Laura Mallory and the Misguided Crusade

I agree with her althougth I wouldnt try to ban the books i sure wouldnt bring any hint of witchcraft in my household.

La Shawn, one thing you must also consider is that public schools ban books all the time. They don’t call it that of course. They just don’t select them when it comes time to purchase books for the library. But because they control the “purse” no one views it as “banning.” But that’s exactly what it is.

This mother has every right and indeed a responsibility to voice her concerns over the books in the library. What is misguided is the fact that the schools don’t feel the need to ask parents to consider what is purchased for the library. They are completely left out of the selection and purchase decisions. Not only at the library but school textbooks in general. Those decisions are made by committess far, far away. (So much for accountability and local control.) But if the schools are PUBLIC and accountable to the parents that is exactly what should be happening. We all know they won’t because that would be a logistical nightmare. You’ll never satisfy everyone. So they make the decisions for the parents. Choosing some books, but effectively “banning” others by their refusal to purchase them. In some schools, the parent cannot even donate books to the library. They won’t accept them.

So banning books happens all the time. It’s just that this mother is forced to go public with her campaign and to the courts, while the schools quietly get away with banning books all the time.

If she feels so strongly about this, she should put her money where her mouth is and get her kids into a good private school or homeschool them. I’m sick to death of Christians who “want it all.” My kids are going to grow up knowing the Lord and that’s not really possible for most public school kids. If I have to sacrifice and be nearly poor to do that, then so be it.

I bet she’s also one of those idiots who thinks that her little kids are going to be “salt and light” to a public school system that is profoundly anti-Christian, rather than be broken spiritually by it. People like this are the reason why the church is struggling so much in America.

While I have never read a Harry Potter novel nor seen any of the films I am going to present THIS to Laura Mallory, why don’t you go ahead and get the Wizard of Oz banned too??

Some folks really need to pick their fights better…

Okay – re: the argument that the public schools aren’t listening to this ONE woman. How many other parents in this district don’t have any problem whatsoever with the books. So, should the one voice overrule the many? I don’t think so. If she doesn’t want her kids to read these books, she needs to let them know and explain why. Has she even read the books herself?? I own all six currently available Harry Potter books. If I ever have children, I will share these books with my children (at the age-appropriate time). And, I will discuss the themes in the books with my children, so they know what my beliefs are.

Also, check into how your child’s school stocks its library shelves. While I was student teaching, I spoke to the librarian periodically. I have been reading a lot of children’s literature lately, and told her of a book I read and thought was good. She made note of it for when making future acquistions.

Jerry,

I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you, at least as far as The Lord of the Rings goes. Tolkien was Roman Catholic and a friend of C.S. Lewis. There are many Christian themes to be found in his LOTR trilogy. I own (but have yet to finish reading – got misplaced in the move 2 years ago) The Gospel According to Tolkien. Maybe you should look into that before condemning Tolkien’s work as godless…

“a vampire is by default evil.”

A ‘vampire’, I’m afraid, is a work of fiction, so a vampire can be ‘evil’ or ‘good’ on the author’s say so. Just as a bishop can be. Or a talking tree, etc.

*sigh*

Unless youy can prove that real vampires exist, s I say, some guy is offering a million dollars to prove any of this hokum:

http://www.randi.org/research/index.html

teh dollars is good?

I too think this woman is misguided. Consider the Lord of the Rings, which is ripe with Christian metaphors, symbolism and doctrine. But Gandolph is a wizard, Frodo uses a magic ring, Aragorn is a healer.

Fiction can and should be uplifting, I personally find Harry Potter to be that. The author’s doctrine is not Christian, but if you ban your children from hearing opposing views about what constitutes right and wrong, how do you expect to make them strong?

I find it most telling that the woman has never read any of the Potter books. I have read many books opposed to basic Christian principles, many of them to my benefit.

I would more concerned with my child’s biology text if I were her, it is presented as fact.

I thought I might chime in on something. Let me say first off that I have never read nor watched a Harry Potter book or movie. What I know I know from reviews of other people.

There is a world of difference between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. One extols self-sacrifice, standing in the pathway of the juggernaut and, more often than not, being shattered by it. The other extols self-importance in the “no, no I don’t want superior power over everyone” sort of way. It’s “The One” syndrome.

