NJCubScouter Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Harry Potter? Even with all the witchcraft, Beavah? Just kidding, of course. The "witchcraft" in the Harry Potter books isn't really "witchcraft" as defined by any religion, including Wicca. Not to mention that all the little witches and warlocks celebrate Christmas. Back at the time the books were coming out and were creating some controversy, I even heard some commentators comparing the story of Harry Potter to that of Jesus Christ, though that is probably beyond the scope of this discussion... Awhile back we had some local controversy over a book named "Julie of the Wolves", which I had never heard of, but apparently it has been controversial elsewhere as well, as described in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_of_the_Wolves#Reception That Wikipedia article describes the nature of the controversy. It really came down to a question of whether one particular scene in the book was appropriate for the grade levels in which the book was included in the curriculum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Heh, heh, I start my lectures on alternative fuels with photos of a church-sponsored book-burning of Harry Potter books. "The congregation of the Christ Community Church in Alamogordo in southern New Mexico heard an anti-Harry Potter sermon in which Pastor Jack Brock claimed the character taught children to take up wizardry." "Behind that innocent face is the power of satanic darkness," he said. "Harry Potter is the devil and he is destroying people." Now if the Presbyterians had done fun things like that when I was growing up, it might have 'stuck' with me. Thinking.......naaahh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCubScouter Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I always found that stuff about Harry Potter and Satanism pretty funny. Harry was the least evil witch in the dorm. Sometimes he was blinded by his own view of what was right, sometimes he didn't listen to good advice, and sometimes he was tempted to do bad things in pursuit of his ultimate goals, which were righteous. Like real people, in other words. I think that's a big reason the books were so popular among "kids of all ages." The "witchcraft" was just a device to make it all more interesting, so it wasn't just a series of books about good and bad people in some suburb somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prof Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 An English prof friend mentioned that the Dr. Seuss book "the Lorax" had been banned in some places. I enjoyed the book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prof Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 An English prof friend mentioned that the Dr. Seuss book "the Lorax" had been banned in some places. I enjoyed the book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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