Non-witches, called "Muggles," are usually portrayed in this book quite negatively. The family that adopted Harry after his parents died—his mother’s sister and her husband, are painted in the worst possible way. Their admittedly bad character and opposition to witchcraft (which they see as "weird") are combined, so that one is left with the impression that opposition to witchcraft and the occult is silly, narrow-minded, cruel and the result of stupidity and ignorance (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pp. 1-8, 36, 40, 53, 59).²

The morals and ethics in Rowling’s fantasy tales are at best unclear, and at worst, patently unbiblical. It is true that there are fleeting moments throughout her stories where the good characters actually behave in a way consistent with being "good." But on many other occasions, these same characters act quite contrary to the biblical definition of "goodness." This is most apparent in Harry.³

The threefold moral message that Rowling presents through her characters is clear: 1) rules are made to be broken if they do not serve one’s own self-interests; 2) rules need not be obeyed if no good reason seems to exist for them: and 3) Lying is an effective and acceptable means of achieving a desired end.⁴

If Harry or his friends regretted deception, or were punished for it, it would set a moral tone that lying and deception are wrong. But Harry and his friends often get away with their pranks, receive light consequences, or are even rewarded for their disobedience. In fact, at the end of the book, Dumbledore tells Harry and Ron, "I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," (330). Then Dumbledore immediately says, "Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words.... You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and... two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor," (331). This final result teaches that the ends justify the means; moral behavior is set aside if certain results are achieved.⁵

It is not surprising that a book for and about children or young people would contain acts of disobedience and deception. What is disturbing is that these acts often go unpunished or are even rewarded, when performed by Harry. What is equally disturbing is that often the adults in a position of authority go along with this, or even participate themselves.⁶

A display a similar attitudes by other "good" characters throughout the Potter series creates a running theme that is not difficult to discern: It is appropriate to return evil for evil, and treat others well only if they treat you well. As Rowling herself has stated about her main character: "Harry wants to get back at Dudley ... [A]nd we readers want him to get back at Dudley. And, in the long run, trust me, he will." Contrast this approach with what Scripture says regarding enemies and our treatment of them [cf. Lev. 19:18; Rom. 12:17-18, 21; Luke 6:27-28].⁷

That it’s "just fantasy" is a mindless answer. We need to think about that, because obviously we judge fantasy. We wouldn’t give our children some Playboy magazines that have some kind of story in it of a very sexual nature that was fanciful. Obviously we wouldn’t do that. We wouldn’t give them a book that had to do with tremendous violence. We wouldn’t do that either. So what we really are saying is we do not believe there’s anything to witchcraft.⁸

•  After reading the book or seeing the movie, would children be more inclined or less inclined to seek hidden powers and secret knowledge?⁹