My thoughts on Harry Potter

For those of you who somehow missed the multi million dollar mass media campaign to announce and promote the release of the last Harry Potter film last weekend, I am here to tell you that it is all finally over. At least until someone figures out some way to milk the whole project for another couple hundred million.  Ever since the Harry Potter books began to rise in popularity there have been well meaning Christians out there who have been crying foul over the use of magic and denouncing the whole series as blatantly satanic.  A 30 second internet search will have no trouble whatsoever yielding you a myriad of  websites telling you that if you and your children are reading Harry Potter, you are probably going straight to Hell. I do not, however, agree with them. While I will be one of the first to admit that there are, in fact, some references and imagery from modern day wicca (witchcraft) I do not find it to be too particularly alarming. One of the things to remember about reading Harry Potter is that it does not occur in a vacuum. If we have lost our grip enough to throw out all our flashlights and start holding up sticks at shouting quasi Latin phrases like lumos in order to see in the dark, I don’t think Harry Potter is the real problem.  The problem is that you have begun to take fantasy literature and live it out in real life. But that is not the real point. The real point is that magic is not the focus or the point of the Harry Potter story. It is merely a means to an end. While I may find the wiccan imagery a bit on the dangerous side, what I find far more so is the theme of using people as tools and objects. Of rationalizing lying and rule breaking as good things and generally saying that the end justifies the means. As long as we are fighting for a good goal it doesn’t really matter how we achieve it.  Such themes go against everything we believe as Catholics and we are called to reject them. All that being said, however, I still recommend reading, if not owning, all the Harry Potter books. Rarely on the negative websites will you see any of the Christian imagery discussed. Nobody talks about how the Griffon has been seen as image of Christ himself, a combination of the lion and the eagle. The lion represents the king of beasts (everything on the earth) and the eagle is the king of the air (all birds, but can also represent everything non worldly, i.e. the spiritual realm). Christ is both of these.  The dark wizard is represented by the snake. Throughout Christian art and allegory the snake is always seen as a symbol of temptation and the devil (beginning in the Garden of Eden). Evil incarnate looks kind of like a snake, and so does Voldemort. There are a multitude of other Christian/Catholic symbols (like the phoenix, the stag, and the resurrection to name a few) but I won’t go into them here. The point is that they are there.  The real point of Harry Potter, both in the last book and in the last movie, is that there comes a point where good men and women must draw a line in the sand and say to evil, “no more.” That no matter how much we may deplore violence there are some things in this world worth fighting for, worth dying for. Harry dies at the end of the movie (sorry if I just spoiled things for some of you) and I was happy that he did so. He didn’t die in some epic confrontation or battle. Instead he willingly went forth and laid down his life for his friends. He gave his life so that others might have a chance to live.  No one forced him to do it, in fact his friends tried to talk him out of it. In the end he realized that to give his life was the only way to defeat evil and protect those whom he loved.  I seem to remember that being a major theme in another book I read recently.  Now is Harry Potter a perfect allegory of the Jesus Christ? No, not by a long shot. But are there really strong, good themes in the books that can inspire all of us (especially youth) to live better lives of self-giving love? Absolutely. These positive themes, just like the negative themes, need to be discussed within our families, and just because the books are appropriate for some doesn’t mean that they are appropriate for everyone. While I would recommend the books for those in high school and older, I would be more cautious about them depending on the maturity of younger readers, but that’s what parents are for.   As previously stated, Harry Potter doesn’t occur in a vacuum, it occurs in the real world in the context of our families and our friends.  Treating others as a objects or tools to be used (even for good reasons)  without recognizing their human dignity is always wrong, as is doing an evil action in order to get a good result. These themes run rampant in our secular world, not just Harry Potter. Themes of sacrificial love, chaste friendship, and dying for a good cause are not so readily available. 

Separation between Church and Self

I have been thinking a lot recently about the idea of separation Church and State.  As a general rule I understand and agree with the concept that the Church should stay out of political rule, and the government should stop trying to redefine human morality and truth. However, I think the idea of separation between Church and State has led many Catholics into a much more personal separation, the separation between Church and self. I began thinking about this idea Tuesday morning when I was discussing abortion, euthanasia, and homosexual marriage with some other men.  It was after we were done talking and I was on my way home that I realized that it is still legal to kill my child. Not Thomas (though some argue that it should be) but our baby that my wife has been toting around in her womb for the last 40 weeks or so.  Shawn could be born any day, or I could have him killed this afternoon and feminists everywhere would praise my choice to exercise my participation in this murderous act.  In fact many well-meaning Catholics and Christians in general see no problem with the legalized murder of innocent children, probably because they are too busy trying to get the death penalty abolished for convicted rapists and ensure a “death with dignity” for our nations aged. It all stems from a failure, as one of my friends put it, to recognize the sovereignty of Christ. I think it has something to do with the modern American trend of showing disdain for all authority who can make a claim to control how you live your life. As a general rule no one hates firefighters or EMTs, but lots of people love to talk about how much they hate police officers, teachers, or politicians.  The biggest difference is that police officers, teachers, and politicians have the authority to tell us how we need to live our lives.  I find that many Americans, especially youth and young adults, find any such control absolutely unacceptable. Even those who don’t usually find it at least a little uncomfortable.  When people find civil authority uncomfortable, is it any surprise that when it comes to matters of faith and morality that they would tend to rebel even more?  If we don’t like being told what speed to drive on the highway, is it any wonder that we get uptight when we are told what speed to go in our relationships?  While a separation between Church and State may be a good and valuable thing, a separation between Church and self is exactly the opposite, but it is even more necessary.  The struggle is greatest when we are asked to do something either extremely difficult or extremely personal. In other words, the things that ask us to truly put our money where our mouth is and not just say that we are Catholic, but actually live it out. Not just say that Christ is the most important thing in our lives, but actually live our lives as if we believe it. Isn’t that when we really have faith? When we put all that we have and all that we are into our prayer and offer it to God and agree to live our lives His way. We don’t use the copout of “If God is really a loving God He’ll understand.”  To take such a stance is to say that you don’t really trust in God.  You want to do your own thing and then demand that God approve of your actions in the name of “love.” What you really mean is that you want to be your own god. You want to call all the shots and decide what is right and wrong, sinful and good and then demand that others (especially God) approve of you and agree with your decisions.  People who want a separation of Church and self want to proclaim Christ as their king at Mass on Sunday, but don’t want to listen to that King when he tells them that abortion is murder, that marriage is meant to be a complete and mutual gift of self between a man and a woman (which contraception destroys), and that sex is not a casual pass time between two people who find each other reasonably attractive. To eliminate the separation between Church and self n our culture requires true courage, the kind that can only be attained through grace. The question is, will we ask for that grace?