Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture

by Michael D. O'Brien

The Harry Potter Series, book by book. Parental Strategies for Healthy Family Culture. Pope Benedict and Harry Potter. The War of Disinformation and Opinion. Harry Potter and the Gnostic Mind. Where Is It All Going? Twilight of the West. The Golden Compass or the Moral Compass? Master story-teller and artist Michael O’Brien—the man to whom CNN went for comment on Harry Potter—has penned the definitive work assessing the Potter phenomenon. This book is essential reading for all parents whose children have read or are considering reading the wildly popular offerings by J.K.Rowling and similar works such as Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Although this is an analytical work, the reader will be captivated from the beginning, from the must-read preface onward. O’Brien's earlier work, A Landscape with Dragons, delineated authentic Christian fantasy literature from its counterfeits. Now in Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture, he fascinatingly contrasts Potter-world with C.S. Lewis’s Narnia and with Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings, and specifically Harry with Frodo. For those whose children have consumed Potter, O’Brien’s analysis will enable parents to comprehend the messages which have been fed their children and give them the points and arguments which will hopefully be the antidote to properly reset their moral order. The book goes beyond Potter, however, to address other bestselling series such as Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. In addition to these and other fantasy books, O’Brien reviews the films which they spawned. In all, the author’s new book teaches Christians how to discern harmless fantasy literature and film from that which is destructive to heart, mind and soul. I cannot recommend this work highly enough. John-Henry Westen Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief LifeSiteNews.com See F&T Press for more info www.ftbookstore.com

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Harry Potter, Catholic, Education

278 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Michael D. O'Brien is a Roman Catholic author, artist, and frequent essayist and lecturer on faith and culture, living in Combermere, Ontario, Canada.

Reviews

[Adam Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible book. O'Brien rarely even touches on the Potter books, and never does so in any kind of detail. He quotes from the books perhaps twice, and never cites them to demonostrate his points. He does no close reading of the text. The only close reading of the text comes from a writer he quotes, who argues that the food table during the Death-Day Party (in book two) has cakes and rotting fish and a black tablecloth; from this the author argues that Rowling is creating a black mass parody of holy communion, because she interprets "cake" to mean round wafers, and "fish" to be the symbol of Christ, rotted and presented for consumption and destruction. It would be funny if the authors weren't so deadly serious about it. Also, the good guys stay in the House of Black, which (gasp) has serpents molded onto the chandeliers, and as we all know, the serpent is the symbol of the devil. Nowhere is it mentioned that no one *likes* the Black family, and that they were all a bunch of dark wizards and crazy purebloods. I mean, the lack of considering context is just an overriding sin for all critics of the Potter books, but this was just . . . . really badly done. Absolutely no sense of proportion.

Oh yes, and then there was the part where O'Brien claimed that in reading the Potter books he was assaulted by evil spirits that knew he would write against the book. Yikes.

[Maggie Lunsford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I contemplated 4 stars, but not necessarily for the argument against HP. It was a convicting book that really highlighted the need to be vigilant in what media I consume. There is a large level of complacency in this culture of Christians sometimes, and I myself am included in that. I struggle to think that HP is devoid of all moral value, and I do not have the same interpretations of certain moments as the author.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Harry Potter fan who easily finds Christian themes and symbols within the stories, I wanted the perspective from the other side. I've read another of Michael O'Brien's books and was impressed with his writing and insight. I was very intrigued by this book's title and its limited reviews I'd found ~ it is full of common sense advice for parents in making decisions/leading discussions about the Potter books. O'Brien is a devout Catholic and writes from an unapologetic Catholic viewpoint. I wish he had provided more specific examples of J.K. Rowling's use of symbols. The one he cited was fascinating and powerfully disturbing, but there is no way to know what Rowling's intentions actually were with this one example. The explanation of this particular symbolism was cited from a book written by a Frenchwoman, and the book has not been translated into English (which I found disappointing.) I would recommend HP and the Paganization of Culture to any thoughtful reader, especially to a parent whose child is reading the Potter books. It provides a sound springboard for discussions for what could be a slippery slope for impressionable young readers.