The other major difference is that the characters that had supernatural powers in Lord of the Rings are the wizards, the elves, and the Numenorian (that’s probably not the correct spelling). Wizards according to Tolkien’s Middle Earth are sent by the Valar, or the stewards if you will, of the earth, who were in turn sent to earth by Maledil or God. In other words, the wizards are more like Archangels than human. The Elves according to this mythology are “unfallen” creatures who is granted access to return to the Undying Lands, or Paradise, where they came from. The humans have the same abilities that we used to attribute to men, but many dismiss this nowadays as medieval. Indeed, those attributes were acknowledged and well-known in the medieval ages.

In contrast, in Harry Potter humans are directing reality with their minds, which is the goal of the occultists. Moreover, from what I can decipher without actually reading the books, there is constant refrain of Harry being special, not like other boys, apart. In the Kingdom of God what it means to be special is to be the donkey that Christ rides into Jerusalem with. Being special means that your back will be broken because Christ is being the weight of the world.

Harry, the Nazi’s might say, would be a superman. Or as the New Agers would say, he’s an ascendant god. Or as evolutionists would say, he’s evolved to perfection. Etcetera, etcetera.

There are supposed battles between good and evil in the Harry stories. But good has to exist battle evil, right? Once a person makes the mental concession that casting spells and exerting his will upon reality is really just the same as prayer or manipulating sediment and concrete to build a building, he is also ready to accept the premises of such a concession. The equivalency is just more of the subjectivism we are seeing come into fruition… both in the Christian community and the non-Christian community.

I have known many, many people who have read the Potter books. I think they are in error, but I also don’t think it is my place to correct them. That’s between them and their Creator.

I have a friend who is my most frequent movie-going buddy, but I’ve learned not to ask her to see sci-fi/time-travel or fantasy movies with me (though she loved Lord of the Rings). Her imagination just doesn’t make the leap into other worlds, and that’s what Harry Potter does…

“Imagine there’s a world where some people are magic. How would the battle between good and evil play out in such a world?”

My friend can’t imagine that world, or many other worlds. People who love these books can. And most of them know that Harry Potter’s world is NOT the world we live in. But I suspect Mallory is much like my friend, who sees and judges fiction as reflections of the world we live in. In our world, magic or witchcraft is an abomination to the Lord.

I feel sorry for her–not because of her overwhelmingly uphill battle, but because there are whole worlds there that she will never be able to explore.

I don’t like Harry Potter but…

I can see this woman’s point….

Harry Potter IS a book about witchcraft and we as followers of Christ should not be indulging in this stuff.

I also see the point that there are more important things to talk about, but thats just our opinion.

When you are saved and you end up pursuing your passions in life, sometimes you just cant help it. You want to see the right thing done in this world, you want justice, no matter what the odds or how crazy it sounds.

Lashawn, from what I’ve read in your posts, part of what you want to do is even the playing field on racial bias reporting and politics and thats a good thing. I myself dont think its fruitful, but thats your passion.

I myself want economic empowerment and financial literacy for more people. Many dont care about this or see it as unimportant.

Ms. Mallory wants to see Harry Potter books banned. I dont see this as misguided but, she’s right on the money.

Bottom line is that we all keep the foundation solid…being sure to always have that alone and personal time with God through Christ…

La Shawn,

Unfortunately, La Shawn, I’m afraid we are just going to have to disagree on this issue. I read your two-parter on Harry Potter and Charmed Christians once before and again just now. I also just browsed through some of your links here. I thought at the time that Grangers distinction between “invocational” and “incantational” magic to be a matter of semantics, since the distinction is only a distinction of means toward the same ends. I still think so now.

I think the point I was making still stands. I don’t think reading these books will make anyone evil or anything of the sort. We have free will choices to make, whether you’re a child or an adult.

Personally, I think C.S. Lewis would be horrified at this phenomenon. And I don’t think Rowling would have become an Inkling. In one of his essays (I don’t remember which), he was laughed down by his peers because he asserted that “materialist wizards” will be the logical end of the trends he saw in his time. He was laughed down because this was a contradiction in terms; in his world, the time when Christianity in England collapsed, and they simply could not make the leap in understanding how you can be both spiritual and materialistic at the same time.

And yet, here we are.

I have to say, it is a brave man indeed that says what you read or watch does not affect behavior since a mountain of evidence points to the contrary.

I’m not saying that reading the Potter books are going to make people occultists. But what you spend time on matters. What/who you listen to matters. What you read matters. And what you watch matters. We all get to live the logic of our choices.

There ends my two-cents for what its worth.

