Ga. Mother Seeks Harry Potter Ban

http://www.comcast.net/entertainment/index.jsp?cat=ENTERTAINMENT&fn=/2006/10/04/491428.html&cvqh=itn_harrypotterban

Ga. Mother Seeks Harry Potter Ban
By Associated Press
3 hours ago

ATLANTA - A suburban county that sparked a public outcry when its libraries temporarily eliminated funding for Spanish-language fiction is now being asked to ban Harry Potter books from its schools.

Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction books are an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion.

Board of Education attorney Victoria Sweeny said that if schools were to remove all books containing reference to witches, they would have to ban "Macbeth" and "Cinderella."

"There's a mountain of evidence for keeping Harry Potter," she said, adding that the books don't support any particular religion but present instead universal themes of friendship and overcoming adversity.

In June, the county's library board eliminated the $3,000 that had been set aside to buy Spanish-language fiction in the coming fiscal year. One board member said the move came after some residents objected to using taxpayer dollars to entertain readers who might be illegal immigrants.

Days later, the board reversed its decision amid accusations that the move was anti-Hispanic.

And fix that link.

"Or you will have to go stand in the corner and won't get any dessert. No go fix that stuff and don't make me come upstairs!"

;-)

She must be a heckuva mom.

:eyes:

That whole incident was deeply disturbing on many levels.

I remember her! What a rip that was! But I think it's correctly pronounced "Dork-Sadded", innit?:crazy::toast:

nt

people who seek to restrict what others can read and enjoy based solely on their own faith are well on the path to bitchiness. She doesn't like Harry Potter? Fine, don't read it. But leave the rest of us alone. Forcing your beliefs on others is usually a sign of a person none of us want anything to do with.

I work in libraries -- I'm totally anti-censorship. However, I heartily dislike the use of the word "bitch" in this very. It's very troubling to me.

Fundie nutjob works for me :)

Female dogs - which is what bitch actually means - often act far more civilized then this creature.

I would wager too that she doesn't know the first thing about Wicca, and doesn't care to either.

She has to tell everyone else how to raise theirs. The books are bestsellers. SHE is going to stop them from being read by people who LOVE to read them.

That's why she's a bitch.

then I can require that she attend the church of my choice.. the type of transportation that she will be allowed to utilize or not utilize.. the cemetery she would be allowed to be buried if at all.. if she should only be allowed to use restrooms that are segregated (and never cleaned) for nutcases

It's like they get their (mis)information from Jakc Chick Tracts or something!

I seem to recall she tried this before & it was soundly defeated by the school board.

Let me guess...her kids want to read the Harry Potter series & she's freaking out?

but there are many like her. The problem with these fundies is this: They can't tell the difference between fiction and non fiction. I remember a few years ago when my son had Friends come to the house and a few of them were forbidden to watch the Harry Potter DVD we had. How pathetic.

My significant other's cousin is a fundie who thinks Harry Potter is evil and kids shouldn't be allowed to read the books or see the movie. Here's the disconnect: she drinks, smokes dope, hangs around in biker bars trying to pick up younger men, fights with her family, is bigoted and generally a selfish spiteful person, all with the big gold cross hanging off her neck.
See, sins are for OTHER people.

And let's not forget that Fundies also start wars.

It tends to work like this:

"I am born-again and bathed in the blood of the lamb. Because I am, I have a direct spiritual cellphone connect to Big Louie upstairs. With that direct relationship, I can do or say anything, in my "weakness of the flesh", and all I have to do is ask Big Louie's forgiveness and he will grant it."

Which translates as: God is my patsy, if I am born again, and everyone else is going to hell.

NT!

Of course they can't - they're fundies and they believe the bible is nonfiction.

The Chronicles of Narnia and change the title to the same in the movie copy you had.

...twist and flick her wand and say the incantation "expello malum" and she will have solved her own problem.

Won't she just diasappear??

Not like that would be a bad thing. :silly:

Honestly, haven't any of you read Fundies: A History?

:evilgrin:

and laws about committal. Her kiddies may do research on how to lock her up.

... the point is, just because I don't like it, and nutso doesn't like -granted for different reasons- doesn't mean it should be banned. DUH. Just don't read it. It is completely ridiculous that these people in the red states get all worked up about Harry Potter, and yet have no problem with Iraq, the economy, civil liberties, etc.

