Book Banning: Harry Potter

[Augusta Longbottom]

This is an interesting post. I am Catholic and have full intentions of reading the HP books to my children when they are old enough but not quite old enough to read them on their own. And fully plan to allow my kids to read the books. It is FICTION!

I think these books have the ability to become literary classics of our time. I think there is so much depth to them and so much more than just face value of the words. JKR puts so much symbolism and depth into every aspect of the books.

On a side note, this totally makes me laugh...
Christians are worried about the HP series yet they are all out there reading "Twas the Night before Christmas" to their kids and informing their kids Santa delivers their gifts (rather than the truth, which is that mom & dad bought the gifts).

Of course, I plan to read the Christmas stories about Santa to my children, but have no intention of lying to them about Santa. The magic of Santa is really not much different than the magic of HP.

Okay, so I have gone off topic but geesh...I can't understand people sometimes. It's fiction for crying out loud.

[fierce]

Those people who say that HP is anti-christian are those that search so hard for anything that could even be construed (or misconstrued as the case commonly is) as challenging a faith they have built their entire life upon, because they are so afraid that it will start to show the cracks in the flimsy facade of their theory of the universe. It is a much stronger, more intelligent and well-rounded set of values and beliefs that encompasses everything forseeable and unforseeable, and acceptance of these circumstances (in whatever form). Such as a Harry Potter book. BUT I can think of much more scandalous forms of so-called anti-christian literary works in current publication, such as the da vinci code. I loved that book, and it actually caused me to reconsider my beliefs as a catholic, not a christian. This basically just was the catalyst for a further investigation into the theories presented in the da vinci code that aren't common knowlege, that definitely should be, especially for those that it affects.

Anyway, I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you feel harry potter is challenging your faith and your belief system, then it really wasn't that strong to begin with, so get over it and stop transferring blame to an inanimate object.

[pallas artemis]

feirce, THANK YOU

I have been trying for a couple of years now to say basically the exact same thing and not been able to word it effectively!!! That is it in a nutshell

[Mint]

Anyway, I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you feel harry potter is challenging your faith and your belief system, then it really wasn't that strong to begin with, so get over it and stop transferring blame to an inanimate object.

Nicely said!!! ^-^

[D.A. Member]

This is a really good topic. It has always made me laugh
When a lady at my mom's work found out that I had read a few HP Books and had just gone to see the 1st movie with my little brother(who was 20 at the time) almost started crying because she was so worried for our souls because we were most likely going to hell. HP being Satans material and all. She also is afraid of Halloween. I just find it all pretty amusing that a fictional book can cause some people so much fear.
I 've never been possessed or felt compelled to go out late at night to practice satanic rituals because I read the books. I have never been able to perform any of the spells used in the books(no matter how hard I try ) What a scary world it would be if these fanatics were in charge! I imagine it would be something like Footloose ha ha

[Ginny Potter]

Book bannings have always fascinated me...too often, the person offended has never read the book...or simply interpreted it the way based on his/her initial perception rather that what the book was truly about. Or, simply listened to heresay.

Anyway...

That being said, if the Harry Potter series were being written from the point of view of Voldemort or even portrayed the horrible acts in these books (i.e.--Umbridge's detention with the nasty quill, torture of people, merciless killings, etc.) as anything remotely acceptable or appropriate, then I might be able to see what the banning was all about. In actuality, the message of the books expouse just the opposite: they disdain racism, abuse, prejudice, etc. In a straightforward case of "good vs. evil", which these books are in large part, good clearly is who JKR wants us rooting for. I would think the book banners would truly appreciate that, and while there are books out there that could be deemed offensive to some (not every book is for every person), that doesn't mean every offensive bookj should be banned. Were that the case, there wouldn't be books to read!

Everyone has different values. I say, read a book first and really be objective about it BEFORE making a decision if you're in the position to decide what's appropriate for someone else (like a parent for his/her children). If you choose not to read a book at all, that's up to you...but I'd make sure I was making that decision on my own and not based on what others said. I don't think all people have to come to the same decision about all books...we all like different things, and that's a big reason why I think there are so many out there to choose from. Just because you don't care for it means that everyone else does or should feel the same way.

Just my two cents...

[Heidi_hoho]

If you notice when Umbridge tries to ban the quibbler in OotP, Hermione says that banning it makes everyone want to read it to find out why it's banned. The same thing probably goes for Harry Potter. So in all actuality, we should be glad it's censored.


I'm Christian, and I don't think the books are bad.

[Ginny Potter]

I'm not sure I'll ever be glad, per se, that books are censored, but I definitely see your point. Nothing like denying someone something to get them to want it all the more. It's just a shame, as a society, that we won't take the time to really see what (or even who...) something/someone is before making a judgement.

[Nightcrawler]

If you notice when Umbridge tries to ban the quibbler in OotP, Hermione says that banning it makes everyone want to read it to find out why it's banned. The same thing probably goes for Harry Potter. So in all actuality, we should be glad it's censored.

Whoa! Very interesting parallel there! I'm surprised I didn't notice it before. I think that JKR probably did that deliberatly.

And I've noticed that lately the Christian Extremist hate for Harry Potter seems to have died down. The morons at the Cutting Edge website havn't even "reviewed" OOTP yet, so I doubt they are even going to bat an eyelid at HBP.

I'd say that the days of Harry Potter bashing are over. Seems like complaining about stuff has become for Religeous Extremists is what fashion is to the rest of us. Whinning about Harry Potter is no longer the flavour of the month, so most of them have stopped.

[Heidi_hoho]

I noticed it because I was reading OotP yesterday. Anyway, I'm surprised the banning hasn't gone up with all the merchandising going on.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

It's as though some people have imaginations and wanting to bring joy to people is offensive. Some people are so closed-minded... it's infuriating!!! We all realise it's fiction! At the end of the day, if we're truly loyal to our religion, whatever it be, what's it gonna matter if we read a fictional story that we find interesting.

[Heidi_hoho]

exactly. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis contain magic and spells and all, and Christians like them. They say that there's parallels between those and the Bible. In my opinion, they're a lot like the Harry Potter books with the magic and good over evil elements!

btw, the Chronicles of Narnia are excellent books! If you haven't read them, you should check 'em out!

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Hmm well obviously there's a completely different plot line and all, but it's still fantasy... Interesting how the church hasn't condemned them.

[Mia67]

Yeah <_<its just a book its not like harry potter is the anti christ or something lol

[Bextra]

well donald duck was banned in some random country cos he didnt wear any pants. but its true though some people ahve killed themselves because they thought that they were living in the matrix. and a lot of teenage kids get really fat because they play all these role playing games and then dont do anything else.