The Eleventh Hour just published an interesting post which says, "It seems to me the whole Potter-is-the-devil meme peaked about seven years ago."
Peaked? Probably. Disappeared? Ah, if that were only true. There is still a faction of Christians who believe that the 7th Book of Harry Potter signals the breaking of the 7th Seal.
In an article in the latest Time magazine, Lev Grossman writes, "Now look at Rowling's books. What's missing? If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God."
Lev's issue with Harry isn't magic or perceived sinister overtones. Lev's issue is a complete lack of religion in the Potter series.
Oh, Rowling has had her share of outrage from the religious right, but they've missed the point completely. Rowling isn't a Satanist -- if anything the Satanists should be as offended as the Christians. Harry Potter lives in a world that has been scrubbed clean of any religion or spirituality of any kind. He is surrounded by ghosts, and has even eavesdropped on the afterlife in the basement of the Ministry of Magic, but Harry has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn't.
One of the things that irritates me about the fervently religious is that they want to insert their spirituality into every aspect of life. Every conversation, every debate, every thought involves religion.
Maybe we don't need a chapter about Ron accepting Christ has his personal savior. And maybe, just maybe, we don't need Rowling to write paragraphs on Harry's inner conflicts with faith.
So, as we're mere hours away from the release of The Deathly Hallows, it all boils down to this. Don't listen to Beethoven expecting to hear Linkin Park ... and don't open Harry Potter expecting to read Left Behind.
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
Linkin Park - In The End
Of course Dave of the11thhour has never read even one book in the Potter series, let alone all seven.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to shame him into reading to his little boy. It's a wonderful way to introduce your children to books.
I'm sure Dave has read to his son, and it must be exciting with Dave's radio voice (Dave was in radio for many years), but this is my attempt to dig so I will.
Dave's son is a bit young yet, for Potter, but the series is excellent for children in Middle childhood.
JP
The thing is, people are STILL getting hooty over Harry Potter, it's just that the media no longer wants to hear about it. Laura Mallory, a Georgia woman, has been on an 1 year+ crusade to get rid of the books in schools. From the Wikepedia entry about Harry Potter vs religion (in which she has her own section-)
ReplyDeleteFollowing her case's rejection by the school, Mallory then took her case to the school appeals committee, but was rejected again. On April 20, 2006, Mallory took her case to the Gwinnett County School Board, but on May 11, the board voted unanimously against her. In June 2006, Mallory launched an appeal against the County Board's decision with the Georgia State Board of Education; that appeal was rejected the following December. In January 2007, she appealed to the Gwinnett Superior Court; that appeal too was rejected three months later. She is now considering taking the case to federal court. Mallory was named the Washington Post's 2006 "Idiot of the Year."
Another interesting note- Mallory also commented that she has not read the book series partially because "they're really very long and I have four kids. 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."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_opposition_to_the_Harry_Potter_series
Outta Site, Outta mind- not quite.
~College One