From Deseret News archives:
'Harry' is evil, some clergy say
Does saga make light of witchcraft, open door to devil?
Some concerned Christians couldn't agree more.
Though the spooky-looking ads refer to the dreary Azkaban prison, soul-sucking Dementors and the re-emergence of the evil "You-Know-Who" (a k a Lord Voldemort), some church leaders continue to preach that the real wicked in this case is Harry and all things Hogwarts — or at least the wizardry and witchcraft upon which Pottermania is based.
"The Bible calls (witchcraft) an abomination before God," said Pastor Terry Long of the nondenominational Calvary Chapel of Salt Lake.
He believes many are making light of this important issue, since the Bible is so clear about how Christians should classify witchcraft.
"It opens the door" to witchcraft, he said of the Harry Potter saga, including the movie that opened Friday. "It's geared toward children."
He believes some children will look up "spells" on the Internet.
"It begins so subtle," he said.
Pastor Long said he warns people to be careful about what entertainment they choose. He'd like more wholesome movies to be made, like "Finding Nemo," instead of those with dark overtones.
Pastor Glen Spencer Jr. of the Vernon Baptist Church in Punkhannock, Pa., stresses in his sermons and his book "The Wicked World of Harry Potter" that Christians should shun the flicks and fiction works like they were written by Satan himself and not J.K. Rowling.
On the Web site christian-parents.net, Pastor Spencer said the fact that hundreds of millions of Potter books have been sold only shows "it is obvious that sin and wickedness are popular in this depraved world."
And while others feel it is a harmless fantasy and a classic tale of good vs. evil, Pastor Spencer firmly believes there is no controversy and no middle ground. Good shines light upon evil — and evil, in this case, happens to wear round spectacles and has a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
"Reading Harry Potter is drinking from the devil's cup," the pastor writes. "A casual reading of these books will quickly expose their dangerous and destructive content. The Christian is to be separated from the wicked things of the world."
As scriptural proof, he quotes Ephesians 5:11, which says to " . . . have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." He also quotes from the Old Testament (Isaiah 5:20): "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
