Laura Mallory is on a mission to ban all Harry Potter books at her children’s school library in Gwinnett County Georgia. Mallory claims that the books are an attempt to lure children into the Wicca religion, and that when her children are at school, she doesn’t “want them indoctrinated into a religion whose practices are evil.”Indoctrinating into a religion at school? Harry Potter? I hardly think that’s the case. It’s not as if there’s a page in the books where children are asked to pledge their allegiance to Potter, nor do they come with magic potion recipes or flying brooms.
Who is Mallory to decide what other children can and cannot read? Just because she doesn’t agree with the material presented doesn’t mean that others can’t enjoy it. If she doesn’t want her children reading Harry Potter, then she should tell them not to and leave it at that.
Maybe Mallory should build a little room onto her house where she can keep her kids sheltered from everything that doesn’t fit into her idea of a perfect life.
Banning books. Can you imagine?
I can’t, and it’s appalling to think there are people walking the streets who would actually consider making one single book taboo. While you may not agree with the wizardry and mysticism that the Potter books herald, no one is forcing children to read them.
People like Mallory should be feared in any free-thinking, progressive society. If you’ve read Ray Bradbury’s masterpiece — Fahrenheit 451 — then you know what I’m talking about.
In his book, Bradbury profiles a society where almost every single book is burned. And anyone caught with books not approved by the government are arrested or executed on the spot, all while their homes are burned to the ground.
It’s a serious matter when people start throwing words like “ban” around when talking about books and other forms of art and expression. I guess I take particular offense to this since my chosen profession is writing. But everyone should be upset by this.
When we live in a society that even considers banning one single book, then more bans are sure to come. Where will it end? Hopefully those in charge of this proposed ban will make the right choice and dismiss Mallory as an overprotective parent. It’s the only decision to make.
2 comments:
Uh, excuse me, but this isn't the first time anybody has tried to ban books....they used to do it in Boston with regularity, hence the term "Banned in Boston."
And, we don't live in a society that wants to ban books. One woman wants to ban books, but nobody's buying into it, so you can relax. We're still a free country.
Well you know them Liberals.
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