed as empowering white magic that harms no one, they have taken the West by storm.

For example, The Girls’ Guide to Spells, one of many books that break down barriers to the occult world of capricious spirits, “is an easy, fun guide to casting positive spells” and tapping “into the natural energy forces of Mother Nature.” Decorated with pentagrams and the ubiquitous spiral, it shows how to create “your own magic wand” and make “magic happen in our life.”

“The Lord of the Rings Oracle,” another tempting key to the occult, links Tolkien’s mythical world to other pagan practices idealized in today’s world of wizardry. It, too, trains the beginner in magic and divination.

Skeptical students can brush up on the history of pagan practices by reading the Sorcerer’s Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (See photo above). It ties Harry’s occult skills and formulas to the real world of practical occultism. But please don’t buy it. Just remember that many Potter fans have already studied its testimonies to occult realities and now crave more of the same. One newspaper showed a girl clutching it in her arms as she left the movie theater on opening day.

Most of those children have closed their minds to Biblical truth. They may still profess faith in God, but if they really knew Him, they would sense the discomfort of cognitive dissonance (mental and/or moral confusion). This uneasiness occurs whenever a person is drawn to values that clash with their biblical understanding of right and wrong. Dr. Abrahamson explains:

“As the student is consciously pulled into the story that the instructor is sharing, latent patterns of association and sensory-perceptional experience have an opportunity to assert themselves in a manner that can initiate the altered state of consciousness that has been described as trance or hypnosis.

“There are many means of de-potentiating frames of reference. Any experience of shock or surprise momentarily will fixate attention and interrupt the previous pattern of association. Any experience of the unrealistic, the unusual, or the fantastic provides an opportunity for altered modes of apprehension. Aspects in a story that create confusion, doubt, dissociation, and disequilibrium are all means of de-potentiating students’ learned limitations so that they may become open and available for new means of experiencing and learning, which are the essence of conversational (therapeutic) trance.”[10] 

One of those moments of shock and surprise might happen when Harry shops for his magic wand — a “wand that chooses the wizard.” The wand that chooses Harry makes itself known by sending warmth into his hand and sparks into the air. Watching with much excitement, the wizardly owner of the wand shop tells Harry that “the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you be destined for this wand when its brother… gave you that scar.”

In other words, Harry and the evil Lord Voldemort would share the same magic charm for channeling and manipulating the supernatural force. Yet, Voldemort, like Darth Vader, had chosen the dark side of the force. Might Harry do the same?  

God tells us that the good and evil cannot come from the same source. “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?” asks James [3:10-11] The obvious answer is no. To make sure we know the difference and see both sides from God’s perspective, He has given us an armor to wear in every spiritual battle. The first part is the living and unchanging Truth which gives us wisdom to discern between good and evil. But it takes the whole Armor of God to keep us safely hidden in Jesus in the midst of a world that despises His ways:

“Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth….” Ephesians 6:10-12

3. “Unconscious Search.” When an exciting story has distracted the Potter fan from actual reality and bombarded him or her with contrary suggestions and feelings, the subconscious mind seeks a way to reconcile the conflict between the old and the new values. This quest for resolution involves the dialectic (consensus) process. Trained by schools to to seek “common ground” and conform beliefs to the group consensus, the student simply relieves the tension through moral compromise — a basic element of the “new way of thinking.“

“When these processes occur, they initiate an unconscious search for a new solution to a problem or seek out a new altering experience…. With the employment of storytelling as a trance-inducement mechanism in the manner in which this has been discussed, the opportunity is afforded for the student to creatively reorganize information and concepts to allow for the assimilation of new knowledge and concepts which can enhance the learning experience.”[10]

The “new knowledge” to be assimilated includes all the pagan practices forbidden by God but idealized in the Harry Potter books and movie. One of the simplest justifications for continued loyalty to Harry is simply to rationalize that Harry and his side of the magical force are good, while Voldemort and his side are evil. You saw this philosophy in the previous stage. It permeates New Age and neopagan spirituality: one universal force – two different expressions. This conclusion matches Eastern dualism and the yin yang, which symbolizes the quest for harmony between opposing forces such as good and evil, light and dark, male and female…. 

But God tells us that good and evil cannot mix. “What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?” He asks. “And what communion has light with darkness? …come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” 2 Cor 6:12-18

4. Unconscious Process: The Potter fan and less committed viewers reach this stage when they have set aside their former convictions, opened their minds to contrary beliefs, resolved the conflict between opposite values, and accepted the subtle suggestions offered by the story and its context:

“In essence, an indirect suggestion within the framework of storytelling initiates an unconscious search and facilitates unconscious processes within students, and they often find themselves open to ideas and concepts that in the past appeared closed. …The indirect forms of suggestion… help students bypass their learned limitations….”[10]

Through storytelling, these “indirect suggestions” prompt children to apply the story’s subtle new meanings to old facts, symbols and truths. This helps explain why many Potter fans profess faith in God yet twist the character of God into a deity compatible with their favorite story and their personal lusts.

“What right have you to declare My statutes,” asks God, “… seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? …You thought that I was altogether like you, but I will rebuke you….” Psalm 50:16-21

5. The Hypnotic Response: This natural outcome leaves viewers with new images and suggestions imprinted in their collective memory. An exchange took place in their minds while their attention was focused on the story and action.

“Because it is mediated primarily by unconscious processes within the student, the hypnotic response appears to occur automatically or autonomously, much in the same fashion as when a person is sitting in his or her car at a red stop light and isn’t aware when the light turns green until the person in the car behind him or her blows the horn. …

“Many people look at the hypnotic trance as an occurrence that only happens in the company of an hypnotherapist, and when it does happen, the individual loses all control while under the control of the therapist. However, most individuals typically experience a mild sense of pleasant surprise when they find themselves responding in this automatic and involuntary manner. Contrary to public misconceptions, the hypnotized person remains the same person, only his or her perceptions for the moment are altered by the trance state.”[10]

In the education arena, the goal of the process is to socialize students with the new values fit for the global community. The planned change is incremental and permanent, not temporary. It is part of UNESCO’s program for lifelong learning and matches the goals and ideology of Hollywood producers.

