Titanic has sunk. The Lost World has lost. Attendance records set by previous Hollywood blockbusters were shattered last month as people came out in droves to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Titanic still holds the record for the largest total box office income of any movie; but if the current trend continues, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone will break that record as well.

The movie is based upon the popular Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling that has sold 100 million copies worldwide.

Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of Traditional Values Coalition in Washington, D.C., expressed concern about these books' contents. He wrote:

"Christians are rightly concerned about the spiritual messages being conveyed through the Harry Potter books. Wicca or witchcraft is clearly condemned in both the Old and New Testaments as an abomination to God. Practitioners of Wicca worship mythical goddesses, including the goddess 'Gaia' (the earth).

"Both Christian and non-Christian parents would be well-advised to take a long, hard look at the Harry Potter series before allowing their children to read them. Two good starting points would be: Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged, and Dr. Jones' Spirit Wars. Parents and pastors should be deeply concerned about Harry Potter's influence over children by introducing them to a pagan religious system."

Sheldon's view may seem extreme to some who say that the movie and the books upon which it is based are, after all, entertainment. They are fiction. The writers of fiction need to create good guys, bad guys and some type of plot to tell a story. The best fiction teaches good lessons upholding moral standards. One comes away from good movies and good fictional books encouraged to be a better person. The message may be to love more, to appreciate the blessings one has, to persevere through obstacles, to avoid greed and selfishness. But even movies and books that have some good lessons can carry other messages. When do these sometimes subtle negative influences outweigh the good?

In the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the boy named Harry Potter learns that he is a warlock, a male witch. Viewers may be beguiled into thinking witchcraft is okay or fun or something positive. They could be encouraged into getting more involved in real witchcraft. And that is the real danger.

Most viewers will come away from the movie having enjoyed the story and having been bedazzled by the special effects. Those who have read the books will enjoy seeing the characters "fleshed out" and made real. It is doubtful that most viewers will rush out to join a pagan, Satan-worshipping cult.

But while they may not desire to become full-fledged witches and warlocks themselves, viewers of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone may not be aware of how evil sorcery is and what God says about it. This popular movie could help make sorcery more acceptable. Thousands of young children will acquire Harry Potter toys and begin to act out the part of being a witch or warlock. Is this appropriate play? Is Harry Potter a proper role model?

What does God say about witches and sorcery?

Shortly after giving ancient Israel the Ten Commandments, God gave the following instruction: "You shall not permit a sorceress to live" (Exodus 22:18). That statement is short, simple and to the point.

God gave further instructions in Leviticus 19:26, 31; 20:6: "You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.... Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.... And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people."

Witches and warlocks have magical "superpowers." But the source of their powers is different from other fictional superheroes. For example, Superman received his special powers because he was an alien. Earth, with its yellow sun and different gravitational field, gave Superman special powers. But the source of a witch's power and magic is Satan. This probably is not told in the Harry Potter movies and books. To become a witch or warlock, one must become a tool of Satan. And this, of course, is condemned by God.

God further told Israel, "A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them" (Leviticus 20:27). God makes His thoughts about witchcraft plain when He said, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD..." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

In the New Testament, sorcery is condemned as one of the "works of the flesh" and we are told, "those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).

Jesus Christ revealed to the apostle John that sorcerers will be "outside" the kingdom of God (Revelation 22:14-15). Sorcerers, unless they repent, are doomed to burn in the lake of fire: "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Perhaps the view of Sheldon and the Traditional Values Coalition is not as extreme as it first seemed. God thoroughly condemns witchcraft and sorcery. This fascination of American culture with sorcery and witchcraft shows how far removed this nation is from God and His ways.