by Ethel Smith

Created on: July 29, 2009   Last Updated: August 04, 2009

Let's start with something plain and simple about the Harry Potter series of books. Religion is not mentioned anywhere in any of these books. Whatever religion based objections there are to Harry Potter, are not due to any explicit anti-religious content. Characters are not shown denouncing Christianity, extolling the virtues of the devil and being blasphemous. It would seem that much of the controversy is created because of the books magical and mystical content.

The Harry Potter books involve a constant battle between good and evil. This is the underlying theme throughout all of the seven books and is at the story's heart. The Dark Lord, Voldemort, is a nasty, villainous character immortal. Many people would quite rightly abhor such behaviour in the real world but after all Harry Potter's world is merely part of a fictional book. Such dark dealings have been written into works of fiction for many years. It does not mean that the author condones such antics or is not religious. In fact the fight between good and evil is central to much of the bible. Ultimately in Harry Potter good reigns supreme over evil.

So will reading about such goings on, wizards, witchcraft, magic and darkness scar our children? Personally I doubt it. There is much worse and more explicit content in children's other everyday entertainment.

The religious world has little to fear from literature such as the Harry Potter books. The most popular children's books have often relied heavily on fantasy and imagination, usually with a little danger thrown in. This is why the Harry Potter tale has been so successful commercially and hugely popular with a wide ranging audience. Harry Potter offers excitement and danger in unusual circumstances.

Whether the reader is religious or not there is ultimately nothing in any of these books to sway him or her either way. The story is simply an age old tale of good winning out over evil. The underdog wins through in the end also which means that these books are not promoting bad behaviour as something which is profitable.

Recent claims by the author, J K Rowling , that Dumbledore, one of the central characters, is gay certainly seems to have caused more consternation. However why this should have done so I do not know. In England we already have more than a few gay clergymen and clerics, which would indicate that not all religions are fearful of homosexuality. If this character Dumbledore is gay it is not portrayed at all in the books and so has no bearing on the plot or influence on the book's readers.

Religion has been around for two thousand years, at least, and has seem many challenges. I for one do not believe that it has anything to fear from something as simple as a series of children's books. Perhaps these books are more advanced than children's books of the past but that is as it should be. In order to capture a modern audience these books needed to be pertinent. I have no doubt that in years to come future generations will wonder what on earth all the fuss was about.

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