Week 4 (Rachel)

Why does the religious right in the US condemn fantasy, according to Cockrell (2004)? On what grounds does Cockrell defend literature, using Harry Potter for exemplification?  

The religious right in the US condemn fantasy for various reasons. Cockrell (2004) explains that whilst most Christians and non Christians do not believe that witchcraft is a real threat to society, to fundamentalist Christians the threat of witchcraft operating as an undercurrent in is society is real because they believe the monsters of the bible to be literally true. Thus they see children involved in reading literature on witchcraft and wizardry to be the linked with evil, and the work of Satan. 

  

What is considered to be fantasy is also dependent on culture. ‘Taylor and Carlson note that fundamentalist Christian parents associate them with the devil, particularly if the companion talks back to the child.’ (Cockrell, 2004). This is different from other western cultures who see imaginary friends as more of an endearing oddity of childhood, or in Indian culture where it is seen as ‘remembering a past life.’

Cockrell (2004) also illustrates that the Christian fundamentalist pinpointing of Harry Potter as oppose to other fantasy fiction, such as Lord of the Rings, is because ‘Harry lives in our world, making him more of a threat.’ (Cockrell, 2004, p 25) In contrast to Tolkien and Le Guin who wrote in the style of high fantasy, creating magic worlds completely separate from our own. This is threatening to the religious right in America as they see magic as a real threat. Christian Fundamentalist does not see that fact that Harry Potter is a work of fiction diminishes the threat of pagan practises. In fact the parallels of their views and the opinions of the fictional family the Dursley make it all the worse.

Using Harry Potter as an exemplification Cockrell (2004) defends fantasy literature. ‘Rowling insists that magic in Harry’s world is a skill to be mastered, that it has no connection with religion or theology or with supernatural spirits good or bad’

 “Rowling insists that magic in Harry’s world is a skill to be mastered, that it has no connection with religion good or bad. It is a the wizard, the practitioner of the magic, who makes it good or evil, in the way that any science may be turned to bad ends’ (Cockrell, 2004, p27).  However the religious right defend that this makes it all the more threatening as it masks its ‘true nature’. 

Another reason that Harry Potter is threatening to the religious right as oppose to the religious left is that the magic at the heart of Harry Potter, still remains a mystery, which is a concept that the religious left tend to be comfortable with, believing that faith and mystery are linked that mystery is synonymous with Religious, whereas the religious right look at the bible as a literal truth, making mystery unacceptable. 

Reference: Cockrell, A. (2004). Harry Potter and the Witch Hunters: a social context for the attacks on Harry Potter. The Journal of American Culture, Vol 29, No 1