Franchises, amirite? The event is self explanatory (story bad; children impressionable; grrr fire cleanse now), but you can read Maya Yang’s coverage on the banning of Harry Potter books for more details, and/or stare in dismay at the mind-boggling photos, taken by Salinas Tyler:
Pastor Greg Locke led a live-streamed burning of ‘demonic’ books event on Wednesday 2nd. Locke wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post;
“Stop allowing demonic influences into your home. Bring all your Harry Potter stuff. Laugh all you want haters. I don’t care. IT’S WITCHCRAFT 100 PERCENT. All your ‘Twilight’ books and movies. That mess is full of spells, demonism, shape-shifting and occultism.” […] “We will be in our continued series on Deliverance from Demons. We have stuff coming in from all over that we will be burning. We’re not playing games. Witchcraft and accursed things must go.”
Fighting ‘demonic influences’ seems legit, but a bonfire of books is more like an effigy of people’s lack of understanding on free will — literature is never to blame.
Allocating what books deserve exposure in schools and which are more appropriate as teaching materials is a delicate arena to be forthright in. No book truly undermines anyone’s intelligence, yet society has a certain obligation to filter and classify content when it comes to children. Wanting the best for young minds is a noble quality to exhort, but banning and burning books offers no such resolution.
Children inevitably mature into adulthood so nitpicking which content will or won’t serve them during that process is a ludicrous endeavour to impose on behalf of their development, if we all understand that fiction is not reality, and we do all know the difference between fact and fiction, right?
I came across an interesting article written by Haley Stewart who has been a lover of the Harry Potter books from the age of 12. She is now a proud mother of four, and offers an alternate view on what truth she found inside the J.K. Rowling’s books:
[…] why is it so important that your children read this series? The Harry Potter books have many virtues including a high view of the family, strong female characters, and an Aristotelian view of friendship, but I want my children to read them because as humans we learn through stories. And these stories reveal an exaltation of virtue, an orthodox view of evil, a courageous view of self-sacrificial death, and a portrayal of the beauty and strength of love.
Themes of Christian virtue carry Rowling’s characters through the tale. Bravery, loyalty, self-sacrifice, compassion; these are all presented as important traits to be sought after. Now, that’s not to say that the characters never make mistakes. Indeed, the main characters lie, abandon friends in need, and neglect their families among other grave errors. But, it is clear when they transgress that they have done wrong and they suffer the consequences.
Last Christmas, a 7-year-old girl who was born without the ability of normal sight was gifted J.K. Rowling’s complete sage in braille. The story that girl will experience is priceless, and whatever thoughts she has on the matter completely obliterate any and all excuses for taking pride in banning books.
Emrie is a 7-year-old blind girl with a rare genetic anomaly that has prevented her from seeing since she was born. She has been given the Harry Potter books in braille, and her reaction is wonderful and moving.
lit-b.com 