Facing The Challenge Web Site (long)

[lupinesque]

ChrisHolloway999 wrote:

>  for Christian 
> parents who are interested in the debate about whether the HP books 
> could lead to kids developing an interest in the occult there is a 
> very good article at  www.facingthechallenge.org/potter.htm.

 <snip>

> I think the article at  www.facingthechallenge.org/potter.htm gives 
a 
> balanced and objective analysis of Harry Potter and aims to help 
> towards a more reasoned and thought-through response to the Harry 
> Potter film and books

Ah, my favorite two topics:  HP and religion!  <Amy rubs hands 
together gleefully>

The article proposes to "[explore] the different Christian responses," 
which seems very promising.  I would think that for a Christian trying 
to make any difficult decision, it would be most helpful if the person 
advising them would admit, "Christians take a variety of points of 
view on this question--here are their arguments."  The article starts 
off by offering two rather extreme, and in the author's mind, 
apparently equally problematic views:

"There have been two kinds of response by Christian parents to Harry 
Potter:

  "'I can't see any harm in it. It encourages the kids to read. It 
gets them thinking
  about good and evil. It's just a story - the kids know it isn't 
real. It's no different
  from Roald Dahl or C S Lewis. I'll probably take the kids to see the 
film myself
  when it comes out.' 
  "'It's dangerous. It encourages an interest in the occult. We should 
avoid it. I
  won't let my kids see it at all.' 

"Is there a better way?"

I was wary because of the rather simplistic division, but I could see 
that the writer was trying to set up something more complex.  "Great," 
I thought, "we're going to hear some views from Christians who 
actively *embrace* Harry Potter.  And we'll see some give-and-take 
between them and Christians who think they've got it all backwards.  
This should be really challenging!"  Furthermore, the article had 
promised to "[encourage] careful thought and discussion, whatever 
conclusions you and your family reach."  So I read on with hope, but 
was disappointed.  Instead of offering several Christian alternatives 
to match the (at least) several Christian attitudes one finds towards 
the books, the article offers one alternative:  treat HP with great 
caution, because although it isn't the end of the world, it isn't a 
good thing, either.  Thus the article advises that parents think about 
how they will respond if their child takes an interest in Harry 
Potter, have alternatives if they decide to forbid it, and "spend time 
helping [the children] think Christianly and critically" about what 
they read.  While these are good pieces of advice any Christian parent 
would be glad to follow (well, okay, there are always those 
know-nothings who don't want their kids to think critically at all, 
but we can set that aside), the absence of a positive Christian view 
of HP is quite glaring if one knows the literature.

Another disappointment is that the set-up to the questions, and their 
phrasing, are very leading.  The questions "How does the worldview of 
Harry Potter fit in with a Christian worldview?  How does it differ?" 
follow a paragraph on the absence of God in HP and three quotes that 
all take the same point of view (I'll return to the specifics of the 
p.o.v. in a bit).  This is not a very good way to stimulate 
discussion.  It is a good way to get people thinking in your track and 
staying there.
     
But to turn to one of the specific questions--ah, here's a meaty one. 
 The question before us is "good and evil."  The article states, "It's 
often been argued that the Harry Potter books and films have a strong 
emphasis on good vs. evil," gives two quotes to this effect, and then 
says that this argument is naive.  The study questions that follow 
are:

"How is the conflict between good and evil portrayed in the world of 
Harry Potter? How is it similar to the Christian understanding? How is 
it different?"

I realize that study questions are always overly simplistic, but 
still, that "the Christian understanding" irks.  What *is* "the" 
Christian understanding of good and evil?  Christian sects and 
theologians have a wide variety of opinions, and the point at which 
some Christians disagree with Harry Potter is precisely the point at 
which they disagree with some other Christians:  whether it is 
advisable (or indeed moral) to portray "the conflict between good and 
evil [as] very confused."

See, I believe that this conflict *is* confused ("confusing" would be 
a better word, I think, but I am quoting the website).  The great 
difficulty of being a good person is that it is so frequently very 
difficult to know what is right or wrong, especially if one looks at 
the ultimate end of one's actions.  E.g., was Harry right to keep 
Sirius and Lupin from killing Pettigrew?  Christian arguments pro 
might include mercy, justice (i.e., Pettigrew may deserve death, but 
only following due process) and various Biblical prohibitions on 
capital punishment (Matt. 5:38, John 8:3-7).  Christian arguments con 
might include the evils that result from Pettigrew's escape (the 
murders committed by Voldemort, etc.) and various exhortations to 
capital punishment (Ex. 21--many examples, Lev. 21--many examples, 
Deut. 19, etc.).  And of course there is the matter of judging Harry 
as we would a real human being, i.e. as someone who doesn't know the 
next step in the story.  He thinks Peter is going to Azkaban; he 
doesn't know that he will escape, nor that he will be one of the 
deciding factors in Voldemort's return to power.  We can, of course, 
refrain from judging Harry and still judge that *JKR* is sending the 
message that good deeds sometimes yield evil results; and what if she 
is?  There is nothing un-Christian in believing that the good suffer 
while the evil flourish, at least in the short run (Eccl. 4:1, etc.; 
Acts 7:58 and countless other examples).  (Those who respond that all 
will be well in heaven should then assume the same of JKR's world, and 
be reasurred that rewards await Cedric and the others.)

