Hahaha I have a few family members who tread the anti-potter line themselves and who constantly tell me my own mini obsession with the boy-who-lived is toeing the line of religion quite a bit. Yet I say dont judge until you read it. Besides christians read lewis and lucado and mr. LOTRs himself, tolkein all the time, and yet poor harry gets all the greif. Anyways, sorry for the babbling...I did enjoy reading this. You have a wonderful way with humor and capturing an audience.

I totally agree! I hate it when people are against something that they are totally ignorant about! This whole Harry Potter book burning and banning makes me SICK! I am a Christian. I read fantasy. I read Harry Potter and I like it and there is no reason anybody should call him demonic! Do they even realize that Fawkes the Phoenix has some Christ-like abilities and that the Phoenix is even used to represnt Christ sometimes? Lets see, Fawkes can conquer death, heal people with his tears, and he brings a song of hope and truth with him where ever he goes... Hm, yes, that is SO demonic!! Yeah right! Lets analyze Harry now. He did not want to go into Slytherin because of its reputation, he battles Voldemort (Mr. Bad Guy) in every book, he doesn't like to be judged...in other words, he's totally against evil--agian, SO demonic. Yes, being a normal kid who gets angry/sad/stressed, does alright in school, thinks all he is good at is a sport, and many other things is a HORRIBLE role model for children. I would SO much rather read a book about a kid who's perfect and doesnt do anything risky.
People are insane.
Anyhoo, as always, I thought this was well-written and wonderfully executed (I loved the family story!) Maybe you could have spent a bit more time talking about why people should be educated about what they hate so that they can at least put up a good argument. Keep writing!
-Aillil

I was just surfing through some older essays and came across this one, and yes unfortunatley we all are either related to or know some of this intolerant people. Just think that its a good thing that your uncle cares about his children enough to monitor what they watch and read and isn't trying to impress that fact on you. Mt son has a friend whose parents are the same way when it comes to Harry Potter, but their tune changes when it comes to Tolkien, who might I add created a whole universe, and was largely responsible for the popularity of the fantasy genre to begin with, simply because he is labeled a Christian Writer. I myself love JK Rowlings books as do my children. However, intolerance will sadly exist long after we're gone, so while we're here we'll just have to tolerate it. (Pun intended)

Well, at least you changed their names.
I utterly agree with your point. People should at least view/read/know about something before criticizing them. I know this from my own spoiled habit of claiming something is horrible if I don't want to see it and then, of course, loving it. But I can also see not letting young children read the books. They can get dark (towards the end) and deal with some heavy issues and some parents have read them and still, bless their hearts, think they made by the devil.
Of course, I'm catholic and I see nothing wring with the series (of course, I support gay marriages and other religions so apparently I'm not a very *good* catholic. But that's not the point.) Still, they truly feel their protecting their children from evil, evil sources. Power to them. My parents never tried this with me. Maybe I would have ended up normal.

If I might join you in your Official Society of Dorkdom? My friends and I went to the midnight parties for all the books, complete with costumes, stuffed owls and cats, and buttons that read "Everyone else wishes they were in Ravenclaw!"
But enough on that. To the essay. I must say that book-banning amuses me to the nth degree. I realize it shouldn't; and yet it does. Harry Potter is so tongue-in-cheek. Very well-researched, but tongue-in-cheek nonetheless. I'm hardly an ideal ratings god, so I can't give an opinion on that (though these books were originally intended for adults, lest one forgets), but J.K. trying to make us all Satanistic demons?
...bahahahaha...
Honestly, though. If this was a normal boarding school, minus the magic, J.K. would be praised for her work. She actually keeps very good morals: there are no drugs, no teen pregnancies, and a clearly defined good vs. evil. I wonder if all these people ever take that into consideration...
...no, that would involve actually reading the book for content. How silly of me.
~Firevibe, the one in the corner muttering about lemmings and bigotry

This i like. a very well orginized rant ^^. much better than any ive put to paper..or disk but quit egood and i do agree with you. If someone were to ban something they should find out about it for themselves.
Being a Buddhist, my bible slinging family already believes that i am the devil himself , and being me i do nothing to dissuade them of this fact. ^_^.
Great job !
~Nat

Very well written, and you have a good point. I hate it when people are totally anti-X when they don't have the faintest idea what X is all about. I'm reminded here of when Kevin Smith's movie 'Dogma' was made and there were Christians holding a candlelit vigil in protest outside the studio. Kevin Smith went out among them incognito, and asked them what the movie was about. None had a clue.

