Some time ago, while I was reading the famous Harry Potter books, I was surfing the Net searching for news about the movie and I saw this website in absolute agitation about a particular paragraph on the books. I recognized the text, it was during the first Potions lesson, and Professor Snape was introducing himself. The disturbing paragraph goes something like this: ?You are here to learn the subtle science of potionmaking. I don?t expect you really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses? Potter! Said Snape suddenly. What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel with an infusion of wormwood?? So, what does this piece of text has that is so disturbing? According to the website, the description Snape made about the effects of potions do match with the description of the effects of drugs; and it said that one of the herbs Snape mentioned (wormwood) is in fact a substance that mixed with another herb is used as a part of an hallucinogen that since 1915 was prohibited and no longer seen. It was with some surprise and even shock that I found out that Harry Potter books, which I greatly enjoyed, were causing so much agitation. As I soon discovered, there are hundreds and hundreds of websites that insult Joanne Rowling (who wrote the books) and accuse her of being secretly a Satanist and an Occult evil-mind that wants to prepare the oh-so-perfect Catholic children to welcome the antichrist, to drink the blood of Satan. Yes, some Christians accuse Harry Potter not only of inciting to drugs, but also inciting to Occultism and Satanism. Conservative Baptists claim that Joanne Rowling, an unsaved Scotch pagan harlot as they call her, has a deep and accurate knowledge of Occultism and has used it on Harry Potter. Right here we can see the ignorance of these Christians: they take Paganism also called Witchcraft/Wicca and mix it with Satanism. They are just completely opposites: while Wicca is a Nature based and earth-oriented religion (much more old than Christianity) that praises God in Nature, Satanism praises Chaos instead of Order, Darkness instead of Light. Yet in their small minds, they claim that Harry Potter has abundant Occult aspects, as numbers. For instance, they say that the number 11 is extremely important to Satanists, and make a list of the times it appears in the books. Harry Potter discovers his powers when he is 11 years old, his bank safe was number 713 (and 7 plus 1 plus 3 equals to 11); Harry?s wand was eleven inches long; the Hogwarts Express departs at 11 o?clock. Maybe if they checked Harry?s hair they would count 11 million, which could only mean that Satan was coming to rule the World. In fact, these people go to the smallest details in the books, which only shows how deep is their knowledge of the Occult, not the author?s. What dumb-minded they must be, I thought. Harry Potter books are one of the most brilliant and imaginative books I ever read, and in no way I?m Satanist or do I cut my wrists and drink my blood or do I want to receive the Antichrist in my body as those Christians insinuate. On the contrary, the supposedly Christian values as friendship, self-sacrificing love, pureness and beauty are also represented in this book. For instance, when Harry was a baby, his mother sacrificed herself to protect him from being killed. I can?t see where?s evil in this. And certainly the kind of magic practiced in Hogwarts is not Occult-type. It is wand-waving type. For instance: to defeat a monster that takes the form of whatever you fear the most, you just have to point your wand at it, say ?riddikullus? and think of something funny. There?s definitively no connection between Harry Potter and Evil. However, I can find some connections between Christianity and Evil, or at least to prove that Joanne Rowling was a bit more inventive than those Christians that claim that Harry Potter is Evil. Follow me: In Harry Potter a serpent is the first indication that Harry has access to special knowledge that will cause his angry foster father to become jealous and kick him out of his house. In the Bible, a serpent is the first indication to Eve that she has access to special knowledge that will cause her angry Father to became jealous and kick her out of his Garden. While Harry uses a piece of wood to fly on, Jesus uses a piece of wood to die on. Harry?s pet is a white owl called ?Hedwig?, named after a transgender German cabaret singer. Jesus pet is a white dove called ?Holy Spirit?. Hermione entertains her friends by raising a feather from a desk. Jesus entertains friends by raising a rotting corpse from the dust. Hogwarts students eat jellybeans that taste like earwax and snot; Christians eat bread that tastes like human flesh and wine that tastes like human blood. I believe that's enough. BlAcK_CaBbAgEs