Resumo de Harry Potter And The Postmodern Church

Harry Potter''s wizardly world is becoming strangely familiar to today''s youth. No longer do mystical incantations, transforming potions, dark omens or "the noble art of divination" (as Harry''s divination teacher called it) shock or alarm those who call themselves Christians. Popular magic -- real or imagined -- has become a normal part of our postmodern culture.
So have rebellion, rudeness, and the kind of feel-good revenge that Harry Potter demonstrates in the latest Warner-Brothers movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It seems perfectly okay for the famed wizard to tell Aunt Marge to "shut up" and, wielding his mystical power, cast a spell that turns her into a ballooning blimp that floats away into the sky. After all, she said cruel things about his parents. She deserved it! Didn''t she? In this context, viewers are led to agree. For J. K. Rowling knows well how to evoke sympathy for her key character.
Harry''s magical revenge may seem funny as well as justified in this fictional setting. But even wizards have rules, and Harry had once again broken "the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry." Such use of magical powers was forbidden by law. The fact that the angry young wizard escapes the consequences only makes his rebellion and revenge more enticing. Instead of punishment, he won a quick journey on a magical bus back to the safety of the enchanting world of the occult.
"Whether impulsive or planned, each magical spell is an expression and extension of Harry''s will," said Peter, a former occultist. "That''s a foundational occult reality, and it clashes head on with Biblical truth." God calls His children to trust and submit to Him and His will, not their own. "Not My will, but Thine, be done," prayed Jesus. "?I can of Myself do nothing," He told His disciples earlier."...? I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." (Luke 22:42, John 5:30)
The contrary messages aren''t lost to the millions of children around the world who read Joanne Rowling''s books. Her images, suggestions, beliefs and value system have established a growing consensus that equates paganism with entertainment and occultism with dark but delicious thrills. What''s more, they have spawned a huge new brood of occult books for children as well as adults. Tearing down the old boundaries, they multiply the world''s cravings for the mystical thrills and occult chills that animate life at Hogwarts.
Few realize that what appears to be fantasy is actually an allegory -- a dramatic description of the year-by-year "training of an initiate in an occult order."
This third Harry Potter movie touts time travel and shape shifting, two pagan illusions that are best understood by the multitudes who have read the book. A deadly werewolf (Harry''s helpful teacher transforms when the moon is full) and a saving stag (the latter word is significant to European witchcraft and its enticing myths of a horned god, the consort of the ancient goddess) become part of the viewer''s imagination and memory bank. Since Lupin, the werewolf, is also the best "Defense-against-Dark-Arts"-teacher Harry has known, the audience tends to be sympathetic toward his paranormal plight.Most of the young viewers are already familiar with these and other words that describe the traditions of powerful witches, shamans, and medicine men around the world. Those belief systems have been reinforced through social studies and multicultural lessons as well as through children''s books and popular movies. Many of these themes are repeated again and again -- speeding their adoption into the public consciousness. In the process, the wall between America''s "Christianized culture" and the world of the occult is crumbling.

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