Harry Potter?

Question

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2414181,00.html

Yep its another book bann. I initially had a strong opinion on banning a book but if you keep reading you'll see that the school is providing an alternate book about a pig for the children of the protesting parents. And the other kids can read Harry Potter.

What do you guys think?
Both on the book being banned, the parents protesting, and the school system's stance.

I'm perfectly ok with you saying you agree they should bann it. I'm not one of those who only gives best answer to those that agree with me. But if you feel it should be banned please put something more than "it's evil" for I'm not really sure pieces of paper can truly have objectionable behavior, absence of a conscience, or are capable of bringing about death. So I need a bit more concise word choices, if you would.

Answer 1

I personally do not agree with banning books of any sort, especially children's fictional novels that are perfectly fine for children to read. I also feel that the parents should think about how much reading Harry Potter books is actually going to affect their children. The most that it would do is give them something to read in school that is actually interesting and enjoyable. These are YOUNG CHILDREN, do you people really think that they are going to be making connections between Harry Potter and Christianity in their spare time? Moreover, you could find any fairytale, any book, any TV show, or any movie and examine it until you made some religious connection. There will always be connections, usually completely insane ones that are not intended in ANY way to be religious, and if you think that your child is going to notice them in HARRY POTTER, a CHILDREN'S SERIES, then you might as well ban every book that is above that intellectual level and many that are below it as well.

However, personal opinions aside, I do feel that the school, in a sense, made a wise (but not necessarily right) decision in creating an alternative. It prevented a lot of controversy and many potential complications. Furthermore, the laws in Germany, of which I currently do not have much knowledge, may be completely different than those of our nation, so we really cannot debate this issue politically. In the United States, a case like this may even make it to the Supreme Court, for there are obvious cases that can be made for both sides of the argument. However, in Germany, the different laws may make it so that one argument obviously wins over the other, at least politically and legally.

This is a very complicated and debatable issue, and based on the circumstances and our lack of knowledge about the laws of Germany, I do not feel that it is possible for us, as Americans, to come up with any "correct" answer.

Answer 2

I would say that the school handled it well under the circumstances. As for banning or censoring books, I dont think any religious and/or political group should ever have the power to decide what the majority of the people can and cant read or have access to. The parents who protested should have stuck to fighting only for the right of their child to read something different if the assigned book clashed with their religious beliefs. Oh, and Im an avid harry potter fan.

Answer 3

I dont think the book should be banned only because it's about witchcraft and wizardry. If they are going to ban it then they should ban cinderella, and sleeping beauty. (examples) There are a lot of books out there that conatain some sort of magic in them. Its just a book and nothing to be taking seriously. It is actually quite a good story and I think the people who want to ban the book should read all of them before deciding wether or not they should ban it. I'm tired of this book being attacked by religous groups. I consider my self religous and think that the book shows good morals. And again it's just fiction. You dont see people wanting to ban Lord Of The Rings, which is also just fiction, so if they are going to attack Harry Potter they need to attack everything else that is similar. Thats not right.

Answer 4

As a Christian, who likes the Harry Potter book series, I applaud the schools decision to make a compromise. If a book would be offensive to a person's religion, they should not be required to read it, and the opportunity to read an alternative book is a great idea. I also am proud of the parents for standing up for what they believed and what they didn't want their children to read.

Our school does the same thing with HIV and AIDS instruction for our elementary students. A parent has to give permission for the student to take the class. In our case, my husband and I have made sure that our kids understand what HIV is and how it is contracted. We prefer to teach our children these types of issues instead of leaving it to the school. We get the materials, and review it and then discuss the issues in-depth with our kids.

Answer 5

I think banning any book smacks of early Nazi Germany when they burned books to stop people reading them. It's fiction for crying out loud, just like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and we don't ban them, so what is it about Harry Potter that offends people so much?
The problem is that some people like to attempt to control others opinions, instead of letting them make their own choices. If it gets kids to read more books again, therefore learn how to speak without a whole heap of "it's like" and other such annoying gap-filling (what I mean by that is they don't have the vocab to find the right word for the situation so they fill it with something completely meaningless and useless) phrases so recently added to society, then I'm all for it!

Answer 6

I think it's crazy but sadly I understand it. I researched the subject when the books first came out because at the time I was a Christian youth pastor and UN-like allot of other religious leaders I did not blindly accept what I was told. Instead I found out for my self if the books really had anything to do with "real witchcraft." In fact they do not! I have since become a HUGE fan of the books much to the objection of other members of my congregation. No, that is not why I am no longer a youth pastor however that story is for another time and another place. Sadly too many do not do the research for themselves insted they make everyone else's life difficult with ignorant acts such as this. As a Christian it saddens me that it is most often"christians" who do this.

Answer 7

Harry Potter is an Awesome book. In 30 years it will be looked at as one of the best books ever. Banning it isnt going to stop its popularity, its just going to get people more interested in the book. I just think it is a really good book.

Answer 8

Book banning is ALWAYS a terrible thing. Just read "1984" by George Orwell, or "Fahrenheit 451" (I don't remember who that's by).

I can't understand the reasons people protest Harry Potter. It's a decent kid level series that has an easy-to-follow good vs. evil story line. Isn't good vs. evil what Christians want to teach their kids about? I mean seriously, waving around a stick and speaking Latin does not make magic. If it did, there would be more miracles in the Catholic Church.



READ BANNED BOOKS!!!

Answer 9

i read this article earlier when it was news on the mugglenet website... i'm pretty sure they didn't ban the books from anyone reading them at school at all... but banned them from the students being forced to read them. I got the impression that some teacher assigned one of the books for the class to read... and it would be mandatory... but a couple parents complained that it was against their beliefs, so the class can't be forced to read it.

I don't think books should ever be banned... (with the possible exception of these handbooks that tell people how to make homemade bombs and things). Even if there's something with really horrible views, we should trust people to understand it's wrong. if people think witchcraft is wrong they can not read the books or could be confident in their beliefs that it's wrong and the books aren't trying to convince them otherwise. this always turns into a quit-trying-to-impose-your-views-on-me argument... but it's true for either side... the one side is offended by the books presence and says that the books being there is imposing views on them because they're trying to protect others from the horribleness that could come from the books... then there's the others who like it and say stop imposing your wacky offense at the books on me and your silly views that witchcraft is evil. We discussed that concept in criminal law today with rape because it's possible for 2 people to have sex without either consenting and could have dueling rape charges against each other.

I don't like parents protesting to protect other people... you raise your kids the way you want and I'll raise mine the way I want... If i understand this artical correctly, the parents protests were justified because the parents' kids were going to be forced to read the book... parents should be able to protect from that. but they shouldn't for other kids.

I didn't really read about schools stance... i know they did ban it... but insofar a school decides that kids can't be forced to read it, i have no problem. insofar a school decides it can't be available for kids to read as they choose: there's a big problem with that.

I have a big problem with Laura Mallory for wasting Georgia's time... first the school, then the board, then the state board, and maybe now the legislature... not only is she stupid for thinking HP will somehow corrupt people, but also stupid because we value speech and economic endeavors in this country and we're not going to ban it... not only is it silly to think that she'll be able to protect bunches of people she doesn't know... it's also stupid because these boards listening to her arguments have more important things to do.

Answer 10

No, the book should not be banned. If a parent does not want their child to read the book, then they can tell that to the school and they can give the child the alternate book. Later on, I promise you, when the child is older, they are going to read it anyway (I had strict parents).