Harry Potter Haters
MTV reports on the upcoming documentary about Harry Potter fan culture “We Are Wizards”. Among the threads in this interesting-looking film is the opposition to Harry Potter by Christian conservatives, and the film features far-right conspiracy theorist Carol Matriciana as their voice.
“The fans’ fight not just with Warner Bros. but also the religious right is also included, via occult researcher Carol Matriciana, who had made an anti-Potter film called “Witchcraft Repackaged.” “Her work has inspired a lot of Christian activists,” Koury said. “If doesn’t help anyone’s case if you’re going to show someone who rants and raves on either side, so I wanted her because she can make a sound argument.””
If Matriciana is the “reasonable” voice of Christian opposition to Harry Potter, then it just shows you how far out of the mainstream these people are
“This video explains how Scholastic Inc., the largest publisher of children’s books in the world, is supplying Harry Potter materials to millions of schoolchildren. Scholastic Inc. is using its unrivaled position in the educational system to flood classrooms and libraries with wizardry, repackaged as ‘children’s fantasy literature.’”
In addition to falsely equating fantasy depictions of magic with the religious practice of modern Pagans, Matriciana also takes time out to spread slurs about Hinduism as well and is apparently a “ex-New-Ager” turned to Jesus.
“But years ago Chuck Smith and Carol Matriciana who had been in new age for years did a video on Hinduism, and in that exposure of an ashram up in Washington or Northwest somewhere, you saw people chanting demon names, then getting possessed, and writhing on the floor as demons entered them.”
Sadly, people like Matriciana aren’t some fringe element, but merely the “dark” side of anti-Harry Potter arguments by Christians. The flip side of a coin. Even “nice” Christians seem to lose their cool when discussing the boy wizard and his successful books.
“There were a few things in the book that I found problematic - the authors start on a tirade about the Harry Potter series… and while I do hold issue with the Harry Potter series, I do not think its the singular cause of the rise in Wicca in our country. First of all, it was on the rise well before the series came out and second of …well even the book goes into more details as to the rise of Wicca, but at first the book feels like its a condemnation of all things Potter… and they never quite make a conclusion, which is bothersome…”
The fact is that, despite attempts by some elements to ban Harry Potter, it has become a cultural phenomenon that will resonate for generations to come. Not a phenomenon of occult recruitment, but one of a shared story, a unifying world of fantasy and possibility that has united people across cultural, economic, and racial lines. I think the real problem for Christians is that Harry Potter, despite being written by a Christian, espouses a secular-based harmony at odds with the “safe” Biblical allegory (or “supposals”) of C.S. Lewis. It isn’t that Harry Potter makes Pagans, its that Harry Potter doesn’t exclude or demonize Pagans, allowing them to fully insert themselves into the story alongside the Christian readers.
“We Are Wizards,” opens in New York on November 14.
* Check out “Hogwarts Professor” for a pro-Harry Christian perspective.
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