[Mary Helen Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glad I read it; glad it's over. He makes good points about the general increase in the normalization of the occult in our culture and how we should be conscious of that and its dangers but his overall argument about the demonization of the Harry Potter series, though thought provoking, is not convincing.

[Lee Ann]

0 stars. I would absolutely not recommend this book. It was left to me, while I was working at the front desk of the campus library, by a woman who donates holy books to our collection every holiday season. We don't usually keep the books unless one of the Jesuits on campus asks us to. This book we did not keep. My boss gave it to me as a joke. "I know how much you love HP," he said. "Don't you wanna read about how evil it is?" I wanted to read it for the laughs. But it made me pretty sad and angry and even frightened. People like O'Brien still exist? Really? Haven't we evolved, haven't we grown more compassionate and understanding, haven't we gotten past the whole religious intolerance?

All I can say is that O'Brien not only sounds like a kooky "stuck-in-Salem" Illuminati-hunter, he also sounds like a bigot. He begins the book describing how fighting this war against the Potter series is his "God-given duty," that he spoke directly to God, and God said it is on his shoulders to expose HP's "evils." He claims he was plagued by both nightmares and external, physical misfortunes as he wrote the book, caused by "evil witches and sorcerers" that wanted to prevent him from doing his duty. Yeah... okay. He also claims he started reading the books with "an open mind," even though two pages earlier he claims his curiosity in the series was sparked by three parents who, all in one day, told him they felt a "spiritual nausea" whenever they picked up the HP books and did not like them. So... no bias? Really? Yeah right.

Welp, I felt a pretty unsettling spiritual nausea reading THIS book.

This preface is followed by the longest spiel of misogyny and homophobia I have ever had the misfortune of reading. He goes on and on about how teenage girls are more likely to fall to the temptations of Wicca (*cough* Adam complex *cough* blame the woman *cough*); and, ~gasp~, Dumbledore is a filthy homosexual, so of COURSE HP is evil! He also barely does a close reading of Harry Potter at all. He summarizes the books, proving he's read them, but then he only analyzes about three scenes total: the Deathday Party (which he calls a "perversion" of the Last Supper), Harry's arrival at Grimmauld Place (where the snake-shaped candelabras are apparently a "subliminal message" that "serpents," ergo the devil, are "a source of light"), and the King's Cross scene in the final novel (which he claims gives Harry a blasphemous power over death). He often quotes "professional exorcists" and emphasizes that evil spirits are after us all, and permeate every piece of culture we ingest. And he calls Kristen Stewart "not as pretty" as her fellow cast-members in Twilight, so, wow, fuck you, you misogynist dick. (Ahem, my apologies... excuse me.)

And of COURSE he supports Tolkien and Lewis and praises them as wonderful, flawless stories. Never mind that The Lord of the Rings contains virtually no female characters, and that all the evil characters in Narnia are "witches." But he is blind to the flaws of those stories, holding them up only as the antithesis of Potter, because magic is portrayed, not as good, but as dangerous. Thus, that makes them perfect.

Then there was the whole rant about how Harry is representative of "lonely" children who have no siblings because of "abortion" and "contraception" and "sterilization." Oh, God. I wanted to puke so bad at that. I'm impressed with myself for holding it in.

O'Brien is also very adamant about the constant of allegory and symbolism. Symbols are fixed, he claims, and cannot be changed or turned on their heads. Dragons, as serpents, as devil-figures, must always be evil; they cannot be portrayed as neutral, or good. He strikes me as someone very much against human evolution and cultural shifting. Not to mention, such symbols are CHRISTIAN symbols... not ALL cultures believe snakes are evil. Some even hold them sacred.

But of course Catholicism is the ~only~ right religion, right? Pfft.

