Why Harry Potter's Book Should be Banned - Essay Example

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling gave her success and fortune. The series with seven books in total follows story in the life of Harry Potter who is an orphan and who then finds out he is a wizard and the chosen one to face the greatest enemy of the wizardry world who is Lord Voldemort. The books were a phenomenon and millions of copies were sold worldwide. It is children’s literature but it is not as innocent as it shows itself to be. The book talks in detail about witchcraft and spells and other things that are against religion. This may confuse children who are taught by their parents and the church that witchcraft is a tool of the devil. The same could lead to a dangerous situation where their young minds could consider ideas and act on them that even their parents would not be able to control because they are confused between what is good and what is bad. Though it is fictional and created to grab the attention of children, it does not actually contain the kind of message we want children to have. It does not teach children the behavior and virtues that parents hope to instill and the book depends more on its value as entertain without having substance to develop the attitudes children should have. The Potter series shows children the notions of power and magic as reality without regard they may actually think they could have the same powers, contrary to the teachings of religion and promotes upon children disrespect for the authorities. The Harry Potter books create the world of witchcraft in such a way that it is wonderful. This does not consider that there really are people who are practicing witchcraft. Wicca is a term used to describe this kind of sorcery and there are people who practice it. The same people promote Rowling’s books because they say it is similar to their practice and shows what they do on a regular basis. If one who reads Potter searches it in the internet and finds information on how to be a witch then they could do the same simply because they want to be part of the world that was described in the book. This is against the teachings of Holy Scriptures. Similar to Muslims who believe that the devil is the enemy of God, some Christians share the same response to the cult that is displayed in the books. An article titled Harry Potter Exposed written by Dr. Johnson explores how witchcraft in the book is realistic written by one who claims to have previously practiced it before he found Christianity. He writes, “The Word of God is certain, powerful, and is filled with thousands of promises from God. Why would you want to reject the Word of God, which describes the sinfulness of mankind accurately; when Wicca doesn’t even recognize the Biblical concept of sin” (Johnson 5). The same concept is applicable to almost all religions. The Bible speaks of the devil and how he uses sorcery and dark magic to conjure his will. The idea that witches and wizards are evil is nothing new and depicting them in such a way that they are cool will not help parents and their respective churches to teach children about these sins. Then there is the fact that children imitate what they see, and in this case what they read. When children are so amazed with things like magic, and spells, including the values of the characters they read then it is not far too think that they will copy them and look up to them. Many who want the books to be banned are because “They feel that heroes should be entirely good people who do as theyre told and respect others” (Ross). This is the way as it should be because when children have role models who always break the rules set for their own protection and at times lie even if the end result is good then children may think they could also do the same. In the book, Harry Potter and his friends are told not to go to the forest but they always disobey this order to visit Hagrid who often has a new dangerous pet. They even have a robe called an ‘invisibility cloak’ which allows them to go places without being seen. Ron’s twin brothers are also always up to something like games or other pranks that make fun of other people. These values let young minds believe that doing such things are okay and that they are acceptable. The Potter series should be banned in schools, especially in elementary with very young and impressionable children, because it gives false ideas to kids who may not be able to distinguish what is good from what is bad. They may also prevent parents from effectively teaching the beliefs and values that they want their children to have. As a result, children may just be confused because their parents are saying that witchcraft is bad and it is against their religion but the books they read are all about witches and wizards that consider them to be good. Harry Potter is actually found by the American Library Association to be the “most banned book in America” (Olukotun). The volume of copies sold may be a testament to the popularity of the book but this does not make the books’ contents right. There may be more value to why it has been banned widely and perhaps the benefit of protecting children is more important than them actually joining the hype of reading the series. Works Cited Johnson, S., “Harry Potter Exposed”, Contendingfortruth (n.d.). http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Harry-Potter-Exposed.pdf (28 Apr. 2014). Olokotun, D., “The Banning of Harry Potter”, The Huffington Post 7 Sept. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deji-olukotun/the-banning-of-harry-pott_b_1864502.html (28 Apr. 2014). Ross, S., “Harry Potter Banned?”, Infoplease 2001. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-harry.html (28 Apr. 2014). Read More