DustNymph
Warning: Non-Christian Perspective Below
For me, injunctions against Harry Potter and the like because they featured witchcraft always seemed a little silly. The books and movie are complete fantasy. If a person were looking to learn REAL witchcraft and wizardry, they'd have to go elsewhere.
In order to respond properly, I'm trying to think about the Christian motivation for prohibiting witchcraft. It seems to me that an important goal for Christians is to live one's life for God and trying to live up to the example of Jesus Christ. If you want help with something beyond your earthly powers to attain, you can ask of God. Essentially, you are putting forth your request and leaving it up to God's wisdom whether or not it should be granted.
Conversely, magic could be viewed as taking things into one's own hands. Rather than asking God for fair weather on your wedding day, you try to cast a spell to affect the weather on your own. But what if there really needs to be rain for the welfare of the local plants and animals? In this light, one could think of God as one who views human requests and decides whether or not they fit in with His plan.
In this regard, witchcraft could be viewed as treading on God's toes.
With that said, I think it should be stated that when many teens believe they are committing the sin of witchcraft, they are actually committing the sin of vanity. It's a basic human psychological need to feel significant. In search of this, some young people turn to delusions of being able to control wind, hear ghosts, or curse their enemies. Now, I'm of the mind that it is actually possible to do these things to some degree, but not without a whole lot of work and maybe some innate talent.
One interesting phrase I've come across in the neopagan community is "Mr. Dark." A Mr. Dark is an elaborate delusion that a person constructs, setting themself up as some powerful, misunderstood, "dark" figure who is often tasked with battling some great force or calamity. This seriously warped view of reality is more common than one might think. Usually the afflicted person grows out of this, but not always.
Think of the Mr. Dark as an example of egocentricity taken to the extreme. Something like this would definitely be considered a sin. I wouldn't name the sin as witchcraft, since the person in question probably couldn't magic themselves out of a wet paper bag. However, they are definitely committing the sin of vanity by putting themself on a pedestal and forsaking humility and reason.
For me, injunctions against Harry Potter and the like because they featured witchcraft always seemed a little silly. The books and movie are complete fantasy. If a person were looking to learn REAL witchcraft and wizardry, they'd have to go elsewhere.
In order to respond properly, I'm trying to think about the Christian motivation for prohibiting witchcraft. It seems to me that an important goal for Christians is to live one's life for God and trying to live up to the example of Jesus Christ. If you want help with something beyond your earthly powers to attain, you can ask of God. Essentially, you are putting forth your request and leaving it up to God's wisdom whether or not it should be granted.
Conversely, magic could be viewed as taking things into one's own hands. Rather than asking God for fair weather on your wedding day, you try to cast a spell to affect the weather on your own. But what if there really needs to be rain for the welfare of the local plants and animals? In this light, one could think of God as one who views human requests and decides whether or not they fit in with His plan.
In this regard, witchcraft could be viewed as treading on God's toes.
With that said, I think it should be stated that when many teens believe they are committing the sin of witchcraft, they are actually committing the sin of vanity. It's a basic human psychological need to feel significant. In search of this, some young people turn to delusions of being able to control wind, hear ghosts, or curse their enemies. Now, I'm of the mind that it is actually possible to do these things to some degree, but not without a whole lot of work and maybe some innate talent.
One interesting phrase I've come across in the neopagan community is "Mr. Dark." A Mr. Dark is an elaborate delusion that a person constructs, setting themself up as some powerful, misunderstood, "dark" figure who is often tasked with battling some great force or calamity. This seriously warped view of reality is more common than one might think. Usually the afflicted person grows out of this, but not always.
Think of the Mr. Dark as an example of egocentricity taken to the extreme. Something like this would definitely be considered a sin. I wouldn't name the sin as witchcraft, since the person in question probably couldn't magic themselves out of a wet paper bag. However, they are definitely committing the sin of vanity by putting themself on a pedestal and forsaking humility and reason.
When we had a discussion on magic (or it may have been somewhere else, I can't remember), I said essentially the same thing. I believe magic (or magick) exists, and I believe there are people with the ability to use it. However, I don't believe it is anything God condones. Like you said, magic is taking things into our own hands, it is manipulating energy and forces normally outside of our control and using them to do our will, when everything in this universe was created to do God's will. To assume that it is okay to use magic, even if for a seemingly altruistic purpose, is to assume that we are better than God.
