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Sorcery Sells, and the Young Are Buying by Laura Mallory
Published on: 06/10/07 ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION - Since
2005, Laura Mallory of Loganville has sought to have Harry Potter
books removed from Gwinnett County Public Schools, going before
the Gwinnett Board of Education, the Georgia Board of Education
and Gwinnett County Superior Court. She is now considering taking
her fight to federal court. This week, she wrote the following piece
for AJC Gwinnett Opinions.
The mass media today knows all too well that "sorcery sells," and
the market is none other than ... ? You guessed it - our children.
Just take a look at the flood of occult books, movies, television
shows, video games, and there's no denying it. Many children and
teens today, fascinated with Harry Potter, are seeking Harry's power.
What exactly is Harry's power? Where does it come from? Is it just
"harmless fantasy" power or perhaps something more? Let's take a
closer look at the effects of Harry Potter on this generation.
Taken from the book "We Love Harry Potter and We'll Tell You Why,"
here are a few kids' ideas:
"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic.
I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells." - Dylan, age 10.
"If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells,
and potions and fly a broomstick." - Mara, age 12.
"It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations
and things like teachers." - Jeffrey, age 11.
"I'd like to go to wizard school, learn magic and put spells on
people. I'd make up an ugly spell, and then it's payback time!"
- Catherine, age 9.
"I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school,
I'd study everything: spells, counterspells and defense against
the Dark Arts." - Carolyn, age 10.
"I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort
drank its blood." - Julie, age 13
These are typical responses given by children when asked if they'd
like to have Harry's power.
But what about casting spells? Is it just fantasy?
The Association of Teachers & Lecturers, a teachers union in Great
Britain, says, "This goes far beyond a case of reading a Harry Potter
story. This represents an extremely worrying trend among young people."
Please consider this small portion of transcript taken from an
NPR (National Public Radio) report done on May 13, 2004. The profile
was "Teens and Wicca" on the radio show "All Things Considered:"
"It's hard to know the exact numbers, but Wicca is believed to be
one of the fastest-growing religions among high school and college
students."
The Barna Research Group , a marketing research firm serving Christian
ministries, polled 612 teenagers between the ages of 13-19. The
results. "Teenagers who have read Harry Potter books or have seen
the Harry Potter movie were more likely to have experimented with
psychic or occult activities than those teens who had not ... the
study revealed that 41 percent of teens have seen the Potter film
or have read one or more of the Potter books. As a result of watching
the movie or reading the books, 12 percent said they were more interested
in witchcraft."
Wiccan/witch Silver Ravenwolf is only too happy to help your teens
in becoming witches, having written numerous books and guides on
spells and witchcraft, such as her "Teen Witch Kit" and "Teen Witch:
Wicca for a New Generation." High Priestess and witch Kate West
offers "The Real Witches' Handbook," written in a way that makes
it accessible for beginners and young readers. There are plenty
more, but don't forget the Internet, where everything is only a
click away. One search on "witchcraft" yields more than 7 million
results. Are we really so naïve to think this is "just fantasy?"
The Pagan Federation is an organization promoting Paganism, which
encompasses witchcraft. Christian author Berit Kjos cites a 1999
report in the "This is London" entertainment guide of The Evening
Standard, in which Federation media officer Andrew Norfolk said
the pagan organization does not admit members under age 18, but
it "deals with an average of 100 inquiries a month from youth who
want to become witches," and has occasionally been "swamped" with
calls. Norfolk is further quoted as saying, "In response to the
increased queries coming from youngsters, we established a youth
officer," and " ... it is quite probably linked to things like Harry
Potter, 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch' and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer.'"
When are we going to wake up to what the mass media is feeding
our kids?
Abraham Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the school room in one
generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." The
Bible was in America's schools for over 200 years and not removed
until 1962. Now witchcraft is being promoted in our classrooms.
According to Dr. Lisa Eickholdt's testimony at the Gwinnett County
School Board hearing (p.42 of the transcript) Harry Potter books
are being used as a text.
The Gwinnett County case was not about the books being removed
from the libraries, but about them being used in the classrooms
and their promotion of witchcraft.
And did you know Scholastic Inc. is the publisher of the Harry
Potter series, as well as the publisher of our public school textbooks?
There is an anti-Christian world-view agenda today in our schools
and government, and Harry Potter clearly undermines a Biblical world
view, replacing it with a Pagan world view. To put it simply, that's
not fair, and it's time to say so. More than 3,000 protests/challenges
have been filed against Harry Potter by concerned parents across
the United States as reported by the American Library Association.
So not everyone is so wild about Harry.
Though Harry is a "hero" to many in this generation, actor Daniel
Radcliffe, who has become the face of Harry Potter in the movies,
has recently done the nude film, "Equus," portraying Alan Strang,
a young stable hand who not only has a pathological sexual fascination
with horses but a cruelty beyond explanation in his mutilation to
blindness of six of them with a spike. Radcliffe has, however, signed
to do the rest of the Harry Potter movies. He is but one example
of a child in our culture left to his own whims and not conformed
by Biblical precepts.
Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." (1 Cor.
15: 33)
So what are concerned parents to do? What are we as a nation to
do if witchcraft really is one of the fastest-growing religions
among teenagers today as some reports show? Has the church perhaps
grown "lukewarm" or even cold?
Occult expert, author and producer Caryl Matrisciana reminds us,
"In various ways our children are beleaguered by bad company resulting
in rebellion against parents, the Church and God's morality. The
Bible predicts, "children will rise up against parents ... (Matt
10:21) "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, backbiters, haters
of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient
to parents ... ." (Romans 1: 29-30)
Remember, witchcraft is not "just fantasy," no matter how it's
portrayed. Here's a quick list of real occult/ witchcraft practices
found in the Harry Potter series: Spell casting, astrology, fortune
telling, numerology, divination, palmistry, charms, crystal-ball
gazing, out-of-body travel, spirit-channeling, and shape-shifting.
Caryl's video, "Witchcraft Repackaged - Making Evil Look Innocent,"
is an excellent source to help make the connection between Potter
and Wicca witchcraft.
Witchcraft has been around for thousands of years and is an abomination
- detestable, vile and abhorred - to God. "There shall not be found
among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through
the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one
who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells,
or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all
who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because
of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before
you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these
nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners;
but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you."
(Deut. 18:10-14).
God warns us of it for our own good. He offers us hope, mercy and
truth through His Word, the Bible, the No. 1 bestseller of all time,
and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
My prayer is that this generation will know the truth that will
set them free and know Him who will bring them true peace. My prayer
is that they will know the Lord personally and experience His infinite
saving and healing power and turn to Him with all their hearts.
My prayer is for revival.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life." (John 3:16).
o Laura Mallory is an ordained minister, former missionary and
the mother of four. She lives in Loganville. For more information,
visit her Web site: www.HisVoiceToday.org
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