Harry Potter VII

I had a day of indulgence as Edgar took the NC group to Antigua where they would stay until they left Guatemala, so he couldn’t very well pick me up today. Busy guy. Hehehe. I stayed home and read Harry Potter 7, which one of the disciples from the North Carolina group had given to me on Tuesday night, since he had already finished reading it. Could hardly put it down. I’ll give J.K. Rowlings one thing, she knows what the people like. Good for her. These books were a great accomplishment, although I still find myself frustrated with some of the world-views presented in them. Namely, “the ends justify the means.” The heroes of the story would sometimes act with low integrity, yet were applauded or rewarded for their attitudes and the outcomes of their decisions.

Well, it’s normal thinking in this day and age. Reading things like this only urges me to write something with a different world-view, one that more closely matches what God teaches through Christ. Like forgiveness, and love for enemies, and mastering the evil intentions of our hearts like jealousy or arrogance. I wrote a paper for a philosophy class once, comparing the world-views in Harry Potter to those in the Lord of the Rings, which has a distinctly Christian world-view. I have a completely different feeling when I read Lord of the Rings, or see the movies. Such is the subtlety of the teachings in the media. I wouldn’t restrict my children from reading Harry Potter, but I would want to read it with them and have discussions about how the characters behave, or could have behaved differently, or just to analyze the different world-view presented. There are many good lessons in the stories of Harry Potter, like loyalty and friendship, or equality between races and standing up for what you believe, no matter how much opposition you face.

Okay, I’m off my soap-box.

Later that night, I caught a ride with Gelion to church, where we had an all-regional singles devotional. I caught a ride home with Elizabeth and another brother who dropped us off, then I stayed up until 2am reading more of Harry Potter. Truly an addicting story. I hope the children who have grown up reading these stories continue to look for other books to read.