Teachers and principals were not content to simply to bus their students to the Harry Potter movie on opening day. Their follow-up includes Harry Potter curriculla that prompts students to pursue their occult interests in classrooms across the country. There, trained facilitator-teachers can guide the process toward a fitting consensus. Even Christian students who have not conformed their values to the mystical world of Hogwarts must participate in this manipulative dialogue or face ridicule and unforgiving assessments (be labeled “uncooperative” and “intolerant”). While Hogwarts head master honored Harry whether he obeyed the rules or not, this new world will not reward Christian students for their uncompromising stand.

But God will! He tells us “Blessed are you when men hate you… exclude you… revile you, and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven.” [Luke 6:22-23] And  when the world mocks and vilifies us, He will keep us close, shield us in His armor and remind us that –

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:32-39

Endnotes:  

1.Paul A. Pilger and Paul Dobesh, “Issues in Interactive Communication: The Impact of the New Technologies of Society,” 1996. We found this article at the Florida State University website, but its link to the specific page link is now broken: http://www.fsu.edu/~ic-prog/issuesbook/chapter17.html 

2. Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool

3.Holland Cotter, “Films that keep Asking, Is it Fact or Fiction?” New York Times, 1-19-01.

4. Raymond Houghton, To Nurture Humaneness, ASCD (curriculum arm of the NEA), 1970

5.The Transformation of Distance Education to Distributed Learning. While this and other papers by Professor Chris Dede focuses on education technology, it emphasizes the value of sensory immersion into synthetic environments as a tool to mold minds by instilling a programmed perception of “reality.” http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwitr/docs/distlearn/index.html

6.Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education at

http://www.britannica.com/magazine/article?content_id=58571&pager.offset=10

7. Ibid.

8.Mark 13:33; Matt 26:41

9. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Scholastic, 199), page 80.

10. http://www.britannica.com/magazine/article?content_id=58571&pager.offset=20

“The premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry….Increasing numbers of children are spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of Satanic websites and we are concerned that nobody is monitoring this growing fascination.” Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers [1] 

Psychic Eye Book Shop manager cheers “the Harry Potter craze”: “It’s taken away a lot of the fear. People are more accepting of things like witchcraft and magic after Harry Potter came out. We find that we are a supporting environment for customers like that.” Mountain View Voice, CA, 7-26-02.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opened on November 16 at a record-breaking number of theaters across the country. “Christian” as well as public schools bussed their students to see the long awaited movie based on the first book in J. K. Rowling’s ground-breaking series. Teachers are facilitating classroom discussions that train students to seek “common ground” and conform to an ever-changing group consensus.[2] While forbidding prayer in the name of Jesus, most schools seem to welcome spells and sorcery in the name of Harry Potter.

The pressure to participate in the fun and frenzy is intense. So what can a Christian child do in the midst of such hype, hypocrisy and popular wizardry?   

Those who know God can find answers in His Word. Consider this list of Biblical warnings and wisdom, then put on the Armor of God and pray that He lead you in His way. 

1. God shows us that witchcraft, sorcery, spells, divination and magic are evil. He hates those practices because they blind us to His loving ways, then turn our hearts to a deceptive quest for self-empowerment and deadly thrills. Harry Potter’s world may be fictional, but the timeless pagan practices it promotes are real and deadly. Well aware that the final result is spiritual bondage and oppression, He warns us:

“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 aspiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord…” 

2. The movie’s foundation in fantasy, not reality, doesn’t diminish its power to change beliefs and values. Imaginary (or virtual) experiences and well-written fantasies can affect the mind and memories as much, if not more, than actual experiences.[3] Designed to stir feelings and produce strong emotional responses, a well-planned myth with likeable characters can be far more memorable than the less exciting daily reality — especially when reinforced through books, toys and games as well as movies. Small wonder Harry’s fans have been counting the days until their next fantastic journey into Hogwarts’ classes on sorcery, divination, potions and spells.

“But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.” 

3. Each occult image and suggestion prompts the audience to feel more at home in this setting. Children identify with their favorite characters and learn to see wizards and witches from a popular peer perspective rather than from God’s perspective. Those who sense that the occult world is evil face a choice: Resist peer pressure or rationalize their imagined participation in Harry’s supernatural adventures.

        The second choice may quiet the nagging doubts, but rationalizing evil and justifying sin will sear the conscience and shift the child’s perception of values from God’s perspective to a more “comfortable” cultural adaptation. Even Christian children can easily learn to conform truth to multicultural ideals and turn God’s values upside down – just as did God’s people in Old Testament days:

“But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:24

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness….
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!”  Isaiah 5:2-21

4. God tells us to “abhor what is evil” and “cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)
But when Christian children and teens love the Harry Potter myths, delight in the movie and read the books again and again, they are desensitizing their hearts and minds to its evil. Turning God’s truth upside down, they are learning to “love” what is evil. The natural next step is to reject God’s wise boundaries and “abhor” what He calls good.

“You love evil more than good….” 

5. Immersed in Hogwarts’ beliefs and values, children learn to ignore or reinterpret God’s truth. They lose their natural aversion for the devious spirits represented by the creatures and symbols in this eerie world. Caught up in the exciting story, they absorb the suggested values and store the fascinating images in their minds — making the forbidden world of the occult seem more normal than the Kingdom of God.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” 

6. This inner change is usually unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass rational scrutiny. After all,  who will stop, think and weigh the evidence when caught up in such a fast-moving visual adventure?  Fun fantasies and strategic entertainment has a special way of altering values, compromising beliefs and changing behavior in adults as well as in children.  This learning process has been named “edutainment” — a favored way to train multicultural citizens for the envisioned 21st century community.  Its power to influence beliefs and behavior is illustrated by today’s marketing firms which spend billions on entertaining ads that touch emotions, ignore the facts, yet motivate people to buy the product. 

“Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.”

7. The main product marketed through this movie is a new belief system. This pagan ideology comes complete with trading cards, computer and other wizardly games, clothes and decorations stamped with HP symbols, action figures and cuddly dolls and audio cassettes that could keep the child’s minds focused on the occult all day and into night. But in God’s eyes, such paraphernalia become little more than lures and doorways to deeper involvement with the occult. In contrast, He calls a person “blessed” who –

• “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

• nor stands in the path of sinners,

• nor sits in the seat of the scornful [mockers];

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. Whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3

8. The implied source of power behind Harry’s magical feats tend to distort a child’s understanding of God. In the movie as in the books, words traditionally used to refer to occult practices become so familiar that children begin to apply the same terms to God and His promised strength. Many learn to see God as a power source that can be manipulated with the right kind of prayers and rituals — and view his miracles as just another form of magic. They base their understanding of God on their own feelings and wants, not on His revelation of Himself.

