Harry Potter: Banned!

by Allison

harry_potter_fan.jpgOk, I know that there are people out there who don’t let their kids read Harry Potter. And honestly, I think some parents are letting their children read them at too young of an age. They are a bit gruesome in places, and although we shouldn’t shelter our children, we definitely should make sure that things are appropriate for certain age leaves. But I digress.

What really bothers me is the people who use religion as a way to to to censor Harry Potter and other books where characters use magic. Today, Kelly at Tiny Treasury, talked about Laura Mallory, one of the most famous anti-Potter mothers in the United States. She in June, she actually took her case to the Supreme Court, trying to get them banned.

Here’s the thing. Even if the books DO promote witchcraft (they do not), why is it to be assumed the Wicca and other pagan religions are hurting our children? We still say “under God” during the pledge of allegiance and we still allow books like “Are You There God?, It’s Me, Margaret” to have a place on the shelves of our libraries. From the perspective of someone practicing Wicca, aren’t those things as harmful to them and their children as Harry Potter allegedly is to Christian children?

The answer is no. I don’t care what religion you are, if you do not allow your children to explore and learn about other religions, that how can they truly be Christian? I firmly believe that to be a true Christian you have to have a choice, and to have a choice you must learn, from an unbiased perspective, about other religions. Only then can you really accept that Jesus is your savior and all other religions are false (if that’s what you choose to believe).

All I’m saying is that a good parents shouldn’t have to worry about Harry Potter or about “Under God” or whatever. If you want your child to grow up as a Christian or an atheist or anything in between, that’s great–but let him or her actually decide that. Otherwise, their allegiance to your religion is false. They only subscribe to it because they don’t know any better.

I’d be really interested to hear from people on both sides of this debate. Should Harry Potter be banned? Does it teach children bad things?

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Posted in Christianity, Find Religion in Everyday Life, In the News, Literature on August 16th, 2007

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3 Responses to “Harry Potter: Banned!”

  1. KD Griffin Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Here Here! As a practicing Christian I am sooooo sick of other Christians making these baseless assumptions about Harry Potter. Don’t even get me started on people confusing Wican with Devil worship.

  2. Lux Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 6:36 pm

    I totally agree. I believe that some Christians try to prevent their kids from learning about other religions because they think their religion is the only right way, and don’t realize that their kid deserves to make his own decisions in that regard.

  3. April Says:
    August 20th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

    I agree! I also find the flip side disturbing — the Christians who try to find the Christian theme in everything, including Harry Potter. There have been many published articles on finding the Christian in Harry Potter, but the simple fact is it is a fantasy series that evokes the imagination. I love to read Christian books — but I also recognize it is not one and enjoy it anyway.

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