What do protests about Harry Potter books teach us? [View all]

Tuesday, Jun 27, 2017 06:00 AM EST

On Monday, June 26, 2017, Harry James Potter — the world’s most famous wizard — will celebrate his 20th birthday. His many fans will likely mark the occasion by rereading a favorite Harry Potter novel or rewatching one of the blockbuster films. Some may even raise a butterbeer toast in Harry’s honor at one of three Harry Potter-themed amusement parks.

But not everyone will be celebrating Harry’s big day. In fact, a vocal group of Christians — usually identified as “Bible-believing” or fundamentalist Christians — has been resistant to Harry’s charms from the start. Members of this community, who believe the Bible to be literal truth, campaigned vigorously to keep J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novels out of classrooms and libraries. They even staged public book burnings across the country, at which children and parents were invited to cast Rowling’s books into the flames. These fiery spectacles garnered widespread media coverage, sparking reactions ranging from bemusement to outrage.

<snip>

Most readers of Rowling’s novel – including many Christian readers — interpret the characters’ tutelage in spells and potions as harmless fantasy, or as metaphors for the development of wisdom and knowledge. Similarly, they read incidents in which Harry and his friends disobey adults or make questionable choices as opportunities for characters and readers alike to learn important lessons and begin to develop their own moral and ethical codes.

For some fundamentalist Christians, however, Harry’s magical exploits pose an active danger. According to them, Hogwarts teaches the kinds of witchcraft explicitly condemned as punishable by death and damnation in the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Exodus. They believe the books must be banned — even burned — because their positive portrayal of magic is likely to attract unsuspecting children to real-world witchcraft.

...

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/27/what-do-protests-about-harry-potter-books-teach-us_partner-2/


I've read Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. I didn't turn into a vampire.