Harry Potter and the Angry Christians (Movie Analysis)

Harry Potter and the Angry Christians by Blog Man Ry

This is an interesting video put together by Blog Man Ry  titled Harry Potter and the Angry Christians. He outlines the fear that Christians have about the Harry Potter books and movies, from a very aware perspective.

Blog Man Ry has a daughter of his own who loves books. His daughter understands the concept of a story unfolding page by page. On her bookshelf are the stories of David and Goliath, Noah’s Ark and the Christmas story. They all include death in the form of decapitation, genocide and infanticide. He asks, “Why should I allow my daughter to read these stories and not the Harry Potter novels?”.

Severus Snape

Blog Man Ry says that Severus Snape is the most well written character in the book. He’s a sarcastic and condescending teacher who demands respect from the students and who seems to have this personal vendetta against Harry. As the series moves along, the tension grows between Harry and himself.

We also find out that Snape was once a Death Eater and that he has a deep desire to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts course at Hogwarts. We’re also given a glimpse into his past which sheds some light onto his dislike for Harry because Harry reminds Snape of Harry’s father James.

Snape’s Love for Harry’s Mother

Dumbledore adamantly trusts Snape, but due to his questionable behaviour, we’re constantly wondering where his loyalties lie. And then, he kills Dumbledore and we have no reason to doubt his allegiance to Voldemort. We see him as a traitor and a coward and we want him to pay for what he has done. But then there’s a very interesting twist to the whole plot….. we discover that Snape was in love with Harry’s mother.

So here we have judged Snape for his terrible actions and then we find out what was in his heart – his motivation – and we have to completely re-evaluate everything we thought about Snape. Blog Man Ry believes that the character of Snape is a microcosm of the series.  We can quickly judge it by what little we know about it – the magic, sourcery and spells, and all the rest of it. Or, we can take the time to find out what is at the heart of the series. The idea or concept that someone could love you so much that they would die for you, and their sacrifice would protect you from the evil one…. that doesn’t sound like magic at all. It sounds like the gospels.

One Teenage Christian’s Perspective

Here’s what Lilly Shaul has to say about the Harry Potter movies:

“I’m a firm follower of Christ, and Harry Potter makes me extremely happy. I love it so much. Seriously. And I don’t see how it’s different from The wizard of Oz, Narnia, Lord Of The Rings, and Star Wars! I know what you’re thinking “Narnia is telling the story of Jesus bla bla bla”. Well, maybe that’s what CS Lewis was trying to do, but does he ever blatantly say God’s name? No. So anyone could make the story whatever they want it to be. And no one says what “the Force” is, but everyone loves Star Wars!

I know that the bible says not to practice dark magic, and magic is wrong…but I have read all the books, watched all the movies, and done research (and fangirled) and I have never ever been tempted to try magic of any sorts. I think it depends on the maturity level of the reader, but Christians need to stop judging the book by its cover. Live in the world, not of it. God wants us to be entertained and have fun. And this is all coming from me, a 13 year old. ?”

Oh such wisdom from someone so young!

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Would you like to support our Foundation? Do you know of a teenage girl who loves to read books? Here’s a link to one of our fundraisers – a teen book titled The Bravehearts of Belgrave High. Click on the following link to read more:

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