Although I haven’t read the books, it appears Harry Potter is fantasy fiction. As someone above said, so was The Wizard of Oz and the list could go on and on. I think we have to use judgement and realize our children are going to be exposed to the “world” at some point. It’s our job to raise them as Christians who are aware of the evils in the world and to learn to discern truth from fiction, good from evil.

Make no mistake, I believe there’s a war against Christianity out there and frankly it scares me to death. People have been so afraid of being sued or ostracized or fired, that we hide under our little politically correct shells instead of standing up for what we believe. The Bible tells us that we will be tested and we will need to take up our armor and our shields. I hope that I will know the right time to do it.

Jerry, I completely agree that there is a difference between the Holy Spirit and pagan beliefs. But the “ghost” that Jesus was referring to, in my opinion, was the ghouly, spectral, things that go bump in the night, type. That is the type that the disciples believed they were seeing and that was what he was addressing.

As far as the “ghost” of Samuel, well the woman was clearly involved in sorcery. It is unbelievable and unreasonable to believe that she had any power whatsoever over the spirit of a holy man like Sam. So, what she conjured up was either a demon or something like it. Or she didn’t conjure up anything at all.

I believe that God used the occasion of Saul meeting with an occultist to reveal something to Saul, namely that He would not be mocked. This is born up by the fact that the witch fainted from fright. She knew she had no such power.

I agree that the Holy Spirit is, well, “Holy” and could never be construed to be evil. But some words have many meanings, context is important.

I also agree with you that it is important what we feed ourselves, both literally (and my belly betrays my lack of discipline there) and figuratively. I just think that there are far more evil things written than Harry Potter. And many of these books can be found on the “Christian” bookshelves at Barns and Noble or other bookstores.

Benm, you are correct in your assessment of the spirit/ghost of Samuel and the witch of endor. My point was simply that Jesus was making reference to something that isn’t necessarily evil or fake. Nor was he using it as an opportunity to tell a story or teach the Gospel, and He definately wasn’t attempting to somehow say that ghouls and ghostly goblins are good. My main contention is simple, that there is a growing trend today that presents evil as good. Harry Potter is a heavy contributer to this fact. Just because we as Christians can appreciate the nuances of truth and good that may be present within the stories, that doesn’t justify utilizing symbols that are known to be evil, and turning them into things that somehow align with good. If we examined many other stories, books and movies we could always find metaphors of good and evil and the love of God in them. I believe just about every superhero story is a story about Christ as our Lord and Savior. From Gladiator to Superman and even Batman. They all point to the notion of a savior.

This woman standing up against the schools carrying Harry Potter in their libraries is not necessarily wrong for doing so.

The main reason I like the Harry Potter books is that they are interesting, and therefore encourage children to READ. And the more that they read HP, the more that they will also read other books, including the Bible.

There exists in every town a magical place. It is called the Public Library. And by reading the books in that library a child can be transported to the past, to the future, to the never-was-and-never-will-be. They can join Huck Finn on a barge travelling down the Missippi, or join Captain Ahab on a sailing boat looking for Moby Dick, or go to Hogwarts and see what it would be like to go to school there.

La Shawn – I’m currently reading the sixth HP book (though I know how it ends). I read them in part because I’m involved in youth ministry, and partly because I just enjoy good, rip-roaring fantasy or sci/fi novels.

I look on HP pretty much like Star Wars, or the Tom Clancy “Jack Ryan” novels, or the like. There’s a conflict of good versus evil, and the characters are pretty starkly drawn. You know who’s good, you know who’s bad. It doesn’t take too much brainpower to figure it out.

Is there Christian edification in these types of novels? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I’ve never felt that Harry Potter was pushing witchcraft and sorcery on me as a reader, any more than the various writers of Star Wars novels were pushing the Zen Buddhism of the “force” on readers. As others have pointed out, the magic of HP is merely a vehicle for telling a story. It isn’t a means to an end, e.g., promoting witchcraft.

If they did, I’d trash them. God forbids real-world witchcraft. That’s explicitly clear.

Does He forbid its use in fiction depicting a titanic tale between good versus evil, even if that tale doesn’t quite point toward Him as t he ultimate victor and the ultimate good?

I really don’t know.

This comment from Connie Neal via one of your links is, I think, most fitting:

“We’re not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Some do this by disallowing Harry Potter. If you hold convictions that God’s Word prohibits Harry Potter, overcome it with good by directing kids to alternatives such as Frank Peretti’s Cooper Kids Adventure Series, Bill Myers’ Forbidden Doors series, or C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. If you deem Harry okay for your kids, be sure to read, watch, and discuss it with them, practicing moral and spiritual discernment, and distinguishing between fantasy literature “magic” and real-world occult.”