“You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you….”

9. Blind to the true nature of God, children will blend (synthesize) Biblical truth with pagan beliefs and magical practices. In the end, you distort and destroy any remnant of true Christian faith. For our God cannot be molded to match pagan gods.

“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” 

10. God tells us to “train up a child in the way He should go.”  It starts with teaching them God’s truths and training them all day long to see reality from His, not the world’s perspective. To succeed, we need to shield them from contrary values until they know His Word and have memorized enough Scriptures to be able to recognize and resist deception. Once they have learned to love what God loves and see from His perspective, they will demonstrate their wisdom by choosing to say “no” to Harry Potter.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” 

11. While some argue that Harry and his friends model friendship and integrity, they actually model how to lie and steal and get away with it. Their examples only add to the cultural relativism embraced by most children today who are honest when it doesn’t cost anything, but who lie and cheat when it serves their purpose.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [depraved] mind, to do those things which are not fitting…. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

12. God has a better way. When His children choose to follow His ways, He gives them a heart to love Him, spiritual eyes that can understand and delight in His Word, a sense of His presence and a confidence in His constant care — no matter what happens around us. Harry Potter’s deceptive thrills are worse than worthless when compared to the wonderful riches our Shepherd promises those who will ignore evil and walk with Him. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:6-8

Endnotes:

1. Teachers warn of occult dangers in Potter movie magic

2. Schools hope Harry’s wand entrances pupils

3. Harry Potter and Dungeons & Dragons: Like Peas in a Pod?

4. Harry Potter Special: Inside the Magical Magazine (Primedia, Inc., no date), pages 49-53. David Rockefeller, Vice-President, Financial Operations.

“…this film truly glorifies hideous creatures, egregious acts by young children, imaginings that are far more scary and graphic than ANY child should be subjected to (or adult for that matter), yet every kid in the audience craves more and more.  Young boys in the audience were quoting out-loud the exact words of Dobby, a self-mutilating elf, before he spoke them….” Julianne Evans, author.

“It’s darker and much scarier…”  Rupert Grint who plays Harry’s friend, Ron Weasley.[1]

Spells, potions, dark arts, psychic writing, magical healing, trance possession, ghostly encounters with the dead…. All fit together in Warner Brothers new Harry Potter movie. And all enter into the viewer’s virtual experience and mental bank of occult suggestions – whether they realize it or not.

Harry’s second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is full of occult thrills and forbidden rituals, but few seem to mind. The poor, victimized hero is such a polite and sympathetic wizard that his fans naturally want him to win. His magical spells only make his triumphs more exciting. So viewers simply shut their minds to God’s warnings, flow with the fast-action story, identify with the “good guys” and cheer the power they wield. Immersed in this occult fantasy world, they adapt their values to fit their new fellowship.

Surrounded by children and teens in the sold-out movie theater on November 16, I sensed that empathy. The audience laughed together when Harry’s muggle (non-magical)uncle fell from the window. Horrified silence reigned when an army of big, flesh-eating spiders descended on Harry and his friend, Ron, seeding nightmarish images into the minds of the children.[2] And when the staff and students at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry clapped for Harry at the movie’s end, the enthusiastic audience joined in the applause.

I didn’t. Troubled by the message and suggestions behind the enticing story, I pondered a dialogue near the end of the movie. It takes place in the mysterious Chamber of Secrets. Harry had discovered the entrance, slid down a massive pipe, and found Ginny, Ron’s lifeless little sister, in the cavernous depths. Now he faces Tom Riddle, a youthful representation of the dreaded wizard Lord Voldemort who, like Darth Vader of Star Wars, had chosen the evil side of the force. But Harry’s first concern is Ginny. He calls out to her,

“Please don’t be dead. Wake up, wake up!”

“She won’t wake,” says the handsome Tom Riddle.

“What do you mean, she won’t wake? She’s not….”

“She’s still alive, but only just.”

“Are you a ghost?”

“A memory preserved in the diary for 50 years.”

“She’s cold as ice. You’ve got to help me, Tom…. Give me my wand….”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Harry. You see as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger….”

Harry is puzzled, so Tom Riddle spells out his true identity with the wand and the words appear on the wall: “I am Lord Voldemort.”

“I fashioned myself a new name,” he explains, “a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!”

“Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!” argues Harry. His declaration of loyalty to the beloved headmaster summons an unexpected helper. A fire erupts on a nearby pillar and out of its flames rises Dumbledore’s crimson phoenix. It flies to Harry and lands on his shoulders.[3]

The book behind the movie gives a clearer description of this scene. While I don’t like to include occult details, I hope the paragraph below will (1) help us appreciate God’s warnings, (2) stir our conscience and (3) lift our understanding of good and evil far beyond today’s complacent acceptance of occult entertainment.

After all, the very practices that God forbids, Ms. Rowling has been using as captivating bait for her wizardly world. Planted into a context that idealizes occultism, these thrilling practices stir a love for evil and a craving for more. But God shows us another way: “Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) 

Now, consider this dialogue between Harry and Voldemort, alias Tom Riddle:

“Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted…. I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her….”

“What d’you mean?” said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.

“Haven’t you guessed yet, Harry Potter? said Riddle softly. ‘Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods…

When Harry wonders “why”, Riddle answers, “Because I told her to...“[4] He continues,

“Of course she didn’t know what she was doing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries…. Dear Tom, he recited…. I think I’m losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don’t know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can’t remember what I did on the night of Halloween…. There was another attack today and I don’t know where I was…. I think I’m going mad.… I think I’m the one attacking everyone, Tom!”[5]

Ginny was right. Controlled by Voldemort’s curse and filled with a part of his soul, she did what she was told. Riddle admits that she was in a trance — an altered state of consciousness — and wasn’t consciously aware of her violent actions.

Keep in mind, this phenomenon is not just a fantasy that one can indulge in without consequences. In today’s real world, those who dabble in virtual occult experiences risk spiritual bondage to forces they can neither see, control, nor escape.[6]

The Western world was relatively free from such demonic “madness” for several centuries. But, now, as our cultural fascination with occultism soars, the spiritual safety zone we have long taken for granted is fading away.

