Harry Potter and Orthodoxy
The Old Calendarist Bishop Auxentios, of the Synod in Resistance movement wrote an article criticizing critics of Harry Potter, using the label "fundamentalist." In his mind, Orthodox Christians who take a strong stance against Harry Potter are thinking like fundamentalists. When anyone accuses an Orthodox Christian of thinking like a fundamentalist, they commit the fallacy known as argument ad hominem, which tries to invalidate a position by attacking the character of those who hold to it. This is a fallacy because the truth of a position is independent of the character of those who believe it. As an Orthodox Christian who has seriously studied the biblical teaching against witchcraft, I have to strongly disagree with that label. Accusing Orthodox Christians of thinking like a"fundamentalist" in this case is actually character assassination, because fundamentalism arose from a controversy between conservative and liberal Presbyterians at the old Seminary at Princeton University. It was a response to theological modernism. Fundamentalism is rooted in Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge, B.B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen. Contrary to the accusation, this is about Orthodox (not Presbyterian) Christians who disagree with Bishop Auxentios and people like him. This is about disagreeing. And even if a person were a fundamentalist, it doesn't logically follow that he/she is wrong in his/her assessment of Harry Potter. Rejecting an argument because of a label is an Ad Hominem Fallacy. Former witches themselves have denounced Harry Potter. I would argue that Christians have the right, indeed biblically the duty to disagree. Christians should not expose their souls to anything evil. The Harry Potter story trivializes, glorifies, and glamorizes something God utterly despises [witchcraft, magic, spells], and Potter is often immoral and later rewarded for it. Potter does not set a good example for youth. Whenever in doubt about something, ask yourself this question: "Would I want to be doing this, or reading this, or watching this if Christ were to come at this moment?" Would you want to be caught by Christ watching a Harry Potter movie, or reading a book about him if Christ were to return at that precise moment? Dr. Kate Behr (Orthodox), former professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary has written about Harry Potter and appears to actually be a fan.
There is no valid parallel between C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," and Harry Potter. The former promotes a Christian worldview, where Christ is Lord and defeats evil. In Harry Potter, an occult worldview is promoted, witchcraft is glorified and glamorized, Potter is immoral and honored and awarded for it, and there is no Christ or Christian God acknowledged. Harry Potter desensitizes children to witchcraft and Satan's domain.
Statistics prove that the Harry Potter series has actually led to a rise in witchcraft among teenagers. Dismissing these statistics and sources, just because they are from non-Orthodox sources or investigators is the Base Rate Fallacy and the Ad Hominem Fallacy. The critic must engage the evidence.
FACTS
The Pagan Federation of England has stated that Potter's fame has given credibility to the religion of witchcraft, attracting thousands of enquirers.
Witchcraft is the fastest growing religion among teenagers.
Co-authors of Harry Potter and the Global Child explain the dangers of desensitizing children to the dangers of the occult and pagan philosophy taught in Harry Potter's Hogwarts school of Witchcraft.
Bill Schnoebelen, a former Mason, said children are being desensitized to the weirdness quotient. He calls it Witchcraft 101.
Almost 50 percent of teens polled have seen the first Harry Potter movie or read the books. Out of the teens polled, 53 percent are between the ages of 13 and 14. 12 percent of those exposed to Potter said they were interested in Witchcraft. Of those 12 percent, 4 percent said they were a lot more interested in Witchcraft. 8 percent were a little more interested as a result of one of the books or movie. Even though this accounts for a small amount of teenagers, it's still about 5 percent of all U.S. teens.
More than a million students say that they were more interested in witchcraft as a result of Harry Potter.
(Source: video "The Gods Of Entertainment" -- Caryl Matrisciana). If you see this video, use caution because some ungodly images are used.
"The old dread and fear of the serpent is being subtly removed from our culture" --Caryl Matriciana.
Recommended Book: "Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca," by Craig Hawkins. This book refutes witchcraft and paganism from Scripture and logic. He also wrote a smaller book called, "Goddess Worship, Witchcraft, and Neo-Paganism," which essentially does the same job.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON HARRY POTTER
Harry Potter and the Bible : The Menace Behind the Magick, by Albanes;
Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture, by O'Brien;
An overview of Harry Potter.
http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_HarryPotter.html
Montenegro has an article on each Harry Potter book (except book 6, which she wrote about briefly in her article on book 7) and an article on each Harry Potter movie. Go to this page and look under Book Evaluations for the articles on the books and under Movie Evaluations for the movie articles:
http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles.html
Another piece of important information. Llewellyn publishers supply more books in America on the Occult, than any other publisher. Their sales have increased since Harry Potter was published.
Dr. Shildes Johnson holds three doctorates. He wrote: "Today, the chief religious influence of Masonry may be observed in the Unitarian-Universalist Church, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), and in witchcraft." (Johnson, Is Masonry a Religion? pp. 12-13).
Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan: "Many of you have already read my writings identifying TV as the new god. There is a little thing I neglected to mention up until now-- television is the major mainstream infiltration for the New Satanic religion." (LaVey, The Devil's Notebook, p. 89).
Former witches Doreen Virtue and William Schnoebelen have spoken out against Harry Potter. William is a former Mason and Wiccan High Priest.
The creator of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling said she drew from Greek religions, Roman religions, paganism, druidism, Satanism; and she said a lot of her research came from actual witchcraft and the dark arts. (See: Harry Potter Witchcraft Repackaged / Interview The Berean Call).