Dobson Officially Denounces 'Harry Potter'

Christian Post Reporter

Mon, Jul. 23 2007 03:34 PM ET

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In response to media speculation, Focus on the Family (FOTF) posted a statement on its website this weekend titled “Dr. Dobson: 'What I Think About Harry Potter.'”

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harry potter deathly hallows order of the phoenix

(Photo: Warner Bros.)

A scene from the film 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' in an image courtesy of Warner Bros.

In the statement, the conservative pro-family ministry explained that FOTF founder Dr. James Dobson has never endorsed books or films from the megahit fantasy series, and that many papers mistakenly reported that he had given them an OK for Christian families.

The posting directly confronts the Washington Post, which published an article about what Christians think of the craze, and how the reporter had incorrectly assumed that Dobson favored the boy wizard.

“In a story about Christians' views on the Harry Potter books and films, reporter Jacqueline Salmon wrote that ‘Christian parenting guru James Dobson has praised the Potter books,’” the statement read. “This is the exact opposite of Dr. Dobson's opinion – in fact, he said a few years ago on his daily radio broadcast that ‘We have spoken out strongly against all of the Harry Potter products.’”

The reason the ministry leader is against the material is obvious given the presence of magical characters (witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, poltergeists and so on) in the Harry Potter stories.

“[A]nd given the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture,” FOTF added, “it's difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds.”

Dobson’s sentiments echo those of other conservative leaders including Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of MovieGuide.org, and Linda Harvey, president of Mission America.

“[T]he world of Harry Potter is still an elite occult world where secret knowledge is the way to power and success,” noted Baehr in a review of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth installment of the ”Potter” film series.

“‘Order of the Phoenix’ tries to mitigate that by saying that anyone can become a great wizard, but once again, that involves learning the secret occult knowledge of how to do witchcraft and how to wave a magic wand properly,” he added.

While notably, the series is fictional and presented for the purpose of entertainment, Harvey posed in a recent column: “Is a little entertainment worth imbedding some very unfaithful ideas in the heads of children?”

“Sorcery is named specifically in Scripture as a violation of God’s law (Deuteronomy 18: 10-12; Galatians 5:20 and elsewhere), and it’s not a joke,” she wrote. “Besides, Harry does not think like a Christian in many other ways. He nurses and feeds grudges against his relatives and his rivals at school, and revenge is portrayed as justifiable.”

In addition to Dobson, another conservative Christian leader whose stance on “Harry Potter” had become muddled through media is Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Although several publications have reported that Colson endorses “Potter,” the ministry founder recently stated that he doesn’t personally recommend it.

“I’d rather Christian kids not read them,” he expressed in a commentary last week.

“But,” he added, “with some 325 million of them in print, your kids will probably see them and hear others talk about them, and they’re probably going to read them anyway.”

Knowing this, Colson urged parents to use the occasion to teach them to be discerning – like the prophet Daniel in the Bible who studied at a school that trained Babylon’s magicians, astrologers and sorcerers but did not defile himself because of his deep devotion to God.

“Dare them to have Daniel as their role model, not Harry Potter,” Colson stated.

Instead of “Harry Potter,” Colson recommends parents to introduce other fantasy books such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Lord of the Rings,” because they have more of a Christian framework.

Since their release, both the newly released movie and book have been drawing in record numbers. “Deathly Hallows,” the newest and final volume of the “Harry Potter” series, released on Saturday and had a print run of 12 million in the United States alone. The “Order of the Phoenix” film, meanwhile, took in $44.8 million in its first day, the best single-day gross ever for a movie on a Wednesday.

Christian Post reporter Eric Young in Washington contributed to this article.

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fantastyfreak

Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:23 am
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Focus on the Family and Dr. Dobson are whackos. Seriously,the next hurricane and 9/11 were caused by the great number of people who have read Harry Potter. The worst are some of those Christians who literally act real prudish and judge others, I have had many Christians judge my faith because I read Harry Potter. Its ridiculous, many of these Christians are no different than the Pharisees, and the same ones who walk around saying they want all those struggling with homosexuality to die. If you want more people to walk with God, set an example, be loving, be less judgemental, and stop going on tirades about some stupid fantasy books, which millions of kids I know read, and none have shown any interest in witchcraft, THEY KNOW ITS FANTASY, and that only if one actually does witchcraft, and not one WHO READS HARRY POTTER, that is when it is a sin. Please we need more smarter Christians in this world, slowly Christianity is becoming this exclusive club, where all the member flaunt how perfect they are and decry other if they are not uniform with them.

laforte2007

Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:29 am
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SweetBeloved-I would ask you as well follow this principal & see if you arrive at the conclusion you arrived originly-- It would be most helpfull for your understanding to grow,go back to the 1st chap & verse of romans start reading- write down (each meaning) of the who what where and why,of subject and object & topic.- Build precept upon precept untill you arrive at the verses you quoted in your defence,& see if you arrive at your original conclusion,I dare say with some internal honesty you surly wont,much more is being spoken here than taste not and touch not,something to consider,

laforte2007

Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:12 am
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TUPRBABE It would be most helpfull for your understanding to grow,go back to the 1st chap & verse of romans start reading- write down (each meaning) of the who what where and why,of subject and object & topic.- Build precept upon precept untill you arrive at the verses you quoted in your defence,& see if you arrive at your original conclusion,I dare say with some internal honesty you surly wont,

laforte2007

Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:55 am
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robinhooud-About as long as it took you- besides wheres your tv-radio program -to put on the line,Sometimes taking time to gather a well thought out response is called for,Not a willy-nilly rant and rave

laforte2007

Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:49 am
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hey GreatNW your personal worries are your own bussness,nor should one assume they know what others may or may not be doing, unless you have facts to suport actual problems,then this is in the realm of being a busy body & sturring up people,for no good reason,FYI

GreatNW

Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:59 am
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I worry more about Christians who watch ET or Oprah on a regular basis.

robinhooud

Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:56 am
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Took Dobson a long time to speak out audibly...

laforte2007

Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:54 pm
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dannypoo- sorry that was meant for artm-he/she position has to be a put on.Due to there (profoundly) being willingly ignorant of a (wide array) of even visible sciences,example can you hold in your hand a single atom from where does the force of the force that holds them together come from,and how many scientific law explain the invisable natural world around us,Just because you cant hold it in your hand or see it doesnt mean it isnt real,and if you think you control these things think again,meaning with great difficulty atoms were split,the result was the atomic bomb.there are forces beyond ones understanding that are not in your best interest to fool with,there are unknown powers and unknown forces involved,God warned people about this and what the end results would be for them.

SweetBeloved

Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:50 pm
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I second that Amen, imho.

In regards to Romans 14:1-3, It pertains to those who are strong in faith will be the ones who eat the whole meat of the Word of God and completely forsake the flesh and everything that is abomination to Him in complete submission to Him (that is the great faith and love of God). Those who are weak in faith, who have a sensitive conscience (meaning in this case being offended by the conviction that the meat of the Word subjects one to total obedience to God and the fear of rising up to that level of faith) are that ones who will cherry pick the Word of God and not eat the meat of the Word because they have not yet discerned or accepted total submission to God, by faith completely forsaking all that is abomination to Him and all that the world says is "okay" or "harmless", in total trust in God and His Word.

There are Christians who are still afraid to abandon their own ideas or what the world says is okay because they've allowed it in and become comfortable with it (when people start allowing themselves to become lax and let deception seap in this way, they are less able to discern God's truth from error) and when the meat of the Word comes in, their conscience is seared and they find themselves offended and making excuses trying to justify their disobedience to God as something harmless...this is a very dangerous cycle.

artm