Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Music
- Part II Film
- Part III Literature
- Chapter 10 James Hogg and the Demonology of Scottish Writing
- Chapter 11 Voldemort, Death Eaters, Dementors, and the Dark Arts: A Contemporary Theology of Spiritual Perversion in the Harry Potter Stories
- Bibliography
- Index of Subjects
- Index of Names
Chapter 11 - Voldemort, Death Eaters, Dementors, and the Dark Arts: A Contemporary Theology of Spiritual Perversion in the Harry Potter Stories
from Part III - Literature
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Music
- Part II Film
- Part III Literature
- Chapter 10 James Hogg and the Demonology of Scottish Writing
- Chapter 11 Voldemort, Death Eaters, Dementors, and the Dark Arts: A Contemporary Theology of Spiritual Perversion in the Harry Potter Stories
- Bibliography
- Index of Subjects
- Index of Names
Summary
The Harry Potter books are perceived in strikingly different ways. Some who are Christians, for instance, see them as promoting the occult and Satanism, and have tried, sometimes successfully, to ban them from libraries and schools. With the help of an article from the online The Onion magazine, the satire of which went unnoticed, this negative stance created a major urban myth. Other Christians, such as Jerram Barrs of The Francis Schaeffer Institute of Covenant Theological Seminary, St Louis, see them as morally unambiguous about the nature of good versus evil, promoting the good. He writes of J. K. Rowling's “very clear moral universe” (Barrs, 2003). A Pagan witch finds herself bemused by arguments that the Harry Potter stories are full of accurate and true information about witchcraft, and by accusations of Satanism. She writes that the “only ‘real’ witchcraft elements in the books, are the real stereotypes that have dogged Witchcraft for decades. Flying around on broomsticks, pointed witches' hats, and the shooting of lightning from magic wands, to name a few.” She points out that Wicca is a religion with a god and goddess. But “there is no spirituality,” she claims, “in these books and movies at all!” In contrast, a Jewish Rabbi, Noson Weisz, asserts that “The ‘Harry Potter’ books are not just novels. They are modern fairy tales with predominant spiritual themes.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Lure of the Dark SideSatan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture, pp. 182 - 195Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2009