ハリーポッターは悪魔の手引書？

現代版ナルニアと呼ぶ人もいるハリー・ポッターが悪魔の書物？
ペンシルベニア州の教会は昨年3月、『ハリー・ポッター』本やその他の「不快な物品」を破棄するために、時代がかった焚書を行なった。
（アメリカ：ハリー・ポッターなど「悪」の本を焚書する男性）
「善でなければ悪。中間なんてない。邪悪の精神をちょっとでもかじりはじめたら、危険のもとだ。家や自分自身を、悪魔からのあらゆる攻撃にさらすことになる」

（ほんの一部の過激な人たちだけの話です）
さてその結果は・・・

イラク：射殺された無実の両親の血をあびて泣き叫ぶ少女。
　　　 両親は米軍の停止命令に気づかなかった。

　　　　アメリカ軍スポークスマンの談話。
　　　　「世界が完璧ならばこんなことは起こらなかっただろう。
　　　　 だが我々は完璧な世界に住んでいるわけではない。」
　　　 Newsweek Jan. 31,2005

「本を焼くような世界ではしまいには人を焼くようになる」（ハイネ）

Earlier this year, a church in Pennsylvania held an old-fashioned book burning to destroy Harry Potter books and other "offensive materials.
"If it's not good, it's evil. There ain't no in between. "

Iraq
Mom and Dad were killed in the front seat, leaving six blood-splattered, but mostly unhurt, orphans in the back.

"In a perfect world, it wouln't happne.
But we're not in a perfect world."
, said Military Spokesman Lt. Col> Steve Boylan.
Newsweek Jan. 31,2005

"Where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings."（Heine)
"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen."

The Trouble With Harry Potter

For almost three years, Harry Potter books have topped both best-seller lists and the American Library Association's list of challenged and banned books.

Conservative Christians, who charge that the series is a satanic tract designed to lure young readers to the occult by glorifying witchcraft, have campaigned to pull the books from schools in several states. At the same time, Friday's cinematic debut of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is expected to spark a huge turnout at movie theaters nationwide.

Does exposure to Harry Potter harm children? That's the question posited by a new website that examines the controversy swirling around the series, which narrates the adventures of a nerdly outcast whose life does a 180 after he's admitted into "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Kidspeak teaches kids about censorship and fighting for freedom of expression, using the fictional boy wizard as a case study.

"You couldn't ask for a better poster child against censorship than Harry Potter," said Chris Finan, the president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, which sponsors the site with several other anti-censorship groups.

Kidspeak publishes news of censorship campaigns done in the name of children and instructs kids how to defend their First Amendment rights. The website was formerly called "Muggles (Humans) for Harry Potter," but was changed to reflect the broader anti-censorship content.

It all began with a memo sent out by a school superintendent in Zeeland, Michigan, restricting the Harry Potter books in the town's schools.

A group of infuriated Zeeland students created the website to pressure the school board to reinstate the books.

"There was a phenomenal reaction," said Finan. "Kids started getting a hold of the URL and passing it from hand to hand."

The protest worked in Zeeland, and the school district reversed almost all of the superintendent's directives. Over 18,000 kids across the country ended up becoming members of the site to fight censorship at their schools.

But the storybook sorcerer-in-training is still seen as the anti-Christ in conservative enclaves across the country.

"Harry Potter is saying you can dabble in witchcraft as long as it's entertaining," said Beverly Green, a Sunday school teacher from Eastman, Georgia, and mother of three. "If it's not good, it's evil. There ain't no in between. When you start dabbling in demonic spirits, that's dangerous ground. You're opening up your home, yourself to all kinds of attacks from the Devil."

Green's charge -– that the series trivializes the battle between good and evil -– is frequently cited by Harry Potter critics. Earlier this year, a church in Pennsylvania held an old-fashioned book burning to destroy Harry Potter books and other "offensive materials." Critics in Florida even produced their own Harry Potter video: Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged -– Making Evil Look Innocent, sold online for $24.95.

"There's something to offend everybody," said Beverley Becker, the associate director for the office of Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. "If someone doesn't like a book, they don't need to read it. And they don't need to set the reading agenda for an entire community either."

Becker said books featuring magic or witchcraft have always sparked banning efforts. A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962, was also reviled by the conservatives.

"But I can't think of any children's book that's been (reviled) as much as (Harry Potter)," she added.