There have been many debates over Harry Potter and whether it is dangerous in a spiritual sense or if it is simply harmless fantasy. Below is an article that was published in the national media regarding this issue.

Depending on one's point of view, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" will be a harmless 2-1/2 -hour flight of fancy, or it will open the gates to eternal damnation. Judging by the phenomenal success of the books by J.K. Rowling, most people consider Harry Potter and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be whimsical amusements. So far, 116 million Potter books have been sold in 200 countries, translated into 47 languages. Fans of the bespectacled young wizard have been counting the days until their fictional hero hits the silver screen on Friday. And when the $125 million movie arrives, box-office records are likely to tumble. Harry Potter is scheduled to open at a record 4,000 theaters in the United States, and it will be released in 130 foreign countries and in 40 languages, the most ever for a Warner Bros. movie.

Some Christian leaders and religious groups are warning that the movie, assuming it is true to the book series, is not just innocent entertainment. "The concern is that these books are placed in a culture that glorifies and markets witchcraft, sorcery, and Wicca things that from a biblical perspective are harmful," said Lindy Beam, youth culture analyst for Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Robert McGee, a psychologist and author based in Merritt Island, Fla., was even more alarmed. "I think we're going to lose tens of thousands of our kids to witchcraft. And they don't understand that there is a spiritual world out there and it will suck them in. Once they start using spiritual powers, the spiritual powers will start using them." The books tell the story of young Harry, an orphaned son of powerful wizards, and his adventures at Hogwarts, a prep school for wizards. In the stories, characters learn to cast spells, mix potions, fly on brooms, and pursue various other magical acts. McGee said the Old Testament book of Leviticus states: "Do not practice divination or sorcery," and the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy describes witchcraft, casting spells, interpreting omens, consulting the dead, and being a spiritist as "an abomination to the Lord." "What is it about the word 'abomination' that we don't understand?" he asked.

McGee and author Caryl Matrisciana collaborated on "Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged," a video that churches are being urged to show to their congregations and youth groups. "An adult reads these books differently than a child would," said McGee, known for his best-selling book "The Search for Significance." "A child gets more involved. The movie will be very destructive. It's going to give kids images. The younger the children, the worse it's going to be for them. They're going to get hacked off at somebody and they're going to want the same power as Harry the wizard."

Wren Walker, a practicing witch in Clearwater, Fla., and co-founder of the Witches Voice, an umbrella group for witches and Wiccans worldwide, said the Potter books offer a lighthearted view of witchcraft and wizardry. "They really don't have anything to do with a 'capital w' witchcraft as practiced by a large number of people," Walker said. "It's something more to do with a 'small w' witchcraft, which can be done by any other religion." Although most movie details have been shrouded in secrecy, the type of sorcery that Harry Potter conjures up in the books is "shooting sparks over this and levitating over that," Walker said. "Spells tend to be more like prayers for most Wiccans and witches that practice it in the religious sense. We don't use'abracadabra.' If somebody wanted to pick up the book and do the things in it, it wouldn't be witchcraft."

Walker laughed about reports that a group of British witches had protested the movie last summer because there were scenes in which young Potter rides a broomstick the wrong way. "Most of the witches I know ride SUVs," Walker said. "I prefer a bucket seat myself." On a more serious note, she said the "main bone of contention" among critics of the books is that they portray witches and sorcery in a positive light. "We have had the full, gory witch in fairy tales for centuries," she said. "They never wanted to take the witch out of those, because the witch was the bad guy. Now there are witches and wizards who are heroes of the stories, and it's a little hard for some people to make that mind shift."

McGee agrees that Harry's heroic image is one of his major complaints. He said that the books are clearly not a "how-to"guide to witchcraft, but they portray witchcraft as beneficial and desirable. "Harry Potter has become what is known as a rune, a symbol that stands for something," McGee said. "You see that, one, Harry Potter is a child like you or someone like you; two, he's a child that accesses and utilizes witchcraft, and three, he's a child that's held in high regard. By extension, the child concludes that utilizing witchcraft is not a negative."

Dismissing Potter's spiritual activities as "harmless fantasy" is detrimental to moral and spiritual guidelines and the lives of the children that view this in that way.

Notice the liberal media in the article above tried to belittle the conservative view by asking a "practicing witch" about the accusations about Harry Potter. Are we supposed to believe that a practicing witch is going to agree that witchcraft is bad? DUH! Wake up people. For the sake of argument below is an article by a former "practicing witch" so let's hear their take on it.

Harry Potter? What Does God Have To Say?

I am writing this urgent message because I was once a witch. I lived by the stars as an astrologer and numerologist casting horoscopes and spells. I lived in the mysterious and shadowy realm of the occult. By means of spells and magic, I was able to invoke the powers of the "controlling unknown" and fly upon the night winds transcending the astral plane. Halloween was my favorite time of the year and I was intrigued and absorbed in the realm of Wiccan witchcraft. All of this was happening in the decade of the 1960’s when witchcraft was just starting to come out of the broom closet.

