Harry Potter books: Just where are all those Satanists?

For the past year I have been stark raving mad about the possibility that some relative, insensitive to or not knowing about my feelings on bringing anything smacking of the black arts, black magic, Satanism, quasi-Satanism, Maralyn Manson or anything else smacking of evil into my house, would get my now-twelve-year-old son one or more of the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter, Brit wizard-wanna-be and, some Christian groups say, devil worshipper and black-arts master.

That's the thing that makes Potter a media issue. Since I am Christian--I hate labels, but what else do you call one that claims Christ as her personal Savior?--(no, not a hypocrite, okay?, and that's another thing!)--I can't stand it when so-called Christian leaders try to legislate morality throughout society (in the home is one thing, but legislating morality "for our own good" I can't do! Who do you think you are, God?), especially when they are so wrong about it! A media issue occurs when, for one thing, some group tries to stifle free speech--the responsible kind, that is. A media issue occurs when expression is hammered by political correctness with a hidden agenda behind it. True, some claim that Potter is a sop to getting our children to be politically correct. True too, Harry Potter books aren't exactly Christian, what with all that New Age stuff, but devil worship? Can Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ben Kinchloe or any of those CBN folks PROVE that even one child has turned to Satan because he or she has read Harry Potter books? Where are the stats, Jerry? In your multitude of columns on "http://www.worldnetdaily.com" regarding Potter, can you site one statistic? I don't think so! And is Potter being used to turn our children into politically correct robots? Good God, you folks, don't you think you're giving the author a bit too much credit? So, I say you folks are stifling free expression. That's putting it mildly.

And how do I know that Harry Potter books are not harbingers of evil? Recently--still being in doubt about wanting my son exposed to Potter--I met a Christian homeschooling mom (at a karate tournament, no less) whose children read the Potter books--however, she too, having been in doubt about its moral standing, started reading the books herselfbefore she gave them to her kids. "They're no different than Tolkien, and not a whole lot less Christian than anything CS Lewis ever wrote." CS Lewis, of course, wrote the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, a staple in Christian Book Stores and Book Clubs everywhere. Quite simply, she sees nothing wrong with the books. Like many moms who buy the Potter books, she says the important thing is that those books get children to read. And how could I argue? I let my son, for the last four years or so, read the "Goosebumps" series by RL Stine (not to mention watch the series on TV). Anything squirrley in any of those books have not had any effect on him--he's an avid reader, good one too. He's got a good foundation and knows the difference between fantasy and reality.

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