It's all pretty repulsive, to be honest. He sounds like a close-minded, intolerant, witch-burning bigot. He claims Harry Potter is all about hatred, when he is clearly practicing hatred and intolerance himself (particularly against women, queers, and non-Catholics); he also ignores that the real "magic" of the story is Lily's love for her son, which saves him and protects him from danger (at least early on in the novels). Also, O'Brien's argument that pro-Potter critics are "too emotional" is... off-putting. I never understood the argument that one cannot win a debate when emotions are involved. It invalidates those emotions, belittles them, and implies you have to be cold and detached and inhuman to be "right." It's gross.

As is the rest of this book. 0/10 would recommend. Do not read. Can't wait to toss it in the garbage.

[Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Michael O'Brien points out, Lev Grossman, in the July 23, 2007, issue of Time magazine, wrote, "If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God." Yet to criticize HP today is akin to criticizing God at a time when God was still relevant. I mean, today you can bash God all you want and not raise an eyebrow, but God forbid you criticize Harry Potter...look out!

Harry Potter (HP) is not just a series of best-selling books written for children; Harry Potter is a worldwide phenomenon that, on the surface, seems to be purely harmless entertainment. HP appeals to all, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, etc. It has captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people and this fervor continues unabated two decades after the first book was written. Children and adults, alike, just can't seem to get enough. To this day, HP blockbuster films, HP communities, HP theme parks, HP churches, HP curriculum, HP stage productions, etc. proliferate without anyone really questioning its impact, especially its impact on the young.

Just look at the statistics. In just two decades, HP has become the best selling book(s) of all time, quickly approaching sales of thee best selling book of all time: the Bible. Shouldn't Christian parents, at the very least, start to question this cultural phenomenon. Is Harry Potter replacing the bible? Is the boy wizard replacing Jesus? The bible is very clear on sorcery, witchcraft and magic, yet most Christians don't blink an eye. Why? Well, Michael O'Brien answers this question and many more.

Anyway, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture should be required reading for Christian parents everywhere. If nothing else, this book reawakens our natural discernment bestowed upon us as a gift from God, not from Harry Potter.

P.S. I just want to add that what's even more bothersome to me is the relentless promotion of Harry Potter. If the mainstream media and/or mainstream institutions promote something heavily, always look for a hidden agenda. You don't have to look very hard to see it. The mainstream is not at all Christian friendly and there is no doubt in my mind that there is an effort to silence, defuse, modify the Christian message in our culture today and unfortunately, their target is mainly impressionable young minds for obvious reasons.

[Matthew Lauderdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second read of this book, and I decided to reread it after I did a reread of all 7 Harry Potter books in the span of a month. For context, I absolutely love the HP books and have read them countless times throughout my life since childhood. I also love Michael O'Brien's books and he is someone I have a lot of respect for. Buuuuuut all that being said, I heavily disagree with O'Brien's conclusions in this book. I'm giving it four stars (which is what I gave it the first time I read it) because I think he makes some extremely interesting points throughout, especially things like the use of symbols, the impact of literature, and a whole host of philosophical concepts and their relationships to stories, plus I find it entertaining to read things from people who disagree with me. But while he makes some interesting points, I find his arguments to be pretty unconvincing and they come across as someone who is reading *way* too much into things. For example, he cites a passage from another writer about how Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party from book two is obviously supposed to be a Black Mass. *Really?* And this is one of my biggest issues here: You don't need to resort to massive shocking statements to argue against these books. There are genuine criticisms to make (which he does reference, but on a much smaller level). At the end of the day, I'd say the biggest takeaway from this book is that we need to be vigilant, discerning, and prudent with the stories we consume....but I didn't need to read a whole book about Harry Potter to already know that. Regardless, I had fun reading this even though I find myself on the opposite side of the issue as O'Brien. If you're a diehard HP fan, I doubt this book is going to convince you otherwise.