The diary is important, for its blank pages carried the mystical communication between Tom and his victim. Just as symbols have traditionally been used by sorcerers and shamans to transmit magical forces, so this diary became a vehicle for the dark forces that were now draining her life.

In a dramatic scene, Voldemort summons the massive slithering basilisk and tells it to kill Harry. Well aware that a glance into the evil eyes of this serpentine beast would kill him, Harry fights and kills the basilisk — but not until one of its poisonous fangs had pierced his arm.

The legendary healing power of the phoenix saves the young wizard, but by now nearly all of Ginny’s life has been drained from her body. Desperate to save her, Harry grabs the bloodied fang and plunges it “into the heart” of the mystical diary. Riddle screams, then quickly disintegrates and disappears. Ginny awakens, her life force restored.

Perhaps you noticed a similarity between voodoo and the magic that saved Ginny and destroyed Voldemort. Rooted in the polytheism of West Africa and Haiti, voodoo (vodun) includes curses and spells that require effigies or fetishes — dolls, carved wood, animal parts or other physical objects that would embody the spirit of a targeted person. By stabbing the effigy, a sorcerer could injure, sicken or kill the targeted person. And the demonic spirits would usually comply — as long as their servant stayed loyal to those forces.

The Wiccan leader Starhawk, founder of the Covenant of the Goddess, affirms the use of symbols, charms and other objects as transmitters of spiritual forces. “To cast a spell is to project energy through a symbol,” she wrote in The Spiral Dance, her popular manual for witchcraft.[7]

Does this sound like a movie for children? Or for teens whose schools and computers offer countless tempting doors into the deadly world of the occult?

The Harry Potter books and movies are merely the beginning — the first enticing steps into the world of dark and deceptive arts. When children tire of this movie, the tireless makers and marketers of Harry Potter games and gadgets will still be promoting the enticing wares that perpetuate the craze. Almost 10 million games were spawned by last year’s Harry Potter movie, and many expect the trend to grow.

“This holiday season,” we are told by gamerstemple.com, “the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets videogames will transport fans from the non-magical world to an even richer, deeper interactive adventure of wizards and wonder, while representing an interactive adaptation of the book’s story line.”

Together, the ceaseless repetitions, captivating games, popular posters, action figures, videos and audio recordings will intensify the cultural pressure on everyone to accept and adapt to this occult phenomenon. Since the cruel nature of this occult world has already lost its shock value, these dangerous forces now seem almost “normal” to many of our youth. They don’t realize that demonic possession, evil curses and spiritual torment once characterized most of the world’s pagan civilizations.  As happened many times in past centuries, they could quickly change today’s cultural landscape. 

But our caring God, who wants us to find safety in Him, tells us, “Do not be conformed to the world…”  Instead, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” That means filling our minds with the saving truths that set captives free and bring peace and triumph now and forever. [Romans 12:2]

Those truths include all the Scriptures that show us His heart and will. Politically correct or not, His eternal Word can’t be ignored or adapted to fit our pluralistic culture. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 is as true and valid for a Christian today as it was three thousand years ago:

“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 conjuresspells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord…” Deuteronomy 18:9-12

That doesn’t mean imposing God’s standard on others. In America, each person is free to choose the wide or the narrow way. And those who choose His way know well that, only by His grace and His Spirit within us, can we live the life He has shown us.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

---

For a practical list of suggestions and Scriptures that highlight the dangers of deception, the power of God’s Word, and the victory we have in Christ, see Twelve reasons not to see Harry Potter movies.

Endnotes:

1.Warner Brothers’ interview with  Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) at http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/dailyprophet/article.jsp?id=interview_rupert&arc=1

2.Ibid.: “How did you feel shooting the Spider’s Hollow scenes?” asked WB. “I hate them, they are so scary,” answered Rupert. “I don’t like them at all. And that scene with all the spiders and the four tonne spider Aragog really didn’t help my fear.”

3.In the end of the movie, Professor Dumbledore says to Harry, “You must have remained faithful to me while you were down there…that is what brought the Phoenix to you.”
4.These words were part of the dialogue in the movie, not in the book.

5.J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999), page 310-311.

6. See A Twist of Faith – Chapter 3 and Chapter 6 and Harry Potter Lures Kids to Witchcraft.

7 Starhawk, The Spiral Dance (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), p. 62.

8. Gaming News

 

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix “It’s only fantasy”  and other deceptions by Berit Kjos (2003)

 

 

“The story of Harry Potter is an allegory: It is written and packaged to look like fantasy when, in truth, it is a carefully written true description of the training and work of an initiate in an occult order…. The story line aligns with real occult books written by Gavin and Yvonne Frost, who, themselves, run the foremost school of witchcraft in the British Isles.” Peter, a former member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. 1

“The new Harry Potter book made book-publishing history this weekend. Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation’s largest bookstore chain, was on track to sell one million books in the first 48 hours, as much as it had expected to sell in a week….”2 The Wall Street Journal, 6-23-03

“It makes me feel as though I am Harry. Here I feel I am a student at Hogwarts.” Greg Fitzgerald, 13, New York Times, 6-26-03.

“I couldn’t believe she killed off a character. I was so depressed…. I know I’m getting worked up over what’s fiction. My mom keeps reminding me of that. But I said, ‘It’s all real in my mind.’“(Nancy Chen, 14, of Tulsa) “

Summer Solstice — an ancient pagan celebration in Europe and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere — seemed a fitting release date for J. K. Rowling’s fifth book. At midnight on June 21, young and old were waiting in line at bookstores around the world to get the next installment of their favorite myth. With my camera ready to document the event, I found a place in the “K-L” line behind a mother with three children.

“What do you think of the Harry Potter books?” I asked her.

“I love them,” she answered. “I’ve read all of them twice to myself and once to my children.”

“How old are your children?” I asked.

“Nine, eleven and fourteen. But they were six, eight and eleven when we started.”

Only six and eight! I looked around at the costumed adults and their children in Harry Potter glasses, black robes and pointed black hats. How many of them would call themselves Christians? I wondered. How would this next level of training in occult practice affect their faith and their lives?

My concern grew over the next two days as I read the 870 pages. In their fifth year of occult training, Harry and his friends were more sophisticated in their understanding of the dark arts and far more rebellious toward authorities. Even their relationships with each other seemed darker and more fragile. One of J. K. Rowling’s favorite verbs seems to be snarl (as in “‘About time!’ Harry snarled”, p. 43), a word she repeated again and again. Lying and rule-breaking had become the norm and, most of the time, the young wizards and witches got away with it.

