For years good Catholic men and women have disagreed about the popular Harry Potter series. The last of the Harry Potter movies opened at midnight today. Last week many news outlets reported that the Vatican had given the new movie a stamp of approval. First of all, it wasn't the Holy Father who made the statement, but rather an article in the L'Osservatore Romano. Secondly, the article did not officially endorse the film on behalf of the Vatican, but instead only said that the movie promoted "friendship. altruism, loyalty and self-giving," which it viewed as attributes to value.
The problem with saying that the Catholic Church endorses or condemns Harry Potter or any other thing, is that the Church doesn't normally work that way. It's not some type of political party that maintains a platform with a checklist of pro's and con's. I can't count the number of times I've had non-Catholic and Catholic friends ask me "what's the Church's position on...?" Instead of looking for a laundry list of do's and don't's in the back of the Catechism, what we should do is a better job of forming our consciouses. This is precisely the mission of Joe Catholic, to help people learn their faith, so they can share it and defend it.
The principal instructors of the faith are not the priests and churches, but instead the parents. Parents are the ones who must discern if their children should or should not read or watch certain material. Furthermore, parents who are well formed in their faith are better armed to answer questions that children raise and, when necessary, to make the tough call to restrict access even when it's contrary to the pervading culture. I have some Catholic friends (who I respect) who allow their children to read and watch the Harry Potter books and movies. I have others, who I equally esteem, who do not permit their children. Neither is wrong, but both are right.
Here are few other Catholic articles on Harry Potter (some for and some against):
The American Catholic: The Conclusion of Harry Potter (spoilers)
Catholic Answers: The Morals of Magic: Is Harry Potter Bad for Kids?
Catholic News Service: Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Dads.org: Harry Potter: An Entry Point into the World of the Occult/New Age Movement
National Catholic Register: Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series
Trying to "shelter" your kids is just going to backfire (see Katy Perry), not to mention make them social outcasts. As someone who was raised in a fundamentalist home, I completely disagree with anyone who tells their children not to read certain books or watch tv shows because they are about wizards or what-not.
ReplyDeleteAt the very least it should be encouraged so you know what "the other side" is up to, and you can relate to (and try to convert if you want) the more secular side of the world.
And by the way, teach your kids some science so they don't feel like idiots when they're 30 years old and have to go back to school because no one ever let them learn it.
The L'Osservatore Romano may be translated, I believe, as The Roman Observer. There is a publication in Dallas called "The Dallas Observer" a magazine every bit as authoritative and representative of Dallas, Texas as, well, the TV show Dallas, i.e. there is very little point of contact with the actual people of Dallas or the government of Dallas. The Roman Observer is not the official organ of The Pope nor of the Catholic Church. It is a purveyor of the individual writers' opinions, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Harry Potter books and have no fears that I, my wife, or our children have decided to worship Satan because they read the books. Essentially, the stories are about Good vs Evil, and some kid's struggles while confronted with Evil and his apparent role in combating this Evil. Whether the weaponry in this war is spells and incantations or guns and bombs seems hardly worth being concerned about. I am far far more concerned about kids playing Call of Duty, 1st person shooters with people slayed indiscriminately in increasingly realistic fashion, including the dying twitches of the computer generated soldier, than I am about them reading about Harry Potter using his talents to combat evil.
FB