The fictional hero created by author J.K. Rowling continues to be a “whipping boy” for religious fanatics worldwide.
This past Sunday members of the “Jesus Non-denominational Church” of Greenville, Michigan burned copies of Harry Potter along with other damned books at a church bonfire reported Associated Press.
Like Germans under Nazi rule these zealots were led to believe that evil can be spread easily through inanimate objects like reading material.
The Nazis liked to condemn art too and they staged more than a few book burnings.
Church members in Michigan shouted “Hallelujah,” “Thank you, God” and “Burn, devil, burn” as the tomes turned to cinders and some CDs sizzled.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, other fanatics picked up on the same theme.
“The Harry Potter books are evil. They teach sorcery and run counter to the Bible,” proclaimed Ling-Leung Church preachers in Taiwan as reported by CNN.
Like their fellow fanatics in America the Taiwanese church members managed to burn some books too.
Meanwhile the latest installment of Harry Potter has sold 1.8 million copies in Taiwan alone. And the author has repeatedly stated publicly that she is not interested in promoting witchcraft, which she doesn’t even believe in personally.
Magic or sorcery in the Potter books is obviously only a theme utilized as a vehicle for fantasy.
Nevertheless a church leader in Michigan warned about allowing “Satan to take the minds of our children.”
But isn’t bad behavior or evil more likely to come forth from a mindset built upon unreasonable fear, paranoid suspicion and hysteria?
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