While some readers will see the anger, rage, swearing and cruel jinxes as nothing more than “fun” and fantasy, this immersion into angry and hateful environments will surely strengthen the notion that rage, rudeness and rebellion are cool as well as okay. It doesn’t help that millions of children around the world are encouraged to feed their minds with images such as this:

     “Harry longed to bite the man. . . but he must master the impulse. He had more important work to do. But the man was stirring…. Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt. . . . He had no choice. . . . He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man’s flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood. . .

“The man was yelling in pain. . . then he fell silent. . . . He slumped backward against the wall…. Blood was splattering onto the floor…. His forehead hurt terribly.” (p. 463)

No, Harry hasn’t morphed into a vampire. Instead, he illustrates an occult principle called bilocation. While his physical body was asleep at Hogwarts, a part of his soul/spirit was far away — inside Voldemort — acting out this murderous assault as a vicious serpent.

Our article on The Matrix shows the same mystical correlation. Actions in the dream world correspond perfectly to actual changes in the real world. So while the sleeping Harry — in his mind — saw and shared in the brutal act, the distant victim was bitten, torn and left to die. 

In that nightmarish scene, Voldemort, an evil wizard with the cravings of a vampire, had turned himself into a snake (occultists call it transmutation). And since Harry was psychically linked to this dark, powerful wizard, he participated in the attack as if he were actually inside the snake — as if his spirit had possessed the serpent. Harry feltVoldemort’s hatred and shared his thirst for blood. 

To guard against such disturbing intrusions into his mind, Harry must learn occlumency, “the magical defense of the mind against external penetration.” It’s “an obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one,” says Professor Snape. (p. 519)

Don’t dismiss it as “just fantasy!” It’s an actual formula for defense against psychic attacks in the real world of high-level occult orders.3 And the key to success is a basic principle behind all occult training. Snape said it well: “Clear your mind and let go of all emotion.” Love, hate, delight, disgust … these can be manipulated by a powerful opponent. Therefore all feelings must be purged.

Readers who never make it past the middle of the book will miss this gruesome scene, but they still face the horror of a heartless assault in its opening pages. Consider how a child might be affected by the following images of deadly dementors:

“Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one….

“A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly toward him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came.

“Stumbling backward, Harry raised his wand. [He tried to cast a spell but it fails]

“He could smell the dementor’s putrid, death-cold breath, filling his own lungs, drowning him…. The dementor’s icy fingers were closing on his throat – the high-pitched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head – “Bow to death, Harry”

[He casts the spell again]

“An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry’s wand; its antlers caught the dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards….”

Ms. Rowling’s dementors are like psychic vampires. They suck energy out of humans, not unlike the “Haunter” in the Pokemon myth who “sucks out the opponent’s soul.” Their depraved goal is to destroy their foe.

So is the goal of advanced members of sophisticated secret societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. “Peter,” a former member who has helped us understand the actual nature of today’s popular occultism, said it well: “Like psychic vampires, these dementors feed on the emotional energy of people.”1

Harry saves the day with an advanced spell that banishes the dementors. By the time the readers have relished a few more chapters, such magic formulas begin to seem familiar — almost normal. After all, Harry is their hero! The readers are all rooting for him. They want to see him win — and the stronger the magic the better! No wonder witchcraft is on rise these days. The world is learning that magical training brings virtual success. It feels good. So why not go for the real thing!

Many do. Marysia Kolodziej — a young thelemite or solitary witch — tells us why:

“You are not wiccan unless you have been initiated, which I hope eventually to be – and a ritual magician in practice. …  I am a [Harry Potter] fan for several reasons. Initially it’s the universe. The books with the largest pull have this highly detailed, well-thought out universe that almost seems real and, importantly, that you would want to be a part of. You are not just drawn into the story but into that world. Then through talking about them with fans you fall further and further in love with the characters, you analyze them and worry about them untilthey feel real to you. Then you have, in a way, become a part of that shared universe, and it is a wonderful place to be.” 4 Harry Potter: The witch’s view

Marysia should be pleased with the Order of the Phoenix. Whether she realizes it or not, it actually offers many of the key lessons she longs to learn. Showing the progressive stages of magical training, it provides a tantalizing replica of the intense program that shapes chosen initiates for leadership in actual occult orders.1

Since Ms. Rowling’s storytelling skills are hard to resist, young readers find it all too easy to identify with life at Hogwarts. As Time magazine points out, “Rowling shows an uncanny understanding of how adolescents deal with one another.”5

“She gets almost everything right,” says ligia Mizhuquiri. “What happens [at Harry’s school] happens to us. Some of us are popular. Some of us are not. Some of us get bullied. Some of us are bullies.”5  By empathizing with the characters and their dangerous choices, readers learn to delight in the very things that God calls abominations: witchcraft, divination, sorcery and spells… (Deut 18:9-12)

Those who refuse to enter this enticing virtual reality often face rejection or wrath from their peers. The pressure to join the crowd, justify occultism, compromise one’s faith and rationalize the spiritual shift is rising fast. These comments sent to our website illustrate the process:

“I am a strong Christian and love the Lord with all my heart. The problem is I really enjoy reading the books and nothing about them conflicts with my spirit….  ” A youth pastor

“The bottom line is that Harry Potter makes children, teenagers like myself, and even adults HAPPY. I’ve read the books to several children that I know or babysit for, and watched all of them laugh, smile, and cry happily…. Children wouldn’t be so desperate for Harry’s world to be real if the series wasn’t just that good.” M. L., age 17

“I have been encouraged by my pastor at my CHRISTIAN church to read the Harry Potter books, because even though they have references to magic and sorcery, they can teach us more about the values of Friendship and Bravery then he can…. I am no longer Christian.  Somewhere along the way my beliefs changed.  I practice Wicca….” A.

“I am positively OUTRAGED at what I just read on your page. Children all around the world are enjoying Harry Potter and why shouldn’t they?!” B. 

I’m not surprised that the first two writers measure right and wrong by their feelings, not by God’s Word. In today’s postmodern churches, few children or adults learn the Scriptures that would train their conscience to be a trustworthy guide along God’s Way. Today’s feel-good churches tend to avoid the Biblical truths that might conflict with the tolerant and politically correct atmosphere they like to exhibit.   

