This week's post shall begin with a statement that would probably make some dearly respected college professors of mine rather disappointed in me: I love magic in my stories, always have. In fact, if your story has magic, like a mage/wizard, I'm at least twice as likely to check it out.
While this may appear a pointless topic, what with the whole Harry Potter craze that made magic and wizards perhaps more popular than ever (even among Christians), I have still met Christians who protest the inclusion of magic into stories, as alluded to by my statement about my professors. It is frustrating to say, but my attraction to magic is largely emotional, so I'm not sure I can give a completely rational defense for magic. I apologize ahead of time should that be the case. I do hope, though, that you might see the stance of magic in story not without logic.
To address this issue, first we must ask, "What is the purpose of story?" In my last post, I presented my answer; that is, to entertain and to teach. I do not think anyone would object to the first purpose, but there are, I'm sure, many who would reject the second. The topic of story as teacher is a subject for another post, but for now I will just say that any story, no matter what it is, there is a lesson being told.
Now that we have our initial assumption of story as entertainer and teacher, the next question is this: can these purposes be best met with good stories or bad? I'm not speaking here of moral good and bad, but rather quality. I think most people would agree with me that we don't want to just settle for anything but desire excellent stories and that it is good stories that are the better teachers and entertainers, so why are there people so quick to condemn a story, no matter how well-written or how positive the message, simply because of magic?
Let's look at this in another way. I'm not a big fan of the superhero genre. It's just not my thing, but I know people who love superhero stories, people who will watch every comic book superhero movie and who love reading the comics and encyclopedias about the characters. These people I speak of are Christians, but why does not one speak out against superheroes like they do magic?
Examining the two genre, superhero vs. magic fantasy, they aren't very different on the surface. Take two well known series, Harry Potter and X-Men. Both have similar powers, such as flight, control of the elements, transformation, healing, etc. Also, both Harry's powers and any of the X-Men's powers come from genetics (who's to say wizards aren't just mutants that have passed on their genes for generations?). Really, the only difference at first glance is just the title "superpower" vs. "magic." However, you don't see parents trying to ban X-Men comics from schools.
The purpose of this comparison is not to put down superhero stories or to make them appear synonymous to magical fantasy. I know there are differences beneath this surface examination. Rather, I merely wished to show the inconsistency in the reactions to genre. Why do some people reject a story containing magic while accepting stories about superheroes when the most basic premise, humans with supernatural abilities, is the same? The only answer I seem to hear is that the Bible says magic is evil. However, I wish to point out that Scripture only says performing sorcery is a sin. It does not speak on reading or writing about it, more on that in next week's post.
In keeping with the topic of superhero stories, I wish to switched from the negative (why don't people reject them) to why do many people, even Christians, return again and again to superhero stories like X-Men? Are they sighing in relief that Scripture has no ban on superpowers so they can feel safe and comfortable reading a genre that wasn't even invented until nearly 2000 years after the last book of the Bible was written? I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that question is ridiculous. No. People read, reread, and return to the superhero genre because within it there are good stories!
I said it before; I'm not a superhero fan. Even though there are similarities between magical fantasy and the superhero genre, I prefer magic. Despite this, I know from experience that there are excellent stories within the genre. Stories of heroism, sacrifice, love, courage, overcoming evil and darkness, facing, and sometimes even losing to, evil, sorrow, and pain, and never losing hope. Are there bad superhero stories? Of course. Humans are flawed; nothing we make can be perfect, but we do not abandon the genre just because of those bad stories. What matters is that there are stories that are good and promote good.
A key element here is that magic and superpowers, in the realm of story, are tools. Tools do not determine the quality or morality of the story. Only their use can decide that. That said, magic and superpowers are a special kind of storytelling tool. They are tools that can impact the setting, character, theme, plot, everything really. "Magic" and "superpowers" are elements of world building, the universe of the story, and transform everything by their presence. They add an element of the supernatural that expands the realm of possibility, of the stories that can be told and the people that can be touched.
Whether the storytelling tool called "magic" is used for good or evil is a legitimate concern, though. I have, indeed, put down books because the magic in them disturbed me, gave me unrest in my soul. I wish I could give you a foolproof method or a list for recognizing these kinds of books, but I have none. All I can advise is to pray about it and listen, and if you feel uncomfortable when reading it, maybe you shouldn't. However, I would still urge you not to give up on magic; I know I could not.
Guess what? 90+% of my stories have magic. Not kidding. I almost can't write a story without magic, and when I've tried, I've yet to get very far. Magic is the fuel for my creativity, my inspiration, my portal into the realm of story, the language in which my imagination speaks. Without magic, it feels as if my creativity and imagination die.
A few years ago, I faced a crisis when one of my college professors gave a talk about magic and pretty much said magic is evil and needs to be avoided, even in stories. I respect that professor, even today, so hearing that crushed me. For weeks I felt heavy, shameful for crafting so many stories with magic. I considered throwing them all away, but I couldn't. When I couldn't discard them, I tried removing the magic aspect, but a whole different kind of "magic" vanished when I did. These stories needed magic to make sense, to exist, to live, and I needed, still need, these stories. Faced with this conflict that was leaving me in tears and breaking my creative spirit, I eventually realized something: my professor was wrong.
I am a firm believer that if a Christian is doing something wrong, the Holy Spirit will convict him or her. I thought that was what I was experiencing, conviction for my wrong-doing and a need to transform myself, but it wasn't. What I felt was fear that I would disappoint someone I looked up to and that I might be a 'bad' Christian because I love stories with magic. It was fear and shame of other humans, not conviction from the Holy Spirit, and I refuse to surrender to that kind of fear of other humans, to let fear of people's opinions of me prevent me from writing (hopefully good) stories. I agree with my professor that magic, sorcery, performed in real life is evil, as Scripture clearly tells us, but that doesn't mean that stories where people can do miraculous things are also evil. I think Scripture tells us that pretty clearly, as well.
I love stories with magic; I always have, and I always will.
For more on the importance of fantasy/magic stories, I suggest reading J. R. R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", C. S. Lewis's "Three Ways on Writing for Children" and Holly Ordway's works, which can be found on her blog Hieropraxis and in her book Not God's Type
Harry Potter (c) J. K. Rowling
X-Men franchise (c) Marvel Comics
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