The Harry Potter can of worms

I think I'll open a can of worms.

I just finished reading Connie Neal's What's a Christian to do with Harry Potter? I don't think I can entirely buy her argument, but I appreciate a lot of what she had to say.

To start with, she completely affirmed that witchcraft and sorcery were real and that Christians must absolutely stay away from them.

She also applied--rightly, I think--Paul's instructions from Corinthians on how Christians should behave when dealing with moral questions. In their day, the issue was eating meat sacrificed to idols. Every man should be convinced in his own mind, and don't cause a brother to stumble, and whatever you do, do to the glory of God. We may disagree, but need to do so as brothers, not enemies.

Neal pointed out the illustrious career of what she calls "literary magic" and says that if you're going to object to the portrayal of magic on principle, you need to apply that principle consistently.

She dared pick up the WWJD question and answered it in a number of plausible ways, generally relying on Harry Potter as reflection or parable for the truth.

She points out that refusing to have anything to do with Harry Potter, hermit-like, or alternately going hysterical, is neither a good witness nor being in but not of. She advocates having a Christian worldview on the matter. (Can't argue with that one.)

She points out that the good characters sin, but they also grow. They are not flat or static.

She finally emphasizes that you cannot just let your children loose with Harry Potter, but need to help them distinguish good from evil. I would entirely agree that reading him requires discernment and maturity. (And he's just too scary for small children, I would say.)

I have read all five books and seen all three movies. I like Harry Potter. Rowling is brilliant and applies the Western literary tradition with the best of them. At the end of Neal's book, I am left with the same opinion I started with: there is good in the series, but you cannot go to the series to discover the good. Not as the series stands now, incomplete. And with that, I hereby put the lid back on the can.