If there is one piece of literature that could unite all the members of my generation -- Harry Potter would be it. Long into high school my friends and I could still be found flipping through the pages for the umpteenth time, and without fail one of us would dress up as a character from the wizarding world for Halloween.
The Harry Potter series -- pardon the bad pun -- has a brand of magic to it. The novels condemn bigotry, promote loyal friendship, and inspire redemption. The readers grow with the characters throughout eight years, and we see a bitterly divided world where love triumphs over hate, and purity of heart trumps sheer strength.
Tolerance, friendship, acceptance, are the books main themes. Naturally this is something that a fundamentalist Christian mother wants nothing to do with. More below the fold.
Our aspiring author is publishing on fan-fiction.net and has introduced herself as Grace Ann:
"I’m new to this whole fanfiction thing; but recently, I’ve encountered a problem that I believe this is the solution to. My little ones have been asking to read the Harry Potter books; and of course I’m happy for them to be reading; but I don’t want them turning into witches! So I thought….. why not make some slight changes so these books are family friendly? And then I thought, why not share this with all the other mommies who are facing the same problem? So-Ta da! Here it is! I am SO excited to share this with all of you!”
Her creative title for this revised work is "Hogwarts School of Prayer and Miracles" where the arch villain remains "He Who Must Not Be Named", but
his new mission is to deny Christians their right to practice their faith. Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore have been recast as southern evangelists who have the courage to stand against the evils of evolution:
“Hello, neighbor! I was wondering if you have been saved,” Hagrid exclaimed brightly; and tipped his wide-brimmed, straw cowboy hat.
Aunt Petunia laughed a gravelly laugh; and leaned forward on her sturdy, practical boots. “Saved? Don’t tell me you are you one of those Christians?”
Harry did not know what that word meant; but Hagrid’s smile was the most peaceful smile he had ever seen. It made Harry feel warm and happy inside just seeing the glowing, radiant grin on the kind, friendly stranger’s face. He wondered why Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon did not smile like that…
“Yes, I am,” Hagrid replied kindly. “Are you?”
Aunt Petunia laughed again; and stuck her pointy, sharp nose up in the air. “We are too smart for that. Haven’t you read Dawkins? God is dead! Dawkins proved that. Would you like us to educate you on the Dawkins?”
Neverminding for a second that
it was Friedrich Nietzsche who famously claimed that God was dead, let me segway into my main point:
I was in the second grade when I read my first Harry Potter book. My two Christian parents gave it to me as a gift on, ironically, Easter. Neither my mom nor my dad bought into any of the nonsense that was being touted by the most radical sect of America's radical right.
I don't think many people will need me to explain why this re-write is stupid, but as an avid lover of the books and a Christian myself, I find it particularly offensive.
Firstly, being ignorant of science is not a requirement to being Christian. I am proud of still having many friends from my days in a youth group at a church. These friends have gone in chemistry, biology, engineering, and have simultaneously retained their faiths. Telling kids that you have to pick between science or faith is a step four decades back. Our kids should be hearing that "It's your worldview, believe what makes sense to you (even if that worldview doesn't include an organized religion!)."
Secondly, the themes of the original text of Harry Potter better equip children for being empathetic world citizens than this clumsy re-write.
One of the core struggles in Harry Potter is a conflict between discrimination and tolerance. See, a class of "wizards" in the novel are born of non-magical parents. There is a sect of society in this world that believes these "muggle born" wizards should be a second class society and shunned. Our protagonists in the novel -- led by "non-southern twang" sorcerer Albus Dumbledore -- desire equality and acceptance for all wizarding people, and respect for non-wizarding people (Muggles). This message of acceptance is a terrific one for kids who will grow up with peers of differing races, cultures, genders, and sexual orientations.
There are so many other encouraging themes in the book that reinforced my parent's lessons about being a good citizen: Loyalty, redemption (Dumbledore in his youth was actually very discriminatory himself), friendship, and the power of love to prevail over all.
The desire among the Christian radical right to snuff out these messages is disappointing, but sadly not surprising.