Apparently, a letter written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI in April, condemns Harry Potter as a potentially corrupting influence on children. Accusing the stories of “subtle seduction”, the then Cardinal felt that the series corrupts the young, distorting their understanding of the battle between good and evil.
I guess he has a point, after all, Harry is a wizard, and witchcraft is evil. I get it. But if we are going to start denouncing books, and even encourage book burnings (as Jack Brock, a pastor in New Mexico, did) then why stop there?
Let me tell you about another book that should be of concern to religious zealots. This book contains lying, betrayal, and fratricide in the opening chapters. And in the pages that follow are stories of rape, kidnapping, mass destruction, murder, incest, physical abuse, theft, human sacrifice, slave trafficking, cheating … and that is just the first volume. Subsequent volumes even include stories of, yes, witchcraft!
Should this book be so readily available? Do we really want our children exposed to such tales? Children do indeed read this book, and it is available the world over translated into just about every language. The book I am referring to is …
Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
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