Fantastic Posts

Book Banning

by Heidi

Where have the books been banned?

The South Carolina Board of Education has reviewed complaints about the books. After listening to the laments of frightened parents, one board member said, "Censorship is an ugly word, but it is not as ugly as what I've heard this morning." Then again, ugly is as ugly does. Read the article.

In November, 1999, a listie who teaches 8th grade special education students reported to the list that she had to stop reading the book to her students because a parent complained that it was "satanic".

The Durham Region School Board, near Toronto, had required parents to sign a consent form before allowing the internationally best selling books to be read in classrooms after complaints from parents and a board trustee that the J. K. Rowling books glorified witchcraft, but the board narrowly decided to remove the restrictions after a heated debate from parents on both sides of the issue on the books.

Santa Fe, Texas, a small down between Houston and Galvaston, require parental signatures before children in the school district can check out the books, due to the books' "supernatural themes". Area librarians are unhappy with the rule, but at least one parent has said that "When children are under 18 they need rules [and y]ou have to set some kind of limits."

One of the organizations involved in anti-Harry Potter activity is the "Family Friendly Library" organization. Their website is located at http://www.fflibraries.org. They want parental control over book fairs, school libraries and classrooms, to prevent their children from exposure to pagan Harry Potter. And they don't like C.S. Lewis either, even though the Narnia series is a Christian allegory. Some of their members have alleged that the lightning scar on Harry Potter's forehead, which is vaguely S-shaped, stands for "Satan." Their president was quoted as saying, "Everyone is a witch or warlock; they cast spells, drink blood. They believe in reincarnation." Linda Beam, contributing culture analyst for Focus on the Family, says "these stories are not fueled by witchcraft, but by secularism." Secularism, to some, is worse than satanism.

What is MUGGLES FOR HARRY POTTER?

They are an organization who believes that it is wrong to ban books like the Harry Potter series because some people object to the inclusion of magic in the stories, or because they believe that the stories are too violent. They are supported by various organizations including American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Association of Booksellers for Children and the People for the American Way Foundation. You can join at http://www.mugglesforharrypotter.com/#yes, and they sell their buttons and posters on that site as well. They have been involved in opposing book bans in locations like Zeeland, Michigan

What can I do if someone in my community is trying to ban the books?

  • Contact the school and the school board, in writing.
  • Write letters to the editors of local papers.
  • Get in touch with MUGGLES FOR HARRY POTTER.
  • Let your fellow listies know, so we can help raise the alarm.
  • And a listie came up with a wonderful spell: Lift your wand high and say: *IGNORAMUS!!!*

What arguments do book ban supporters make?

Some fundamentalist Christians in the United States have also tried to ban the books in schools by arguing that Witchcraft and Wizardry, or possibly Magic, or maybe Sorcery, are religions, and thus the books teach religious subjects and therefore should be off reading lists and out of libraries because of the separation of church and state. The biggest problem with this argument is that, under the Clinton Administration's policy on religion in schools, teachers may teach about religion, including the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries, students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions, and libraries are allowed to stock books containing religious issues. The writer of this FAQ has never seen a situation where this argument has been successful.

Another claim by those seeking to ban the books is that they promote drug use. "The drug message in this book [Sorcerer's Stone] is clear. To reach your goals in life like Harry Potter you need to know how to make drugs and take drugs in just the right way or else you are a "dunderhead" and will never succeed."

Yet another claim by some conservatives is that the Harry Potter series encourages children to "question authority". Some people think that this is a bad thing. One, the president of Mission: America, wrote an editorial for USA TODAY where she voiced concern about "12-year-olds [who] go from reading Harry Potter to heightened rebellion and spell casting."

A listie reported in the Spring on 2000 that a member of the Christian Coalition, in an appearance on the US tv show Politically Incorrect said that it's a story about a boy who kills his parents and therefore must be evil. It's not, and people who say things like that have clearly never read the books.

In early July, 2000, someone from the "Councel of Conservitive Citizens", http://www.cocc.org, posted that " All of the "magic" and "super natural wizardry" can only harm in the minds of young children," and asked for a boycott of Harry Potter. No subsequent posts supported his call.

But aren't the books really evil and filled with witches and sorcery and dark magic and other things which will corrupt the Youth of the World?

No, and here (briefly) are some of the reasons why not:

All the parents who have been mentioned so far in the book, from the Dursleys to the Weasleys are married - not a divorce among them.

The books clearly show the difference between good and evil, and just how horrible "evil" really is.

A listie wrote "With something as beautiful as the Harry Potter books, I personally would say that God's message of love and care for each other shines through quite well. In my beliefs, I would say that each person when acting in goodness to one another helps the other understand love and the ways of God more clearly. Through this, people live their lives, and do their work, such as writing, in a way that makes everyone's life better." These are good things, not bad things.

Some posts have asked if these books, even before Book IV was published, weren't too scary for kids. The writer of this FAQ is a parent, and has discussed the books with other parents, and we agree- it depends on the child.

Finally, when grownups read these wonderful books out loud, or children read them alone, literacy among children (and possibly among grownups as well) increases exponentially.

MESSAGES: 58, 63, 68, 4105, 4118, 4153, N1552, N1554, N1492, N1465, N1443, N1136

All original material is copyright 2002, Harry Potter for Grownups. Do not use this material without permission!
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