Harry Potter Banned

The first Harry Potter was published in 1997, the rest of the books were published between then and 2007. Harry Potter is about a boy who a powerful wizard named Voldemort wanted to kill but instead of killing Harry he killed Harry’s parents. Harry went and lived with his nasty aunt and uncle until he was 11. When he was 11 he got a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which told him he was a wizard. Each book is a year at Hogwarts that Harry goes through with his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Throughout the books Harry learns why Voldemort wanted to kill him, why he survived and how he can prepare for another attack.

Many school districts do not have “manga”or “anime” banned (Debate.org). This style of literature is often considered non educational. Books should at least have censorship when profanity or have sexually explicit content are used. Reading this content as a student is 100% unnecessary. In a study done in 2000-09 by the American Library Association, about 1,250 books were challenged because of offensive language. Around 1,600 books were challenged in that same study for being sexually explicit (Butler.edu). During this, almost all books that were banned were either in school libraries or schools. A common example of a banned book is Harry Potter by J.Kk. Rowling. This book has a “presence of witchcraft”’(Butler.edu). In many people's’ minds, witchcraft is extremely bad, and completely unnecessary to discuss those topics. Since many people are against witchcraft, if that was to be discussed in schools, awful consequences for teacher as well as student could result.

In a discourse from On Witchcraft, Mather defines witchcraft and shows how the Bible supports the existence of witchcraft as valid. According to Mather, witchcraft is "the doing of strange (and for the most part ill) things by the help of evil

For thousands of years, Christian societies throughout Europe deemed witchcraft as a critical threat and imagined it as summoning evil powers. Witches were seen by the Christian community as “a conspiracy organized under the leadership of the devil.” There are quite a few references to witchcraft and sorcery in the Bible, the two most famous being Exodus 22:18 and Deuteronomy 18:9-14. These two verses have been used over the past centuries to solidify Christian belief that witchcraft is

Many of the sources I’ve read talk about women giving up their religion for the devil. This source talks about men being involved and I can relate that to how witchcraft isn’t always seen as misogyny.

It’s quite an unwonted feeling to read a book about a place where books are prohibited and frowned upon; knowing that at any second, the book can be ripped from your hands—burnt at precisely four hundred and fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit. This place is the future.

"Books are dangerous. They make you think…feel…wonder…. They make you ask questions (Weiss p.2)."

“Dorson explains that ‘providences issued from God and witchcrafts from the devil, and they marked the tide of battle between forces of Christ and the minions of Satan.’” They believed that everything was good or evil and all bad must be evil witchcraft.

Anyone who has worked with children will agree that they are very impressionable. Even young adults are influenced by the media, literature, peers, money, and paradigms which is why parents and guardians would also agree that any impressionable source their children come in contact with should include desirable, good-natured content, such as life lessons and morals. In the past two decades, Harry Potter, a famous work of J.K. Rowling, has become increasingly popular and well known, but sensations also come with reproaches from strong willed adults that claim simple fictional details are consuming and corrupting their children. Parents and guardians believe that Harry Potter should be banned from use in schools and libraries, but they don’t

In the introduction of the book Magic in the Middle Ages chapter, one emphasizes the definition of magic. During the medieval era, Europeans believed that there were two types of magic, which were called natural and demonic. As natural magic was considered to have a correlation with science as the Wolfsthurn handbook illustrated the usage of a combination of herbs and magic in conjunction. For example, using herbs to treat an illness with the addition of reciting specific words was deemed as natural magic. On the other hand, demonic magic was not thought to be a form of science but was a perverted depiction of religion. That demonic magic’s power source was from demons and that words that could not be interpreted were thought to be demon names. In addition, treatments that involved animal skin from the Wolfsthurn book would be considered demonic magic as it was suggested that it was a ceremonial sacrifice to demons.

Based upon Augustine and Aquinas, Kramer gives a conventional description of the crime of witchcraft: “witches could not themselves harm anyone through magic, but their abilities derived from a contract with a demon, which in turn was empowered by God” (Behringer 720). Although the premise of the contract is not discussed in detail, there is the explicit pact, which may be the literal signing of a contract and specific subjugation to the devil and the implicit pact, which is carried out whenever magic is practiced. By selling ones soul, one comes under the control of the devil, who is consequently under the control of God. Even though still under God’s ultimate control, allegiance to the devil is very much the opposite of allegiance to God.

J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which have reached worldwide popularity have an effect on children has not been matched by any other book. The novels have encouraged children to read for entertainment instead of turning to television or video games. When a piece of literature inspires children as the Harry Potter novels do, limiting a child’s access to the novels seems ridiculous. Unfortunately, this is what is happening with Harry Potter. The books are challenged and banned in schools and libraries all over the world because parents contend that the content is unsuitable. The content, which revolves around a world full of wizardry and witchcraft, has some parents actively

specific book the chamber of secrets also. In this essay I will show you exactly how Harry Potter

Opponents believe that Christian viewpoints are challenged as Rowling introduces wizards and their powers, witchcraft in their eyes. As Gish states in her article, Hunting Down Harry Potter, “Deuteronomy specifically states that witches and wizards are an abomination unto the Lord that will be driven out.” She goes on to discuss that if the belief system is so strong, they do not want to read Harry Potter where this wizard is portrayed in such a positive light. Harry uses his powers for good, and some are concerned that the wizard who uses those powers for good may make their child want to dig deeper into the world of wizards. In their eyes that interest could be seen as an abomination to God. Gish also compared some of the censorship of Harry Potter to that of an oncoming truck. What parent would not rush out to save their child if they were standing in the way of an oncoming truck? To critics, Harry Potter is the oncoming truck and they are just doing what they feel is right for their child. To the critics it is important to realize while most will know this story to be a fantasy, knowing the characters and events are not real, some believe this to be a reality. There are some that truly believe wizardry is occurring and they do not want their child to be lured in to reading a book that they think promotes such black magic. Glanzer argued that

Another factor which I believe has led to the novels success is that while reading, the reader wishes that they could live in this fantasy world created by Rowling where life is anything but ordinary. The novels make the reader somewhat desire a life like the one led by the characters of the novels, like going to a school to learn wizarding, always having extraordinary things happen and just being at Hogwarts seems like an unequaled joy for some. These novels have the ability to reignite the long lost imaginations of adults, and keep the imaginations of children strong.