It is curious to many that one of the most banned books in contemporary literature is also one of the most innocent. While there are certainly a lot of dark things in Harry Potter, is it really worth all the effort many groups have put forth to ensure Christian youth do not read the book?
So to look more closely at the issue why do fantasy books get banned in the first place? The Bible clearly states that sorcery and witchcraft are sins. Therefore books that deal with sorcery and witchcraft, or even just mention magic, often find themselves on lists of banned books.
But why is the Bible against magic? One crucial thing that you have to remember about the Bible is that it is a historical text that was written little by little by several different authors in several different time periods of the ancient world. Magic had a very different meaning to the ancient Hebrews than it does to modern popular culture.
The Hebrews encountered magic while they were enslaved in Egypt. The magicians of Pharaoh's court were trained priests of various gods and goddesses who used trickery and deception to make it look as though they had powers granted to them by the gods. The Hebrews also encountered magic when they returned to the Promised Land, those using magic did so by calling on ghosts and spirits, gods and goddesses, and even demons and devils including Satan.
To use magic meant a person had to seriously violate the Hebrew law which forbade worshipping other gods, having images of those gods, and bearing false witness, since magic doesn't really exist. Soothsaying also made Hebrews nervous since it was the act of prophesying with power other than that granted by their God, which to them meant that it had to be coming from other gods or the devil.
It was not so much magic itself that the Hebrews were against but the sources of magic. The Hebrews had prophets and priests who fulfilled the same roles that sorcerers did in other societies, yet when the prophet healed someone it was not through magic, it was by the power of God. What's the difference? The difference is the legitimacy of the source of power. The prophets, getting their power from the god of the people could be trusted and holy, while the witches, getting their power from other strange gods could not be trusted and were therefore evil.
So, how does this apply to modern and contemporary fantasy literature and movies? For the most part, it doesn't. Going back to the example of Harry Potter, the professors of Hogwarts never mention any Pagan gods or rituals, in fact they celebrate Christmas every year. The power source for magic is the blood of the wizard, religion is simply ignored throughout the series.
Other books that get looked down upon for having magic are actually written by some of the great Christian thinkers of the 20th Century and teach Christian principals! The primary example of this is the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis. His main character, Aslan, is basically Jesus Himself but described as a lion. CS Lewis used his story about magic and fantasy to teach important Christan doctrines.
Lord of the Rings also has a lot of parallels with Christian doctrine and was written by a Catholic. It is a controversy to this day how much Tolkien did on purpose and how much people are over thinking it. Here are a few examples. Gandalf sacrificed himself for the quest but returns to life more powerful than ever. Frodo carries a burden of evil that only he can rid the world of. Aragon, after winning the final battle, leads the people in a peaceful era for 1000 years. The themes of overcoming evil and temptation, of Christ's sacrifice, and the millennium, and others are present.
The popular cultural concept of magic that we have is very different from what magic was considered in Biblical times and is much more Disney than devil and in many cases it is even pro-Christian. Ironically authors don't mind being banned as it increases their sales by bringing more attention to their work. Kind of defeats the purpose of banning books in the first place.
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