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2001/006/15.98.html

The Bible condemns the practice of sorcery, but I don’t believe Christians are forbidden to read about it as fiction or non-fiction.

I don’t disagree. I haven’t read Harry Potter, so I don’t grok all the fuss. I read all the L. Frank Baum books, and I think I turned out OK…

But I’m having some fun with your sentence structure.

The Bible condemns the practice of ___________, but I don’t believe Christians are forbidden to read about it as fiction or non-fiction.

The Bible condemns murder, but it’s OK for Christians to read the crime section of the local paper. OK.

The Bible condemns adultery and fornication; is it OK for Christians to read erotic literature or view porn films?

In a culture where Christians are often exhorted to keep adults from viewing sexual materials (protesting the adult bookstore, that “internet decency act” in the 90s, etc), encouraged to shut down sex ed in the schools, etc, I guess it’s not really surprising that some people are going to try to ban other stuff the Bible condemns.

And I think if this woman was trying to get the school library to remove from the shelves any of the recent “young adult” books about junior high kids having oral sex, no one would dare suggest she was “misguided.” Even if the books were ultimately about “self-sacrifice” and “friendship”.

I’d also be more concerned with the kids’ history and “social studies” textbooks–they’re being taught flat-out that the U.S. is evil and Christians are wrong; Harry Potter is a red herring.

I agree with Jerry’s crux. At the same time, the woman could expend her boundless energies on other worthwhile topics. If it’s books in the library, she’d have better success in making the book selection transparent prior to purchases. That way, she won’t get pegged as the anti-HP looney and is seen as a public citizen demanding the right to review how her tax dollars are being spent.

Better yet, if anti-witchcraft is her ‘forte’ then she needs to be conversant on the details & nuance. That means, knowing where the pagans are coming from. Hysterics without facts won’t convince anyone of their error.

Put it this way, Satan is God’s archenemy. At the same time, Satan would never presume to argue with God without knowing God’s Words inside & out, forwards & backwards. Likewise, if one is on fire to witness to muslims, they better learn & know the Koran.

“Yes, many modern fairytales, books, and movies are painting evil things such as vampires and witches as good. IMHO, I believe this can be and is dangerous”

But Jerry, there are no such things as vampires, warlocks, withces, etc.

Here’s an example, I’ll take something traditionally ‘bad’,but of course, like your examples, imaginary. OK?

A dragon.

Now, instead of the devil-sent ferocious dragon of yore, with his eyes of fire, and his claws that scratch good Christian folk, MY book will have a thoroughly nice dragon. A prehistoric remnant, or maybe a myth from a book within a book, brought to life in a children’s book, about another imaginary world. Kids love that stuff. My dragon will have big, kind eyes, not like the traditional evil dragons, and he will save a boy from mythical peril, from an evil Preacher of Hatrred who lives in an white tower (not a black one, in my book, colour is amoral)

Now is my dragon story ‘dangerous’, as you say? I took a traditionally mythical ‘evil’ character and made it ‘good’.

Should ‘Peter and The Dragon be banned?’ Because dragons can’t be portrayed as GOOD? Because kids will think that ‘real’ dragons are good?

Reality check: There are no real dragons. Except in Komodo etc. And I have it on good authority that they are morally excused for having bad breath and social habits

If any school has made a consistent decision regarding the entire “fantasy” category, then I would support that school also not buying/offering the Harry Potter series. Since “Alice in Wonderland” is such a staple, I do not see that as happening. At all.
Regarding LB’s “dark issues”, it would be appropriate to limit it to older students, age to be decided openly (and with consistency) in discussion that does allow for input from parents.

JohnD, sometimes it is difficult to follow your thought processes. Sometimes you sound like a Believer, then you say something weird, like :”How can you say that?“. How you ask? Cause the Bible tells me SO.

If Jesus can bring people back from the dead, what’s a petty thing like Down’s Sydrome, Deafness, or even demon possesion to an almighty God?

Unless of course you don’t believe in such a thing.

Just so I know where you are coming from and can better formulate my answers to you in the future:
1) Are you a Christian? IOW do you believe that Man has been cursed by sin and is by nature sinful, thus deserving eternal separation from God the Creator, Father & Judge. And that God so loved us that He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, as an escape route from hell, to bear our sins on the cross, thus redeeming us from the penalty of death?

2) If so, do you believe that God is good, perfect, just and that his word is truth?

