There are times when you simply have to shake your head and wonder just how religion figures that it’s the only belief in the world that gets to have any say when it comes to what people read and believe. Mike Jones of ScreenRant seems to agree since the idea that the Harry Potter books would be banned by a Catholic school for containing real spells and curses is something that might make you stop, shake your head and say ‘what?’ as you ponder whether this school is still stuck in the days when swatting a child’s fingers with a yardstick was seen as acceptable. It’s easy enough to blast religion since those that are comfortable and resolute in their faith will look at the lot of us that do this and think ‘oh those poor, lost lambs’ instead of realizing that free thought doesn’t know any confines other than those that are placed on it by narrow-minded, dogmatic individuals that follow a religion that is based entirely upon beliefs that were penned thousands of years ago and are as subject to interpretation as anything in this world.
The school isn’t attempting to state that kids can’t read the books on their own time as Lisette Voytko from Forbes reports, just not at school, which is still insane and reprehensible since banning books is perhaps one of the worst ideas in this world since books inspire free thinking, imagination, and a chance to explore new worlds that we might not have thought about on our own. The idea that anyone would think that the spells and curses within the book would be able to affect reality in any way is something that absolutely deserves ridicule at this point no matter that poking fun at religion is seen as somewhat taboo and not all that mature. Hey, it’s okay to be immature at times if it proves a point, so long as one doesn’t take it overboard as this school has done by thinking that evil spirits will be loosed if someone happens to vocalize one of the spells that comes from the book. Catholics do realize that the books are fantasy, yeah, and that they’re fiction? It’s amusing in a way to think that they’ll gladly believe anything that comes out of a 2,000-year old tome and have nothing but reverence for some of the most vile and violent acts ever recorded, but will be terrified of evil spirits being summoned into being by reciting words such as ‘expelliarmus’ or ‘avada kedavra’. Oops, did I let the demons in? It’s okay, those are only my own personal devils that I utilize from time to time in my writing.
See how easy it is to simply joke about these things? This is a big reason why any denomination gets blasted routinely when they make the decision to denounce anything that they don’t agree with. It’s okay not to agree with something and it’s perfectly okay to think that it has no value to you, but banning something outright because of the irrational fear that it will harm you or others in some way isn’t always the best way to go about one’s life. The Harry Potter books are fiction, pure fantasy, made for kids and adults to enjoy and experience in their own way. When last I checked there wasn’t a sudden epidemic of scores of people dying in a horrid, electric green flash as someone shouted ‘avada kedavra’ at someone. Oops, did it again, those evil spirits are working overtime.
It’d be nice to say something like ‘to be fair’ but in this instance fairness doesn’t seem to hold a lot of water since quite honestly if you’re going to ban one book there’s not a lot to say that a person won’t keep banning books they find disturbing or somehow off-putting because the slippery slope that’s always waiting for its next occupant is bound to show up in a hurry for those that are willing to toss principle and dignity to the wind when thinking about what they want to ban and what they deem as ‘ok’. So in this instance the Holy Bible is kind of up for grabs since not only does it go into many tales that can be claimed as fiction and can be every bit as disturbing as any story that’s on the shelves today, it’s also a tome filled with hypocrisy that equates to the idea that when something good happens it’s because God willed it to be so, and when something bad happens, meh, God works in mysterious ways. How in the world is that any worse than anything that’s showed up in the Harry Potter books? Evil spirits, spells? What about the numerous subjects and instances within the bible when humanity turns on each other without the need for any of that? A favorite saying comes to mind, and it does come from the bible, Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
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