"Beware lest anyone cheat you
through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the
basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."
Colossians 2:8
At
the first glance, the new analysis of the Harry Potter and Pokemon phenomenon looked
great. Posted on Chuck Colson's website,
BreakPoint
Online, it began with some wise observations showing the occult nature of J. K.
Rowling's books. Chuck Colson has changed his mind about Harry's influence,
I thought.
But
my relief didn't last long. Not only does the article,
Pokémon,
Harry Potter, and the Magic of Story,[1]
use the psychology behind the consensus
process as an argument in favor of popular pagan fantasies.
Its
author, Mark Filiatreau, who is doing graduate
work at Regent [Christian] College in Vancouver, also muddles
the Biblical view of truth. Like
Eugene
Peterson, a Regent College professor who wrote the popular paraphrase of the New
Testament called The
Message, he seem to put a "feel good" and politically correct spin on
Biblical truth.
Yet,
Mr. Filiatreau does show us some good reasons to
be concerned about today's Harry Potter and Pokemon craze. His insights and
observations merit appreciation:
-
"Magic power is what both Pokémon
and Harry Potter are about."
-
"The Pokémon fight each other with
supernatural powers."
-
"Harry Potter is the humble star-student of the Hogwarts School of
Wizardry. He gets trained in magic powers too.... [A]dolescents in this
school daily learn to do the kinds of things for which the God of Mount Sinai
commanded the death sentence."
-
"Magical power gets exerted over nature and other people. They
also share many of the same trappings—clothing, spells, herbal potions, even
contacting the dead."
-
"As our kids rise through the school grades, they may well
meet peers exploring actual witchcraft or even Satanism. Harry Potter could easily
become an imaginative bridge connecting them to these dangerous interests."
-
"It all
begins in the imagination."
-
"Adults and adolescents who are alienated
from or ignorant of the love and power of the Holy Spirit often get involved with
"New Age" religions—including neopagan forms like Wicca and
witchcraft—out of the innocent, or at least naïve, desire to experience
something transcendent."
-
Human "intuitions may be diabolic and deceptive (like the versions presented lightly in Harry
Potter and Pokémon and more seriously elsewhere)."
This insightful list provides ample grounds for warning
our children against fascination with the mythical worlds of Potter and Pokemon. But
that's not Filiatreau's conclusion.
"So what should we do?" he asks.
Laying a foundation for his solution, he lists "three important truths that Christians should reflect on."
Each of the "truths" deals with feelings, wants and longings -- the "felt
needs" that most people in America today want to satisfy.
This is significant, for "felt needs" have become very important to educators,
politicians and church leaders today. Most institutions around the world that use the
Hegelian dialectic (consensus)
process [3]
-- these include churches and schools as well as business and government -- are finding
ways to measure (through polls, surveys, questionnaires...), manipulate
and meet these felt needs in order to change
beliefs and conform public values to a more politically correct standard.
(See
Reinventing the World)
This psycho-social strategy for changing people and
cultures brings its own set of visions, ideals, words and meanings. Many of those words
and concepts have already become part of the public consciousness. They fit right into Filiatreau's
psychological reasoning. See for yourself, as you ponder his three
truths.
Truth 1
"We love story, and so we should."
Should we? Any kind of story?
In contrast to
his earlier warnings, Filiatreau now gives the impression that any well told story would
be beneficial:
"Kids especially love stories. The Potter books
(I’ve read two) move quickly and have exciting climaxes.... It is not an accident
that the center of the Christian faith is a story (a true one, of course), not ideas
or 'rules for living'.... Christ is, as Madeleine L’Engle
[2]
creatively puts it, a 'god
who told stories.' Scripture says he 'never spoke to the people without a parable'
(Mark 4:34)."
This Scripture was taken out of context. It only
referred to a particular day. The description of that day begins in Mark 4:1-3 and
ends with verses 33-35. At that point, He is explaining the messages to His disciples
and has stopped speaking in parables:
"...He began to teach by the sea. And a great
multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea;
and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many
things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: 3"Listen!
Behold, a sower went out to sow...".
"And with many such
parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable
He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His
disciples. On the same day, when evening had come...."
Truth 2:
"The
visible world is not enough for us.... We may try to suppress it, but the longing for something beyond—for the
supernatural and wondrous—will have its day."
Will it really? Does this longing "for something
beyond" refer to a
relationship with God or with any supernatural and mystical power that humans can
imagine and manipulate? Why will it "have its day?" Filiatreau offers some
psychological, not Biblical, reasons:
- "...
the supernatural can be
fun. Kids recognize intuitively
that you can have more fun with the universe when you allow your imagination to
stretch beyond the things you see and touch every day. This is true even if a given
use of the imagination is just an extension of the everyday reality...."
