The books are completed, all seven Harry Potter's are done. The movies are close to being completed as well. Now rewind in your minds to back when Harry Potter was first being noticed by kids of all ages and the churches and of course religious scholars. Do you remember the book burnings that were held for the Potter books? Do you remember all the slander of the books by Conservative Christan's saying that the books promoted witchcraft and Satan? I remember schools banning the books from their libraries and parents having fits over the Scar Boy.
Now those same people who condemned the books a "EVIL" and a strike against all that is good in the world are saying that the Harry Potter series are not all that bad. That the books follow the gospels. They see that Dumbledore (even though he is gay in the series) and Harry are versions of Christ because they face a death experience and then they are reborn in a fashion. That makes Malfoy and Snape the Judases. The the wands in the book represent God, the Father, the Sorcerer's Stone represents the the Son because it stands for resurrection and Harry's invisibility cloak stands for the Holy Ghost. I know, I said "WTF?" too when I heard about this.
Quite a few Conservative Christan's and religious scholars have changed their tune since the book series was completed. To me I never saw these books as bad or evil in any fashion. They got kids into reading when otherwise they might have picked up a video game instead.
Of course kids are going to be interested in anything that is considered taboo. I remember when I was in the sixth grade listening to my grandfather telling stories about a neighbor of theirs several years past that had some odd habits that tagged her as a witch in the community (Ok, being able to change form into a goat kinda of does label one as a witch of some sort).I remember being fascinated with the tale, I begged my dad to take me to the house where she lived at down on the creek, I even went to the local library to look up as much information as I could on the witch trails and witches in general. I was hooked. I still am.
I don't see any harm in letting kids know that there is magic out there. Everyday is magical from the beauty of a Morning Glory blooming to a rainbow gracing the sky after a rain shower, to getting all green lights on the way home. The magic may not come from a wand with a strand of unicorn hair as it's core, but it is wondrous all the same.
These Christan Conservatives and religious scholars are just now realizing that the Harry Potter series are not that naughty and that they are indeed a blessing in a way because they got children interested in books and perhaps that these books got kids into reading when otherwise they would not have ever picked up a book willingly. For me these books not not only boosted literacy they boosted the publishing industry. Hey, they had to PURCHASE those books they burned. Of course the Harry Potter series is not so bad.
*this post is based on the NPR (National Public Radio) transcript, the orginal peice aired August 22, 2009. If you would like to read the transcript please go to this website:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112141959&ft=1&f=1032
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