Well that's the Religious Right for you. I am fortunate in that Canada has a much less prominent fundamentalist population.
It never ceases to amaze me that people can get mad a FANTASY book.
In reason,
-Thren

Though definetely nowhere near evil or anti-Christian, I do believe that Harry Potter is no longer suited gor children under the age of 12. The contents of these books have gotten to the point where some younger children simply are not mature enough to handle the situations going on. This being with the increasing number of murders, escaltion of violence, etc.
The problem with these overly religious people is that they hear the word "witch" or "wizard" and they automatically assume "evil." Do the bother to read the books? No? So would they know that the entire story is the basic struggle of good vs. evil? Of course not! They also do not realize while also learning nonsense words and incantations, they are also very much Christian, celebrating Christmas and Easter. They also celebrate Halloween, which may be considered evil, but in truth, the true wiccan religion celebrates a different holiday on October the 31st, totally different from our so-called holiday.
Though a Christian follower, I cannot help but adore Harry Potter, and agree with what you say. But I have also realized that it is basically pointless to argue with people that have already made up their mind.
I do belive I have written a rant. So that will be all. It was a very well written essay and mad props to you for writing it!
~Long Live Jazz...the real music~

I totally agree. I've always gone to a public school, so when I switched to a Christian School I was really surprised. Harry Potter was on their list of "evil" things, right next to shirts that show one's midriff. I was just as surprised to find that almost none of my friends had read it, either being told not to by their parents or it was "against their religion". It ticked me off that my friends can be so close-minded about these things, and I can fully sympathize with you.

Harry Potter isn't to be taken seriously. It's a cute series of fictions, not much more. Banning them, nonetheless, is just Mao-ish. Banning books is something very powerful, and thus dangerous. And sometimes a very crule and evil thing to do. Books are where our intelligence come from. Control over books is control over the people. Deja vu? We're having a mini Cultural Revolution of our own, like the Chinese.

Yes, many of the people who believe Harry Potter is "evil" have never read the books. I've learned that all too well.
It all comes down to the simple fact that people hate people who aren't like them - sad but true. Originality is a sin in our modern world.
Good essay that proves a good point.

"Now, I’m sure there are many people who have read the Harry Potter books and have decided, from their experience reading them, that they are inappropriate for children."
Harry Potter IS inappropriate for children. Only strong, secure people should read these hideous parodies of fantasy literature. And Rowling should be shot. Repeatedly. With a cheese grater. No, wait...
In any case: Harry Potter is clichéd, badly written, and makes billions of dollars. What is the world coming to? These people read Harry Potter and dance around dressed in colorful clothes, but don't know good fantasy like Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Hell, they don't even know mediocre fantasy like the Wheel of Time. So they grow up, will have children of their own, and bring them up on Harry Potter. And that will be the end of the world.

Well, this proves something I've known to be true for a long time. People. Are. Sheep.
It also reminds me of something that I saw on a poster once: "Every day, in every way, do somehting to ** off the religious right." XD

I can't really believe how redundant it is that a church would actually go as far as to say a children's book which is a a work of fiction mind you, is evil? Now, no offense, but I'm not the Harry Potter type, I am a die-hard LOTR fan (I went, I saw, I wept)but I would gladly stand up for this book because it has helped many kids to read again. That is a good thing no matter what the church says! Your family seems a lot like mine, doesn't it just irk you to no end? I liked how you wrote this essay, you didn't seem to offend anyone or anything so good job! And keep up the reading!
Steve McQueen
~The Original~