If either/both is no… I’ll just stick to the Book of Matthew for the basics for now. The meatier stuff, such as dragons, spirits etc can come later:

You question parables. Check out the answers in Matt 13:10-17 & Matt 16:15-19

Btw, since you ask for a sign from heaven, I can only give you Jesus’ answer: “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather for the sky is red.
(Mat 16:3) And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the, face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
(Mat 16:4) A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And he left them, and departed.

As for why the suffering? See Matt 24.

[LMB] Remember what the character Hermione Granger said in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Nasty Professor Dolores Umbridge forbade students from reading a tabloid called The Quibbler because it made the Ministry of Magic look bad. This made Hermione happy. The best way to make sure someone reads something, she said, is to ban it.

I was all set to comment along those lines exactly. Glad I read to the end of the post, first. It remains the parents’ responsibility to be aware of what their children are reading and be involved in discussing it with them.

Thanks, G. After re-reading that passage, I edited it for clarity. – Admin

“I’m absolutely serious. Your point, was it not, that things that the Bible says are traditionally evil, should not have a ‘good’ face put on them?”

No, I think that is apparent given that the bible doesn’t specifically mention vampires. JohnD, get a grip man. You are missing the entire premise because we are arguing past each other.

Once again, the P-O-I-N-T is that depicting evil as good is dangerous. Whether it is a vampire, a witch or a dragon. I am pretty sure that we can discern whether Pete’s Dragon is harmful to children or not, yet I am not making a blanket judgement about all fairy tales if you haven’t noticed that. My contention is simple, as Christians we have to draw a line somewhere, this woman who is attempting to ban HP books has drawn said line. I say good for her, I do not believe she is wrong for it. It is undeniable that there is a trend today of depicting traditionally evil concepts, figures, characters etc. as good. It has been going on for quite some time, yet it seems to be a huge industry now.

JohnD, as far as your assessments above, you obviously do not believe the scriptures so why are you attempting to not only use it in your argument ,but actually applying meanings to it that fall out of proper context? If you truly understood the passage you cited from Revelation you would not be drawing a correlation between Satan and Pete’s Dragon.

Please let it go.

She needs to put her children in a Christian school or encourage more wholesome books buying by the schools district,or get a consensus from the parents. Not try and ban books, especially one she hasn’t read. Nor has she set her sights on other poplular works of literature that mention witchcraft and sorcery, particular many of classic children’s novels, she needs to stop picking on this one series. Banning books medieval, and its not the type of thing this country represents. Like Lashawn said, it is also a slippery slope. And every oppressive system in world history has had a habit of banning and/or burning books.

LaShawn, you have given me much food for thought. What a rich post – your writing alone, without the links, would have been powerful, but all the links add even more weight to your viewpoint. I think I just might put Harry Potter on my to-read list for 2007, and see for myself.

I fully support this mother’s decision to keep the Harry Potter books out of her own home. But before she starts campaigning hysterically to remove them from libraries in schools (or anywhere else), wouldn’t simple common sense dictate that the silly fool READ them?

Censorship is an insidious danger to our way of life. There are many books that I think are offensive or downright dangerous. And if I feel strongly about it, I may campaign to discourage people from reading them on that basis. BUT, I cannot and would not advocate censorship ever. It’s a slippery slope we don’t want to attempt!

Hello LaShawn,
This is not a comment on your post, just a general comment on your blog.

I’m a conservative black woman, who is delighted to find your blog. If you occasionally hear a loud “that’s right!”, it’s coming from me while I read your blog.

We have been homeschooling our children for the last 16 years. My two oldest (of 6) have graduated from our home school. Our younger four have never been to a traditional school. If you ever have the opportunity to home school, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

While I have never read a Harry Potter novel nor seen any of the films I am going to present THIS to Laura Mallory, why don’t you go ahead and get the Wizard of Oz banned too??

Comment by TexasFred

Amen, Fred!

I will add that I planned on giving the 2nd book out as a highly desired Christmas present for two young nephews and I decided to read it because of “concern” by some fundamentalists that it “lured kids to sorcery”. What I found reading it was a strong sense of disappointment….that I wasn’t lucky enough to have the Harry Potter books when I was a kid.

They are very well written, and the sorcery and magic are in a clearly designed and cordoned off “alternate world”, not this one. There is absolutely no effort or pretense that any of the magic would work in the real world a child knows they inhabit. Hogworts is in the same realm of other fantasy lands presented to children safely and enjoyably – OZ, The Shire, Peter Pan’s (not Michael Jacksons) Neverneverland.

