Banning the books/Request (Harry live or die?)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 159368

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carolyn" <freakywife54321 at ...> wrote:
>
> My name is Carol and you could say that I am a Harry Potter fan.
> I have read and seen every Harry Potter book and even seen all
> the movies that are out about him.
> 
> Don't know if you heard about that woman that wants to ban the
> Harry Potter books, but I think she is crazy.  She said that the
> books teach our kids witchcraft.  I think she is nuts.

Geoff:
Sadly, she is not the first. If you have been reading about the Banned 
Books Week, HP features largely there.

Much of the opposition comes from  "far right" Christian groups. 

Let me make it very clear to start with that I am an evangelical 
Christian and I do not agree wioth these groups. When the books 
first emerged, I allowed myself to be led by people leaning that way 
in my own church. When I saw the second film (almost by accident), 
I realised that I had allowed myself to be influenced without looking 
at the information for myself.

If you are going to ban Harry Potter, then you must logically also 
ban "The Lord of the Rings" and the "Narnia" books - also written by 
Christians and also having an underlying theme of love.

Moving on, Bruce wrote in message 159354:

I have a theory that the story of Harry is an allegory to the story
of Christ. Therefore, in the 7th book, he would have to die to save
the world. But --- since his character parallels Christ - it is
possible he could also have a resurrection.

Geoff:
Here, I would disagree. I have on several occasions taken issue with 
contributors who have suggested that Harry is a Christ figure. Christ 
was God in human form; he was sinless.

Harry, though I will fight for his side anytime, does not fit that category.
I identify so much with him because I see myself in my teen years.
He is human and fallible. I have on many occasions posted to say that I 
see him as an everyman. Like us, he is on a journey and, like us, seeks 
the best way but often falls down as we do because we allow God's 
desire to guide us to be thwarted by pride, anger, apathy and a hundred 
and one other things in our physical life. 

At the risk of being hit by someone because I have preeviously said this 
again and again and (sigh) again, I want to see a Horcruxless Harry 
emerge alive and well from the end of Book 7.