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I have read the books, seen the movies, and my youngest daughter is looking forward to going to Borders at midnight to get the next book in the series. The books are entertaining -- guess I am not into the mode of looking for hidden meanings and neither are my kids. We all like to read -- have two in college and one in the Navy who is married and all three of them enjoy reading various types of books as I do.

Personally getting tired of the thought police. Any child that can read these books as they are lengthy is old enough to understand they are FICTION.

Guess maybe there should have been a warning on Nancy Drew books when I grew up because they had some bad guys in them and I should have looked for a hidden meaning when growing up.

If you haven't guessed, I am less than impressed with this author's take.

I do not know enough about the Harry Potter books, seeing as I have never read them, to address the books themselves. But from what I've heard, which may be lies from the "thought police" as you call them, I would not compare a book about witchcraft (harmless as it may be to you) to a book about a teenage girl trying to fight crime. I am very glad that your obviously very smart and very talented (Go NAVY!) children are into the books. I wish I had a book right now that captivates me the way Harry Potter has for so many people, but fantasy books just aren't my thing.

But that's neither here nor there. In no way am I attacking the books. As someone who has never read the books, I have no place to criticize them. However, I do not see how a Pope issuing a warning about Harry Potter books merits his being put into the column of the thought police. Here is the leader of the Catholic church, in effect, warning people about the Harry Potter books. It is good that your children can handle the books. As college students, I'd be worried about their future if they couldn't handle the books. But what about the 4th and 5th graders that read the books. I don't want to make this about the books themselves, but about the leader of a church coming out and issuing a statement warning his congregation about a very popular book that has been reported to have Wiccan elements. Maybe there is nothing to that and for some reason that I cannot fathom, conservative Christians are making up lies because they do not like British authors. I don't know.

But what I do know is that anytime someone stands up for principles, convictions, and absolutes, it is a good thing. We are on a road to moral relativism in this world and it is refreshing to see someone stand up against it. This isn't about the books, this is about convictions, truth, and standing up against the cultural tidal wave.

The books are entertaining -- guess I am not into the mode of looking for hidden meanings and neither are my kids.

You might want to start.

When I was young the TV didn't show married people in bed together. Now if two people are dating the TV will make it clear they are sleeping together. Guess what? You can't even begin to tell kids that they should wait until marriage because they have no model for that. Truth be told, most adults probably wouldn't know how to date anymore without sex. Why? Was it because of some cabal that decided to eradicate sexual morality from our culture? No, it was because nobody asked whether we should really be watching this as TV headed toward the sewer.

We have now been conditioned in exactly the subversive manner suggested by this article.

Maybe there is nothing in Potter to condition people to, but you should always be asking yourself, "How will what my child is watching or reading reinforce or challenge what I am trying to teach?" And you should be teaching your child to read and watch with a critical eye to the messages that challenge what you taught them.

Shalom.