You know, the book shows clear rewards for values I think most Christians would appreciate. In the end, Harry is rewarded for “pure nerve and outstanding courage” and his friends are rewarded for “the best game of chess seen in many years” (in which the best player sacrificed himself so the others could win), the bravery to stand up to one’s friends, and “cool logic in the face of fire.”
I can’t see how they’d object to any of those (except maybe logic :)).
Actually, parent complained to education officials in S.C. about the chess game part you mentioned, along the lines of children being used as chess pieces and put in danger devalues human life. She also objected to magic, wizardry in books.
I can’t agree. Many great (and not so great) books show children in danger. Isn’t dramatic tension part of plotting a novel?
Well, the point of this was not to build suspense because of the danger to children ( a bit deep for a children’s novel). Instead it’s supposed to be kids doing marvelous things (like beating a wizard and a wizard’s puzzles, when it’s just kids!).
And don’t they believe that it’s a good thing for the children to throw their lives away for a greater cause (god, country, sex)?
Draft me and I’ll AWOL. Imprison me and I’ll run. Shoot me and I won’t die, just to annoy you.
I think the Chronicles of Narnia are far darker than the Harry Potter books. They have lots of magic in them, too, and Lewis was a Christian writer. I’ll encourage my daughters to read the Narnia books when they’re a bit older.
The HP books are much tamer than the Narnia Chronicles, and I’ll let my 7 year read it when she shows an interest. And I’m pretty conservative with what I let my kids see and watch…
Yeah for you, Lisa! But, what if your kids, when they’re a bit older, want to read something you don’t approve of (I’m talking 15 years old, reading Zarathustra or something like that). Please please PLEASE don’t take any offense to this…
Draft me and I’ll AWOL. Imprison me and I’ll run. Shoot me and I won’t die, just to annoy you.
Just some links that may help enhance this discussion:
Banned: *Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Story of Doctor Dolittle, *and Locke’s Essey Concerning Human Understanding
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html
Challenged: *Of Mice and Men, The Catcher in the Rye, Christine, The Lord of the Flies, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Grapes of Wrath, The Color Purple, *etc.
http://www.st-charles.lib.il.us/low/bannedtoo.htm
The Necronomicon Anti-FAQ:
http://www.digital-brilliance.com/necron/necron.htm
-David
As my kids get older, they’ll be able to exercise their own judgment a bit more. I’d say at 17 or 18 they’d be able to read whatever they wanted (within reason - obviously I wouldn’t allow them to get a Penthouse subscription).
At an earlier age, I’d hope they’d at least know that I wouldn’t approve and attempt to hide it, like I did! 
But if it’s really inappropriate for their age (e.g. an Erica Jong book) and I see them reading it, I’d probably confiscate it and tell them why I was doing it.
Truly, though, I think “dirty” books will be the least of my problems, with the internet handing them the world at their fingertips. Reading Erica Jong is nothing compared to them interacting with people who I can’t see and I don’t know. Now THAT concerns me.
I can only say that it’s refreshing to see someone so honest “I’d hope they’d at least know that I wouldn’t approve and attempt to hide it.” I love it!!
I have read parts of it to my son (8). We take turns, so I don’t have the whole plot.My problem with these English authors (Dahl, for example) is that they want to stick Oliver Twist in every book involving children.James and the G peach, Willy Wonka, etc etc.Some sort of very mean family with the protagonist overcoming all the meanness or otherwise a very poor family. The Adrian Mole books I enjoyed, but they are not for young children.
For better or worse, a lot of Dahl’s stuff seems to be fantasy-autobiographical. I haven’t heard that he was actually abused as a kid, but he went off to a British public school at a fairly young age at a time when harsh discipline and a fairly rigid system of hazing and bullying were part and parcel of the curriculum. I read one of his non-fiction efforts (can’t remember the name–it wasn’t really an autobiography) that he wrote prior to his kid stories and was struck by the number of times that an anecdote from his life was repeated in one of the later kid books.
I got the impression that he used his stories for children in order to fantasize how he’d have like to have changed the ending to his own stories.
Tom~
As has been pointed out - there are plenty of books that should be banned if we banned all books that met the same criteria Potter’s met. Has anyone considered whether this could be a publicity stunt? I mean, all press is good press.
Nah.
A) The books are selling like hotcakes; they don’t need the little bit of extra publicity this would bring.
B) The group calling for the ban in Alabama is connected with one of the Fundamentalist Christian groups that does perceive any reference to “magic” as an opening for Satan (not ours). (The groups in Georgia and California have similar ties.) These are actual groups with stated goals, not publisher’s shills.
Tom~