As a result, many church members are more comfortable with the world’s ways than with God’s ways. Compromise seems more “right” than God’s call to separation. [See 2 Cor 6:12-18] The way back to God is through conviction and repentance, but that rarely happens among those whose conscience has been trained to match the world’s values. If you don’t accept God’s standard for right and wrong, you have little reason to repent. See Isaiah 5:20

In a world that rejects God’s unchanging guidelines and loves occult thrills more than His wonderful presence, the spiritual battle is sure to intensify.6

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore….” Ephesians 6:10-18

God’s children had better be dressed for battle, not for a party, when they face these principalities and powers of darkness. This unseen army is as real as we are, and its cruel master wants our children.7

So teach them to “put on God’s armor.”  Then, “clothed in Christ” and filled with His Spirit, they will be ready to face a world that has little love for the God we follow. No need to escape into a fantasy world for real-life fellowship with Him is far more exciting and wonderful than all the short-lived and addictive thrills that captivate youngsters today.

The last part of the armor tells us to take hold of the “Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.” The key scriptures that show us God’s attitude toward witchcraft and wizardry are listed in Twelve reasons not to see Harry Potter movies. Please read this article.

We all face a choice. Will we focus on the world’s fragile and illusive “happiness” and make “fun” and fantasy our aim in life? Or will we seek God and find the wonders of His peace in the midst of turmoil, His strength in our weakness, His amazing joy even when all looks dark from a human perspective? We can’t have both. Therefore –

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

      The Harry Potter books would not have been culturally acceptable half a century ago. Today’s cultural climate –an “open-mindedness” toward occult entertainment together with “closed-mindedness” toward Biblical Christianity — was planned a century ago. It was outlined by the United Nations in the late 1940s and has been taught and nurtured through the developing global education system during the last six decades.

  To understand how the world was prepared to welcome Harry Potter and to hate the Christian “muggles” who refused to approve its favorite entertainment, read the following articles and chapters:

Brainwashing in America | The International Agenda | Chronology

Establishing a Global Spirituality | Reinventing the World | Popular Occultism

The Power of Suggestion | Conforming the Church to the New Millennium

Charts: Paradigm Shift – Total transformation

1. See Overview and Application of Harry Potter at this website.

2. Emily Nelson, “Harry Potter’s Magic Remains, as New Book Sets Sales Records, The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2003.

3. See The Order of the Phoenix at this website.

4. Marysia Kolodziej, “Harry Potter: The witch’s view“, BBC News (6/23/03) at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3012270.stm

5. Nancy Gibbs, “The Real Magic of Harry Potter,” Time, 6/23/03; page 65.

6. See America’s Spiritual Slide at this website.

7.  “Ask Peter” – Find Biblical answers to questions about occult entertainment at this website.

“…new behaviors are learned through storytelling and a sense of togetherness prevails that makes recovery and the sense of community and belonging stronger and more functional.”Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool

 

“Reality has become fluid, and no medium has done more to make it so than film, with its wide accessibility, its sense-and-psyche-altering format and its effortless gift for persuasion….”[1]

Harry Potter’s wizardly world is becoming strangely familiar to today’s youth. No longer do mystical incantations, transforming potions, dark omens or “the noble art of divination” (as Harry’s divination teacher called it) shock or alarm those who call themselves Christians. Popular magic — real or imagined — has become a normal part of our postmodern culture.

So have rebellion, rudeness, and the kind of feel-good revenge that Harry Potter demonstrates in the latest Warner-Brothers movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It seems perfectly okay for the famed wizard to tell Aunt Marge to “shut up” and, wielding his mystical power, cast a spell that turns her into a ballooning blimp that floats away into the sky. After all, she said cruel things about his parents. She deserved it! Didn’t she? In this context, viewers are led to agree. For J. K. Rowling knows well how to evoke sympathy for her key character.

Harry’s magical revenge may seem funny as well as justified in this fictional setting. But even wizards have rules, and Harry had once again broken “the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry.” Such use of magical powers was forbidden by law. The fact that the angry young wizard escapes the consequences only makes his rebellion and revenge more enticing. Instead of punishment, he won a quick journey on a magical bus back to the safety of the enchanting world of the occult.

“Whether impulsive or planned, each magical spell is an expression and extension of Harry’s will,” said Peter, a former occultist. “That’s a foundational occult reality, and it clashes head on with Biblical truth.” God calls His children to trust and submit to Him and His will, not their own. “Not My will, but Thine, be done,” prayed Jesus. “I can of Myself do nothing,” He told His disciples earlier.”… I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (Luke 22:42, John 5:30)    

The contrary messages aren’t lost to the millions of children around the world who read Joanne Rowling’s books. Her images, suggestions, beliefs and value system have established a growing consensus that equates paganism with entertainment and occultism with dark but delicious thrills. What’s more, they have spawned a huge new brood of occult books for children as well as adults. Tearing down the old boundaries, they multiply the world’s cravings for the mystical thrills and occult chills that animate life at Hogwarts.

Few realize that what appears to be fantasy is actually an allegory — a dramatic description of the year-by-year “training of an initiate in an occult order.” [See Harry Potter Overview]

This third Harry Potter movie touts time travel and shape shifting, two pagan illusions that are best understood by the multitudes who have read the book.  A deadly werewolf (Harry’s helpful teacher transforms when the moon is full) and a saving stag (the latter word is significant to European witchcraft and its enticing myths of a horned god, the consort of the ancient goddess) become part of the viewer’s imagination and memory bank. Since Lupin, the werewolf, is also the best “Defense-against-Dark-Arts”-teacher Harry has known, the audience tends to be sympathetic toward his paranormal plight.

Most of the young viewers are already familiar with these and other words that describe the traditions of powerful witches, shamans, and medicine men around the world. Those belief systems have been reinforced through social studies and multicultural lessons as well as through children’s books and popular movies. Many of these themes are repeated again and again — speeding their adoption into the public consciousness.  In the process, the wall between America’s “Christianized culture” and the world of the occult is crumbling.

Earthy spirituality and the Circle of Life

One particular scene stands out in this third Harry Potter movie. Since it’s based on the third book, let’s review the scene as the author described it. While the movie version is shorter and less detailed, both evoke nightmarish images of the soul-sucking dementors:

“By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he [Harry] saw a dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn’t walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside…..

