A literary phenomenon is sweeping Britain and America the Harry Potter fantasies consisting of three books already published, with a total of seven projected. It involves magic and wizards and is captivating people of all ages, but mostly children. How should we think about this?

• The author is a single mother from the United Kingdom, who never published anything before this series. She has captivated a new generation with her Harry Potter series. England has always been fertile ground for this kind of genre. For example, Lewis Carroll with his "Alice in Wonderland," and J.R.R. Tolkien and his Bilbo Baggins of the Hobbit fame. In addition, C.S. Lewis constructed several fantasies, most famously "The Chronicles of Narnia, filled with witches and occult fantasy as well. Harry Potter is, therefore, part of a rather long British tradition. The three books written so far by Rowling are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
  
  
• What is the story line? At a year old, Harry was attacked by Lord Voldemort, who had planned to take over the world. Both Harry's parents were killed, but in her final act, his mother protected him and Harry survived, although with a lightening bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry then moved in with the Dursleys, his non-wizard (Muggles) relatives, who hate magic and thus told Harry his parents died in a car crash. They likewise made him live under the stairs at their house. When he was eleven, he was told that he was a wizard and began to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During his next few years accounted for in the books, Harry goes on adventures and encounters many threats on his life. The books are really about Harry, his adventures and how he deals with his special powers. The driving theme of the books so far is Harry's piecing together what happened to his parents and why they were killed. He will learn that it was the evil Lord Voldemort. What he will do when he finds out and how good will triumph presumably awaits future books. It is good vs. evil with good triumphing in the end.
  
  
• The fantasy is firmly in the British tradition: the wizards live by rules, not quite apart of reality but close to it. The school Harry attends has required classes in charms and potions, name tags on black robes and on pointed hats; mail is delivered by owls and Harry stars in the school sport called Quidditch, riding his broomstick. Again, the whole school story is intensely British. A big boarding school with houses, a headmaster and sports.
  
  
• Is there a similarity between Rowling and C.S. Lewis? Not really! Lewis's Narnia books, published in the 1950s, contain an entire story of fall and redemption, a theological cosmology in which birth, life and death of Narnia are a Christian allegory of our own world. Rowling is not trying to do anything like that. Her books are more in the tradition of E. Nesbit, who wrote a series of children's fantasies in the first decade of this century and stressed themes like it is better to be kind and thoughtful than selfish and mean. There is no theology in Nesbit, like there is in Lewis or even Tolkien.
  
  
• Throughout the USA, many parents and other groups have petitioned school boards from South Carolina to California to pull the books from library shelves and classrooms. These sentiments are due largely to the presence of witchcraft and wizardry in the books. In my opinion there is the need for balance here. If parents desire to ban books like the Harry Potter books, what criteria will we use? If witchcraft and wizardry are the criteria, then many more books than Rowling's will need to be banned. These are well-written stories, that appeal to children's imagination and fantasy world, just like Lewis, Tolkien and Carroll did. These books provide great opportunity for family reading together and then for discussion of the stories. Families could use the books as lessons on why good (God) will triumph over evil (Satan). These are books that can be enjoyed and be critically evaluated with both parents and children involved. I do not favor banning the books from libraries or classes.
  
  
• One caution. Harry Potter will enter adolescence in the next books of the series. What Rowling will do with adolescence is questionable. Caution is the best watchword in dealing with the Harry Potter phenomenon. Some Christian families will find these books great opportunities for family reading and discussion. Where there is no family discussion or opportunities for discussion with parents, I would be less supportive. In other words, these books provide a wonderful opportunity to cultivate children reading and family discussion about the supernatural world, angels, Satan, evil and God's triumph over evil. Reading Harry Potter can be a family affair, where families turn the Potter books into a Christian allegory. Let's not overreact!
  

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MODELS AUCTIONING THEIR EGGS

Recently over the Web professional models have been taking advantage of a service to sell their eggs over the Web to the highest bidder. How should we think about this?

• This "egg auction" is a natural outgrowth of the desire of couples to provide genetically superior children. It is evidence of a culture where beauty and celebrity are worshiped. It is the conviction that beautiful children and adults have an advantage in the culture. It evidences the lie that what really matters is the outside, the beauty and outward appeal.
  
  
• It is the merging of Darwinian-based eugenics, Playboy-sensibilities and e-commerce. It is the merging of genetics, IT and a beauty, youth-obsessed culture. It provides a means for infertile couples to meet their desire for children with a near guarantee that their children will be beautiful. It is beauty to the highest bidder!
  
  
• This practice smacks of negative eugenics and it is repugnant. It is the practice of receiving hormone shots to hyper-stimulate a woman's ovaries and then removing a dozen or so eggs with a needle. In this case, the eggs would then be sold to the highest bidder. It is the human race trying to control the characteristics of human beings. Reproductive technologies are now giving humans the power to do things unimaginable only a few years ago. There are no guarantees with this process and it feeds this-worldly, materialistic, beauty-obsessed values.
  
  
• God does not define beauty as outward beauty only. In fact, from the story of Samuel choosing David, God makes it very clear that "man looks on the outward but I look on the inward (1 Samuel 16:7)." The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 makes it quite clear that God is far more interested in the internal righteousness of His child than He is on the outward. Finally, it is likewise important to remember that outward beauty is only temporary. Age brings deterioration to the body and youthful beauty is quickly lost. And the person will die! There is no such thing as external, eternal physical beauty. This awaits the physical resurrection of the righteous, when we will receive our glorified bodies. The beauty God desires begins with salvation that brings internal transformation that exercises wise stewardship over the external things of life, including physical beauty.

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