[Calico]

What makes some individuals so intolerant of differing opinions? Not only do people brand alternate beliefs as dangerous, but they also mandate how others should interpret the belief systems they've chosen for themselves.

Behind this self-aggrandizement are people so inflexible that they cannot understand the faiths to which they claim ownership. They distort religion for sake of elevating their own certitudes, and claim thier own myopic understandings to be the undisputed knowledge of a moralistic God.

Gnosticism may involve self-knowledge, but those who attack it worship a projection of their ego. They make an idol of themselves, becoming Christians without Christ.

Such people are so incapable of self-acceptance and self-reflection that they project their doubts onto others, where they fantasize their doubts as belonging to another. Fearing their own uncertainty they attack themselves through a proxy. They cannot look into the forge of their own character nor shape their souls any further.

The self-denial is so strong that it validates the murder of their proxies, as infidels and apostates. That's not religion. That's a cultural manifestation of psychopathy. There is nothing Christ-like about it.

The appeal of esoteric religion is that the existential knowledge of the prophets cannot be commandeered by an army of emotionally compromised psychotics. It is developed within one's self, as it was within the prophets. Unlike the compromised forms of Christianity, which thrive on fear and self-doubt, esotericism prioritizes the act of self-acceptance.

Eastern Orthodoxy states that a spiritual leader must also be an ascetic. This is true, but we don't see the relevance of this concept in the West. Our most prolific religious leaders are abnormally wealthy and their materialistic engagements prevent them from achieving the awareness of the ascetic. They lack an experiential understanding of holy communion through self-absolution, which is the germinal perspective of Christ's teachings.

The western God is veiled by a culture of materialism and moral certitude, by holy rococo and shallow spiritual leaders. We've become the money changers.

[Sweetmelody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enlightening book! Christian parents would do well to read this book.
Michael O'Brien does a superb exposé on the Harry Potter series of books. He alerts us to the detrimental effects that are leading many readers astray in ways that will have long reaching effects on their lives.
After reading this eye-opening book I learned how damaging the Harry Potter books are in subtle and not so subtle ways.
There is a Bible verse that is apropos: Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong arguments. You can’t say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about— he read the books four times each!

His thoughts are poignant and insightful. I knew I’d have to read this sometime and I’m actually glad I did. It hurt, but tough love can hurt.

[Amy Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been eager to read this book for years but only now finally found the time to read it while on vacation. I read the HP books #1, 3, and 7 end of 2014-2015 when my kids were still 7 and under, in an effort to proof them as a Christian mom trying to raise my kids with ordered affections. When the books were coming out, I was in college (maybe high school for the first ones?) I wrote a paper on New Age music for my music degree in 2003; and in an effort to get more sources for my research paper, I went to B&N. I noticed how many books in the youth or young adult fiction were pagan or New Age in theme (meaning witches, vampires, werewolves, paranormal or occultic stuff). I might not have noticed that if not for studying just at that time about the New Age religion and its expression in music. Of course, you couldn't help but notice it on TV--Buffy the Vampire Slayer and assorted similar shows. Then for my minor in education, I took a class on children's literature. We read and discussed Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Child's Heart. I agreed with Hunt at the time when she said we shouldn't censor books too quickly without having read them ourselves (she was specifically referring to the HP books). Coming from an indy-fundy background, I thought Christians can be too quick to separate and censure, so I agreed with Hunt. My teacher, however, did not. Much as she respected the Hunt and her book, she said in this case, it's fine for Christian teachers and pastors to rely on a book like Harry Potter and the Bible (I finally read that one last year).

So I didn't know what to think when Christians I trust were adamantly against them, but other Christian opinion-shifters and cultural influencers on social media were adamantly pro-Potter, saying it's a great Christian allegory, good Christian values, etc. I decided to read them, and #1, 3, and 7 were what I could get through a library app back then. I wrote this backstory to try to show that I tried to approach these books without preconceptions, though, with the debate swirling through Christian circles at the time, it is impossible that I would have no presuppositions regarding the books at all; but I did try to read them with an open mind and a disposition to like them.

