03 September 2019 - Harry Potter books removed from Catholic school due to 'real spells'
A Catholic school removed Harry Potter books from its library, warning that readers ‘risk conjuring evil spirits’
Antonia Noori Farzan (The Washington Post, 03/09/2019)
Before the new school year began, the Rev. Dan Reehil turned to several exorcists for advice.
Reehil, a pastor at St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville, was worried about the heretical lessons that students could learn from the Harry Potter books, he wrote in a Wednesday email to faculty members that was obtained by WTVF. At the advice of the exorcists he consulted, who shared his concerns, he purged the series from the school’s library.
Harry Potter books removed from Catholic school 'on exorcists' advice'
Alison Flood (The Guardian, 02/09/2019)
A private Catholic school in Nashville has removed the Harry Potter books from its library, saying they include “actual curses and spells, which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits”.
Local paper the Tennessean reported that the pastor at St Edward Catholic school, which teaches children of pre-kindergarten age through to 8th grade, had emailed parents about JK Rowling’s series to tell them that he had been in contact with “several” exorcists who had recommended removing the books from the library.
“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” Rev Dan Reehil wrote. “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”
Is JK Rowling in league with the Devil? A history of Harry Potter-inspired ‘satanic panic’
Cal Revely-Calder (The Telegraph, 02/09/2019)
America is the land of the free – except, it seems, when freedom risks letting Satan in. The news that a Tennessee school has removed the Harry Potter series from its library shelves – its pastor citing the books’ “clever deception” in presenting magic as “both good and evil” – is the latest in a succession of religious prohibitions on JK Rowling’s best-selling novels.
The trend, in fact, dates back over two decades to the 1997 publication of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Banning of Harry Potter
Deji Olukotun (The Huffington Post, 09/07/2017)
Harry Potter is now the most banned book in America, according to the American Library Association. It is undeniable that themes of death and resurrection abound in the stories, as well as detailed depictions of potions and other hocus pocus. But while there are Christians who decry the celebration of witchcraft, there are other Christians who consider Harry’s journey an edifying allegory for Jesus Christ. That is another problem with banning books: it obscures the diversity of viewpoints within its potential readership. Thankfully at least 450 million copies have been sold, so there is little danger that an eager reader will not be able to drudge up a copy.