Posted on 09/03/2019 10:01:05 AM PDT by FewsOrange
St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville, Tenn., has removed the internationally bestselling “Harry Potter” book series from its library, citing the depiction of “curses and spells.”
The Rev. Dan Reehil, a pastor at the Roman Catholic parish school, told The Tennessean newspaper that the seven-book series had been removed from the school library. "These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception, Reehil said in a statement to the paper. "The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text."
The decision to pull the massively popular J.K. Rowling-penned series, which has spawned 10 blockbuster movies, was made after Reehill said he consulted with several exorcists in the U.S. and Rome. Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, told the outlet that the Catholic Church does not have an official position on the Harry Potter books, which tell the story of a boy wizard and his friends at their wizardry boarding school.
For more than 20 years since the first book was published, the boy wizard who faces off against the evil dark wizard Lord Voldemort has faced criticism that it gloried witchcraft and the occult. The American Library Association in 2006 named the “Harry Potter” series as the most challenged books of the 21st Century.
Hammel said the school’s pastor “has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school." “He's well within his authority to act in that manner,” Hammel continued, adding that the series is still on the shelves at other school libraries in the Nashville diocese. She said that parents are the ultimate judges for what media thy determine to be appropriate for their children. "We really don't get into censorship in such selections other than making sure that what we put in our school libraries is age-appropriate materials for our classrooms,” the superintendent said.
If this was true I think we would have heard about it by now.
Look around you.
Good
Ridiculous. Every child knows that these things are not real, especially children who are (theoretically) being instructed in the Christian faith, but in some ways it opens to them the possibility of things beyond their control or outside of their visible universe. When will they ban C.S. Lewis?
Correct. Evil is all around us and is in fact encouraged and taught in our schools.
Curses and spells in Potter books are
lightly camouflaged bastard Latin
But it IS a Catholic school
Their school, their rules
>>But it IS a Catholic school
Their school, their rules<<
Yes but it sure has a strong odor of burning books to me. There are 6 movies (I think), 3 of which were even good. Better to take the subject head on and provide a context rather than just burn/bury the material.
Livius, I concur with your comparison to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books and add Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books.
I recall when the Harry Potter books first came out and they became a topic of discussion at our church. Several of us read them, including the ministers and elders. Our conclusion was that they presented a good explanation of the difference between good and evil. And that the examples of ‘goodness’ were well written and given the major role. We also agreed that it was important for us to discuss them with our children/grandchildren.
Did they ban “The Wizard of Oz” series as well?...................
Wow, a full decade after the last book was published, they decide (wrongly) that the spells are real. Not doing much for Tennessee’s reputation there.
Well, a few centuries back they would have burned people instead...........................
Really? Actual magic spells used by real witches consist of mock-Latin puns like "Avada Kedavra"? Are these people high?
Good for them. Those books and movies are a pox.
Ah, crap, I did it again. Sorry, whoever you are were.
Good for them. Those books and movies are a pox.
Yes, these could all be great sources of family or classroom discussion. And they do start with a basic presumption of the difference between good and evil, which of course is the whole problem now. People in the secular world don’t even consider these concepts anymore.
I’m no Catholic, but I’m surprised they were ever put on the shelf in the first place.
Shades of the old “Legion of Decency” crapola that censored movies in the 30’s and 40’s.
I am sure somewhere in the world a person died the instant you finished saying the curse.
That's not as alarming as the fact that everyone that eats a healthy diet and exercises dies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.