It will come as no surprise to anyone who follows the censors, when (not if) J. K. Rowling's last Harry Potter book is challenged in schools. But before that happens following the July 21, 2007 release, here is a look at the U.K. and American versions of the
cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
According to an
article by Margaret Rees from the World Socialist Web Site dated from 2000,
The reason for the challenges to the Harry Potter books centre round their focus on wizardry and magic. Fundamentalist Christians claim the series is subversive, because wizardry is incompatible with Christian belief. According to them, it is presenting witchcraft in an attractive light and desensitising young people to its dangers. They are hostile because in their opinion Rowling has a false world view, that is, she does not write from the standpoint of Christian ethics.
In a highly publicized case, Laura Mallory began a crusade in November 2005 to have Harry Potter books removed from Gwinnett Public Schools in Georgia. She lost an appeal with the Georgia State Board of Education, in 2006, to have the books banned from the schools.
There is an interesting
German article about Harry Potter books that explains how the books were removed from the curriculum of a state-run school. Julia Bonk, the education-policy spokeswoman in the legislature's Left party parliamentary group criticized the school's action,
(By acquiescing to the request,) the school director is essentially inviting religious fundamentalists to interfere with the educational and academic goals of state-funded schools, according to their discretion. The lesson plans of state-funded schools should not be subject to approval by people who hold all possible religious convictions.
Laura Mallory, mother of four children, two of which attend schools in Gwinnett county has spent years trying to remove the Harry Potter books, arguing that the books are indoctrinating children in witchcraft. At the last hearing, Mallory argued that having books in the library that she believes promote witchcraft is a violation of the separation of church and state, since some people practise witchcraft as a religion.