It was during that decade of the 1960’s, in the year 1966, that a woman named J.K. Rowling was born. This is the woman who has captivated the world in this year of 2000 with four books known as the "Harry Potter Series." These books are orientational and instructional manuals of witchcraft woven into the format of entertainment. These four books by J.K. Rowling teach witchcraft! I know this because I was once very much a part of that world.

Witchcraft was very different in the 1960’s. There were a lot fewer witches, and the craft was far more secretive. At the end of that spiritually troubled decade, I was miraculously saved by the power of Jesus Christ and His saving blood. I was also delivered from every evil spirit that lived in me and was set free. However, as I began to attend fundamental Christian churches, I realized that even there witchcraft had left its mark. Pagan holidays and sabats were celebrated as "Christian holidays."

As time went on, I watched the so-called "Christian" churches compromising and unifying. I also watched with amazement as teachings from Eastern religions and "New Age" doctrine began to captivate congregations. It was a satanic set-up, and I saw it coming. Illuministic conspirators were bringing forth a one-world religion with a cleverly concealed element of occultism interwoven in its teachings. In order to succeed in bringing witchcraft to the world and thus complete satanic control, an entire generation would have to be induced and taught to think like witches, talk like witches, dress like witches, and act like witches. The occult songs of the 1960’s launched the Luciferian project of capturing the minds of an entire generation. In the song "Sound Of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, we were told of seeds that were left while an entire generation was sleeping, and that the "vision that was planted in my brain still remains."

Now it is the year 2000. All of the foundations for occultism and witchcraft are in place. The Illuminists have to move quickly, because time is running out. It was the Communist revolutionary Lenin who said, "Give me one generation of youth, and I will transform the entire world." Now an entire generation of youth has been given to a woman named J.K. Rowling and her four books on witchcraft, known as the Harry Potter Series.

As a former witch, I can speak with authority when I say that I have examined the works of Rowling and that the Harry Potter books are training manuals for the occult. Untold millions of young people are being taught to think, speak, dress and act like witches by filling their heads with the contents of these books. Children are obsessed with the Harry Potter books that they have left television and video games to read these witchcraft manuals. The first book of the series, entitled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," finds the orphan, Harry Potter, embarking into a new realm when he is taken to "Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." At this occult school, Harry Potter learns how to obtain and use witchcraft equipment. Harry also learns a new vocabulary, including words such as "Azkaban," "Circe," "Draco," "Erised," "Hermes," and "Slytherin"; all of which are names of real devils or demons. These are not characters of fiction!

How serious is this? By reading these materials, many millions of young people are learning how to work with demon spirits. They are getting to know them by name. Vast numbers of children professing to be Christians are also filling their hearts and minds, while willingly ignorant parents look the other way. The titles of the books should be warning enough to make us realize how satanic and anti-christ these books are. The afore mentioned title of the first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," was a real give away. The second book was called "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," while the third book was entitled "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

Sadly enough, this blatant witchcraft has been endorsed by well-known and respected "Christian" leaders, such as Dr. James Dobson and Chuck Colson, who have proven themselves to be modern day Judas Iscariots. Nothing could be more obvious than that Harry Potter books are pure witchcraft and of the devil. The "Christian" leaders, however, defend them by saying that good magic always wins and overcomes evil magic. This is the oldest con game ever hatched out of hell. As a real witch, I learned about the two sides of "the force." Apparently, so do many "Christian" leaders. When real witches have sabats and esbats and meet as a coven, they greet each other by saying "Blessed be," and when they part, they say "The Force be with you." Both sides of this "Force" are Satan. It is not a good side of the force that overcomes the bad side of the force, but rather it’s the blood of Jesus Christ that destroys both supposed sides of the satanic "Force."

High level witches believe that there are seven satanic princes and that the seventh, which is assigned to Christians, has no name. In coven meetings, he is called "the nameless one." In the Harry Potter books, there is a character called "Voldemort." The pronunciation guide says of this being "He who must not be named." On July 8 at midnight, bookstores everywhere were stormed by millions of children to obtain the latest and fourth book of the series known as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." These books were taken into homes everywhere with a real evil spirit following each copy to curse those homes. July 8th was also the 18th day (three sixes in numerology) from the witches’ sabat of midsummer. July 8th was also the 13th day from the signing of the United Religions Charter in San Francisco. Now we have learned that the public school system is planning to use the magic of Harry Potter in the classrooms making the public schools centers of witchcraft training.

What does God have to say about such books as the Harry Potter series? In the Bible in the book of Acts, we read the following in the 19th chapter, verses 18 – 20: "And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed."

As parents, we will answer to God if we allow our children to read witchcraft books. The Word of God will prevail mightily in your life only if such things of Satan are destroyed. This tract has been prayed over, and I hope it has helped you. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us.

Pastor David J. Meyer

Published by:

Last Trumpet Ministries International

PO Box 806

Beaver Dam, WI 53916

Bible Headquarters