It may be normal for our human
nature (which the Bible calls the "flesh") to crave occult fun, but we don't have
to follow those wants and feelings. The strength He offers us is greater by far than the
world's seductions, and there are plenty of other fun activities within His beautiful
creation. We would be wise to heed His Word, not our flesh. By His grace and through the
cross, He sets us free from bondage to all those contrary cravings. (Romans 6:1-13) Yet,
Filiatreau tells us that,
- "...adults long for a supernatural element too....
they were all attracted to séances
because the church down the street no longer taught them how to relate to God as a
real yet supernatural presence. And even if it did, who would be so credulous as
to believe it?"
The answer is simple: those who truly seek God and
His ways will "believe it." They may be few in number compared to the masses
that choose the world's wide and popular roads, but God always has a remnant of people that
love and follow Him. They delight in His nearness and trust His truths, no matter how incredulous
they seem to the rest of the world.
This faith and delight isn't based on human dreams,
imagination or intuition. They are based on Spirit-given faith in God's unchanging Word.
Yet, Filiatreau believes that,
- "Each of us holds intuitions of a realm that exists beyond the
senses, or at
least of a realm beyond the senses that we feel could or ought to
exist....
These intuitions of other realms may never be understood or proven. God has
revealed very little about heaven and hell. Like the 'mystery of iniquity,'
like God’s grace working in us, our intuitions of the spiritual realm are mysteries
of the heart."
Actually, God has revealed more than enough about
heaven and hell (and about good and evil) to show that the world's assortment of
spiritual counterfeits bring immeasurable and eternal grief. In fact, those intuitions of "other realms"
have -- throughout the world's history -- led blinded masses of people toward an end
that will be anything but fun. That's why God warned us repeatedly not to
imagine, experience or even think about them. Filiatreau seems to know that, as
demonstrated by his third truth.
Truth 3:
"Story can deliver and plant truths—or lies—within us more deeply and
effectively than can any other mode of expression....
Over time, they can change our affections
and so form our characters."
That's usually true. But
Filiatreau seems to turn this sobering reality
into an argument in favor storytelling in general -- with its potential for deceptive
manipulation of feelings and affections -- rather than a warning against stories that
might lead in the wrong direction:
"The best stories do this by showing us the good and
leading us to desire it instead of simply knowing about it."
"Pictures can make us
feel. Expository writing can make us understand. But only story is
intrinsically able to do both at the same time. In story, feeling and
understanding can combine with synergistic power.
Theologians may argue ad infinitum over how salvation works. But the story of the
Prodigal Son can make us feel and know what it is."
Filiatreau's logic contains an alluring blend of
psychological truth and Biblical error. Strategic pictures do "make us feel."
That's why symbols have always been important to people -- and why totalitarian leaders
use symbols and other images to manipulate the feelings of the
masses.
Stories, like images, have power to stir feelings and guide the
understanding. But all too often the feelings they produce bring a presumptuous sense of knowing
-- a baseless certainty which is subjective, not objective. Grounded in emotions rather than fact or truth, it can be
altered or modified by the next well-told story. That's why today's leading
change agents -- in the pulpit as well as the classroom -- prefer to tell fun and
feel-good stories rather than facts.
Yes, Jesus told many parables, but they illustrated --
never substituted for -- the foundational truths He wanted His disciples to learn. But
that seems insignificant to Filiatreau, for he puts "modern novels" into the
same category as Biblical parables:
"The sensory properties of stories make them not only moving but memorable for
the long term. ...For it’s not only biblical parables that move us to action. Modern novels can
too, both culturally and individually."
That's right. The world of imagination and fantasy
creates sensory and virtual experiences that plants memories and stirs all kinds of
desires and choices.[4]
That's why Harry Potter
does lure kids to witchcraft.
In his concluding summary, Filiatreau pulls his three
psychological "truths" together:
- "First, stories are both honorable and inevitable."
- "Second, so-called 'realism' is not enough for us; we like and need
stories that may bring us truth about the supernatural realm that we have such kinship
with."
- "Third, stories can plant truths—or lies—within us more deeply and
effectively than can any other mode of expression."
"Where does this leave us regarding Pokémon and Potter?" he asks.
At this point, the article takes a strange turn.
Ignoring his earlier arguments against these popular occult trends, the author states
his bewildering conclusion:
"I don’t think Pokémon or Harry Potter are going to do much to plant seeds of
evil and deception deep in kids’ hearts. I don’t see the Antichrist being shaped
here. Unlike prophetic parables, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and What Must Be Done,
they are not very earnest enterprises.
"And even if they do plant seeds, the news is not all bad.