I know, "open-minded fundy sorts" is rather oxymoronish, but they were the sort, homeschooling their kids because of public school morals, kids were quite naive but also nice, parents saw me reading a HP book and wanted to talk. They watched the movies with their kids, had only read the first book but were up to movie 3 and were a bit confused (watching the movies without knowing the story). They were a bit concerned about the darkness, but wanted to talk. Aside from the basic plot and relationships between people (who was Sirius Black and wormtail), I told them that yes, the books got darker and more complex as Harry got older just like real life is, and yes, people died, but the thing that saved him from death as a baby was Love. They were interested in hearing that and said they would continue to read the books, but thought they might be too dark for their 15 yr old, and too much for their 8 yr old. They had no problem with other people reading it, were just watching their kids exposure.

Nice people, nice to be able to have a talk with people genuinly interested rather than the person who saw my 8 yr old playing with magic cards and was concerned enough about his soul to talk to me.

No one casts circle. There is no Goddess worship, overt or implied. No calling of the quarters. They celebrate Christmas which, of course, was pagan but if it were that they would say "Yule".

they know there are court cases that have defined "Wicca" as a religion. Therefore, since one religion is allowed, ALL religions should be allowed.

Never mind that everything you said is true.

I used an herbal spray on my bad shoulder today - I must be a Satan worshipper! ;-)

I actually threatened to cast circle on the cafeteria floor of my son's then middle school when I argued they had to remove the student drawn posters of Christ that were all over the school for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Someone put a crucifixion scene right above my (Jewish) son's locker.

Took a call from a local news station for them to be removed.

In that the magicians are aware of a mystic, magical force that exists beyond the realm of contemporary physics, and seek to understand and use this force, much like Thomas Edison playing around with wires and batteries and such.

I personally don't take that type of magic portrayal too seriously because it is too 'flip' and casual for my taste. I think the way Harry Turtledove uses sorcery in his various books is more the way it would be if magic exists.

But it doesn't change the fact that the HP books are good reads. I listened to the first one as a book on tape and found it very enjoyable and imaginative.

They really are classic children's fare - parentless child becomes empowered and overcomes evil.

Was at a wedding the day after the last book came out. Four little boys (9-12 maybe) all had their copies of the book. They sat and read the entire afternoon and didn't cause any of the usual problems you would expect.

More evil has been done in the name of that book than could ever possibly be done by 1,000 Harry Potter books. :eyes:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/02/AR2006100201238_pf.html

People who don't get it when we talk about the evil of book banning suddenly perk up and take notice when it's the Bible and not Harry Potter or Heather Has Two Mommies.

has been targeted in Texas too. Which is ironic since that book is a classic anthem against censorship and a celebration of the human spirit.

Why does every christian in the world conflate "magic(k)" and "wicca"?


Wicca is a nature-based religion, founded in the 1950s by Gerald Gardner from material gleaned from the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis and edited to reflect classical pagan ideals (well, it tries to, to a certain degree). That Gardner may have constructed the praxis of Wicca to satisfy his BDSM urges (in addition to his admitted pagan revivalist goals) is at least debatable.

Magic(k) as practiced by Harry Potter has absolutey no antecedant in the real world. It is utterly unlike the Ceremonial magick practiced by the Golden Dawn, or Christian Cabbalists, or what have you. It has no correlate in real world metaphysical practice anywhere. It is fantasy, and has simply expropriated the term "magic" for lack of a better one.

slippers a miracle of God? Also a talking lion, animated scarecrow and tinman - had to be magic involved.

Let's see - We should ban all books and references to:

The Three Bears, Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood (all have magical talking animals, also magic involved in LRRH where a person gets eaten by a wolf and survives.

Santa Claus (magical sleigh, not to mention magic getting his fat butt down chimneys and visiting all of the children of the world in one night-suggests God-like powers - blasphemy)

Tooth fairy (fairy magic-a fairy is just a nice name for a good witch)

Lord of the Rings (magic ring, wizards)

Pinnochio (puppet becomes a little boy - only God can create - more blasphemy)

Peter Pan (more fairies)

Snow White (Good and bad witches)

Cinderella (another fairy)

All fairy tales (see above; fairies=witches)

In the original OZ book, they were Silver Slippers.
MGM had just come out with Technicolor when Wizard of OZ was being filmed, and the color red was particularly effective on screen.
The decision was made to make the slippers Ruby instead of Silver...showed up so much better.

got this from David Niven's Bring on the Empty Horses...plus read most of the OZ books.
Don't try to do this in one afternoon...unless you WANT to feel like you're on a psychedelic trip.

