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Is Harry Potter anti-contraception? Matt C. Abbott August 14, 2007 The following commentary was recently submitted to The Wanderer by canon lawyer Pete Vere, a regular contributor to the Catholic newspaper. Harry Potter, Contraception and the Occult By Pete Vere, JCL
Before jumping back into this controversy, I should state two reservations that I share with Mrs. Brown: 1) I don't feel the books are suitable for pre-pubescent children; and 2) Parental guidance is necessary should Catholics allow their children to read the series. The magic in Harry Potter The magic in Harry Potter, for the most part, is fantasy and fictional. Spell ingredients like dragon's blood and unicorn hair don't exist in real life. Pointing a stick and speaking in Latin won't change a toad into a tea-cup. This magic is merely a literary device to move the plot forward. One could easily substitute lightsabres or laser gun-ships in the science fiction genre. Biblical sorcery On the other hand, the sorcery and witchcraft condemned in Holy Scripture is of a different (and more serious) nature. It involved attempts to channel demons or the dead, or it involved what today we call contraception. Whereas Catholics are consistent in this regard, many noted evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants who condemn Harry Potter including Dr. James Dobson accept and even promote contraception as morally acceptable. Yet the sources confirming the link between contraception and scriptural sorcery fall into five divergent categories: 1) modern occultists and occult historians; 2) the founders of the Protestant Reformation; 3) the early Church Fathers; 4) contextually within the Bible itself; and 5) modern secular historians. Here is a sample from each: 1 Modern Occultists Raymond Buckland is the author of several books on witchcraft and a disciple of Gerald Gardiner, the father of modern witchcraft. In Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, the author's best-selling introduction to the practices of modern witchcraft, Buckland provides a substantial entry describing what occultists call "Sex Magick." "This is one of the most potent forms of magick," Buckland writes, "for here we are dealing very much with the life forces." Dr. Jonn Mumford, in Sexual Occultism, states the most important psycho-physiological event in the life of a human is the orgasm. "Oral sex can be especially suitable, of course, when all chances of pregnancy must be eliminated." 2 Protestant Reformers Martin Luther vividly condemned contraception in his Commentary on Genesis: "It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her that is, he lies with her and copulates and, when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive..." Calvin, in commentary on the same passage, backs up Luther. 3 Church Fathers St. John Chrysostom, the revered Father and Doctor of the Church, connects witchcraft to contraception in the following passage from a homily on the Book of Romans. Please note the use of the words "potions" and "poisons": "Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit, where there are potions of sterility [contraception], where there is murder before birth? ... In this indifference of the married men there is greater evil filth; for then poisons are prepared, not against the womb of a prostitute, but against your injured wife." 4 New Testament Looking at the New Testament specifically Galatians 5:20, Revelations 9:21, 21:8, and 22:15 although it is typically translated as "sorcery" or "magic arts," the Greek word employed is pharmakeia, from which our modern English dictum of "pharmacy" is derived, meaning the use or the administering of drug or poisoning. This is to be distinguished from the other kind of sorcery in the Bible, mageiva, or magic, which appears in Acts 8:9 and 8:11 in describing Simon the magician. Now simple medicine for the purpose of legitimate health was obviously not condemned in the Bible. St. Luke was a physician. Jesus describes Himself as a physician of souls in Mark 2:17. On the other hand, many New Testament passages mentioning pharmakeia are invariably placed alongside some kind of sexual vice. The Book of Revelation is particularly forceful in this regard: "[...] nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts." (Revelation 9:21) "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur..." (Revelation 21:8) "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood." (Revelation 22:15) 5 Secular Historians Dr. John M. Riddle, a professor of history at North Carolina State University, is a well-recognized expert on the history of abortion and contraception. In Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West, his textbook published by Harvard University Press, Riddle quotes several historical documents showing that in ancient and medieval times, contraception and abortion were often considered a form of sorcery and witchcraft rather than a form of medicine. "The magic associated with women was often connected to their use of herbs," Riddle writes. "Midwives and witches, whether one and the same, knew the drugs to take to reduce fertility." The author quotes modern historian Richard Trexler: "Infanticide was far and away the most common social crime imputed to the aged witches of Europe by the demonologists." "Sexual offenses were, by far, the leading offenses of which witches were accused in three Essex villages between 1560 and 1599." The natural law in Harry Potter In contrast to this historical sorcery and witchcraft, most of the characters in Harry Potter appear to follow the natural law in terms of marriage, family, and those rights and obligations reserved to these venerable institutions. For example, the Weasley family provides the main supporting characters for the protagonist, Harry Potter. Arthur and Mollie Weasley are the parents of seven children. (One of whom is Harry's best friend, and another who is the object of his romance). Mrs. Weasley, the matriarch, is positively portrayed as a stay-at-home mother who sacrifices her own wants for the good of her children. Her husband, Mr. Weasley, has sacrificed advancement and higher salary so that he can partake in his children's moral upbringing. Despite being a witch and a wizard, the two appear to have a fertile marriage in keeping with the natural law. One would think they could conjure up some contraception given its close historical link to witchcraft. The courtship between Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour provides a younger example of a witch and wizard appearing to avoid historic sorcery in favor of the natural law. The oldest Weasley sibling is a very handsome young man. Miss Delacour is a young woman of magical beauty who dearly loves her fiancι. Yet the couple appears to maintain separate bedrooms prior to marriage. When they find themselves under the same roof on the night before their wedding, both sets of parents are present. Fleur shares a bedroom with her sister, while Bill bunks with his best man. They do not share a bedroom until after the couple is married. Conclusion The witchcraft of Harry Potter is for the most part pure fantasy. On the other hand, contraception which is never mentioned in the Harry Potter books is accepted as morally licit by many who claim to be Bible-believing Christians. As such, Harry Potter offers orthodox Catholics an opportunity to evangelize Protestants in the spiritual dangers of contraceptive sorcery. Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from Triton College in River Grove, Ill. He is the former director of public affairs for the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League and the former executive director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee. He was a contributor to The Wanderer Catholic newspaper and had numerous letters to the editor published in major newspapers, including the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com © Copyright 2007 by Matt C. Abbott http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/070814 The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Alan Keyes, RenewAmerica, or its affiliates. (See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.) |
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