In Canis Corpore Transmuto
In Canis Corpore Transmuto
Posted on 07/19/2002 5:01:15 PM PDT by plato99
By Michael L. Betsch
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
July 19, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - In Cromwell, Conn., a local middle school is resisting a call from Christian parents to ban certain children's books, including 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond' and 'Harry Potter.'
Some Christian parents want such books removed from the school library on the grounds that they promote the Wiccan religion. One local minister said the books have some of the town's kids cooking up magic spells and reading Tarot cards.
School officials refused to comment to CNSNews.com.
Tim Milleville, pastor of River Bend Christian Fellowship, a local Christian church, said some of the parents who are now circulating a petition regard the books as "Witchcraft 101" -- a way of easing kids into Wicca. "Before they realize it, they're playing around with spells and things," he said.
Milleville also said the Harry Potter books portray Christianity in a "bad light," and he believes the popular series has satanic overtones.
"I know people into Wicca, at some level, would say they are not connected to Satanism," Milleville said, "but there is stuff that says they are."
However, Darla Kaye Wynne, the assistant national director of Witches Against Religious Discrimination (WARD), denied any association between her religion and Satanism. She also denied any connection between Wicca and Harry Potter.
"In our deity, we don't even have a Satan," Wynne said. She also clarified that neither 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond' nor any of the books in the 'Harry Potter' series are Wiccan in nature.
Wynne argues that Christians are "losing the concept of what their own religion represents, what Christ, and what God had to say."
If books such as those being protested in Cromwell promote violence, hatred and prejudice, then parental consent should be required, Wynne said. But she noted that the Bible also includes prejudice and violence, yet it can be found on the shelves of most school libraries.
"The Bible states that it's okay for a man to beat a woman. It also states that it's acceptable to kill a witch," Wynne said. "So, it promotes murder."
Milleville acknowledged some of Wynne's observations about the Bible, but he disagreed with her notion that the Bible promotes murder.
"There's a lot of stuff that we don't do today, even though it was there; eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," Milleville said. "I think some of that stuff is there to really present the dangers of it."
But Milleville said the dangers posed by books like the Harry Potter series are real because kids end up familiarizing themselves with terminology associated with magic spells and witchcraft.
Milleville did allow, however, "It's people's right to read what they want, I guess."
"I appreciate the position of the [parents] that are raising the ruckus, but I wouldn't go as far as banning the books," Milleville said. "You start trying to throw out books that say bad things about anybody, you're going to throw them all out eventually."
"Just because a book has the word 'witch' in it, doesn't mean that it promotes witchcraft," Wynne said.
In Canis Corpore Transmuto
In Canis Corpore Transmuto
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