There are many who will argue that any fantasy-fiction that does not have an underlying Christian message is undermining the soul of Christianity. Especially those dealing with magic, demons, etc.
It plants the seeds of the occult in children's minds. It makes witchcraft very seductive as opossed to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, where witchcraft was presented as evil.
As I understand it, witchcraft has increased it's numbers, especially in Europe, after the release of the books.
There is a witch who lives in my apartment complex. She hates God, casts spells and wears a pentagram (the sign of the devil) necklace.
I agree with you.
Perhaps if she had just stated it was a school of wizardy people wouldn't freak out as much. Maybe it was adding the word witchcraft that brings out the doomsayers. Just a theory.
The protagonist is a warlock and engages in occult practices. This can serve to interest children in the occult. You'll notice this in the reviews of the book by children on Amazon.com. You'll also notice this in the "if you liked this book you'll also like..." section.
Too bad this article is bogus.
I can't speak for the experience of others, but in my city where we have some mega-bookstores, the Harry Potter section is usually one shelf away from massive rows of witchcraft books aimed at children, teens and adults. These range from colorful and happy kiddy spell books all the way up to to Necronomicon, Aleister Crowley and Lavey's Satanic Bible. This steaming pagan crap heap proudly takes its place in the "religion" section which is running about at a 90% heresy rate. In the catholicism section, I found a catechism and one lonely George Weigel book among a sea of heretics (Harpur, Greely, Pagels etc.) Rather than condemn a single book or author, I look at the trend and shudder. The average city bookstore is now completely de-catholicized and replaced with a counterfeit occult spirituality. Harry Potter is just one little brick in the massive wall that secular humanism is building between the God's truth and humanity.
I imagine more than a few people became interested in Catholicism after the death of JPII and election of Benedict XVI. God help them if they visited any of these stores in search of greater understanding. And pity the young people who become interested in God and want to buy a simple truthful booklet to read. The light of the Gospels is systematically being snuffed out of the public sphere and this evil is poured into the vacuum.
Because people are too stupid to differentiate fantasy from reality, and lots of kids are gonna try magic now, and imagination is bad when it leads you to magic.
Or something.
Frankly, I get confused about why people object to fiction. I mean, "The Da Vinci Code" was no great shakes as a work of art, but it was a decent beach read . . . and I don't feel the urge to go Templar-chasing after reading it.
Besides, most kids would get disappointed after the spells didn't work, and ditch the idea.