Should I go potty?

Sin, in general, is fun. And so is the occult. Well-meaning Christians have attacked Harry Potter because of the idea that the books make the occult appear fun. But this is rather like attacking pornography because it makes sex appear fun. The problem with this approach is that sex is fun, as is gossiping and a whole host of other things that are treated sinful.

Although pornography can be dismissed as an evil temptation on its own, reading for simple pleasure cannot. Thus, the question arises: Does reading Harry Potter and other books of similar ilk cause one to become involved in the occultic arts? To be sure, magical fantasy might foster an interest in the supernatural, but an interest, even a belief, in the supernatural is exactly what a Christian should hope to foster in one's children!

After all, the basic challenge facing Christianity today is not that too many people believe in the supernatural, but that too few do! As Christians, we believe in spiritual forces, in demons, and in miracles too. Sorcery, astrology and fortune-telling may be forbidden to us, but they are all elements of our worldview. If Harry Potter does indeed inspire one to think of the world beyond the pure material, then he is at least operating within the boundaries of the Christian worldview, if not in the precise manner that the Christian parent might prefer.

Of course, it is absurd to argue, as do Harry's defenders, that J.K. Rowling's tales are morality stories on the ground that they are inspired by some feeble notion of good triumphing over evil. Harry is not so much a virtuous protagonist as he is a practitioner of explicitly forbidden arts. Even if he were a lesser evil than Lord Voldemort, that still does not make him righteous.

Harry Potter, like most things in the world, is neither good nor bad in himself. The books are simply books, entertaining fantasies. Some concerned parents have been known to ban Harry Potter from their children's libraries, but I wonder whether they would do far better to ban television, movies, pop music and the internet than these fat little fantasy novels.

The Harry Potter series is keeping company with such frequently banned classics as John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Last year, there were 26 challenges to remove the Harry Potter books from bookshelves in 16 states in the United States.

Opponents of the Harry Potter series believe that anything that mentions a witch or a magic spell is equated with evil. Berit Kjos, a Christian author of several books, including A Twist of Faith and Brave New Schools, does not see it that way. However, Kjos admits that children today are more vulnerable to fantasy stories such as Harry Potter than they ever were, because they may view the imaginary world as much more fun compared with the real world.

Kjos says that "there has been a paradigm shift from the social context that was the old biblical view". That shift makes it tougher for children, with less biblical knowledge today, to evaluate good and evil or to resist such threats to their faith, Kjos maintains. She has responded to parental concerns about the Harry Potter series by offering parents guidance on her website.

"Christianity clashes with a love for witchcraft," Kjos says. The biblical God does not fit into Potter's world of wizards, witches, and other gods. The Harry Potter series teaches an Earth-centred spirituality. "It is a religion that is very real and is spreading throughout the country. It makes me very uncomfortable when [children] are immersed in topics that make witchcraft very exciting. It can be very confusing for them."

But if the Potter books are evil, then evil seems to have won. Rowling's previous four novels about the boy wizard and his nemesis Lord Voldemort have sold almost 200 million copies in 55 languages. Two weekends ago, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix set a world record with sales of five million copies. Barnes & Noble sold one million copies within the first 48 hours. Amazon.com shipped out more than a million copies, making Saturday the largest distribution day of a single item in e-commerce history. Some retailers worried that even an enormous first printing of 8.5 million just in the US would not last long enough to keep up with demand.

I am probably one of the few weirdos who did not go potty on that weekend. Australians reportedly laid on a Hogwarts Express steam train, while New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark joined a planned 27-hour reading of the book aiming to set a new record for reading aloud.

In the US, the president of the New York Public Library donned white gloves to accept a signed first edition delivered by armoured car! Eleven-year-old Geronimo 'G' Gisleson of New Orleans was found sprawled on the floor by his mother, when he collapsed of exhaustion after reading all afternoon and night by the light from a bathroom across the hall.

Harry Potter is a global literary phenomenon. Rowling's unparallelled readership of millions of people worldwide and the critical activity around her books invite comparison with the works of classic children's writers Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. Harry has yet to become an icon of imagination, like the hobbits of The Lord of the Rings.

Even if Harry may still not have attained iconic status, Rowling has shown legal and marketing genius. The Sunday Times of London has estimated the writer's personal wealth at £280m, making her richer than the Queen, though Rowling denied that was the amount. Her denial was weak, in view that she told BBC's Newsnight presenter recently that she now has no idea how much money she is earning.

Whatever the actual figure, her fortune is certain to grow following the release of her fifth novel. Blockbuster movies have been made of the first two books, and the third one is in the making. In the same BBC interview, Rowling admitted she felt guilty at times. Sometimes she has also felt scared by the amount of money she was making. I would love to feel as guilty and scared as she does, but my literary talents are limited to somewhat less enchanting pieces in this paper.