The "Abomination" of Harry Potter
By Jason Carlson and Ron Carlson
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I've got some great ideas for a new series of children's books.  Let me share some of them with you:
 
1) Perry Hotter and the Dirty Crack Pipe- A young boy is shipped off to live in an inner-city crack house.  In this crack house, the boy is trained in the ways of illicit drug production, use, and distribution.  Perry has wonderful adventures learning about creating more effective highs, outwitting the bad crack dealers, and teaching other young kids about the joys of drug use.
 
2) Perry Hotter and the Jihadist's Bomb-belt- A young boy is shipped off to an Al Qaeda training camp.  At this training camp, the boy is trained in the covert practices of subverting American laws, developing dirty bombs, and using a sword to cut off an infidel's head.  Perry's amazing exploits include evading U.S. spy planes, purchasing nuclear materials from Chechen rebels, and developing jihadist literature to share with his friends at school.
 
3) Perry Hotter and the Prostitutes of Pleasure- A young boy is shipped off to a secretive brothel in Eastern Europe.  While living in this brothel, the boy is taught all of the most effective pimping techniques. Perry's feats include seducing poor Russian girls with offers of employment in the west, bribing dirty police officers to look the other way, and exposing other children to the pleasures of earning a living by selling their bodies. 
 
What do you think?  You're shocked?!  You're outraged?!  How could I even suggest a book series for children containing such vile and filthy material?
 
To be sure, I think that these are all commonsense and appropriate responses to the evil subject matter detailed in my imaginary book series.  How could anyone, yet alone a Bible believing Christian, think that this is appropriate subject matter for a series of children's books?  You don't have to look very far into scripture to find that illegal drug abuse, terrorism, and sexual exploitation are all topics that break the heart of God.
 
However, while my imaginary series of children's books, featuring these demonic evils, would be condemned outright by any God-fearing person, there is currently a real children's book series on the market, filled with equally dangerous and unbiblical evils, that is being bought by the millions, even by Christian families.  This is the Harry Potter series, which has recently released a new book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  In its first day of sales alone, this newest addition to the Harry Potter series sold almost 7 million copies; and will probably sell upwards of 15 million+ by the time it's all said and done.  While this reality should shock and disturb our society, what we find instead is widespread praise for the "magic" of Harry Potter and how he has "enchanted" millions of kids into reading.  What's even more disturbing is the vast number of Christian children and parents flocking into bookstores to buy their family a copy, while our pastors remain silent about the dangers found within Harry Potter's pages.
 
The Harry Potter series is wholly based on the dark arts of witchcraft, sorcery, and spiritism.  These are all Satanic practices that are absolutely condemned by God throughout the Bible.  In Deuteronomy 18:9-14, God tells us that these practices are an "abomination" in God's sight.  In Galatians 5:19-21, God says that sorcery is a "work of the flesh" and that those who practice sorcery "will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven."  And Revelation 22:15 tells us that sorcerers will not be present in the glorious city of the New Jerusalem. 
 
Christian brothers and sisters, if God condemns the activities glorified in the Harry Potter series, and if by God's standards Harry Potter himself will spend eternity separated from God, how can we as believers ever justify the purchasing of any Harry Potter book?  How can we justify allowing our children, the children God calls us to raise "in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), to read books that revel in such clearly unbiblical practices?  We would never allow our children to read stories that glorify illegal drug abuse, murder, or sexual exploitation, so why do we lower the standards when it comes to witchcraft and sorcery?
 
Being "salt and light" to the world (Matthew 5:13-16) sometimes requires that we as believers take a stand against things that the world defines as popular, cool, and even beneficial.  No matter how many Harry Potter books are sold, no matter how much acclaim Harry Potter receives, and no matter how great people think it is that Harry Potter has caused kids to put down their video games to read a book, sorcery will always be an "abomination" in God's eyes.  And if God views the subject matter of Harry Potter as an abomination, then we as Christians have no choice but to do likewise.