I just picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, figuring I’d better read the series before I’m the last person in the English-speaking world who hasn’t read it.
While I was reading the book, the neighbor kids came over and said that they’re not allowed to read Harry Potter books because the books are “bad.” I asked why the books are bad.
KIDS: “Because they have witches in them.”
ME: “And why is that bad?”
KIDS: “Because they do magic.”
ME: “What’s wrong with magic?”
KIDS: “Because we’re Christians.”
ME: “But didn’t Jesus do magic? You know, water into wine, bringing people back from the dead, things like that.”
KIDS: “God doesn’t do magic.”
ME: “How do you know?”
KIDS: “It’s in the Bible.”
ME: “But the Bible’s just a story, just like this Harry Potter book.”
KIDS: Blank stare.
And there you have it. As the conservative blogger Kung Fu Monkey recently wrote: “”Everybody who wants to live in the 21st century over here. Everybody who wants to live in the 1800’s over there. Good. Thanks. Good luck with that.”