“A pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harry’s neck. They were forcing his face upward…. He could feel its putrid breath…. His mother was screaming in his ears….. He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. … Then it raised both its rotting hands–and lowered its hood. Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth…. a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air….

“And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter…. He felt himself fall forward onto the grass….. The blinking light was illuminating the grass around him…. The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away…. Something was driving the dementors back…

“With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw an animal amid the light, galloping away across the lake…. It was bright as a unicorn…. …. Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back…. raising his hand to pat it…. someone who looked strangely familiar…. but it couldn’t be…”[2, pages 384-385]

Later, a conversation with Hermione clarified some of the puzzling images:

“Harry, there’s something I don’t understand… Why didn’t the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out…

“Harry sat down too. He explained what he’d seen; how, as the nearest dementor had lowered its mouth to Harry’s, a large silver something had come galloping across the lake and forced the dementors to retreat…. ‘There’s only one thing it could have been, to make the dementors go,’ said Harry. ‘A real Patronus. A powerful one.’

“But who conjured it?”

Harry didn’t say anything. He was thinking back to the person he’d seen on the other bank of the lake. He knew who he thought it had been…. but how could it have been?…

“…it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those dementors away…. Who did you think it was?”

“‘I think–‘ Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to sound. ‘I think it was my dad.'”

“‘Harry, your dad’s — well– dead,’ she said quietly.”[2, pages 406-407]

To save the lives of Sirius Black (the falsely accused prisoner of Azkaban) and a mythical creature nurtured by the friendly giant Hagrid, Harry and Hermione return to the same scene by magically turning back the time. During this second round, Harry identifies the Patronus — the mysterious savior who chased away the soul-sucking dementors. The action is slightly different:

“And there were the dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake….. On the opposite bank the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished….

“‘Com on!’ he [Harry] muttered, staring about. ‘Where are you? Dad, come on.’

“But no one came….. And then it hit him — he understood. He hadn’t seen his father — he had seen himself–

“Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand.

“‘EXPECT Patronum!’ he yelled. And out of the end of his wand burst, not the shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal…. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake. He saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming dementors….

“The Patronus turned. …. It wasn’t a horse. It wasn’t a unicorn either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above…. it was coming back to him. … Slowly it bowed its antlered head and Harry realized…

“‘Prongs,’ he whispered.  But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.” (pages 410-412)

The next part shows Harry’s brief discussion with Lupin, his “Defense Against the Black Arts” teacher who also happened to be an unwilling werewolf:

“Lupin said, ‘From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry…. Tell me about your Patronus.’

“Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he’d finished, Lupin was smiling again. ‘Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed,’ he said. ‘You guessed right…. That’s why we called him Prongs.’ (page 424)

The last set of quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban shows a sobering glimpse into the new blended spirituality that is becoming an acceptable global religion. The discussion is between Harry and Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ revered Headmaster.

“‘I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry,’ he [Dumbledore] said gently….

“‘I thought it was my dad who’d conjured my Patronus. I mean, when I saw myself across the lake…. I thought I was seeing him.’

“‘An easy mistake to make,’ said Dumbledore softly….

“‘It was stupid, thinking it was him,’ he muttered. ‘I mean, I knew he was dead.’

“‘You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night….’

“‘Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi,’ said Dumbledore, smiling…. You know Harry, in a way, you did see your father last night… You found him inside yourself.‘”[2, page 428]

Compare the above message with the following scene from the Disney movie, The Lion King.  At this point in the story, the evil Scar and his hyenas reign in Pride Lands. The land lies dry and barren. One day, the monkey sorcerer Rafiki looks into his magic gourd and sees Simba’s living image. He sets out to find the reluctant heir to the throne, then demonstrates a worldwide pagan tradition: reliance on help from ever-present, ever-living ancestral spirits.

“I know your father,” says Rafiki.

“My father is dead,” answers Simba.

“Nope! He’s alive. I’ll show him to you.” The shamanic baboon leads Simba to a pool of clear water. “Look down there.”

First Simba sees his own reflection, then the face of his father.

“You see, he lives in you!” says Rafiki.

Simba hears a familiar voice call his name. He looks up. His father’s ghostlike image appears among the stars.

“Look inside yourself…” says the apparition. “You must take your place in the circle of life. Remember who you are…” The vision fades.

Simba believes. He sees that the dead are not separated from the living, nor earth from the realm of spirits. Everything is connected. Empowered by a new sense of identity, he races back to Pride Lands to challenge his uncle, win the throne, and restore the land. Soon, Pride Nation celebrates the birth of the next lion prince, Simba, the son of King Mufasa and his cubhood friend Nala. Again, Rafiki lifts a royal infant for all to worship. The circle of life continues.

Postmodern uncertainty and Brian McLaren

Perhaps you doubt that anyone would take these suggestions of magical feats and mystical unity seriously. Why would people trade God’s strength and the Biblical hope of life after death for the timeless deceptions that led to the worship of magical forces and ancestral spirits around the world?

Keep in mind, today’s postmodern thinking has little love for the old facts and certainties that have grounded genuine Christianity in God’s revealed truth for the last two thousand years. The old truths don’t fit the new dialectic or collective ways of thinking. Nor do they seem as exciting to our thrill-seeing generation as the “fresh, new truths” offered as replacements. That’s why the old emphasis on an individual’s relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is being replaced with a more global emphasis on one’s relationship to the collective, a greater whole which reaches far beyond the boundaries of old Biblical “box.” That’s one reason why many postmodern churches hide the old emphasis on absolute truth and a sovereign King and Judge behind a more contemporary preference for ever-changing truths that match the new permissive, all-loving God of the subjective imagination.

In other words, there are no constants, no absolutes. The group consensus based on feelings and imagination determines what is true. This postmodern consensus will either discard God’s Word or adapt it to fit. As a result, Bible-based discernment fades. For when people discard absolute truth, they lose their mental anchor and flow with the currents of the changing culture. Having no certain truth with which to filter the flood of conflicting suggestions, they lose the capacity to resist popular deceptions. Any new information that captures the public imagination becomes acceptable, normal and real — no matter how fictional or fantastic its source. And if our children are not prepared to take a stand, they may yield their hearts to this process with little resistance.

