Misunderstood Harry

It’s been a little complicated trying to explain my fascination with Harry Potter, since I’m a Christian and have been an avid fan of Rowling’s books since their very beginning. These books have received massive amounts of scrutiny, criticism and multitudes of books have been written by the Christian world in attempts to counter the popularity of the novels. It’s also received wild amounts of acclaim and has earned Rowling millions and the title of 12^th richest woman in Britain.

While reading my way through the texts, I wondered how Rowling was going to dig herself out of the hole she was digging with Harry’s adventures without using the Christ metaphor. I did have a certain amount of trust in her creative abilities, and yet part of me anticipated the ending I felt she couldn’t avoid. Many claimed that Rowling was a champion for darkness, evil and taught children disobedience and opened a curiosity for the occult with her writings. I decided to see more, a great love story that supported the greatest love story of all. Harry; saved by love, saving because of his love and his sacrifice. I admit, I cried my way through the last few books, and gladly accepted the ending Rowling offered.

Yet, in my curiosity and further endeavours to protect these books from further scrutiny from religious zealots who haven’t read the books themselves, I checked my favourite place for answers. Obviously, Wikipedia isn’t the most credible of sources for research, and believe me, as a self-professed book nerd, I don’t always trust the wiki but tend to lean on it for some random info. I found this quote:

“Rowling is a member of the Church of Scotland. She once said, "I believe in God, not magic.” Early on she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs, they would be able to "guess what is coming in the books.” Rowling has stated that she struggles with her own beliefs. In an interview with the Today Show in July 2007, she said, "... until we reached Book Seven, views of what happens after death and so on ... would give away a lot of what was coming. So ... yes, my belief and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book." (wiki)

If you’re uncertain, follow the links to the references for this quote, there are three separate references listed.

Maybe it wasn’t really apparent to the world until the end, maybe the unknown is just scary to many and needs to be avoided. I’m glad I saw the light early, I love those books. The moral of the 7 years of persecution for those novels, don’t judge a book by its bad publicity? I’m sure theres a better way to say it.