Ga. mother seeks Harry Potter ban

[karyn]

from yahoo

ATLANTA - A suburban county that sparked a public outcry when its libraries temporarily eliminated funding for Spanish-language fiction is now being asked to ban Harry Potter books from its schools.

Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series is an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion.

Board of Education attorney Victoria Sweeny said that if schools were to remove all books containing reference to witches, they would have to ban "Macbeth" and "Cinderella."

"There's a mountain of evidence for keeping Harry Potter," she said, adding that the books don't support any particular religion but present instead universal themes of friendship and overcoming adversity.

In June, the county's library board eliminated the $3,000 that had been set aside to buy Spanish-language fiction in the coming fiscal year. One board member said the move came after some residents objected to using taxpayer dollars to entertain readers who might be illegal immigrants.

Days later, the board reversed its decision amid accusations that the move was anti-Hispanic.

[keiko]

damnit karyn beat me too it!

full article here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1811

Cause I'm so sure that the amish schools keep a massive stock pile of potter books in their libraries. I'm convinced that these "gangsta" kids that shoot people are slinging potter books on the corners in they 'hoods. I have a firend who's never read the Potter books and he says that he still wants to shoot up a school (in jest of course). And I'm so sure that the last dozen school shootings have been kids pretending to shoot avada kedavera spells at eachother. *exhasperated*

K

[karyn]

i'm fast

[VoldtaEngler]

ha, i live in gwinett county. whats the say about me

[tragedy_doll]

I think its just sad that somebody would feel so insecure in there own beliefs they would have to ban an innocent childrens book.

[Mr Karl]

while we're at it ban that wizard of oz book too. it's got witches and poppys and all sorts of nasty stuff and while we're at it I'd like a ban on that bible book too, ever read the book of leviticus? sounds like that devil worship stuff to me, oh and the lord of the rings' gotta go, little people who eat mushrooms and smoke pipeweed all day. and lets not forget Dr. Seuss, with books like 'a fly went by'

all I can say is thank god for jk rowlings and rl stein and the like, or we'd have a generation that probably never read a book

[Buster Friendly]

true enough mr.karl... ANYTHING that can get children into reading is excellent stuff, truely and seriously.

for me it was ultraviolent comic books when i was a lad... stuff like grendel, and the watchmen. also these really funny, badly translated (just like a kung fu movie) chinese kung fu comics, those were the best.

i remember looking at my father's collection of vintage sci-fi novels, like dune, and such when i was very, very young, and wanting to learn to read them.

i would so totally put a curse on this bitch, but my dance care is already full... may her own children remain illiterate, and may that cause her to lose her hair, and develop vaginitis...

[Amelia G]

true enough mr.karl... ANYTHING that can get children into reading is excellent stuff, truely and seriously.

for me it was ultraviolent comic books when i was a lad... stuff like grendel, and the watchmen. also these really funny, badly translated (just like a kung fu movie) chinese kung fu comics, those were the best.

i remember looking at my father's collection of vintage sci-fi novels, like dune, and such when i was very, very young, and wanting to learn to read them.

i would so totally put a curse on this bitch, but my dance care is already full... may her own children remain illiterate, and may that cause her to lose her hair, and develop vaginitis...

I never real thought of Grendel and Watchmen as being all that violent, especially not when compared with some of the other comics coming out during that time period. Watchmen is my favorite comic of all time. It basically ruined comics for me because I knew no other series could ever be as good.

[Velvet-Tongue]

It's really funny to me that they say Harry Potter is a gateway into Wicca. There is...no correlation between them at all except for the word witch and wizard. I'm pretty sure banning it and telling kids not to read about magic is a much better gateway into Wicca lol.

[Buster Friendly]

there were some very ultraviolent comics back in the day... the watchmen starts with a dude being thrown out of a 20 story window, and his blood being washed off the pavement. kind of a departure from the superhero comics of the day where people got shot in the face with lazers, and just laughed it off.

grendel came out way before that too... i'm trying to remember the original independent comic co. that put them out. (maybe it was comico?)

i grew up down the street from a comic shop that also sold martial arts gear, ninja stars, etc.

they had a whole underground/adult comics section, that they'd always have to shoo me away from. i was a kid, but i remember when the original teenaged mutant ninja turtles came out... also lone wolf, and cub (which is hella violent) was a super big influence.

the ones that really played a big role were the chinese Jademan East comics though. the first one i ever bought, had a guy karate chopping himself in the face to commit an honorable suicide, after wasting half the henchmen of his former gangboss who he'd rebeled against. this were kung fu comics, so being a villian, he ripped some dude's jaw clean off, and tore another guy's arms out of their sockets. when he commited suicide, they showed his skull busting open, and his elbow fracturing from the force (all sonny chiba street fighter style.)

as a little kid i remember looking at the covers of Faust, and wishing i knew how to read, because they looked so cool...

man, i had first issues of so many comics, all the sandman style ones, all of frank miller's stuff... totally trashed 'em because i didn't care, i wanted to READ them, not gaze at them longingly through a hermetically sealed sterilized glass coffin. i could have paid off my student loans with that stuff LOL...

but yeah, Alan Moore's Watchmen was pretty darn good. i generally have enjoyed everything else he's done since then too. as a writer i kind of idolize him, so i was fairly put off comics when he got the shaft.

[LoraLie]

I remember when I was in the 5th grade my teacher read Harry Potter to us. Two girls had to go sit in the back of the class and read other books because their mothers did not want their children listening to it because they believed it was satanic

I thought it was pathetic.

Especially when the librarian of my school who is pentacostal (cant spell) and INCREDIBLY religious is incredibly supportive of kids reading the book.

It's just a fucking book, get your panties out of a twist.

[Velvet-Tongue]

Wait! maybe they're afraid of their children finding out that being locked in a closet and being denied reality is really not normal =o

[Anarkey]

ok ,just what the fyck does any HP book have to do with Wicca ??
some peeps r just plain stupid, WTF
lets just not have kids read any thing ,, no math books ,Lit ,Science,,
god know Shakespeare should just fyckin be banned any ways .
wait a sec ,ive seen this crap before. its called Salem witch hunting.

[Mr Karl]

not only that but harry potter can do real magic, not at all like what wiccans do

[keiko]

not only that but harry potter can do real magic, not at all like what wiccans do

Dude that's awesome! I love you now. And the fluffy bunny set (created 1950 by a dude in england) "casts" thier "spells" (prayer rituals) in english. Potter and friends use mangled latin. *sigh*

K

[mmmcherry]

It's just a fucking book, get your panties out of a twist.

exactly what i think every time i hear about someone freaking out over harry potter.
ITS FICTION!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!! your children will not turn into satan worshippers because of fucking HARRY POTTER... my god. HES A GOOD GUY ISNT HE?! haha he fuckin beats the bad guy every time... fucking hell.

[Bondage Clown]

She was also quoted as saying ot the judge, "I have never read any of the books"

[Buster Friendly]

i say we give the christians the state of utah, or wyomming, or some shit, tell them they can run it anyway they want...but if they leave we'll kill them, mine the border... and that'll be that.

[mmmcherry]

hahaa that would be interesting.