I haven’t heard of any significant underage dysfunctional behavior arising from the books. Any Christian with concerns should just pick a book up and check it out for themselves.

Same is true of the movies. Rollings is careful to show good and bad playing out their struggle in a way, I believe, that most ethicists and religious scholars would approve of. The books and movies have crossed cultures.

I don’t know of any nation that has looked into the HP phenomenon and wanted to keep it from the kids.

Ok, I have read most of the comments here and I have to say a few things.

1. I agree with the comment about pornography. We know it is a sin to indulge in anything of the pornographis nature. Yet some indulge in reading HP and make excuses for reading a book based on the occult.

2. JK Rowling did her homework well when writing the HP series. As do most great writers. The danger in her research, which involved a great deal of occult research, is the amount of demon activity she allowed in her path. Let’s get real here as Children of God….the devil is real and so is his army of imps and demons. We cannot and must not ignore this fact. This means that they can operate in every area of our lives….even reading. Reading is not a harmless event.

3. I have to ask myself as we all should…What would Jesus do? May sound cliche, but it is an ever true and necessary statment.

We must be careful in assuming that it is ok to read certain type of books. It is a dangerous thing when we dance with devil.

Fantasy fiction, from sword and sorcery to some of the stranger corners of beautiful downtown Cyberland, has been a home base…a safe place behind a window, if you will…To observe man’s view of the battle between good and evil since we crawled out of the caves and started telling stories.

Alongside of these fictions, some cultures fully believed in their sorceries, some formed multiple-deity beliefs, and some of them eventually came to monotheistic belief systems.

Alongside. Always. Sometimes blended in, but in every race on the planet that believed in a higher power to explain their real world, there was a set of minds creating stories based on what was, or could be, happening right here on the face of the world, or, failing that, created another world to show us ourselves in fanciful ways.

Sorcery, as created for the reading public in the Harry Potter books, is a means. It ASSISTS the characters in making things happen. It is a means to advance a story which could also have been told WITHOUT it. Used it protects the good and misused it aids the bad in their plots.

Good wizards have been a staple of such fiction since the days of Merlin in the days of King Arthur. The evil creature we know as Voldemort isn’t evil because he uses magic…His evil springs from the attempt to gain ultimate power over those around him through murder, mayhem and the misuse of the powers he possesses.

Some people just can’t handle some forms of allegory without feeling they invades a sacred spot in their belief system. It’s not all perfect…Hell, any fan of fantasy can name at least ONE stinker that they wish they hadn’t wasted brain cells on…But they do serve a purpose. And I’d rather have something firing up a youngster’s reading ability and imagination than shutting it down out of unfounded fears.

Besides…Some day the kids reading 700+ pages of Potter aren’t going to so much as bat an eye when “War and Peace” hits their reading list.

With that said, I know I’ll take my chances with a little wand-waving and adventure now and again over watching it burn in a fear-induced puddle of mulch.

This is interesting. I would suspect that Satan actually prefers to get us in a tizzy over books like Harry Potter and things like witchcraft and wizards and the occult.

Why? Because, and especially for a Christian, being focused on fantasy books about witchcraft, or concerned about covens of cultic practioners, keeps us from focusing down on the things that are actually impacting us negatively on a day to day basis.

The things in life that actually give Satan the greatest foothold have to do with our habits and giving into our own will. The doable stuff. That is: we fornicate, we lust, we have pride, we hate, we are gluttons, we divorce, we get angry, we cheat, we fight, we sloth, we manipulate.

Often enough by focusing on witchcraft, we are focusing on a mirage. Why? Because among many evils, it is probably the sole arena where God might actually prevent one person’s witchcraft from impacting the freewill of others. Witchcraft, and indeed Satan, are not beyond God’s control. So where God will protect you from true Satanic power, God will not protect you from yourself (as he does not want to impose good on us, but have us choose it freely).

So more often Satan will use the things of daily life that involve our free choice and will.

Most of that stuff is remedied by focusing on the core of what Christianity is all about: that we are all sinners, that Jesus died for our sins and God loves us, and that God wants us all back with him to party, so tell people the good news.

Forgiveness and love are two the hardest things to apply on a consistent basis. It is very easy to go on a crusade against a book, but much harder to treat everyone you encounter with love.