"In the Harry Potter books that I’ve read, good and evil are painted pretty
much in traditional black and white and not in shades of gray after the modern
fashion. Children’s fiction holds worse and more subtle dangers today than the
exterior trappings of magic. For that matter, the Harry Potter books themselves hold
worse and more subtle dangers. These include the
ego-stroking of Harry’s messiah-like specialness—he’s born as a wizard of
wizards (of course, he’s humble about it)—and the derision of non-magical people
as "Muggles."
Do you see the contradictions? Not only do the first
two sentences contradict the third, they also clash with earlier statements. Both Potter
and Pokemon reach far below the "exterior trappings of magic." Harry may
be "the humble star-student of the Hogwarts School of Wizardry," but his view
of himself and his pagan world matches the attitudes of the public masses who trade God
and His will for a supernatural force that -- for the moment -- seems amenable to
manipulation through their own human will.
In the end, Filiatreau
seems to ignore the power of the occult images, the contrary values, and the potential
fascinations with forbidden realms. He suggests that parents go ahead, read and discuss
Harry Potter. "Frankly," he says, "if Christian parents can’t or won’t talk
their children through such negative aspects in these books—and in games like
Pokémon—then I would say their family has worse, more internal problems to work
out."
Then his tone and message changes again. Filiatreau
honors the Potter fantasy with redemptive value through the image of a mother loving her
baby -- a theme that threads through the history of many a pagan civilization:
"But getting back to the redemptive side, the first Harry Potter book,
Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, has a rather moving and life-affirming
denouement as a mystery in Harry’s past is solved. We learn that a mother’s love
for her baby (Harry himself) became externalized as a sort of magic power. The
power was strong enough to protect the baby even from his world’s most powerful evil
sorcerer, who, after killing Harry’s parents, tried to kill their baby too ... but this magic killed him instead. My gut does a
little pinch just remembering it.
Filiatreau reminds us that "Jesus is a realist...
His reality is different than ours... [and He] commands our reality to become
like his."
Yes and no. Those who belong to Jesus do share
His reality, for "we have the mind of Christ." Our perspective and
understanding are increasingly conformed to His as we delight in His Word and focus our
hearts on His eternal ways. In contrast,
filling our minds with enticing images and ideas from Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry will do the opposite. (1
Cor. 2:16; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16-18)
The power of an unbiblical story to create values and build
character will drive the reader away from, not toward, the God who loves us. Nor will a
family discussion led by sincere parents erase the occult images and ideas planted in a child's mind
through his or her "creative" imagination.
But never mind those contradictions. Let's move on.
Take a look at the author's new approach to eternal life. According to Filiatreau,
there are at least three ways "to get it":
- "Reading and obeying his teachings and parables is one way to get that life
within us
- "...holy communion is another. There are many more still.
- "...develop an imagination that is redeemed and ready for Christ’s
reality."
"Develop an imagination that is redeemed"?
What does he mean? The Bible doesn't explain. But if it did, I doubt it would include
mental exercises in Harry Potter's world.
Finally Filiatreau asks, "Are there any stories that can help do this—that can effectively help plant
and nourish Christ’s new life within us and our kids?" He mentions the Bible as
a possibility, then leaves us with the promise that his next article will introduce
C.S. Lewis's mentor whose stories will serve the purpose: "I will introduce
one writer who I think is best, after C. S. Lewis, at channeling living Christian truth
deeply and effectively into the human heart. In fact, Lewis referred to him as his
master."
He may be referring to George McDonald, author of
The Light Princess and many other fairy tales. C.S. Lewis referred to him as his
guide and inspiration, his model for mythical-occult storytelling. "What George
MacDonald does best is fantasy," wrote C.S. Lewis. "And
this, in my opinion, he does better than any man." Even so, it takes a big
stretch of the imagination to see McDonald's fantasies as Biblical
truth-telling. They may have seemed good enough back when most church people knew
the Bible well enough to discern and compensate for some of MacDonald's strange
suggestions.
We need not be surprised by these post-modern
rationalizations and re-interpretations of God's wonderful truths. God told us this would happen.
His Word also shows us His way -- that narrow, unpopular and politically incorrect way to walk and live
with Him in a world that demands continual compliance with its changing standards,
spiritual compromises and public consensus.
"Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because
they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their
ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry." 2 Timothy 4:2-5
Endnotes:
1.http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/1,1183,PTID2228|CHID100546|CIID237572,00.html
2. Author
of Newberry winner A Wrinkle in Time and many other books filled with occult imagery and psychic practices such as kything - a form of
mental telepathy and communication between people, trees and any other part of
creation. Kything is growing in popularity within God's churches, especially among
women.
3.
See also Reinventing the World and
An analysis of Community Oriented Policing
4.
“The world of imagination and fantasy can help pass on to the child cultural and
social messages [and] function as a way to experience vicariously things an individual
could not do first-hand.”
Aminadav, C., International
Journal of Adolescent Medicine & Health (April-June 1995)
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New Twist on Potter and Popular Psychology