I don't normally post comments but I believe there are dangers to Harry Potter that I need to speak about. Connie Neal avoided answering the question about statistics about children being led away, but the example below shows that it can and does happen and one of my concerns is that Harry Potter makes people think witchcraft is OK for children. Obviously parents are responsible for their individual chldren, but one can't help wonder how many children (in Christian homes) are out there with books of spells because their parents have bought all the commercial paraphenalia that goes with it.

This quote from Amazon.com -Amazon.co.uk: - shows that some of the spells were real.
" Where did the ideas for the wizard classes and magic spells come from?
Rowling: I decided on the school subjects very early on. Most of the spells are invented, but some of them have a basis in what people used to believe worked. "
I have also read, but cannot confirm, that she uses all the real names for witchcraft things. This is exposing our children to things they shouldn't be in to.

The speaker may have tried to bring good things from the book, but this doesn't tie in with the bible, especially Philippians 4:8 "think on whatever is good, pure, etc" Witchcraft doesn't fall into that category, the only power we should be dwelling on and using is that of Christ. Witchcraft is real and therefore dangerous to dwell on.

Also see Exodus 22: 18 "You shall not allow a sorceress to live" - and no I'm sot saying we should go out and kill anyone, however the verse shows how strongly God is against it.

Deut 18:10 -12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.

2 Chron 33:6 , 2 Kings 9:22, Mic 5:12, Nah 3:4, 1 Sam 15:23 all say similar things. In no place in the bible is witchcraft mentioned positively, always it is condemned by God. There is no "good" witch.

In the new testament it is likewise condemned: Gal 5:20 and in Acts 19:18, 19 where those who practiced magic burned their books once they were saved by God.

Anyway - some food for thought that maybe someone could use to give the biblical side of the story. As Christians the bible should always be our basis and first port of call to see what God thinks of anything.

I must admit that upon hearing your interview with Connie Neal on this topic, I was very sceptical. I happened to be driving home – and if I hadn’t been in the car I might have turned the program straight off. But now, I'm very glad I didn’t! Listening to Connie and her discussion on why she believes Harry Potter is not ‘all bad’ from a Christian perspective caused me to re-think my typical Christian prejudice towards the much acclaimed children’s fantasy story.

My negative view was formed by my childhood experiences with Harry Potter. In Grade 9 one of my best friends who was a Christian (and I was not at the time) urged me to read the Harry Potter series. Previously I had thought they were too large and well out of my league as a reader. But I decided to find out for myself what this craze was that everyone was talking about and launched myself into the World of Hogwarts and other imaginary creatures. Before long, I found myself actually “addicted to Harry Potter”. Every spare moment I had, I was reading Harry Potter (which was quite an accomplishment for me at the time, not considering myself an excellent reader). I would lock myself in my room for hours on end, enthralled and completely captivated by this imaginary world. But, the moment finally came where I had to come to the end of the fourth book (at the time, this was last one out). I remember turning the last page of the book and dreading actually reading it, because it meant that there would be no more books to continue on with – for Harry Potter had become my secret world. My escape from the pressures of life, in fact my fulfilment almost. I didn’t know what I could do to re-create the feelings I felt when I was reading Harry Potter. Thus, I began my search into the deep dark and mysterious world of witchcraft. The book had seemed so lustrous and adventure filled, compared with my boring and mundane life that I just simply had to find what they had! And, I had to find out if a world of witchcraft actually existed. Hence, I became obsessed with searching for Hogwarts, continually researching things online, thinking about where portals might be and searching for contacts of real which’s in my area – which thanks to God now, I didn’t actually find. There was even a time where I was convinced that I was a which and began practising real divinations. By this time, my friends thought I was almost mad, but had some friends who actually practiced them with me!

It was about this time in my life when my Dad decided that life was not going where he had imagined it and took us all to our local AOG Church – which I was not very happy about. Dad said at the time, “we are all one family and we will all go to the same church” (previously Mum, my brothers and I had continued attending the Catholic Church whilst Dad was going to the AOG church). As a typical teenager, I sat slouched in the chair, hands crossed with “Don’t want to be here” written all over my forehead. I refused to listen to the sermon, would not stand up during Praise and Worship and hated the thought of my parents doing it either. However, week after week, God slowly chipped away at my hurting heart and eventually fulfilled the gap in my life that I had tried to fill with Harry Potter and Witchcraft. I could not explain exactly what happened or how it happened – but I eventually realised that God offered so much more than what those books or Witchcraft could ever offer – but what’s more – it was all true! Before, I had a hope that another might exist with magic and fantasy, but with Christ, I found truth that was real and proven. He changed my world.