While many pastors and church leaders have written books that describe this spiritual transformation, the message of Pastor Brian McLaren carries more weight since he is an acknowledged leader in this movement. Some of his articles are posted at www.pastors.com, a website founded by Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life.  McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian, is written as a semi-fictional dialogue, so that readers can experience the thrill of questioning old truths and discovering new truth through the dialectic process. Notice how the introduction touts the postmodern worldview while raising doubts about Biblical faith:

“I realize, as I read and reread the Bible, that many passages don’t fit any of the theological systems I have inherited or adapted. Sure, they can be squeezed in, but after a while my theology looks like a high school class trip’s luggage–shoestrings hanging out here, zippers splitting apart there….

“I read what other people who are having similar experiences are saying, including people writing outside of the religious context — like this from Peter Senge: ‘In any case, our Industrial Age management…. our Industrial Age way of living will not continue…. It’s not sustainable in ecological terms, and it’s not sustainable in human terms. It will change. The only question is how….’

“Doesn’t the religious community see that the world is changing? Doesn’t it have anything fresh and incisive to say? Isn’t it even asking new questions? Has it nothing to offer other than the stock formulas that it has been offering? Is there no Saint Francis or Soren Kierkegaard or C.S. Lewis in the house with some fresh ideas and energy?’…

“I meet people along the way who model for me, each in a different way, what a new kind of Christian might look like. They differ in many ways, but they generally agree that the old show is over, the modern jig is up, and it’s time for something radically new…. You begin to wonder if maybe you’re at the front edge of something — if your tentative and anxious steps ‘off the map’ are actually the beginning of a new adventure into terra nova, new ground, fresh territory.”[3, page xiv-xv]

“…if we have a new world, we will need a new church. We won’t need a new religion per se, but a new framework for our theology. Not a new Spirit, but a new spirituality. Not a new Christ, but a new Christian.“[3, page xvi] Emphasis added

Something new and fresh! That’s an ongoing quest of the Church Growth Movement. Leaders like Rick Warren may not go as far afield as Brian McLaren, but they know well that the diverse seekers want something more contemporary than the old gospel that has opened eyes and changed hearts for the two millennia. As Pastor Warren wrote on page 325 in The Purpose-Driven Life, “I have deliberately used paraphrases in order to help you see God’s truth in new, fresh ways.” [emphasis in the original]  Are our leaders forgetting that the freshness comes when the Holy Spirit breathes God’s life-changing message through those treasured old words? [See Psalm 119:11]

A little later, Brian McLaren describes — through the mouth of his leading character “Neo” — what many postmodern leaders see as changing mental “Models” or worldview. Ponder his quotes from The Discarded Image, apparently the last book written by C. S. Lewis. But first he gives an interesting description of the dialectic process. The proper Hegelian (and Soviet) dialogue doesn’t allow a participant to argue a point from his own point of view. Instead of taking a stand on God’s unchanging Word, you are trained to let go of your own convictions in order to empathically (or emotionally) enter into the convictions of the other members and, in the process, question and criticize your own beliefs in light of the new suggestions:

“Most modern people love to relativize the viewpoints of the others against the unquestioned superiority of their own modern viewpoint. But in a way, you cross the threshold into postmodernity the moment you turn your critical scrutiny from others to yourself, when you relativize your own modern viewpoint. When you do this, everything changes. It is like a conversion. You can’t go back. You begin to see that what seemed like pure, objective certainty really depends heavily on a subjective preference for your personal viewpoint. In this next quote, Lewis makes exactly these very postmodern moves and emphasized how one’s subjective posture affects what one sees and ‘knows objectively.’… Listen to Lewis in his own words:’

“There is no question here of the old Model’s being shattered by the inrush of new phenomena…. When changes in the human mind produce a sufficient disrelish of the old Model and a sufficient hankering for some new one, phenomena to support that new one will obediently turn up….”[3, page 36] [4, 221]

“We must recognize that what has been called ‘a taste in universes’ is not only pardonable but inevitable. We can no longer dismiss the change of Models as a simple progress from error to truth. No Model is a catalogue of ultimate realties, and none is a mere fantasy. Each is a serious attempt to get in all the phenomena known at a given period, and each succeeds in getting in a great many. But also, no less surely, each reflects the prevalent psychology of an age almost as much as it reflects the state of that age’s knowledge….”

‘Lewis concludes his book with a fascinating prediction…

“It is not impossible that our own Model will die a violent death, ruthlessly smashed by an unprovoked assault of new facts — unprovoked as the nova of 1572. But I think it is more likely to change when, and because, far-reaching changes in the mental temper of our descendents demand that it should. The new Model will not be set up without evidence, but the evidence will turn up when the inner need for it becomes sufficiently great. It will be true evidence.’ [3-page 37]  [4, 222-223] Emphasis added

“What Lewis imagined to be ‘not impossible’ some generations away–the death of the modern model or worldview–turns out to be happening just a single generation after he wrote…’[3-page 37]

McLaren didn’t complete the above sentence but his point was made. Two paradigm shifts have occurred in the last thirty years, and the years ahead promise to be more wrenching than any previous time. The world’s hostility will surely be aimed at those who continue to walk in “the old paths, where the good way is….” Jeremiah 6:16.

Our website often receives angry email from youth- and children’s pastors who echo Pastor McLaren’s doubts and desires. They have embraced the world’s intolerance toward those who take a stand on Biblical truth or use its teachings as a filter to discern God’s view of good and evil. How then can they prepare our children to follow God?

Never have our children been surrounded by so many spiritual counterfeits, seductive suggestions and occult images. And seldom has the Christian community been less prepared to resist such spiritual temptations. It’s up to us as parents and grandparents to teach them to stand strong against these deceptions, put on the whole Armor of God, and walk by the light God gave us in His Word. We can’t trust Christian schools or youth pastors to fulfill our God-given assignment. But when we do trust God, prepare our own hearts, teach His Word and train our children to follow His narrow way, we will know a fellowship in our families that far exceeds the fleeting, deceptive fun that the world offers.

      “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

      “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:6

Please read Twelve reasons not to see Harry Potter movies

Movie Magic and Unconscious Learning & Harry Potter Overview

Endnotes:

1. Holland Cotter, “Films that keep Asking, Is it Fact or Fiction?” New York Times, 1-19-01.

2. J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (New York: Scholastic Press, 1999).

3. Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001), xiv-xv, xvi.

4. C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (Cambridge University Press, 1964), 221-113.