When I read them, I wasn't convinced that they were good for my kids. I had some concerns, but didn't feel confident to express them in words, or to justify Lewis and Tolkien if I censored HP. Later I was given the whole set by a lady who's crazy about them (had 3 sets, her kids went to HP camps and all sorts of stuff like that in England), and I accepted them, thinking I'd try the entire series once again before I handed them to my kids. Since then, I'd wavered even more from my thinking that they weren't safe, because of those social media influencers, the pro-Potter Christians.

This book confirmed for me that the concerns I had had were not only sound and valid logically but also truthful and correct spiritually and metaphysically. I wish I hadn't been so swayed by others that I almost went against my conscience. It's a warning to me that we can justify our wrong actions by other Christians’ decisions, whether or not they have a problem with it. This is how brothers can make weaker brothers stumble into sin. However I ought to pause and consider if I’m missing something when I don’t find value in a book, if someone whom I consider to be literary as well as Christian loves them. So I’ve reflected on the books I read and the issues as I felt them for several years now. This book helped me come to a more settled decision on it.
It is wrong for ME to allow MY children to read the HP books; and I think this book, if read sympathetically, can convince most Christians that it is wrong for their children as well. However, it won't convince anyone already determined to dislike any arguments contra HP. In fact, this book explains why Christians can get so angry and accusatory against those who censor HP. He explains why people get very defensive over things they enjoyed, that they see it as a personal attack if you reject that thing they allowed as their entertainment. For those Christians who maintain that HP is great for Christians because of its Christian values or allegorical symbols, I would be highly interested to hear them address the arguments in this book, if they can do so fairly and without caricaturing O'Brien's arguments.

Here are some of his arguments I found compelling or helpful, some of which I was gratified to find that I had been on the same trail years ago, but lacked the confidence or philosophical knowledge to trace the subtle influences and put it into words. I’ll start each thought with “We have chosen to omit HP from our home because…”

1. …because of its overarching metaphor of witchcraft and the occult. This is a metaphor that cannot be "redeemed" or neutralized so that it's used for good or evil. The "magic" Rowling imagines as the basis for her plots is so akin to what we know in our world as the occult or Satanic powers that it can't be divorced from the evil foundation on which it's built. To say it can be used for good by the "nice" guys is to say something equivalent to a story in which the good fornicators use fornication to fight the bad fornicators. It's not something that can be twisted or inverted to be made good. The Bible is clear that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. I am not convinced, and I must be if I'm to allow it, that God wants my kids entertained with an enthralling story (for 1,000's of pages and many hours) all about powers of manipulation and violence forbidden in His Word. (I'm not too picky about the idea of dragons being good characters in a book, so I don't feel I'm being extreme to draw the line at the occult being inverted into something good or neutral. In fact, it seems so obvious, I'm not sure why Christians talk about dragons and the inversions of their symbols in some books as if that's so bad, but miss the twisting in these books of witches and wizards practicing their craft, fighting and killing with it as being a good thing!)

2. …because of the overall moral relativism and moral confusion in these books. The Potter ethics are not Christian because they aren't based on any natural law or code. In fact they fit right in with what we know of the occult--which as Harry Potter and the Bible explained, is not so much a worship of Satan, but a worship of self: a rejection of God's authority, and a grasping after autonomy and personal power. HP and the "nice" good guys do a lot of wrong or questionable things and often no bad consequences come from it; in fact, he is praised sometimes for doing his own thing. The end justifies the means--throughout the books. I will include under this point some content considerations that conservative parents would want to know about: repulsive or crude content (body function jokes or rotting, disgusting images), sexual innuendo (especially in later books as the kids become older teenagers), and portraying conservatives as the "bad" guys. Rowling self-protects from Christian critics by portraying anti-magic characters as foolish, despicable, or the cause of evil. No one wants to be equated with the Dursleys or Voldemort's father. The disrespectful humor at times reminds me of Roald Dahl’s stories, if that helps give a flavor of it.

