One of the things I'd really like to change the way people think about is Harry Potter. I mean, Christians think it's horrible and you'll probably die of a horrible disease if you read it (or at least that's how they treat it, in all seriousness, despite how ridiculous it sounds) and nobody sees any Christian elements to it.
Now, I know that it sounds sacrilegious to some to say that Harry Potter (you know, that serious that's supposed to be all demonic) could have any foundation at all in Christianity, or even that it has a sprinkle of it buried deep within. But really, I don't think the Christianity in it is all that deep into it - people would see it if they'd just open their eyes.
I've only read the first two of the Harry Potter books to date, but really, that's far and away enough to see the symbolism in it. Think I'm crazy? I hope you'll agree by the end of this blog!
The fact is, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets there's a remarkably accurate parallel between a situation Harry finds himself in and one of Jesus' experiences from the Bible. It's not a very well known story, so that may be one of the reasons nobody seems to have really noticed it. However, it is very real and (I believe) very intentional.
Anybody who's watched the movies knows that Voldemort keeps a snake around to do his dirty business. I mean, Voldemort, is himself a snake. The slitted nostrils, the white skin, the Parseltongue - it's kind of hard to deny. It's fairly obvious that Voldemort represents Satan, right? I'm sure if you don't agree with it yourself you can at least see where I'm coming from. That makes his little pet snake (and all other snakes besides) demons. He can talk to them through this handy little trick called Parseltongue. "But hold on a minute, so can Harry. Well how the heck does that make sense, Emi? You've obviously made some horrendous mistake. If Harry and Voldemort have the same ability then they can't be symbolic of the figures you just accredited them to, can they?" But they can. The distinction lies on how they use their ability.
This comes to play when the scene I mentioned surfaces. This is when Harry first discovers his Parseltongue ability. He's learning how to duel when Malfoy sets a snake on him. However, the snake soon turns on one of the students watching the mock duel. Harry tells the snake to leave the student alone (which it does) and only realizes later that the words had been in a different language. Since he has this "gift," the other students begin to believe he is the "heir of Slytherin" which is reportedly reaping havoc in the school. The exact quote from Chapter 11 is "He's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."
This incident's biblical equivalent takes place in Matthew 12:22-32. A demon-possessed man is brought to Jesus, and Jesus casts the demons out and heals him. But the Pharisees accuse him of being Beezlebub, "the prince of demons", since he can command the demons and they will obey him. Sound familiar? It should! The exact same thing happened to Harry freaking Potter. Coincidence? I think not.
Still not convinced? All I've got to say is HA! I'm not even finished. Even as I wrote this I noticed some more symbolism that I just hadn't seen before. Maybe I'll tackle that tomorrow. You just never know. :D
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