My daughter wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the Day before Halloween so we got out our DVD of it and watched together. I started to think about the story I heard about Obama and his oldest daughter and how he and she shared reading all 7 books. I attempted but did not completely succeed with my daughter and wife because the 6th and 7th books my daughter found too scary. The movies are much less scary than the books. I think it is always this way.
I also got to thinking about how Christians sometimes get so upset with people reading Harry Potter books and watching Harry Potter DVDs. I believe the phenomenon is more about opening to new possibilities than anything else.
For example, in studying Cultural Anthropology I long ago came to the realization that Jesus and his cousin, John the Baptist were really wild and crazy shamans. You really couldn't have picked two wilder or crazier shamans if you tried. But now, their extremism is accepted but then they both were killed for their points of view. Only in their martyrdom could they have become as famous now as they are.
Being magical and intelligent is more about, "Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come!" This is just as true now as it was then. Harry Potter has become famous more because people need once again to expand their imaginations and I believe that eventually most Christians and other religions will embrace Harry Potter simply because it is about good versus evil just like Star Wars. Simply put, children need heroes. And whether those heroes are Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter they need them to be full human beings who create a better future for all of us!
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