3. …because it denies moral order in the universe; there is no hierarchy (with God above humans with established laws). Some Christians excuse the magic in HP, because they say it is "neutral" in that both the bad and good guys use it. This is actually my second biggest problem with these books. There is no moral basis for HP to be good or to do anything right. In book 7 when he goes through depression and an identity crisis, there is absolutely no build-up or basis for why he shouldn't become the next Voldemort himself. All the magic is the same. The good and bad guys both use the same killing curses on one another. Only the ones who get the most power and experience will win. Where does this power come from? Is it inherent in their natures or genetic code, like Superman? There is no whiff of God or a higher authority or power in these books. It was actually jarring to me in book 7 when Ron said once, "Thank God." It seemed blasphemous, since clearly there is no God here. In fact, if the power is coming from anywhere, it's got to be coming from Satan. Take, for example, the divination class in book 1 or 3 (I forget) when the teacher is possessed and prophesies over Harry. This is a classic example of demonic possession--the teacher speaks in a low, spooky, unnatural voice with glazed eyes and is controlled by a spiritual being.

4. …because of the confused messaging and symbolism. This is similar to point #1, but emphasizing the Christian nods and allusions throughout. Rowling mixes Christian symbols with anti-Christian elements, sometimes inverting their original meanings or messages. Any good or "nice" virtues the kids have must be borrowed from Christianity. The metaphor at the end with HP's death and self-resurrection actually felt manipulative to me. Great, now a lot of Christians will think this is fine because "HP is a Christ figure!" But there are several confused symbols or mixed ethics where good is evil and evil is good. This is getting long, so I’m not going to give examples here. This leads to my next point.

5. …because children's souls are still being formed, and they will assimilate dangerous messages. If they are introduced to the occult as benign or fun through these engaging, sensuous stories, at the least, their sensibilities will be more accepting and friendly to what the Bible clearly calls evil. They will want to defend stories they liked and thus will justify entertaining themselves with ideas the Bible clearly rejects. O'Brien explains thoroughly the importance of how we feed our imagination and how often we take in wrong messages subconsciously. "The development of a moral imagination, therefore, demands as much self-restraint and proper direction as an athlete exercises over his body." p17 A major emphasis in this book is that Christians should carefully evaluate and question all messages coming from the culture through books, music, or films. We don't realize how much we accept or become used to just through repeated exposure and little "shocks" in our culture. He references other seminal works on this topic, like Amusing Ourselves to Death. He spends a few chapters on the "paganization of culture" as evidenced not just by HP, but by many other cultural artifacts. He discusses the Twilight series and Dark Materials series as well as several films.

My husband has been distrustful of modern entertainment since I've known him. He has always said, "Hollywood is our enemy." This book backs up that idea. As Christians, we have to realize that modern media, books, and art/music are attacking our faith and practice constantly; in our efforts to be comfortable or entertained, we have to make sure we're not accepting wrong ideas, assimilating them, or becoming desensitized to them. So my husband and I have no problem with rejecting literature simply on the basis that it's not worthy of spending so many hours on entertainment if it doesn't help build ordered affections in any way. But certainly, if it is detrimental to religious affections, then that settles the question of its inclusion in our family.

Negatives:
There were a few negatives to this book, and that's why I didn't give it 5 stars; even though I wanted to so that more people would read it.
1. Distractingly Catholic--some Mariolatry, and once the Mary-worship interrupted a decent argument and stopped it right in a good track on which it was headed.
2. Not enough discussion of the symbol-twisting--I needed more examples. One example seemed a bit over-the-top: the kids cut up mandrakes in a potions class, and O'Brien says this is like abortion since the mandrakes are like human babies.
3. He puts a sensational example in his preface that will make it easy for detractors to caricature him. He says that several people (while reading the HP books in order to proof them for Christians and see if they were bad) experienced extremely difficult trials in their lives during that time, including himself. This makes him seem extreme and will turn off readers who are predisposed to dislike his argument. I side-eyed him myself because of it. However, I did find it interesting to think that, back when I proofed the stories myself, we went through the worst trials of our lives; it was our hardest year ever, and there was no doubt we were under spiritual attack. It would be wrong, however, to say that those trials happened because I was reading the HP books at the time. (Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.)