The whole task of banning Potter (from OTHERS reading it) is Satancentric Christianity. We can rail about every perceived evil, and every slippery slope into demonic control (and remember in the way back when all of us were worried that George Lucas was steeped in the occult and actually had a coordinated desire to get us all believing in “the force” when it turns out he probably just wanted to make money?).

But the true task of the Christian is simple, and hardly affected by a work of fiction. The task of the Christian is to love and forgive, and be known for that love so that those who don’t believe can get an inkling about what Jesus is all about.

I haven’t read the Harry Potter books, but I’ve seen all the movies and thought they were gorgeous. When I became a Christian, I had some thinking to do about whether the series was something I wanted to stay attached to. We have different Christian friends, some who love Harry, some who eschew him. My husband and I eschew him, just because I wonder at the wisdom of straining to “Find God in Harry Potter.” The Bible (in which there need be no straining to find God) is pretty explicit that witchcraft is not to be tampered with. The world of Harry Potter is equally explicit; in his world, magic is at the core of all things from housekeeping to saving the world. It gets things done, it’s the difference between life and death and it’s the weapon that resolves the conflict between good and evil. Christians are told to look to Jesus for hope and salvation, Harry and his friends are taught to look to magic. So before I’m labeled as having a medieval mind, please know that this is a principled position I’ve adopted through trust in God’s word. However, the obvious division between Christians (over a CHILDREN’S BOOK! BROTHERS AND SISTERS!! Come ON!) shows that reasonable minds may differ on the subject.

I am pleased that this mother took up this cause but I’m not disappointed that she lost. Her tax money is collected through compulsion to fund this school. In a democratic society, she ought to have a say in what her money is used for (should she also keep quiet if condoms are handed out at that school? What if other parents think condoms are fine? Does it make her a medieval condom banner to try and effect change?). She does not agree with purchasing Harry Potter books, she should be allowed to convince people of the wisdom of her argument. Others can have the opportunity to persuade the school that Harry Potter is harmless. Unfortunately, only one side can win yet both sides still are compelled to pay their taxes. I hope this will encourage more parents who oppose the system to take their kids out of public schools. Other parents who love the system may support letting these “medieval” Christians put their tax money towards a school that jibes with their morals.

I must quibble with painting this as a “ban” on a book. We live in a relatively free country, so a school library removing a book from its shelves seems like a ban. Of course, the public library still stocks the books. It’s still legal to print, import and sell the books at BDaltons, Walden’s, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc. Distributing this book will not result in a summary execution. This book is not banned. Once again, Americans have forgotten than just because they have a right to do something (like Harry Potter) it does not give them the moral right to use another person’s tax money to fund that right.

Spunky… re: “This mother has every right and indeed a responsibility to voice her concerns over the books in the library.”

Yes, she does. She ALSO has a responsibility to READ the books before making a decision about them.

I am a die-hard Harry Potter fan (one of my prize possessions is an autographed photo of the cute twins who play Fred and George Weasley), both film and books, and even as a Christian, I find this story line about as “dangerous” as The Wizard of Oz.

The books have nothing to do with “real” witchcraft. The witches in Harry Potter celebrate Christmas and Easter and are obviously English Christians as opposed to the pagans of the “Old Religion” who are the “real” witchcraft practicioners in today’s world.

Nothing about Harry Potter bothers me… they’re just great fairy tales .

Spunky… and I’m afraid I must respectfully disagree with you.

If this mother were simply asking that HER kids not be exposed, I would support her. But what she is asking is that everyone else be locked out as well. Like The Wizard of Oz in its time, Harry Potter is rapidly becoming a cultural icon. To lock out everyone is to force her personal beliefs upon everyone else. I don’t like it when liberal school boards do it, and I don’t like it when people I normally perceive to be on my side do it. To me, there is NO DIFFERENCE, not in either the cause or the effect.

I don’t have much respect for uninformed opinions. This woman’s jihad qualifies as “uninformed” to me.

What is interesting is how Christians are so willing to condemn Ms. Mallory for standing up for her convictions.

La Shawn said, “In the scheme of things, what Mallory is doing doesn’t matter that much. There are more important things going on in the world for Christians to worry about, and the Harry Potter books are so far down the list, they barely register.”

I may not feel the same calling to speak out in this way, but she may look at blogging in the way that some look at her appeal to the library, “Fruitless and of little value.” But we are each called to a life of obedience in Christ. Better to make sure that we are doing all that we are supposed to do, than condemn another for the call that they feel God has placed upon them.