Someone should tell her first of all that Wicca has no Devil - and is basically good. It can be used for evil, but that's the same with any belief system/religion. Just let children (and adults) enjoy these IMO great stories!

Harry Potter or Wicca.

UNGODLY! :eyes:

For the love of all that is good, that movie wasn't. It SUUUUUUUUCKED. Out loud.

No characters to care about, thin, slow, pointless. What a waste of film!

By Dave Williams
Staff Writer
dave.williams@gwinnettdailypost.com

ATLANTA — The Harry Potter books about children who attend a school of wizardry encourage young people to practice witchcraft, a Gwinnett County mother of four told a state hearing officer Tuesday. But a lawyer representing the Gwinnett Board of Education said the series of best-sellers should not be removed from the school system’s libraries because the books foster a love of reading among students.

Laura Mallory of Loganville, whose children attend J.C. Magill Elementary School, is seeking to have the books by J.K. Rowling banned from school shelves.
She first brought her case before the Gwinnett board, which ruled unanimously in May that the books could stay.

Presenting her arguments first on Tuesday, Mallory cited studies showing that some children who have read Harry Potter books or seen movie adaptations have become interested in witchcraft to the point of attempting to cast spells. She said an organization called The Pagan Federation has attributed an increase in interest in the group among young people to publication of the books.

“Witchcraft is being mainstreamed to our children today,’’ she said. “My children are the most precious thing in the world to me. I surely do not want them to be indoctrinated into a religion whose practices are evil.’’

>>>>snip

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=1&url_article_id=20021&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

Cast a sealing spell on the refrigerator.

Kids got into it anyway and ate all the cake.

and religions other than christianity are still legal. that includes Wicca, Magick, or even Satanism.

I cannot believe how many errors were made in this story. First of all they seem to have missed the fact that she was presenting her case to a hearing officer who will present his recommendations to the state school board and not the Gwinnett BOE. This follows a media review committee of parents, teachers and community members that ruled against her in three separate challenges. She then appealed to the school system; its review panel heard her appeals on two different dates and agreed with the school committee. She then took her appeal to the next level, the Gwinnett County school board, and was given a formal hearing in April. Three weeks later, acting on the strong recommendation of Su Ellen Bray, a retired DeKalb educator who conducted the hearing, the Gwinnett school board voted unanimously to keep the Harry Potter books in the school libraries - with harsh words from at least one board member about censorship.

They also seem to have missed her real reason for attempting this. According to her “I think the anti-Christian bias — it’s just got to stop,” Mallory said. “And if we don’t say something, we’ll just keep getting pushed out of the schools. And I pay taxes, too, and I think that gives me a voice to speak out about this.”

They also missed that fact that Mallory openly admits to never reading the books for herself, but she read enough of them to determine that they were evil. She was quoted as saying "I've put a lot of work into what I've studied and read. I think it would be hypocritical for me to read all the books, honestly. I don't agree with what's in them. I don't have to read an entire pornographic magazine to know it's obscene,"

They also don't mention the fact that she was openly pushing to have them replaced by the Left Behind series in the schools.

Sigh, just one more example of that liberal media in action I guess...

Full story here: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2006/10/03/1004Potter.html

(go to bugmenot.com if you need access to the ajc site)

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

evil attempt to indoctrinate children into living as livestock. :eyes:

Jay

They are responsible for all of our troubles here by funding and electing statewide Republicans.

F*ckers.

In every instance, the Gwinnett schools and school board have sided with Harry Potter.

Cobb, OTOH...sheesh.

I live in Cherokee and I think it is the reddest county in the state. We have no Democats in county offices here.

I want to move.

that these wack-job fundamentalists believe in witchcraft? It is staggering to me that in the 21st century we have people who are stupid enough to believe that by waving around a stick and chanting in an arcane language that they can bend reality and change minor things like physics. I suppose if you can believe that Jesus turn water into wine and loaves into fishes believing in Hogwarts just isn't too much of a step for them. But let's call them what they are -- numb nutted morons without an IQ to piss in. And let's start treating them with the contempt with which they deserve.

...and ressurrections of the dead, it's not like they're new to believing such nonsense exists.

I've read the entire series and now I'm listening to them on tape (MUCH better than reading them, IMHO). There are many lessons for readers in these books...especially how to tolerate diversity.

This is just silly!