O'Brien was also extremely helpful in explaining how Lewis and Tolkien are completely Christian in their portrayal of magic and opposites from Rowling in her portrayal of it. He includes several thorough examples in this section.

I understand that if my children did happen to read these, that it would not of necessity turn them into wizards or instantly corrupt them. I realize that my children may still choose to read these on their own once they leave my house and become adults. By that time, however, I pray that their souls will be stronger to resist the devil and to discern good and evil, having first read this book or others like it, and having been shown how to spiritually judge the messages in cultural artifacts.

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent research and really good literary investigation. However, I disagree with how far he takes his conclusions. Yes, there are problematic parts and philosophies in Harry Potter. That doesn't mean that they play such a huge contribution to the paganization of culture, however, or that they shouldn't be read by more mature children.

2.5-3 Stars. (Okay)

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well-written thought provoking book. It provides insight into the symbolism behind the Harry Potter books, and other modern children's fantasy, and what sets Tolkien and Lewis' fantasy stories apart from them. Many people in their defense of Potter try to portray the stories as a good vs. evil battle like that of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, but they are actually nothing alike.

[Peri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst sort of religious propaganda, and he couldn't get some of the most basic facts of the Harry Potter universe right! Michael D. O'Brien may be a devout Catholic, but he is certainly no literary critic.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I was looking for to answer my questions, but there seemed to be a lot of repetition and a lot was over my head. I really liked the chapter contrasting HP with Narnia/LOTR and also the chapter discussing other fantasy books and their merits or problems. Didn’t really need too much else, and some of it seemed to go juuuust a liiiiitle too far….like the mandrake plant desensitizing kids to abortion?? Idk….But thankfully I now know how to explain to myself and my kids why we aren’t doing HP in this house.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another solid piece of work by Michael D. O’Brien. His writing, whether it be fiction or non never disappoints. This particular book, as the title suggests, critiques the Harry Potter series and phenomena and sheds light on the various issues which are present and which underline the series as a whole. It’s particularly useful for parents and parents to be. Necessary reading for all Catholics and anyone with a level of spiritual conviction irrelevant of their faith.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a challenging book. Is Harry Potter bad for kids or not? After heated discussions with my wise wife, in a robustly Christian family Harry Potter is likely benign. In other families, I don't see HP driving children to the dark side, but in some, if not many, it may. Mr O'Brien raises many concerns that we should consider. It's a book well worth reading and praying for guidance on how best to respond. It's easy to condemn a book; it's far more difficult to find the (perhaps limited) good in it and provide an environment that makes the book a non-issue.

[Carmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think O'Brien's book _A Landscape With Dragons_ is much more helpful, but it was written before the Harry Potter phenomena. I'm glad he tackles some of the problems with indulging in Harry Potter's world, and he points out the many flaws in the worldview it presents. He also tackles some other popular literature, including the _Twilight_ books. Heavily influenced by his Roman Catholic theology, but still has some good information for people who have concerns about this fantasy literature which is being read by even many Christians without discernment.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding and important. The author explains with reason and sound theology why Harry Potter, Twilight, and similar works of "children's fiction" are hostile to the Christian faith.

[Nathan Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael O'Brien does a phenomenal job of helping us understand what the essence of true, good fiction is and the care we should take in what we allow to build the "Architecture of the mind" for our children. I read this book primarily because many had asked me "what's the difference between the magic in Tolkien our CS Lewis' works and Rowling's. Michael answers this question satisfactorily and I am thankful for his knowledge and in-depth research on this subject.