From September 6, 2000 USA Today

[heidi tandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 1136

Regarding banning books - this was the "Pro banning books" editorial.
What do you all think of this woman's perspective? Especially 
Paragraph 5, last sentence...

Protect our kids 
By Linda Harvey


The first duty of every parent is to keep a child out of harm's way. 
Some parents, particularly Christians, view the Harry Potter series 
as potentially harmful because witchcraft is portrayed as endearing 
and innocuous. But others disagree. So how do public schools choose 
on-site material?

One option is to include ''everything''; another is to choose wisely, 
according to pre-established guidelines. Many schools, however, 
actually apply standards subjectively.

No school includes everything. Few public schools would accept books 
advocating drunken driving, bulimia or rape. And it's rare to find 
novels in school libraries about teens who proclaim salvation through 
Jesus Christ.

Too often, written policies are discreetly violated by schools behind 
the scenes. Often, traditional Christian or conservative viewpoints 
get the stealth censorship ax. Clear codes applied consistently would 
forestall unrealistic expectations.

In America, we used to have such a code, though largely unwritten. 
Judeo-Christian standards were tacitly agreed upon by most parents 
and school staff. But as biblical morality vanishes, chaos becomes 
its substitute. It's called by another name -- ''tolerance''-- but 
confusion and dishonesty are the actual results. Witchcraft is being 
pitched to our kids on TV shows, on the Internet, in teen novels. 
There are numerous how-to manuals on rituals and initiation rites, so 
curiosity can quickly become practice. And Harry Potter may stimulate 
occultic interest, along with other questionable values.

In Harry Potter, children are frequently the authority figures. 
Traditional values (read: ''anti-sorcery'') are ignorant, even evil. 
Revenge is sometimes justified. So if 12-year-olds go from reading 
Harry Potter to heightened rebellion and spell casting, that's 
perfectly acceptable to most parents, right?

Maybe it's time for an honest debate about where we are heading 
without biblical values. Do we really want our kids involved in some 
of these alternatives? Sure, we want children to read, but the Harry 
Potter phenomenon presents us with a crucial choice. We can choose to 
honor commandment No. 1 -- the one about having no other gods -- or 
we can take the road more often traveled these days and thumb our 
nose at our gracious creator. Let's hope U.S. schools adopt standards 
that don't dishonor the one who invented words in the first place.


Linda Harvey is president of Mission: America.