Engaging in a dialogue about the merits of HP is fine, but a dialogue that questions her decision to speak out has no place in a country that honors the freedom of the indiviual and taxes all of us to pay for public education. Her “jihad” is costing her time, money, and in many ways her reputation. Yet, she is willing to keep going. That kind of a woman earns my admiration not my scorn. In the end, she may not change any opinions at the the court of law or public opinion, but if her calling is indeeed given by God she will most likely stand before a holy God and hear, “Well done my faithful servant enter now into the joy of my rest.”

Not that Spunky needs any defense, but I agree 100% with her comments.

I think something else needs to be noted here. This is the sort of debate that the MSM and educrats love. With the MSM, it gives them an excuse to run another of their “Right Wing Christianist Theocrats on the Rampage” stories. And educrats who have screwed up public schools get a chance to divert the public’s attention once again.

I have read only the first Harry Potter book, and did not like it (boring theme, shallow characters, and predictable storyline). However, this is not a book review, and I personally would have no objections to it being available in a public school library. Nor would I object to my son reading it when he is old enough (although I hope he prefers the Lord of the Rings trilogy if he reads fantasy).

As Spunky pointed out, Mallory is simply standing up for her convictions. And the issue of what is kept in public school libraries – in fact, what is taught in public schools with taxpayer money – is open to every citizen. I am sure that educrats and the MSM would prefer that we leave the decisions to them (these two groups constantly try to intimidate others into silence), but why should we? Supporters of Harry Potter books might want to concentrate on making the case for the books rather than against Laura Mallory.

Just for the record, I am a secondary school mathematics teacher (grades 6-12) with ten years of classroom experience.

quote: Elizabeth: It gets things done, its the difference between life and death and its the weapon that resolves the conflict between good and evil.

wow, just goes to show how different people’s perceptions can be. i’ve read the books and am waiting for the last one, because i’m eager to see how the love that Harry has and Voldemort doesn’t defeats Voldemort. the books have a theme that LOVE is the weapon which Harry needs, regardless of his magic or any other ability. it’s reinforced over and over, especially in the sixth one.

IMO, there are too many lessons in the books to deny them because of the magic.

Harry Potter has a scar to bear. The mark on his forehead (good survives evil) attracts evil to him. He saves souls. For someone to complain about the books and wish to ban them means they are the sinner in the working hands of the devil.

A couple of years ago, I walked my daughter to her classroom one morning, and there was a Harry Potter poster displayed in the hallway, promoting the current book as part of a school sponsored reading program. I wondered what the reaction would be if there was a poster displayed promoting “Left Behind” by Tim LaHaye. I share Ms. Mallory’s outrage as a Christian at the hypocrisy of elite academia’s selective censorship in the name of the establishment clause. Their interpretation is that government shall establish no Christian religion. They will look the other way if Islam, for example, is taught in the classroom- all in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism. On a spiritual level though, I believe that you must have faith in your child’s faith, and the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in him/her, and will guide him/her in truth. Harry Potter is not the only darkness my children will encounter. I trust God to be with them every day in their travels.

This woman is a ninny, plain and simple.

It was people like her when I was growing up in Tennessee that had me convinced for a long time that adults were malicious towards children. I had no other explanation for the behavior of people like her because it was unthinkable to me that a grown person could actually BELIEVE such nonsense.

Never read the Left Behind books. Why would you put it into the schools? If I get the hint from the title correctly, all the belief systems that include a left behind philosophy are wrong. That is a man made lever to induce people to toe the path. That’s my opinion at least. People are welcome to have faith in a left behind religion if it makes them feel better.

RE this Eph 5:11 KJ2000 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

What does this have to do with Harry Potter books? The advice is good, but you are probably shooting it at the wrong target. Which puts you in the dark then.

Rather than wanting the Bible in the schools, what you want is for the religious background of historical figures and the impact religion had on them to be included with their stories. If Abraham Lincoln went to church and it had a great impact on him we should know about it. If GWB found great solace in peoples prayers, then it should be explained adequately to the student.

A lot of those early independents were also Masons etc. Those stories are also kindly brushed aside.

“Assistant Village Idiot” is my new hero!

We can get all self-indulgently philosophical about Harry Potter and make valiant efforts to display how erudite or morally superior we are – but the bottom line is that some truly worthwhile literature has been on the verge of being banned over time. So my opinion is pretty simple: If you don’t approve of the book (or you consider the books to be crap, as I do) then don’t read the Harry Potter books. Don’t let your children read them if you have reservations.

But book banning or book burning are NOT options we ever want to consider, for our own sakes.