Apr 14, her complaint: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=931058

Apr 21, school board hearing: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2582252
"Harry Potter teaches children and adults that witchcraft is OK for children" and testimony from a 15-year-old girl who was "seduced into witchcraft"

May 10, her defeat (as expected): http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2275121

And now this. What an incredible waste of taxpayer money. Thanks for spending schoolchildren's money, you idiot.

enough is enough, and it's a waste of money to continue having these "hearings" on Harry Potter.

She's legally allowed to appeal the school board's decision.

But I agree 100% that it's a complete waste of money.

the terrorists win.

:sarcasm:

Give them guns instead - that's what American children need to know about. How to shoot one another.

I'm an atheist parent and my son is reading one of these books does this woman still think his book should be confiscated and burned or would she think it better that at least he's getting indoctrinated into a religion (in her wacko concept of the world, I obviously think no such indoctrination is happening)

As another DUer noted, you can't make this shit up.

And happened across some hysterical audio from a John Hagee telecast in which he and two other fundie nutjobs were explaining how Harry Potter was "witchcraft repackaged" to destroy America's youth.

I about died laughing when the supposed "occult expert", who knew enough about Wicca that she was able to identify a couple of trads (though she mispronounced "Gardnerian"), had the audacity to say the magic in the books is an accurate portayal of Wiccan practices. I guess they must have time travelled and gotten an advance copy of the last book (this show was apparently done before Order of the Phoenix came out) where they cast a circle, called the elements, invoked deities, celebrated the Wheel of the Year, etc. Also, apparently, Witches think JKR is one of us because she "got it so right". :rofl:

These people are looney toons.

I know I didn't spell that right, it doesn't matter, it needs to be done!

fighting against fantasy takes good training.

thrice blessed, one might say -- and this is nothing new. New book, new face. Same old argument. It boils down to "I don't like it, it will ruin my family/society/religion/the world!"

When queried, "No, I haven't read it...why would I allow such filth in my home?"

This is the lowest form of collection management: that of consumer driven demand. In other words, librarians stock up on the bodice rippers, Civil War, American Indian, and popular kids book because of the huge demand for them.

These books aren't "keepers," in other words, but are "required" in public libraries. Let's face it, how many have a huge demand for Gore Vidal's essays or an Ed Said collection?

I was visiting my local brandynew shiny marble-floored public library recently (I rarely go to public libraries, as my reading tastes and research needs are better served by academic libraries) and found several copies of Ann Coulter's trash. The older ones weren't checked out in over 2 years. I talked to the head librarian and she said, "They scream for it and we have to get that shit in ASAP!" We laughed, and I asked her was there a copy of Das Kapital or even the Communist Manifesto, as there was nothing on the catalogue for Marx or Engels....she said, "No, noone ever asked for them." I pushed her on all the kids who were coming in post school dismissal just then, and said, "How about Trey and Tiffany over there?" She shrugged and said, "They can go to the university, and do you actually think the AP students go to the public library to study? They are at the university, it's only 5 blocks away."

I am so glad that I don't have to deal with censorship, because I am not very tolerant. I would, if questioned about censorship, simply have said, "Let's look for witch spots on the kids, and if they lack them, they ought to be safe, and if there is any doubt, try a float test."

Wicca?

Oooookay.

Let me guess. She's a Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson-type.

WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA? DO YOU WANT THE TERRAHRISTS TO WIN?

EOM

rl

About ten years ago, I worked as a major household appliance repairman. I had a call from a fundie wanting a service call on her clothes dryer. my schedule was full for the next day but I was able to squeeze her in for the day after that. On the morning of her apointment she calls and cancels, She tells me..she prayed over the clothes dryer and God had fixed it.... :crazy:

happens to have the same name as this nutjob. She's getting hate mail now asking if she's the same one. My friend Laura makes wizards & gnomes out of clay in her spare time and does not believe in censorship. Ugh! Her name is not that common. I guess it will be worse if she starts getting letters of support from book burners. :(

>>"...the move came after some residents objected to using taxpayer dollars to entertain readers who might be illegal immigrants."

ROFLMAO :rofl:

Guess we can't fix potholes anymore either -- they might drive on the new asphalt!

he maintained reading Harry Potter would encourage kids to try to cast spells because kids are unable to tell fact from fiction...

me: do your kids read the bible?

Fundy: yes, we encourage it

me: do they try to raise the cat from the dead? turn water into wine? or walk across the backyard pool?

Fundy: no, they know the ....... --- IT'S NOT THE SAME THING!!!!!!