What is it about Harry Potter that drives people around the bend?
Specifically, the conservative Christian churches that froth at the mouth every time you mention the name. We were reminded of this again this week when a Catholic school in Nashville, Tennessee tossed Harry and the Hogwarts gang out the door when opening its new library. Reverend Dan Reehill recycled the old “Harry Potter teaches children satanism/witchcraft/paganism” argument to justify to decision.
Apparently the good pastor consulted with some genuine exorcists and they concluded the curses J.K. Rowling describes in the books are real and could teach children how to conjure evil sprints and demons (because that’s happened so many times before parents the world over have the Ghostbusters at the top of their sped dial).
We’ve heard these arguments from the pulpit ever since the books blew up and both Harry and Rowling became household names across the globe. For the past twenty plus years, we’ve heard conservative christians trot out the arguments that the books and the movies corrupt impressionable children, turning them into devil worshippers and mass murderers. The road to publishing hell is paved with crazy examples of the evangelical contempt for the Harry.
Opposers have always claimed that the Bible specifically denounces just about EVERYTHING in the Potter books (did Jesus really have thoughts one Harry Potter?). The books have been banned from libraries and yanked from store shelves in religious communities across the United States. Every time a new book hit the shelves or a movie landed at the Multiplex, people on the religious far-right went nuts. Christian video company Jeremiah Films even released a documentary claiming to detail all the demonic practices in Harry Potter, and how they would destroy your child’s soul.
The most glaring example may have been last April when a catholic priest in Poland burned copies of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (no, it wasn’t because they refused to accept it as canon). Reverend Rafal Jarosiewicz believed the book endorsed the use of magic (seriously?), something expressly against the will of God. You’d think people in Poland, religious or otherwise, would be a little more sensitive to burning books since they had some neighbours a few decades ago that got into the same habit. It didn’t end well for anyone involved.
It all feels like the Dungeons and Dragons hysteria that swept through North America back in the 80’s all over again (people were legitimately going to jail for satanism, convicted with zero evidence).
OK, so as absurd as these arguments are, even if you accept them you have to admit that Harry Potter seems to find a special place in the fire and brimstone gang’s crosshairs. The Harry Potter books aren’t the only ones where kids use magic and sorcery and battle monsters and demons.
Rick Riordan has published a small library all by his lonesome where kids who turn out to be descendants of ancient gods and mythological monsters fight supernatural threats by mastering forbidden magic and wielding enchanted weapons. And what about the Wings of Fire series (which saw book thirteen come out this summer and shows no signs of slowing down)? These books revolve sentient dragons and if you believe the Gospels actually have an opinion on pre-pubescent wizards (again, really?) wouldn’t they have a few choice words on the subject of talking dragons?.
Then you have The Land of Stories, The Erth Dragon and The Unwanted series of books. All are aimed at young readers and all embrace the supernatural and fantasy worlds hard. Yet we don’t hear anything about these books.
Now none of them sell anywhere close to Harry Potter (Harry was likely a once in a lifetime phenomenon) and despite a few attempts, none have spawned a successful movie series (but keep an eye on Disney’s Artemis Fowl next May). But they are all still bestsellers and would these books (and many others) not also be guilty of the same “sins” as the Harry Potter ones?
Yet all we hear from the religious right is crickets.
So why do they get so furiously bent of shape by Harry Potter, even twelve years later? Is it because of the books popularity? Is it because it inspired millions of children to start reading (throughout history, most religious institutions have demonstrated contempt for literacy, creativity and education at one point during their existence).
Or more likely, is it because Harry is the wildly successful creation of a woman? If we dug deep enough, would we find that many places that have prevented Harry, Ron and Hermione from being read by children could be found in states that passed historically restrictive reproductive laws this past year? The simple truth is the more conservative the religion, the lower it views women and their rights.
If the answer to any of these question is no, then what is it? Why all the hate for Harry Potter and nothing else?
The majority of church-goers the world over have little to no opinion on Harry Potter, and you’d probably find the entire series sitting on a book shelf someone in their home. Many religious leaders have endorsed the Harry Potter books as harmless, imaginative fun and many others have apologized for the absurdity that some leaders and their followers wallow in (Reverend Jarosiewicz offered a half hearted apology for his literary barbecue last April, though you have to think the Vatican was doing some genuine arm twisting to control the PR damage).
But as we learned from Tennessee this week, there is still plenty of hatred in the halls of religious power for the Potter books (and likely J.K. Rowling herself). Hatred that affects young minds (if good Reverend Reehill is evicting Harry, you have to wonder what books he’s keeping). The question is why?
And more importantly, why only Harry?
Image via Thoughtco.com and Getty Images
