And the Fires of Righteousness Spread

Laura Mallory of Lawrenceville, GA wants the school district there to take all the Harry Potter books off the shelves because she wants to,

…protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it,” Mallory said. “The ‘Harry Potter’ books teach children and adults that witchcraft is OK for children.”

When I finished the last Harry Potter novel, I sent days doing spells on Mr. R, trying to divine my fortune from tea leaves, and looking askance at every large black dog I saw. Um, no actually, I did none of those things because…

It is called Fiction for a reason. Maybe we should define fiction for Mrs. Mallory.

fiction, n. – The species of literature which is concerned with the narration of imaginary events and the portraiture of imaginary characters; fictitious composition. Now usually, prose novels and stories collectively; the composition of works of this class (from the Oxford English Dictionary Online)

It does not help that Mallory has, by her own admission, never read the book.

Another mother, Stacy Thomas, wants the books banned because after reading them her daughter turned to witchcraft. This in turn

“…caus[ed] their Christian family to lose friends, finances and their reputation.”

Yes, well the Bakers no longer talk to us and it is all your fault! You are going send us all into the fires of hell!

I am not sure someone who lists “reputation” as a serious result is truly concerned about her child or behaving in a “Christian” manner. Maybe the actual welfare of your children should be a higher concern than what the neighbors are thinking. Just a thought.

–Jane, a little common sense go a long, loooong way