Potter’s Proselytising Powers

Remember some sensitive souls attacking poor old Harry Potter for glamourizing the occult? Well those who branded the plucky wizard as one of Satan's minions will truly have to eat their proverbial hats after a church group praised Harry as a powerful force for spreading the gospel. Harry's study of the dark arts worried some Christians so much that even the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral refused permission to allow shooting for Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone to be carried out in his cathedral. The Very Rev John Simpson said at the time he was worried that "the imagery of witches and warlocks" of Rowling's books "might upset some Christians." Well, fear not. Some minds have been changed. Earlier this year, the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey described Harry's first feature film as a serious examination of good and evil and now a new booklet published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland claims the same status for Harry and his friends. Their adventures in Hogwarts apparently "ask people to look again at the selfish material world and the presence within it of Christian values; truth, love and supremely, self-giving and sacrifice." And here was Empire Online just enjoying the Quidditch…