Need opinion from Christians

[AAK]

To be more specific, I need to hear from Christians (and others) who would oppose Harry Potter based on religious reasons.

I am running a mother daughter book club and want to include some fantasy in the selections. Everyone has read the Narnia stuff, so I don't want to put that on the list. I read EVERYTHING, so I need help knowing if some of these titles would be undesirable on the list. I am not censorship oriented, so regardless, I will be including these titles on the list of more suggested reading. But, I want the list of required "selections" to be something that won't be stepping on toes. There are so many good books, that I don't mind being critical.

That said, the two books in question are:

Dealing with Dragons

and

A Wrinkle in Time

If they are both doomed to be offensive, please feel free to make suggestions. The girls are mostly 7 & 8 and many will be reading them with their moms so reading level isn't a concern, interest level is.

Amy

[CherryBomb]

Hmm. Well, Madeline L'Engle was an Espicopilian who groupe Episcopilians with Catholics (as opposed to with Protestants). So if it's a group that's not keen on Catholics they might have issues due to that alone. I'm Catholic and I love the Wrinkle in Time series and Harry Potter, so

I've never read the other book.

[AAK]

I'm Catholic too! Some of our group is. There are a couple moms though who go to a more fundamentalist style of church. We get along very well, but I know that there are several things that we think differently on. Harry Potter is one of them.

Amy

[Tradd]

Tolkien is the ONLY fantasy author I know of that I've never heard of anyone object to on religious grounds. The conservative Protestants I know who loathed HP raved about Tolkien in the same articles, etc.

Tolkien was a devout Catholic, fwiw.

[fruitfulmomma]

Well, I don't oppose Harry Potter, but I understand the issue.

The Wilderking Triology by Jonathan Rogers (a Narnia scholar) is a really good allegory of the story of David and King Saul. The author did an excellent job of creating a "magical" world without using any magic at all.

I am really liking the 100 Cupboards Trilogy by N.D. Wilson. I will say it could offend those who believe any talk of magic/witches/fantasy at all is off limits, but so far from what I can see he is doing a good job of making a distinction between what is permitted vs. what is forbidden and therefore done only by the bad guys.

[*MamaJen*]

I'm totally not a Christian, but I just wanted to chime in and say that those are both really wonderful books. I loved Dealing with Dragons when I was that age. It's such a fun, witty book about a strong and unconventional female protagonist. And of course, Wrinkle in Time in great. I know they're reading with their parents, but it does seem like Dealing with Dragons would be a little bit better suited to that age group.
I have no idea about your actual question, but good choices.

[hildare]

i'm not a follower of any organized religion now, but:
when i was in school, i was sent to a Christian school, and some of the fantasy books they encouraged us to read were Lloyd Alexander's Book of Three, & the black cauldron, etc. The series is called the Chronicles of Prydain. You might take a look at those, I don't remember much about them, but they did get approval in our conservative school.

[JessicaS]

I am a Christian.

IME you should just ask the moms if they would have objections.

Some people do oppose any kind of fantasy or magic in books. My family attends an AoG church. Many of them read Harry Potter and received some criticism in our church. Even in the same denomination in the same church you won't necessarily find people who see this the same way. If you see a preacher preaching against fantasy books and then poll his parishioners on how many of them read fantasy books and intend to continue I think the number would be high enough to annoy said preacher.

[MusicianDad]

I second Abimommy's suggestion to ask the moms in the group. You really can't tell what people will object too.

[bluebirdiemama]

I am a Christian and I love Harry Potter! I have not read the dragon book, but just finished A Wrinkle in Time. I think it would be easy to form an opinion either way on it.

So for what you are asking, I pretty much agree with the last two posts. If someone is going to be offended, it could be about anything, and certainly unpredictable.

[AAK]

Thanks everyone--I guess I will just ask the moms in the group. I am glad to hear that those books are good though. Thanks.

Amy