Religious debates over Harry Potter

Religious debates over Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling stem largely from assertions that the Harry Potter novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. This opposition crosses many religious lines, with some members of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christians, in addition to Shia and Sunni Muslim faiths, arguing against the series.

In the United States calls for the books to be banned from schools have led occasionally to widely publicised legal challenges, usually on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the books to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state.[1][2][3] Religious opposition has also surfaced in other nations. The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have campaigned against the series, and members of the Vatican hierarchy have voiced opposition. The books have been banned from private schools in the United Arab Emirates and criticised in the Iranian state-run press.

Responses to these claims have come from many corners. Supporters of the series have asserted that the magic in Harry Potter bears little resemblance to the magic of real life witchcraft or occultism, and more to the mechanical magic of Cinderella, Snow White and other fairy tales, and also to the works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, both authors frequently endorsed by Christians.[4] Far from promoting a particular religion, some argue,[4] the Harry Potter novels go out of their way to avoid discussing religion at all. The books' author, J. K. Rowling, describes herself as a practising Christian, and many have noted the overtly Christian references she includes in the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Religious responses to Harry Potter have not been exclusively negative. "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view," notes Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths."[5]