Archived Articles by Father Rob Smith

Are You A Muggle?

After reading the four current Harry Potter books and seeing the movie one simple conclusion is that our children won't learn any magic from Harry Potter! If you doubt that, try placing a broomstick on the ground, stand on its left-hand side and command it to rise up to your hand with the single word: "UP!" Our failure reveals that we are all Muggles, or non-magic peoples. Harry Potter's stereotype Muggle is the Dursley family that young Harry unfortunately grows up with. They are narrow minded, frightened, abusive, repressive, and in every way, physically and emotionally very unlovely. Living with the Durselys would make anybody not want to be a Muggle. In the Harry Potter Books, if you are not a magic person you are a Muggle.

There is a third alternative. That is living as a Christian. The word Christian means, "little-anointed" and refers to the Anointing of the Holy Spirit that is supposed to rest on Christians. That Anointing brings the Christian the gifts of the Holy Spirit that should mark the life of the Christian. But there are Muggles! I want to redefine the word. Muggles are not just non-magic people; they are people who are narrow-minded materialists with no room for anything from any spiritual dimension. Muggles have no more use for the Gifts of the Spirit than they do for magic. Unfortunately there are Christians who are Muggles!

The Harry Potter books offer Power! But it is power that our children cannot find with any measure of safety. There is no dividing line between white and dark magic in our world and that those who dabble in so-called white magic can too easily slide from the one to the other. If you don't believe that dark magic exists you really are a Muggle. The books also popularize witchcraft. In the long run that is not safe to do.

Your children are probably going to read Harry Potter soon or later, with you or without you. Certainly all their friends are reading it and judging by the box-office results most of them will have seen the movie before the Thanksgiving-Christmas period is over. My advice is, read it with them and help them understand the difference between the fantasy and reality. ~ Father Rob +

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