I can't pretend to be giving a Christian view; I am not a Christian.  
But many commentators on Harry Potter are, including members of this 
list, and many of them, like countless other Christians I know, 
believe that it can be very difficult indeed to judge whether an 
action is good or evil in its consequences--that this can be known, in 
fact, only in the end times by the mind of God.  This is not at all a 
relativistic point of view; it is not exempting Harry, JKR, or any 
Christian from making moral choices; it is simply admitting that we 
cannot know how the results of our actions will turn out.  Even in the 
moment it is not easy to know what is right and what is wrong.  Lying 
is wrong, but some Christians believe it is sometimes justified in 
service to a greater end; killing is wrong, but it's justified in the 
Bible all over the place.  

I think the Facing the Challenge article would be greatly strengthened 
by referring to Christians who take this view (and parallel ones for 
the other questions).  The purpose of the article is to help 
Christians, parents in particular, to decide whether Harry Potter is 
consonant with their religion.  Surely one cannot pull out a single 
thread from Christianity and solve their dilemma for them that way.  
It would be like telling someone who is wondering whether to baptize 
their child at birth, "Oh yes, here's the proof" and offering them a 
few Catholic writings with the Biblical proof-texts used by Catholics. 
 Surely one would have to at least add, "On the other hand, the 
Baptists say . . . " and offer some arguments for adult baptism, along 
with the Biblical proof-texts used by Baptists.  Otherwise one is all 
but deciding the question by careful selection of which Christian 
opinion one will cite.

For another example from the same section (can you tell this is one of 
my favorite theological questions?):  in Rowling's portrayal of good 
and evil, the article says, "'Good' people do bad things. 'Bad' people 
sometimes do good things."  According to the author, this is a 
problem--in fact, it is opposed to "the Christian understanding" (that 
monolithic Christianity again).

My understanding of *most* Christianity is that it does not believe 
people are all one or the other.  Biblical examples abound; those who 
are portrayed as the wisest and best are also deeply flawed.  David 
had his faithful soldier murdered in order to cover up his own 
adultery (2 Sam 11); Solomon had a thousand sexual partners (1 Kings 
11:3); Paul said of himself, "the good that I would I do not: but the 
evil which I would not, that I do" (Rom 7:19).  Is this confusing?  
Well, yes, it is, but "sin dwelleth" even in the saints (Rom 7:20), so 
confusion is our lot.  Fortunately we are not without guides.  JKR 
does not endorse bad acts just because they are done by generally good 
people, any more than the Bible endorses the sins of David, Solomon or 
Paul.

In fact, when people praise HP by saying "it's about the struggle 
between good and evil," I tend to yawn.  Saying a book is about good 
and evil is like saying it's about love:  it's so general as to be 
almost meaningless.  So, what *specifically* does Harry Potter tell us 
about the conflict between good and evil?  A lot of things:  that it 
is so important that it's better to die than to go over to the side of 
evil (PS: Harry's decision to go after the Stone), that it costs 
dearly and isn't won without sacrifice and loss (GF: Cedric), that the 
people who are unpleasant are not necessarily the people who do the 
greatest harm (i.e. they're not "the bad guys"/Voldemort's supporters) 
(GF: Snape), that evil can result from seemingly trivial personality 
flaws (CS: Lockhart), that stubbornness and pride can lead otherwise 
good people to allow evil to prosper (GF: Fudge), etc. etc.  I don't 
think any of these messages are contradictory to Christianity.  Some 
Christians might think they are, but point by point I could show you 
Christian theologians, Biblical texts, etc. who take the opposite 
view.

For one final example, the article is troubled by the fact that Harry 
Potter is not an explicitly religious text.  

"One of the greatest dangers in Harry Potter may be that it doesn't 
recognise any genuine supernatural and moral order. There is no God in 
Potter's world."

This is the claim I find hardest to understand.  Many Christians would 
be mindboggled at the thought that a book is "dangerous" if it is not 
explicitly Christian.  Can one not illuminate truths held by 
Christians unless one mentions God?  The LOTR parallels have been done 
to death, but Middle Earth is a perfect example of a world without the 
Christian God (a world, in fact, whose cosmology explicitly 
contradicts both Genesis and evolution) whose overall message can 
nevertheless be interpreted as consonant with Christian morality.  In 
short, it makes no attempt to retell the Christian story or even to 
keep from contradicting it, but it conveys its messages nonetheless.  
Yet this article would seem to say that this is impossible; that a 
secular story cannot have a spiritual message that is true and good; 
that all stories must either be from Christian texts or new Christian 
allegories or else they are anti-Christian.  Rowling is silent on the 
origin of the moral order; so are most novelists.  This does not mean 
they don't believe there is one.  Again, Christians who write such 
novels and who praise such novels abound.

I have no objection to an article that tries to argue that Harry 
Potter is contradictory to Christianity and should be handled with 
care if at all.  However, this article does just this while *claiming* 
to be offering a wide variety of Christian opinions and options.  If 
the author is sincere in trying to do the latter, I would suggest 
adding links to Alan Jacobs's article "Harry Potter's Magic" 
(www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0001/reviews/jacobs.html); Connie 
Neal's book "What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter?"; and Massimo 
Introvigne's article "Harry Potter, a Christian Hero?".  These are 
just off-the-top-of-my-head valuable resources for any Christian 
trying to sort out Harry Potter and will balance the biases of the 
article as currently written.  I recommend them not because I believe 
that HP is compatible with Christianity and want people to reach that 
conclusion, but because I agree with your stated aim of helping people 
to reach a critical, faithful response to HP or any cultural 
phenomenon.  Non-Christian though I am, I have faith in people's 
ability to find the truth using their own minds, spurred by the 
insights of other thoughtful people of faith, and aided by grace.

Thanks for the thought-provoking link.

Amy Z