Another Reason Not to be Wild About Harry

The recent "outing" by Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling of master wizard Albus Dumbledore as gay is yet another gratuitous bow to the gay lobby and slap in the face to people of faith. Why Rowling felt compelled to add this pandering twist to her wildly successful Potter series is anyone's guess. Unfortunately, our children and grandchildren are receiving reinforcement from what they're already learning in school about "tolerance" from an author whose books they adore.

If you're looking for a culture of corruption beyond the halls of Congress, it doesn't take long to find these days. A tiny minority of gays exercise hugely disproportionate influence on entertainment as well as politics, to the extent that if anyone watched enough prime time television, they would come away thinking that half or more of our population is gay or bisexual. Not only that, almost every gay character exhibits more character, humor and likeability than most of their straight counterparts. You don't have to watch the shows (and I don't) to discern this-the ad nauseam previews and information from sources who do watch, such as the Parents Television Council, tell you all you need to know.

Rowling certainly took this angle with her Dumbledore character, who is noble and wise in contrast to his would-be lover, rival wizard Gellard Grindelwald, who is described as a "dark wizard of great power." Just think, if Luke Skywalker were to return to the big screen today, he would almost certainly be gay, in contrast to that font of evil, Darth Vader.

The problem with this latest revelation is that the hyper-popular Potter series is already built on lies that go against the Word of God-that is, that humans can harness the powers of sorcery for good, and not be either utterly corrupted or destroyed by them.

I've been told on many occasions to shut up and sit down when it comes to criticizing the Potter books for their glorification of sorcery. We're supposed to look past that and be thankful that our kids, in this age of video games and I-Pods, want to read anything that's not on a computer screen. Further, there's the argument that the Potter stories are pure fantasy and most children would never think to emulate what Harry does. On its surface, this argument is compelling. After all, Star Wars didn't spawn a generation of Luke Skywalker-wannabes, did it? Some would slide down the slope even more and say, so what if it did? Luke and Harry are both good guys, heroes who regularly battle evil forces and win. Unfortunately, the argument misses the point.

The point is, when the Potter books assume an importance in a child's life that is out of proportion to other areas of life, they can take on almost religious overtones. Make no mistake; everyone needs an object of worship to fill that God-sized cavity in the deepest part of their being. If they do not invite God in to fill that vacuum, then by default something or someone else will assume that place.

The Bible makes clear God's position on sorcery and witchcraft: "I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people" (Leviticus 20:6). To me, this means there is a real danger that impressionable children can be influenced by Harry Potter in terms of their personal beliefs, even if they have no intention of acting like him. At the least, Christian parents may have a hard time making Jesus seem as heroic and "cool" as Harry Potter. And, as I've heard from church leaders time and time again, if children haven't been reached for Christ before adolescence, their probability of accepting the salvation message drops dramatically thereafter.

The outing of this Harry Potter character, innocent and insignificant as it may seem, is anything but that to people of faith. Instead, it's just another shot across the bow at "intolerant" Christians, daring us to say or do anything about it. So I just did. Maybe you should, too.