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This was originally posted on The Grayson Buzz in May, 2006.
Gwinnett schools to keep Harry Potter (AJC.com) (Free registration required)
That is what Mary Kay Murphy, Gwinnett County school board member, apparently feels. Today, the board refused to remove the Harry Potter novels from Gwinnett County school libraries. I applaud parent Laura Mallory who sought to have this material removed from school libraries. She has been subjected to ridicule for taking this corageous stand against what I consider to be questionable material. I admit to not having read the books but I did see the first two Potter movies , movies which I have been told were true to the books. I came away from both movies uncomfortable with the degree to which the Potter works embraced the occult to the point that I refused to see the subsequent films. I do not generally take exception with all movies that deal with these topics. I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings films for example. However, with Potter, there seemed to be less of a clear dileneation between a fantastic, alternate universe such as Rings’ Middle-earth and our own world. As such, Potter’s treatment of these occult themes were disturbing to me as I felt they approached the topics in far too cavalier of a manner.
We live in a society where we are contantly bombarded with demands for religious tolerance. In an effort to “not offend” we are told that Christmas trees are holiday trees and the Easter bunny is the Spring Holiday Bunny. Gwinnett County schools even call Christmas vacation, “Winter Break” (I highly doubt it is coincidence that this break coincides with Christmas). Against this backdrop, why is a request for tolerance for Christian values dismissed by the Gwinnett County School Board by a unanimous vote?
Further frustrating the situation is the simplistic positions taken by board members. As previously mentioned, member Murphy “said the books help students develop the critical thinking skills they need to be successful in high school, college and life.” I have excellent critical thinking skills that have led to a bachelor degree in engineering and an MBA in Finance and I have never read a single Potter book. This would imply that there are plenty of ways outside of reading a book with cavalier treatment of the occult to develop critical thinking skills. Particularly frustrating is the ignorance of my own board member, Carole Boyce on the issue:
“At the very heart of this issue is censorship,” Boyce said. “Our students do understand the difference between fact and fiction. Let’s let those who want to read the Harry Potter books have the opportunity to do so.”
The issue is not censorship. No one has suggested removing these books from the Gwinnett Public Library. No one has suggested they should be banned from publication or not sold by booksellers. The point is that this material has no place in a public school, especially at the elementary level. Everyone still has the opportunity to read these books without expecting Gwinnett homeowners to subsidize material that runs counter to our Christian beliefs when those very beliefs are assaulted in society on a regular basis. Besides, using Boyce’s definition of “censorship”, the Gwinnett school libraries “censor” on a daily basis becasue not every book or magazine published can be found (nor should be found) on school library shelves. Finally, this is not a simple matter of “understand[ing] the difference between fact or fiction.” Fictional works have a long history of challenging society’s values both positively and negatively. Why would the Potter material be any different? A popular fictional work would likely be a very effective way of desensitizing children to the world of the occult.
Was this an unexpected decision? No. However, this decision simply continues to illustrate why we need school choice. I do not have children, but if I did I would make every effort to ensure that they were not educated by the government but rather at home or in a Christian school where my values are treated with respect. I applaud Laura Mallory and encourage her to pursue this fight though it is likely unwinnable. She should push this fight to expose the hypocrisy of those running our public school systems and to attempt to get the message across that simply being a popular series of books does not eliminate questions regarding the content. She may face more ridicule as may I for this blog entry, but being popular should not always be the primary goal when it comes to defending your values.
