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It does not matter what I think or what I say, nor does it matter what others think or say about Harry Potter. What does matter is what does God say about him.

Leviticus 19:31 Turn you not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.
Leviticus 20:6 And the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Isaiah 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living [should they seek] unto the dead?

BUT… we are in the day of grace for a little while longer… Those who practice these things can repent and be forgiven; however, many will die before they repent and receive an eternity of punishment from a loving God, who is too pure and honest to allow them into heaven to pollute it like they have tried to pollute the earth. God loved these kind of sinners as much as any sinner – enough to allow His Son, Jesus Christ to be cruelly punished and crucified on the cross in their and our place.

It's quite all right, Priver. A substitute teacher in high school thought the same thing when he saw the attendance sheet once.

I found a great editorial that the Washington Post has about this which I hadn't linked to in the blog: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/04/laura_mallory_v_harry_potter_3.html

And expect more blogs on Harry Potter to come; I'm a big fan. :)

I fail to see how Ms. Malloy thinks that the Harry Potter books inspire devil worship or bad behavior. In fact, if anyone can show me even one mention of devil worship in any of the books, I will eat the whole series. The Harry Potter books do not deal with worship of anything.
Yes, Harry and his friends get into mischief and sometimes break the rules. Most often, this is because they are forbidden to do certain things with no explanation of why they are forbidden. Every kid I know who has heard "Because I say so" as a reason for a rule has broken the rule. Perhaps the lesson for parents is to give your kids credit for being intelligent enough to understand the reasons behind the rules and talk to - actually converse with - them.
My daughter started reading the Harry Potter books in elementary school. The main lesson she got from them? Even if you can do magic, it doesn't make your problems go away. EEven if you can do magic, sometimes you need help romm other people. The most important lesson she got from the books? The value of friendship and unconditional love (which, by the way, was the same lesson she got from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" when I read it to her when she was four - with all the language intact). Okay, so maybe they are religious texts after all. But it's a religion that we all could practice, no matter what deities we worship (or don't worship).

Sorry, Ms Arain!

I didn't see your picture until after I posted.

Brittany, Mr Arain:

I tend to agree. People are afraid of what they do not understand. I am a Pagan and adore the Harry Potter books because they prove that real imagination is out there and it is possible to create something new that will get people motivated, even in this day and age. The fact that SO many people responded to them in such a way says to me that something is missing today. Kids and people seem to have an innate need for imagination and expression. Anybody who has read the books knows that this series is a perfect example of how fantasy and stories can teach. As Harry learns, he has to constantly make choices about what's right and wrong. I believe the book show how nothing is as black and white as people tend to make things out to be. This is a lesson everyone can learn. The series has absolutely nothing to do with real witchcraft and everything to do with bringing imagination and real inventiveness, fun and creativity back. And even if it did, so what? If people could take a step back and see that we witches and pagans most likely won't prostelytize, take responsibility for our own actions, and want very much the same things that everyone wants, they would see that fear really is the only thing to fear.

This depresses me. People are so...without merit when it comes to views like these. It just amazes me that they have that irrational of a fear to manifest these alternative reasons as to why they are really fighting against a series of books that have essentially saved the next generation from illiteracy and mass consumption of media or a religion that has been around for thousands of years.