Harry Potter books banished from school library due to 'real curses and spells'
The seven-book series unfolding the magical adventures of a young wizard is considered controversial in some circles
Books from the Harry Potter series by author J.K. Rowling are seen on a shelf inside Widnes Library in Widnes, Britain PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
A catholic school in Nashville, the capital of the US state of Tennessee, removed JK Rowling’s universally acclaimed Harry Potter series from its library after its pastor described the spells and curses risky as they might evince conjuring evil spirits.
According to Independent, the pastor named Reverend Dan Reehill elucidated his decision in an email to the parents of students, declaring that he had consulted with exorcists in the US and at the Vatican before outlawing the seven-volume tale of the boy wizard’s career at Hogwarts and his battle against Lord Voldermort and the forces of darkness.
“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. 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,” the pastor wrote in an email.
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Reehill had sent the email and has the final say on the matter since the Catholic Church does not have an official position on the Harry Potter series, school authorities confirmed.
However, the authorities said that the school would not stand in the way of students reading Harry Potter at their parents’ discretion.
“Should parents deem that this or any other media to be appropriate we would hope that they would just guide their sons and daughters to understand the content through the lens of our faith,” Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville said.
“We really don’t get into censorship in such selections other than making sure that what we put in our school libraries is age appropriate materials for our classrooms,” she added.
The seven-book series unfolding the magical adventures of a young wizard is considered controversial in some circles.
The story originally appeared on Independent
According to Independent, the pastor named Reverend Dan Reehill elucidated his decision in an email to the parents of students, declaring that he had consulted with exorcists in the US and at the Vatican before outlawing the seven-volume tale of the boy wizard’s career at Hogwarts and his battle against Lord Voldermort and the forces of darkness.
“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. 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,” the pastor wrote in an email.
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Reehill had sent the email and has the final say on the matter since the Catholic Church does not have an official position on the Harry Potter series, school authorities confirmed.
However, the authorities said that the school would not stand in the way of students reading Harry Potter at their parents’ discretion.
“Should parents deem that this or any other media to be appropriate we would hope that they would just guide their sons and daughters to understand the content through the lens of our faith,” Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville said.
“We really don’t get into censorship in such selections other than making sure that what we put in our school libraries is age appropriate materials for our classrooms,” she added.
The seven-book series unfolding the magical adventures of a young wizard is considered controversial in some circles.
The story originally appeared on Independent