I'm blogging about Harry Potter.

(Disclaimer: I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, and have only watched one of the movies, on a computer owned by a 40ish year old businesswoman who sat next to me during a flight from Denver to Houston.)

"The Harry Potter franchise is going to be one of the downfalls of modern Christianity." That quote was taken from a self-proclaimed "spiritual and visionary leader in American Christianity"...(Note: The Christ I strive to follow is Jewish, and never lived in America while he was on Earth, so I'm not quite sure what American Christianity is.)

I am sorry, but I disagree strongly with the "religious right" on this issue, sorry Dr. Dobson.

If you don't know anything about the J.K. Rowling book series Harry Potter, watch the news or read the paper today. The final book in the series that as a group has sold over 325 million copies will go on sale tonight at 12:01 a.m.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" will be devoured by millions of young and old Potterheads, with the main plot lines of every writing class I ever took being followed to the hilt. Hook or Subject, characters, conflict, sub-plots, climax and resolution. It is pretty simple when you think about it.

So what's the big deal??? I guess it's because Harry Potter is a spell-casting wizard, and there is a lot of young kids reading about his life in a fiction book. (Fiction means not true, for the record.)

The thought that reading the Harry Potter series, or another fiction best seller like The Da Vinci Code, is going to send millions of Christian or non-Christian children and adults out to the store to buy all of Anton LaVey's satanic works is absurd.

Will the books challenge people's beliefs, thoughts and faith? Maybe not, but I hope so.

Will it cause people to face the reality of darkness in the world, ie...in magic, wizards, demons and the occult? Maybe, and that's a good thing in my eyes...when is the last time any church had a 4 week session on demon possession? Never, but it still happens, and we sweep it under the rug.

Maybe because it is a powerful thing, and most of us are ill-equipped to deal with it's depth, mentally and spiritually. It's much like faith healing or speaking in tongues...oooooh, I stepped on some Mennonite toes there, yes I believe that God still preforms miracle healings, and I also believe Christians still speak in tongues.

I have a friend who is a youth pastor and during a church camp in the Black Hills he, the camp staff and every kid attending that camp witnessed a demon possessed person and an exorcism, first hand. You want to be scared into demon possession belief...watch "The Exorcist" on Saturday it's a horror movie based on a true story, your butt will be in church on Sunday.

Back to Harry, reading the Harry Potter books will no more make you a Wiccan Priest, than reading the Bible will make you a Christian. With that said, there does need to be leadership and direction to those that don't comprehend reality vs. make believe...children and some teenagers.

Although Rowling's novels never explicitly mention religion, they do seem to follow in the tradition of C. S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. The books espouse a moral message and certainly contain hints of Christian allegory as they set up battles between good and evil.

Throw Star Wars in there as well, it is no different. Growing up, and still, I am a Star Wars fan, I tried to hone my Jedi powers by using mind control on my mom to give me ice cream, and pick up cars using "The Force". I loved good vs. evil, the mystical and wizardry powers of Yoda and Darth Vader...and I grew up fine...in fact, I let Maxim watch the movies, and love the fact that we enjoy them together.

The so called "Christian books" Narnia and Lord of the Rings (LOTR) are at times right on par or worse than Potter's dabbling. Read LOTR or watch the movies, then decide if you would show that or allow your child to read it without some guidance. Those 2 literary works are for sure in "Christian Librarys" where Potter was banned. But all over parents let their children read those great "Christian" classics of wizards and warlocks, but they ban Harry from the house??? I don't get it.

Rob Bell said it best in his book Velvet Elvis, "the only book that is "Christian" is the Bible, everything else is just commentary." Fiction or non-fiction.

My world-view and parenting style may differ from yours, and I may regret it later in life, but I believe you need to prepare a child to make their own decisions in faith.

Give them a base of Biblical truths and gentle nudging towards a personal relationship with Christ, in stead of requiring your beliefs on to them...which I think is a popular, but unspoke of parenting style of Christian parents. In the end that style will force your faith onto them. And then is it really their faith? And how deeply rooted is something like that.

Believe me, if you force and require Christianity on today's children, as soon as they walk out of your door they will search everywhere for truth, hopefully one day returning to Christian roots.

You might disagree, but this is my blog and this is how Steph and I roll. In our view there is no better way to talk about faith, hope, Christ-like living and moral ethics than over a good book or movie or better yet, out in the mountains, in the water or just camping in the backyard.

By the way, I have asked a co-worker to bring in the 1st Harry Potter book, so I can read it. Then, when my son is old enough, I will know what to expect when he reads the book or watches the movie. Makes me wonder how many people that "banned" their children or others from the book actually read the book.

Who knows, someday JK, JRR, and CS might all be looked at as great "Christan" authors.

It all comes down to the battle of Good vs. Evil...it sells Bibles, Western movies and Harry Potter books.