Is her name Mallory or Malfoy? Banning Harry Potter

[Elrohir]

I'm rather ambivalent on all of this. Whatever. I think the local school boards should decide what is allowed in their own school libraries.

A) Religious books are allowed in most school libraries.
B) Harry Potter is not remotely religious, except that it has some Christian flavor (very subtle, but detectable). She has most likely not read the books.
C) Even if this were true, allowing people to have access to religious books is acceptable, so long as they do not actively teach it as a "good" path.

Wait, what? So you're saying libraries can have books on religion, so long as they teach is as a bad path to follow? How is that not censorship of the good in favor of the bad?

 

[aelf]

As for agreeing on something - what gave you the idea that we disagree?

True. Maybe we only disagree when it comes to religion.

 

[IglooDame]

If she can get Harry Potter thrown out, I'm going after the Chronicles of Narnia.

And the Harry Potter series are 'gateway books' - once kids develop an apetite for reading, they'll most assuredly move up to LOTR and other harder stuff.

 

[aneeshm]

True. Maybe we only disagree when it comes to religion.

Did you read the entire post, BTW? I spent quite a bit of time on it.

 

[aelf]

If she can get Harry Potter thrown out, I'm going after the Chronicles of Narnia.

And the Harry Potter series are 'gateway books' - once kids develop an apetite for reading, they'll most assuredly move up to LOTR and other harder stuff.

Well, CS Lewis was a Christian, so she'd surely not mind.

But it's not true that kids move up to LOTR and other stuff. More like they move on to Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

Magic -> Money. Nothing else in the brain. Except maybe sex.

Did you read the entire post, BTW? I spent quite a bit of time on it.

I haven't read the whole thing. It's really long.

 

[IglooDame]

Well, CS Lewis was a Christian, so she'd surely not mind.

But it's not true that kids move up to LOTR and other stuff. More like they move on to Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

Magic -> Money. Nothing else in the brain. Except maybe sex.

Oh, I'm quite certain she wouldn't mind leaving CS Lewis there, but the exact same arguments she used to make "Harry Potter = witchcraft" I could use to make "Chronicles of Narnia = Christianity".

 

[aelf]

Oh, I'm quite certain she wouldn't mind leaving CS Lewis there, but the exact same arguments she used to make "Harry Potter = witchcraft" I could use to make "Chronicles of Narnia = Christianity".

But since when is Christianity bad?

 

[Elrohir]

Did you read the entire post, BTW? I spent quite a bit of time on it.

I read the whole thing. Although I haven't read the books, and have only seen a couple of the movies, I found it very interesting and well argued.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Isn't JK Rowling also Christian, though? Like CS Lewis and that rascally papist JRR Tolkien?

 

[LucyDuke]

The gut puncher for me is that she feels qualified to tell others what to read. MYOB.

It's okay to tell others what to read. It's not okay to tell others what not to read. Even teachers must not do that. (This is a reply to those who replied to you.)

Wait, what? So you're saying libraries can have books on religion, so long as they teach is as a bad path to follow? How is that not censorship of the good in favor of the bad?

Not teaching it as a good path is not the same as teaching it as a bad path. They should just silent on the issue. Just as they don't present The Catcher in the Rye as a guidebook to life.

 

[bob bobato]

Witchcraft isn't a religion, but Harry Potter is. I believe in Dumbledore. I sacrifice puppies to Him.

Witchcraft is a religion. Its called Wicca. But Harry Potter isn't a religion.

 

[emzie]

Witchcraft is a religion. Its called Wicca. But Harry Potter isn't a religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

 

[LordRahl]

Fundies are amusing. I suggest the library gets rid of truly damaging texts:

 

[mdwh]

Logical fallacy

If nuclear toilets worked, everyone would be a nuke bum.

I don't think it was meant as a logical proof, but a comparison.

E.g., if I say "A cat has four legs, just like a dog has four legs" - clearly the latter doesn't follow from the former, but it's still a true statement, where one thing is being compared to another similar thing.

In this case, whilst there are differences between magic and prayer, or being a witch and being religious, they are both things which (a) don't have any evidence of working, and (b) if they did work, everyone would be at it.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Except that some people have gotten results, or at least feel they have gotten results, from praying. And there are a lot of things that work that people don't do - like diet and exercise.

 

[mdwh]

Witchcraft is a religion. Its called Wicca. But Harry Potter isn't a religion.

Note that not all witchcraft is wicca.