In three days I will be home again in the states.  My six month long trip has come down to this.  It will be good to be home. As everything comes to a close, I’ve started to think of things I’ve learned while travelling.  I think the biggest thing is that when you travel, meet other people, and experience different cultures, all your stereotypes start to fall.  You start to realize that stereotypes are not true for all people- not all Scandinavians have blond hair and blue eyes, and not all Muslims are named Mohammed.   Studying politics in college, one of the theories that you learn about is the idea of a clash of civilizations- that certain civilizations are headed on a collision course that will only create tension and violence in the future (for example the ‘West’ and ‘Islam’).  This idea has been pushed by many in my own country and government.  And people are buying it.   But people like me who have experienced life in an Islamic culture, and other cultures, quickly find this theory losing ground.  Many Muslims welcomed me into their houses for tea, food, and even to stay.  One hosted me for three weeks in Bosnia.  In Kosovo, one invited me to stay the night at his family’s house, and they cooked traditional food and took me all around the village to sight-see.  In Palestine, one invited me up to Jenin to stay with his family for a weekend- and when I left Palestine, he gave me several gifts!  A shirt in Bosnia summed it up- ‘I’m Muslim- don’t panic!’ This has been the hospitality I have experienced in all the places I have visited.  I have never had anyone hate me because I am an American, and I have never had anyone hate me because I am a Christian.  Almost everyone in this world just wants to live their lives in a peaceful, just society where they can work, have a place to live, and eat.  People just want normal lives!!!  They don’t want conflict, war, and death.  There are exceptions everywhere- we in the USA, with our insane murder rates, know this too well.  But those are by far the exceptions, not the norms.   As Christians I hope that we will not subscribe to this theory of a clash of civilizations.  I hope we can love our neighbors in all civilizations, while not advancing false and harmful stereotypes.  

I don’t know how many copies of the 7th and final volume of the Harry Potter series have been sold by now. I only know: I was one of them. And I read it already. Late on Sunday night, one day after the release, I finished the 600-page long book.

And I liked it. It was very suspenseful. In addition, the characters became much more pronounced and gained depth. I am not going to give anything away but I would like to talk about how I read Harry Potter as a Christian. I know there are quite a few people who say that all that talk about wizardry and witches should be avoided by Christians. However, I see the idea of wizards only as a tool to tell entertaining and – I believe – educating stories.

Make no mistake: Harry Potter is not a Christian book. But when I read it as a Christian I discover traits of my faith in it. Let me point that out with two examples

Sinner and Saint

In Harry Potter, only the evil is absolute evil. The good are never absolutely good. All good people have their problems and act wrongly. In some books (particularly the fifth) Harry is bad tempered and his friends are rightfully annoyed. Harry’s father James died protecting his son Harry when he was only one year old. However, as a boy he was mean to other boys and misused his wit and power to humiliate others. Even Dumbledore, the celebrated headmaster of Harry’s school, does not remain without stains. He has set the wrong priorities several times and they haunt him even after his death.
People are not good once and for all. Lutheran theology believes that we are saved not because we are always good people (we are not) but because Jesus Christ has saved us. However, there is certainly a difference to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, emphasizes very much that the choices somebody makes define her or his life. That is not wrong. But we believe that the choice God has made in choosing us defines our life on the most basic level.

Courage

It is a recurring theme in Harry Potter how people find the strength to confront evil. How difficult that is symbolize in Harry Potter the dementors, a certain type of monster. The dementors don’t hurt the body but they suck all happiness out of human beings and leave only despair. In our reality, I know people who are despaired about all the manifestations of evil that we face: The HI-Virus for example, wars, the horrible poverty that still is not eradicated and we could continue the list. How do we get the strength not to despair but to keep working? One part of the answer has familiarities to Harry’s: Love and friendship. While Harry still has to live through the love of his parents who died defending him, we have much firmer ground. Christians can live by the love of Christ who died and rose again – for our sake.
Secondly, the Harry Potter books stress very much how important friendship is. While certainly friendship itself is crucial we also have the church as a web of support. We don’t necessarily have to be close friends to support each other.