
March 2002

Steve Wood of the Family Life Center took out a full-page ad in The Wanderer (Nov. 22, 2001) to warn about the Harry Potter movie. Said he: Before I became a Christian, I was involved in New Age and false religious movements that actually practiced several of the things casually described in the Harry Potter novels . Ive led young people out of the very world described in the Harry Potter novels to a commitment to Christ. Ive assisted law enforcement officials investigating occult related crimes. Ive personally confronted and ministered to demon-possessed individuals deeply involved in Satanism and the occult. I tell you this. Exposing children to Harry Potter is playing with a fire that threatens their eternal souls. Will every child or adult who reads these books be burned by them? No. But I guarantee that Harry Potter will be an entry point into the demonic New Age world for thousands of young Catholics . Lets face it. For many young people, Satan and the occult seem fascinating and exciting. And quite a few end up getting hooked on that stuff. It all starts somewhere.
Far-fetched? Crazy? Well, weve seen Steve Wood on Mother Angelicas EWTN and he strikes us as being a sane and sensible fellow. What we hear him saying in his ad is that much depends on the particular child, and that certain parents would be wise in deciding that its better to be safe than sorry.
Now, we suspect that if the Harry Potter sensation had surfaced, say, fifty years ago, very few orthodox Christian parents would have batted an eyelash. But Christians now live in a new age. The old goddesses and potions and spells and dark forces presumably vanquished by Christianity long ago have, amazingly, become quite fashionable. Christianitys old enemy, paganism, has been unearthed, recycled, updated, spruced up and its back with a vengeance. The Goddess is Alive and Magick is afoot! proclaim the proselytizing bumper stickers. Why, the U.S. Army now recognizes Wicca (witchcraft) as a legitimate religion. What decades ago would have been seen by just about everybody as amusingly preposterous is now taken quite seriously by increasing numbers of people, even well-educated and intelligent types.

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