[Gathnet] Harry Potter: "subtle seductions"

[Stuart D. Gathman]

Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) had this to say about Harry Potter
(although it is not clear whether he had read any of the books themselves, or
just books about Harry Potter):

  These are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable and precisely 
  because of that deeply affect (children) and corrupt the Christian faith 
  in souls even before it (the Faith) could properly grow.

This is not referring to the "sorcery" allegedly in Harry Potter
(there is none in the Biblical sense), but to the moral universe.
This underscores my advice that they are not for younger children.
(Hi Ronda).

I described the problem as "moral relativism" after reading book one and two.
Having almost finished book 6, "relativism" does not exactly describe it.
Michael O'Brien (author of Father Elijah) sums up the Harry Potter
moral universe this way: "not thy will be done, but mine".
In the later books, Harry and friends are no longer shielded from
the consequences of wrong choices, but Harry is still in some sense
justified in going his own way - even though it causes the death of those
close to him.  The justification seems to be that in the absence of
any Divine authority, this is the only way Harry is going to learn.

Actually, the moral universe of Harry Potter is very similar to 
Star Wars.  It even follows the same mythic pattern.  The role
correspondence is like this:

Star Wars	Harry Potter
Darth Vader	Voldemort	begins as star pupil, but is seduced by evil,
				is physically disfigured as a result of
				evil choices.  Nearly dies, but life is
				sustained by magic/futuretech.
Obi-wan Kenobi	Dumbledore	Dies fighting dark lord and protecting protege.
Luke Skywalker	Harry Potter	Hidden heritage, closely related to dark lord,
				destined for dark lord's final undoing.
				Goes on disastrous premature quest 
				to fight dark lord over strenuous 
				objections of teacher, resulting in death
				of close friends.
magic		futuretech	Allows events that would be impossible
				in ordinary experience.

In Star Wars, Darth Vader repents in his last moments.  One wonders
what will happen with Voldemort. (But maybe Snape will fill the role
of the repentant.)

Now, you could also compare with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Sauron,
Gandalf, and Frodo.  But there is an important difference.  Luke and Harry
slowly acquire just enough power to overcome the dark lord without becoming
totally corrupted themselves.  The power they acquire is the same
kind of magic/futuretech/force power being abused by the dark lord.
In Tolkien, the dark lord is defeated by embracing weakness, and
eschewing the power wielded by the evil one because it would corrupt
the wielder into one equally evil.

However, in Star Wars, when Luke finally confronts Vader, it turns
out that the real enemy is the Emperor, and Luke finds he is in fact weak
and helpless.  But this weakness is what enables Vader to repent and
destroy the Evil Emperor.

And I haven't written off Harry Potter yet.  In book 6, Dumbledore
tells Harry, "You have a greater power than Voldemort: the ability to love."
Although Harry, unlike Frodo, does keep trying the defeat Voldemort
by acquiring the same kind of power as Voldemort, Dumbledore has
repeatedly told him in different ways in each book that this is 
*not* how Voldemort can be defeated.  And all Harry's attempts to wield
Voldemorts own power against him have met with disaster.  One can
hope that in the end, like Luke, Harry will finally get it.

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
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