Harry Potter bashing in "Jaw-jah"

Being that my better half hails from northern Georgia, I keep my eye on things thataway on a regular basis. So it is that this story crossed my wire:

Gwinnett (parent) wants Harry Potter book series off shelves

The Associated Press - LOGANVILLE, Ga.

A Gwinnett County parent wants the Harry Potter book series removed from all school libraries.

Laura Mallory, who has three children that attend J.C. Elementary in Loganville, is asking the state's largest school system to remove the best-selling Potter series from the shelves.

Gwinnett County Associate Superintendent Cindy Loe told board members Thursday a hearing on Mallory's request will take place on April 20.

Mallory hasn't completely read any of the books. But she said she has read portions of a few books and was offended by the demonic activity.

"My personal religious views don't agree with these books," Mallory said. "We need for our children to read things that teach good morals. Harry Potter lies, cheats and steals and there is no accountability. There are better things for our children to be reading."

The mother of four first challenged the book in September at her children's school, saying the books glorified witchcraft.

Magill Elementary and the school district's review panels already have ruled that the books should remain within the schools.

Students may check out the books while the system handles the complaint, school spokeswoman Sloan Roach said. Parents can request their children be prohibited from taking out any particular books, she said.

Let's dissect this hysterical lady's mad rantings a little further, shall we?

Mallory hasn't completely read any of the books. But she said she has read portions of a few books and was offended by the demonic activity.

Based on this criteria, one could read select portions of the Holy Bible, and have it banned because of all the demonic activity depicted in it :-P

Oh yeah Mrs. Mallory, I am currently completely reading a book that offends a lot of things that I believe in. And I'm not finding it particularly hard to do or self-destructive. It takes a lot more than a novel to shake me from what I believe in... why can't you be that strong?

"My personal religious views don't agree with these books," Mallory said. "We need for our children to read things that teach good morals. Harry Potter lies, cheats and steals and there is no accountability. There are better things for our children to be reading."

If you care about your children bad enough, Mrs. Mallory, then get them the @*%& out of the public school system!!!

I've said this before and will reiterate it again: people like this are not really out to ban Harry Potter or any other book from the public forum. It's not what's in the book at all that gets their juices flowing. If Harry Potter was #27,503 on the bestseller list, these people wouldn't care. Only because it's popular does this sort come out of the woodwork and condemn it. They don't care about the "witchcraft" in the Harry Potter books (which is the furthest thing from real-life Wicca that you can imagine), they just see the Harry Potter books as a vehicle they can ride on their way to a sense of "power" over the rest of the community. Anything that has a modicum of wide appeal - it used to be Dungeons & Dragons, then Pokemon and now Harry Potter - they won't hesitate to pin the "IT'S SAY-TA-NIC!!!" label to it, because it makes them feel "important", ya see. Believe me, I saw this kind of wild behavior from this sort a long time ago (and I ain't really that old, am I? :-P)

It's one thing to not like the Harry Potter books. But to go to this kind of length in attempting to ban them? People who do that need to be chemically rendered sterile for the good of humanity... but that's just me thinking out loud.