Harry Potter, en omoralisk och farlig bokserie? : En innehållsanalys om religiös riktad kritik och skapandet av moralpanik och folkdjävlar, utifrån författaren Richard Abanes

Sammanfattning: Abstract The questions of this essay are:

What is Richard Abanes’s criticism against occult elements in the Harry Potter books? How can Abanes’s – from a Christian point of view - religiously motivated criticism of the four first Harry Potter books be seen as an expression of moral panic and the construction of folk devils according to Cohen's scientific theory in popular culture? The questions are answered through a content analysis of Richard Abanes's book Harry Potter and the Bible: the menace behind the magick based on Stanley Cohen's theory of moral panic and folk devils. The aim is thus to develop a religious-scientific understanding of religiously motivated criticism of popular culture. The result of the essay shows that the biggest criticism Abanes has against the occult elements in the Harry Potter books is that the occult becomes glamorized, normalized and packaged in a box of fun, adventures and excitement. But according to critics like Abanes and the Christian Right, this is dangerous to children and young people as the occult pulls them away from God and closer to the devil. They can develop an interest in the occult and Wicca and later seek out occult sects and religious communities. According to Abanes, the Harry Potter books are dangerous as the author has mixed innocent imagination with real events, people and objects. Because of this, the boundaries are blurred and children can find it difficult to discern what is reality and fantasy. The moral panic of the Harry Potter books is created primarily by the Christian Right, as the concerns and fears of the actual threat the books issue are magnified. Whatever the truth of their statements, Abanes and other critics create fears within the Christian community so that Christian parents won’t allow their children to read the Harry Potter books, because they can contribute to the curiosity of the occult and an attraction to the devil, and can twist their morals. The deviant behaviors in the Harry Potter books that are not appreciated by the Christian Right are to lie, steal, and to be evil, something that Harry and other good characters do, therefore could Abanes's criticism contributes to the creation of moral panics and folk devils. Also, criticism against J. K. Rowling's character, morals and way of life has made her a folk devil.