Brittany Poeppe | Assistant Arts + Life Editor
On Monday, September 14th, Maria Pogge Johnson stood in front of a large group of Buena Vista University (BVU) students and discussed the religious division of Christians over the Harry Potter book series. Johnson, a fan of the books herself, opened the ACES event by reading a short excerpt from a fanfic (fan-fiction) series entitled, “Hogwarts School of Prayer and Miracles.”
Johnson said there were two kinds of religious arguments, the Protestant/Biblical argument, and the Catholic/Cultural. Her response, like many others, to the Anti-Potter argument was simply, “Duh, it’s a novel,” meaning that everything in the Harry Potter series is fictional.
“Magic in Harry Potter is morally neutral. You can use it for good or evil. A child can tie a bath towel around his neck, point a chopstick at the cat, and say ‘Levi corpus,’ and he’s a happy, good kid,” Johnson said.
Certain morals, some Christians argue, transfer over from Harry Potter to real life. Friendship, for example, was one value Johnson talked about. In the books, the friendship between Harry, Hermione, and Ron are important to the story, and people can relate. Some Christians argue that the book series are creatively Christian and that Harry Potter touches hearts, connecting them to spiritual nourishment.
Author J.K. Rowling did not enter the Christian debate until much later, but Johnson talked about Rowling’s faith. Rowling is a Christian, and spirituality is important to her; God was in the books from the beginning.
“I’m pro-Potter, obviously. I have my own wand! I went to school with McGonagall,” Johnson said near the end of the event. “The anti-Potters do make a good point about being passive culture consumers.”
Johnson ended the event by issuing a challenge to students to become more active culture consumers and being aware of what they consume.
Assistant Athletic Trainer Katie Frick attended the event. She is a huge Harry Potter fan.
“I think it’s interesting to see both sides and the opposition between the groups,” Frick said.
Frick is teaching a J-term class about Harry Potter. The class will explore different themes in the books and their ties to the world. Some topics include Nazism and racism. Frick will be issuing OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels), much like standardized tests, to make sure people actually care about being in the class.
“You have to be a die-hard fan to be in this class,” Frick said. “You should have read the books more than once.”
Frick hopes she gets a lot of interest in the class. The class actually came about because a student requested it. Anyone interested in joining the class can contact Katie Frick by email or stopping by the Athletic Training Office.
