I grew up in a conservative Christian household, and friends told me throughout my middle school and high school years that I was sheltered. I remember when The Incredibles came out when I was around seven or eight, and I was upset that it was several months before I was allowed to see it because it was rated PG, for my parents had to approve of it first. In middle school, several of my classmates found it amusing that until I was thirteen, I was only allowed to see the PG-13 movies that my parents approved of. The same applied to rated R movies until I was 17.
There was sheltering in literature as well. I was not allowed to read books that were specifically labeled YA before eighth grade, and since the Twilight was popular when I was in middle school, I could only read it after my mom approved of it, but I was not allowed to read Breaking Dawn until I was thirteen. I was additionally not allowed to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in high school even though I frequently read books at higher reading levels.
My parents strove to insure that I was only exposed to content that was age appropriate and I was mature enough to handle, and they wanted to make sure that I was able to distinguish art from reality. They made sure that I took in what was pure and holy and abstained from viewing the opposite. Even so, in accordance with doing this, my dad still sat my twin brother and I down before bed when we were five, and instead of reading the usual Little House on the Prairie, Magic Tree House, or The Chronicles of Narnia, he read us Harry Potter.
Never once growing up do I recall anyone questioning my parents’ decision to read us Harry Potter, the greatest children’s book series ever written. Nearly all my friends in school had read it too. Only one of my friends when I was ten was not allowed to read Harry Potter, but we all knew her parents were really strict. Then I went to a Christian college, and lo and behold, many of my friends were not allowed to read Harry Potter. I have friends at the end of their teens and beginnings of their twenties, friends who can devour books like chocolate cake, who are only just now reading Harry Potter for the first time because their parents never let them. What?
As someone who has read Harry Potter multiple times, I can assure Christian parents that there is no reason to keep your kids from reading Harry Potter. Just because there are witches and wizards and J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis did not write it does not mean that it Satanic and is going to pollute your kids’ minds with unchristian messages and evil. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are not the only people who can write safe books for children that have magic. The magic in Harry Potter is not bad, but an accessory of the world. The magic is pointing sticks and shouting in Latin, not drawing pentagrams and lighting candles.
Furthermore, there is a great distinction between good and evil in Harry Potter. Even though they use magic, the good characters are still good. As stated earlier magic is an accessory of the world for them, just like spaceships are an accessory of the world in Star Wars. We do not root for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore because they are the main characters, but because they are actually good. We do not wish for Voldemort’s defeat simply because he is the antagonist, but because he is evil. Harry Potter promotes deep friendship, courage, and love. It scorns prejudice, selfishness, and hatred.
Yes, Harry and Dumbledore and far from perfect, but most other characters in literature are as well. This is what makes them human. Additionally, Harry is able to grow from the mistakes that he makes and never sinks to the level that his opponents are on. Harry is a character who fights for what is right.
Although it is true that the final books of the series are dark and written for more mature readers, it speaks more to J.K. Rowling’s amazing craft than any sort of unhealthy quality of the books. Rowling wrote for an audience that grew up like Harry Potter himself grew up. The first book is a book about children for children, whereas the seventh book is a book about young adults for young adults. Rowling went from writing a cute book for kids to writing deep literature. For that reason, not letting a nine-year-old read the last two Harry Potter books is legitimate, but outright banning the books from the house is not.
The Harry Potter books are safe and healthy books for young Christian kids to read. They are not satanic. As a perk, by allowing your kids to read Harry Potter, they will learn to enjoy reading for fun and will gain a high reading level.
