The Harry Potter series of books, films, and merchandise is a truly global phenomenon. The books alone have sold over 190 millions of copies worldwide, have been translated into more than fifty-four languages, and have been hits in diverse markets such as China, the United States, and Thailand. The first film grossed more than one billion US dollars worldwide. The royalties the series generates have made the books’ author, J.K. Rowling, the wealthiest woman in Britain. At the same time, Harry Potter has provoked a significant backlash from among the ranks of evangelical Christians. Although under investigation for defaming Christianity in Russia, Potter has generated the most strident religious response in the United States, where organized networks of evangelical Christians seek to have the novels banned from libraries and wage an intense informational war against the purported Satantic propaganda contained in the franchise. We argue that evangelical response to Potter is best understood as an example of a traditionalist backlash to a global cultural artifact. We explore the twin pathways of traditional religious beliefs and cultural globalization as they converge in the American religious politics of Potter. Viewing the politics of Harry Potter through the traditionalism/globalization framework allows us to interrogate the relationship between globalization and American culture, religious mobilization and new media, and the role of religious beliefs in intercultural politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]