And since that moment, when I accepted Christ into my heart, I developed almost a hatred in my heart towards Harry Potter, believing that it sent children to witchcraft. I refused to watch any of the Harry Potter Movies and would not let it in the house (until my Dad brought it home one night – which I was absolutely furious about!). However, I could not really give anyone any good or hard evidence for why I believed that it was bad – I just thought that, if it did this to me than what could it be doing to other children. I even judged other Christians for allowing it in their household (and even my Dad).

Now I realise that my hate was born out of a pure heart – but the thinking of a ‘new Christian’. You see, as a new Christian, I was full of passion and zeal and love of my saviour that I wanted to stand up for anything that was bad or an injustice. And, having experienced the negative effects of Harry Potter, I was quick to judge Harry Potter as all evil and no good.

However, listening to Connie Neal’s insights into the good that she has seen come from Harry Potter has really made me think. As Christian’s sometimes we have these strong views, but don’t have any evidence to back them up. If we believe something, it is so important to back it up. And, just because one Christian believes something to be bad or wrong, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is bad for you. Each person is different and going through different experiences. I think Connie Neal was very right in saying that as parents one needs to parent each child individually. If Harry Potter is affecting your child, then talk with them about it and find out why it is and how they can counter act it. For me, it affected me badly because I was searching for something more in life. I was after truth. And, if at the time I had of had strong Christian parents to explain to me that I could find truth in Christ Jesus, I might have never gone down the road that I did. But, it doesn’t really matter in the end – because God used it to work for good. He used that negative experience to draw me to Him, to offer me the truth. And I thank God everyday for His amazing grace! Now, 5 years on, I am 20 years old and still following God more passionately than ever – just with a bit more wisdom and knowledge in my hand.

I understand and share some of the reservations expressed about the Harry Potter novels and movies. Chief amongst such concerns is the popularisation, indeed the trendification, of the occult for children. Let me explain.

Others would argue (and indeed, have argued) that the problem lies not so much in the presence of magic, but in the apparent indistinguishability of the worlds of the Muggle and the initiate. Consider, for example, magical train platforms between platforms; magical buses that travel Muggle streets; a government Ministry devoted to magic etc. Whilst this is true, I would argue that it is hardly atypical of children's literature in general, nor necessarily damning in and of itself: is Hogwarts truly any less distinct than, say, Narnia? Would any of us hesitate to allow a child to read other forms of fiction on the basis that it is set in the 'real world'?

Indeed I believe that a careful, controlled exposure to such literature will aid a child in understanding the gap between truth and fiction. Children come into contact with harmful bacteria every day and, far from being a bad thing, this is a very important part of the development of their immune system; in a similar way, children are far better off coming into contact with fiction - of all types - under a controlled environment than to be isolated from them at home, and thus unprepared when encountered through a friend or at school. (Obviously this attitude should not be carried to extremes - I would not advocate this parent's technique for example! [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/07/08/])

The chief difference then between J. K. Rowling's world and other, less controversial, fantasy worlds is the way it portrays the occult as being within the reach of children. Oft-cited Christian comparisons, such as Tolkien's Middle-Earth and Lewis' Narnia, see the concept of 'magic' vested either in magical objects (wands, staffs, rings etc.), in adults, or both. Even most secular writers, writing for a children's market, seem to follow this convention: consider, for example, Roald Dahl's Witches or Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland. Rowling, however, breaks new ground: any Muggle child, given the right circumstances, can master magic. And this is both the allure and the danger.

Having said all that I myself have enjoyed both the novels and movies published to date. It's just that I reserve the right to decide when my (as yet future) kids would be exposed to them. To this end, I have made a deliberate to purchase the novels in their 'adult' editions i.e. the ones with the more or less black covers. My theory is that if they don't look like books for kids then my kids will be less likely to pick them out off the shelf.

Perhaps this stance makes me a hypocrite, although I don't believe so. My guiding principle is that expressed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. "Be careful... that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak." (1 Cor 8:9) To this end, I will myself give up fantasy literature and purge it from my home if I ever believe that it is becoming a stumbling block for my children. However, I believe that the corollary to this is that it is a parent's responsibility to teach their child about the freedom that we have in Christ - I believe that this is borne out by a thoughtful reading of 1 Corinthians 8, and particularly 1 Corinthians 10:23 - 11:1.