Harry Potter: Good vs. Evil, or Intro to the Occult?

News agency AFP is running a story outlining the positions of the proponents and the critics of the use of magic in the Harry Potter books and films. One camp, represented by Christian preacher Steve Wohlberg asserts that the stories “[present] really evil, versus greater evil, it is not really good versus evil. The Harry Potter story is communicating a story to young people, the idea that you can be a good witch or wizard, you can still cast spells.”
The opposing view, as articulated by University of Maryland Professor of English Verlyn Flieger, is that ” . . . people who really worry about something satanic or occult in the story don’t understand the use of metaphor. It is really a pretty straightforward story about coming of age, growing up and going to school — the magic part of it is really a gimmick.”
You can read the entire article here.

Note: Our own Melissa Anelli is quoted in the article (with her name misspelled)!