ErinHartShow.com | Contributor Sandi Bebop

Huckleberry Finn, the Diary of Anne Frank, the Wizard of Oz... What do these three books have in common? They�re all classics, right? Wrong. They have all been banned along with the Harry Potter series, in certain schools in the U.S. Why would such an innocent book as Huckleberry Fin become banned? Or such a timeless classic as the Diary of Anne Frank? And what about Harry Potter? The Harry Potter books are the basic plot of good vs. evil. In the 1st book, Harry discovers that his true heritage of a wizard. And not just any wizard, The-Boy-Who-Lived. He begins to attend a school called Hogwarts, a magical school for witches and wizards. Throughout the book, he encounters many obstacles; some as simple as outrageous homework to others as scary as running into a three headed dog named Fluffy and coming face to face with the evil Lord Voldemort. Because this book�s fun to read and educational, it should not be banned or restricted from public, non-religious schools. Three reasons why it should not banned are: Not everyone feels morally/religiously offended by these books; because the book makes children and adults alike want to read; and because these books have no "evil or "satanic" content.

One the decision to ban the books, Emlyn Humphries, the head teacher at the Takely Christian School in southeast London, replied, "I think it�s a bit hysterical, to be blunt. Banning books is not the way to go about things.". He also said that children would go and read them somewhere else if they could not access them through the schools. Some people believe this popular series evil and encourage people to believe in and fallow witchcraft, some even go as far as to compare it to the Antichrist. But this book�s the ultimate example of good vs. evil. What some people are getting confused about is whether or not Harry is evil. How could he? JK Rowling has invented this generations� best fictional hero. (More over Superman.) He demonstrates good morals, good ethics and good values. He depicts the ideal role model. There maybe some people who go to the extreme and use them for an excuse to practice witchcraft, but that was not intended. According to J.K Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, "I have met thousands of children now, and not even once has a child come up to me and said, �Mr. Rowling, I�m so glad I�ve read these books because now I want to be a witch.�". There are just some people who read way too much into things and overreact. This particular situation has often been compared with the Wizard of Oz controversy. When it premiered in the movies, the Wizard of Oz was thought to be very controversial and was even accused of being evil. Now this story�s considered a timeless classic.

These books have something for everyone, no matter what age: action, adventure, comedy, mystery, magical creatures, and even a little bit of romance. They also teach good morals and show the value of friendship. Not just little kids read them; adults enjoy them as well. Adults, even teachers, read them. As do students in middle and high school. Some people believe that teachers are "teaching" Harry potter to their young students. In some elementary schools, where the books are not banned, they are read too students. This encourages them to appreciate and enjoy books. These books make children want to read. Adults always complain that children do not read enough. Reading these books will also make them stick with reading, they will become dedicated to finishing the long books instead of just going for the short and easy ones, and it will help prepare them for harder reading in middle school, high school, college, and later life. Many children enjoy reading these books because they like to read about someone their own age. They can relate to Harry Potter and his friends, even if they can not do magic. These books have been dubbed too violent. So?

On to one of the more controversial subjects that have to do with the Harry Potter series. Some have said that witchcraft as a religion is taught in these books. "Magic" was not really practiced in these books. The "spells", based on Latin and some French, came from J.K Rowling who taught Latin in England for a few years. An example: Mobil Corpus; used to raise and move unconscious people. Most of the spells have something to do with elements (earth, wind, water, fire). No �devil� or �demon� is called upon to help "guide" the spell or some other such nonsense. No form of "Satanism" or "Paganism", a pentagram or a s�ance, resides in these books. In Springfield, a Grandmother of a student wrote to the school board and demanded that the books be taken off the school shelves. On the complaint form, the grandmother marked that she had read the books. She referenced from the first and second books and parts of others. Mark Sawyer, the principle of the Springfield school, said, "She went on to express that it taught witchcraft as an organized religion.".

Although no "God" or church mentioned in this book does not mean it has evil content. If everyone continues to hate and fear things that do not relate with their own religious or moral beliefs then they will forever be ignorant to the rest of the world and the people around them. (No offence but in the words of Darth Vader: do not deny it, you know it to be true.) If religion can not to be practiced in schools, then the banning of things because of a few individuals religious views should not be allowed. When individual views are allowed to complicate the lives of others when equality has been stated, (like in schools, work places, and everywhere else in America supposedly), then the government has not fulfilled its duty to keep the public equal. This book does not affect everyone the same way; it makes for good reading material, and not considered by all to have "evil" content. According the March 7 issue of the Seattle Post Intelligencer; in 2001 354 books were requested to be banned. 45% of those complaints went through and those books were banned. Hopefully, Harry Potter will not appear in this years� percentile of banned books. The Harry Potter series should not be banned from public, non-religious schools. A student has the right to choose what they want to read with the exception if it�s not considered to be school appropriate.