Friday, December 08, 2006

The counter-counter-counter Reformation

The book I’m working on at present is set in the 17th century, amidst the Church’s crackdown on the dreaded printed word.
Should you wonder what relevance this might have for young readers of today, think again:
In August 2003, two Michigan pastors, T.D. Turner Sr. and son T.D. Turner Jr., took a stand against sorcery by burning a Harry Potter book outside their Jesus Non-Denominational Church. The younger Turner, Tommy, says that while he hadn't read the book, the cover alone showed him it promoted wizardry, adding that Potter-related Web sites were gateways to harder stuff. The last straw came when a local girl tried to perform a magic spell. (She was unable, as far as we can tell, to turn anybody into a newt.)
"Parents [have to] realize this is more than a fictional book," says Turner. "It's attached to the occult."

Read the entire sad story of "Harry Potter and the Ministry of Fire" over at Forbes.

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