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Witches have good reason to be excited about Harry Potter. The book series is giving the "craft" a huge boost. No wonder that when interviewed by USA Today, a warlock endorsed Harry Potter and bubbled with excitement at the series’ wide acceptance by the mainstream.

In an interesting side note, the Dallas (TX) City Council inadvertently invited a Wiccan minister from the Covenant of the Goddess Church to pray the invocation over their September 27, 2000 meeting. A hubbub erupted when the invitation was suddenly pulled. It seems that word got out and Christian radio stations in the Metroplex area began alerting listeners, bringing pressure to bear on the councilmen and mayor. Though an opening prayer offered by clergy is the normal course for the Council to take, when they realized just who it was that was coming to "pray" they thought better of the invite.

When a local TV reporter asked Mayor Ron Kirk if he was worried about having spells cast on the Council, the city or himself, he answered no. Though Wiccan pickets lined the streets protesting the absence of occultist "Reverend" Bryan Lankford’s invocation before the Council, Kirk said he had read the four Harry Potter books and knew exactly what to do concerning spells and incantations!

We can assure you that we certainly sleep better here in Texas knowing that the mayor of Dallas has learned all about "white" witchcraft from J. K. Rowling’s boy-wizard! How sad that the mayor’s answer wasn’t framed by Scripture pointing to the cross of Christ as his protection. By the way, amid cries of "bigotry" and "intolerance" from freethinking Texans, the Wiccan priest was invited back the following week and did indeed invoke a "blessing" at the opening of the Council’s session.

The Separation of Christianity and State,
NOT State and Religion

The debate about whether Harry Potter books should be allowed in a school classroom setting ought to be a no-brainer for the Christian—and the legal profession as well. Harry Potter is a clear endorsement of a recognized religion. When teachers read, teach from or use the Harry Potter series in the public classroom setting, what we have is an obvious bias favoring and even encouraging witchcraft. Would they dare give the Bible equal time?

Each year Halloween—witchcraft’s most celebrated day—is recognized at virtually every public school in our nation, while Christmas has become a banned word on campus. It is the same with Harry Potter. We doubt if the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will step in and help the concerned folks in Zeeland, Michigan and others. (For the most part, "ACLU" seems to stand for "Antichrist Liberties Union," doesn’t it?)

It is obvious that we do not have a separation of state and religion in America. In the United States, anti-Christian bigots hide behind what they claim the Constitution states, even though there is no such separation called for in the document. What is being enforced all around us is a separation of state and Christianity! This is exactly the attitude that will prevail when Antichrist comes.

What is troubling is that many who claim to be believers view anyone making a stand against Harry Potter, Halloween, witchcraft itself, or any other work of the enemy as "radical" or "fanatic." Biblically however, how can we expect to enjoy the presence of God, His joy, and His protection in our homes when our kids are beholding a fictitious wizard as a hero and going trick-or-treating on October 31?

We were interested but dismayed by an online poll taken at the popular Ibelieve.com web site about Harry Potter. The question was asked, "Are you a fan of the Harry Potter series?" Out of over five hundred Christians responding, forty percent said "yes, seven percent, "no" and fifty-three percent "undecided." Along these same lines in another survey, out of over eighteen hundred Christians polled, only fifty-two percent thought Christians should not go trick-or-treating. These two surveys further prove to illustrate the ignorance, confusion, and perhaps the rebellion against God’s Word on issues like sorcery and the occult.

On Eric’s ministry web site at www.ericbarger.com we asked the question, "Do you favor or oppose the Harry Potter book series?" The response was larger than any other poll ever taken on the site. Over 64% of the respondents answered that they opposed Harry Potter, but 31% said they favored the book series with only about 4% marking "don’t know" for their answer. It appears that if Eric’s readership (markedly conservative) are close ideologically to that of Ibelieve.com’s then the "undecided’s" are thinning out with many readers coming down in favor of Harry.

Proving this, here are a few of the responses we got to our poll.

We presume this writer meant to say "more relevant." If so, we’d like to know what more relevant issues Christian’s are called to address? The occult is addressed adamantly in the Bible and is certainly a relevant issue in our day. Millions are deceived and in the process of losing their souls because of Satanic deceptions like Harry Potter. What’s the problem? Why are we receiving opposition from inside the Church? The answer is simply this: lack of willingness to be obedient to God’s word.

These authors have long been aware of this lack of understanding and/or willingness by some in the church to follow what is a clear-cut biblical standard concerning Satan’s works. Most disturbing was another poll by Ibelieve.com which asked its readers, "Do you hold a leadership role within your church? Fifty-four percent answered, "yes." We assume many of the same people took part in each poll.

Adding to the confusion surrounding the Christian position concerning Harry Potter has been the endorsement of Potter books by some in positions of prominence in Christian circles today. Both Christianity Today and Lutheran magazines have given thumbs up to Harry. So has noted evangelical Chuck Colson. Is it through ignorance that those claiming to be bible-believers have expressed positive views about Rowling’s books? Certainly liberalism is continuing to encroach upon even the best of churches and denominations. But we perceive that many who view Harry Potter in an acceptable light may be doing so in a vain effort to somehow show the world that Christians aren’t really too radical in their views after all. Like it or not though, Scripture presents the case that we must be removed from such things as witchcraft and sorcery - no matter what the world thinks of us. In the quest for inclusion there are some around us – some who are Christian leaders – who have no taste for taking hard stands. How tragic that by standing against nothing, eventually people will fall for anything! Perhaps we should examine that it is precisely this – our failure to address evil for what it is – that has allowed Satan to march into homes and hearts and set up camp?

As for those who somehow equate Harry Potter to the writings of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien, we submit that in these perilous times, with witchcraft rising to unparalleled peaks, that those wishing to truly guide their children toward the cross of Christ might well think twice before putting Tolkien or Lewis into their young hands. Would Lewis have written the way he did decades ago if he could have seen the occult explosion around us today? Even though Lewis showed obvious sympathy toward paganism, if he was indeed the apologist for Christianity that many make him out to have been, we think he would have used a different approach.

Let it be said once more – this should be a "no-brainer" for the bible believer. How much clearer does Isaiah 5:20-21 need to be?

In making our case against allowing Harry Potter books and related merchandise to have a place in our homes and lives, we are not suggesting that parents should attempt to shield children from all knowledge that witchcraft, sorcery, and the occult actually exist. That would be fruitless in society today. The approach we support is to educate them, first in the immutable truth of Scripture and then in that context, to explain what the world around us believes and why. To be ignorant of Satan’s devices goes directly contrary to the Bible, and while there certainly are practices and events that we should not share with our kids until a suitable age, we as parents and grandparents need to hone and develop communication with them that is limitless within the guidelines of Christian values.

Read Parts One & Two of this article