It was Harry Potter\u2019s 13th birthday and, since he was surrounded by his occult-o-phobic relatives, the high point was a trio of owls arriving with cards from his best friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.<\/p>\n\n
The big news was that Ron Weasley\u2019s family had won a pile of gold and was investing its grand prize in a pilgrimage to Egypt. Classmate Hermione Granger was happy for him, but added: \u201cI bet he\u2019s learning loads. I\u2019m really jealous \u2014 the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Millions of readers may have passed over this early detail in \u201cHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,\u201d book three in the omnipresent series by British author Kathleen Rowling. But out in fly-over country between New York and Los Angeles, these words led many to search the Book of Exodus for its account of a showdown between God, Moses and Aaron and the \u201csorcerers,\u201d \u201cmagicians\u201d and wizards of ancient Egypt.<\/p>\n\n
More than a few proceeded to ask their local librarians a loaded question: Whose side is Harry Potter on, anyway?<\/p>\n\n
Obviously, critics will dissect each of the 752 pages in \u201cHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,\u201d 5.2 million copies of which will roll through American and British bookstores and World Wide Web portals after midnight on July 8. Its release is being hailed as the biggest publishing event in the English-speaking world, the planet, the universe \u2014 pick a venue, any venue.<\/p>\n\n
This much is certain: Harry Potter IV will make millions of people happy and others very worried. The first crowd will be greeted warmly when it visits public libraries and schools. The odds are good the critics will not.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAnyone who has had any experience in library work and with children\u2019s literature could see that these books were going to be hot,\u201d said Kimbra Wilder Gish, a librarian at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She recently published an article entitled \u201cHunting Down Harry Potter\u201d in The Horn Book, a prestigious journal of children\u2019s literature.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThese books had everything \u2014 witches, warlocks, magic, evil spirits, the whole lot. So I wasn\u2019t shocked by the controversy. I was shocked that so many librarians WERE shocked by the controversy. \u2026 It\u2019s like they were saying, \u2018Haven\u2019t all of those intolerant fundamentalists been wiped out, by now?\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
This worried Gish, because she is proud of being both a librarian and a fifth-generation member of an evangelical family. She believes fervently in the free exchange of ideas and information, but she also believes that public institutions should handle the wishes and fears of their patrons in a respectful manner \u2014 even religious conservatives.<\/p>\n\n
Two years ago, she read one too many Internet postings by librarians attacking the motives of believers who were worried about Harry Potter. Her response covered many Bible verses that address this topic, especially a Deuteronomy passage that calls an \u201cabomination\u201d anyone that \u201cuseth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
That covers just about everything in the Harry Potter books. Yet, in Rowling\u2019s work these elements are woven into the lives of witty characters those adventures have millions of young people turning pages instead of switching TV channels. The books also have been praised by religious leaders, including the moderate evangelical editors of Christianity Today, who called the series \u201ca Book of Virtues with a preadolescent funny bone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
But public officials must realize that there are scores of others who simple don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate for their children to be exposed to books that portray magic in a \u201ccool,\u201d winsome manner, said Gish. Some even criticize the work of Christian authors such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Madeleine L\u2019Engle.<\/p>\n\n
What should librarians do? It would help, she said, if they didn\u2019t act like the Harry Potter books are the only works of children\u2019s literature in existence. Displays and promotional events for classic works of religious fiction wouldn\u2019t hurt, either.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe must strive for balance,\u201d said Gish. \u201cWe must stop acting like every conservative Christian who walks in the library door is an alien from another planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was Harry Potter\u2019s 13th birthday and, since he was surrounded by his occult-o-phobic relatives, the high point was a trio of owls arriving with cards from his best friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The big news was that Ron Weasley\u2019s family had won a pile of gold and was investing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n