"You will know them by their fruits."Many 'Christians' buy into the wide popularity of Harry Potter -- the acceptance as non-reality because, after all it's 'just fantasy', because of the: 'I'm not practicing witchcraft itself'-- argument. The series elevates the practice of witchcraft which as we know is simply tapping in to the spiritual realm apart from God. In the scripture it is plain to see the root of witchcraft is "rebellion"...
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."We know in the Word such staunch scriptures that warn vs. the practice of witchcraft:
1 Samuel 15:23a
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer.."But in backing up we also know:
Deu 18:10
"For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so."
Deu 18:14
"When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations."Okay...okay... "But we're not 'practicing' it, only watching it for entertainment"... so let's look at the fruits, because we can't even trust when a person 'says' they are 'Christian' or wear a cross around their neck...
Deu 18:19
It is quite notable when you look at the monetary intake of the Harry Potter Behemoth; but very 'telling' when you look at the praises of the witchcraft community:
"He’s a charmer, that Harry Potter. The adolescent hero of J. K. Rowling’s series rides a broom, owns an invisibility cloak and magic wand, and has cast a spell over young readers the world over. He has modern-day witches enchanted too. "For once, the witches aren’t ugly old hags," said Michael Darnell, 39, a computer programmer from Winnipeg, Canada, who has been a practicing witch for over twenty-five years. "For once they’re the protagonists rather than the villains."
USA Today, May 30, 2000
“Harry in an absolute godsend to our cause,” said High Priest “Egan” of the First Church of Satan in Salem, MA. “An organization like ours thrives on new blood - no pun intended - and we've had more applicants than we can handle lately."
HARRY POTTER AND WITCHCRAFT, by Ray Novosel
Beyond fruit, perhaps we need to look at this from a parable viewpoint...
See, people don't feel guilty because they do not 'jump in with both feet', but we can learn a lot from our system of law.
Accessory (legal term):
"An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal."In an 1999 interview on the Diane Rehm Show, Rowling admitted that she studied witchcraft and mythology in order to write her books more accurately. She said, "I do a certain amount of research so when Im mentioning a creature, or a spell I will find out exactly what the words were, and find out exactly what the characteristics of that creature or ghost were supposed to be." She went on to say that about one-third of what she had written is based on actual occultism.
www.wikipedia.org
J.K. Rowling interview on The Diane Rehm Show, WAMU, National Public Radio, October 20, 1999
When we take this 'accessory' mentality and look into the scriptures for answers it is pretty clear that to turn away from such 'rebellion' is to not only stop practicing, but stop 'looking' as well:
"Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed."
Acts 19:19,20
When you look at the root---examine the fruit, all in light of the Word of God, it's pretty easy to discern. Just the other day I was flipping channels on the radio and a Lady Gaga song was on with a really catchy beat. I found myself flipping the channel the moment I had heard the first sentence in the song not line up with Philippians 4:8... and was boo'd by one of my sons until I taught him the importance of not living under religious extremism yet also not allowing worldly programming because it's true, "garbage in, garbage out". It comes down to being led by the Spirit of the Living God. Why is there so much commotion with Harry Potter??-- It's because the Holy Spirit is churning... the series of books, movies, games....it's everywhere.... it's hard to go against the grain; but can we learn from those new Christians from Acts 19 that axed that rebellious root? If they did it as former first-hand practitioners, we should have no problem in doing likewise with Rowland's 'Accessory' rebellion.
www.hearingGod.tv