Christians and HP revisited

[eric_and_lauri]

Dear Beth,

As a Christian (and home-educating mum of 3 who are also great HP 
fans) I've experienced similar questions.  Connie Neal wrote two 
books - The Gospel According to Harry Potter and What's a Christian 
to do with Harry Potter.  (I think she's at connieneal.com)  Either 
book will arm you with the kind of answers your dad seems to be 
seeking.  They provided me with some good info/catch phrases for my 
querying MIL. Well - the kind of answers that silence the questions 
and make the uninformed questioner meekly say, "Oh."

If you're seeking a good, though-provoking look at the issue - 
Charmed Life by Francis Bridger is brilliant.  The author is an 
Anglican priest and he examines the books from an intellectual AND 
Christian perspective. (Yes! It's possible!)  It's a terrific book 
and gives a lot of insight into the series from an enjoyment 
perspective, as well. I LOVE, LOVE this book.  It's heavier reading 
than the Connie Neal books but really brilliant.

Last year I assigned my 13 yo dd a literary study of one of the HP 
books.  She chose GOF. (Brave girl! Clever girl!)  Among the studies 
she did on plot lines, characters, cause and effect, etc. was THEME.  
She chose three of the main themes JKR was telling us.  (A vital 
thing to establish when reading any book - What's the author's 
message?)  The three themes were Good vs. Evil, The Dangers of 
Gambling, and Slavery.  She analyzed what JKR says (during the course 
of the book) about these issues.  She then researched what the Bible 
says about the very same issues, and she compared the two.  Surprise, 
surprise.  The messages aligned.  This is the very thing I'm trying 
to teach my children - not to fear the very existence of a book (is 
it a werebook?) but to be able to analyze what the message of the 
book is and compare it with what their faith teaches and make 
decisions accordingly as independent thinkers.  


Lauri