Courtnee Johns

March 31, 2017

Dr. Powers

Journal 6

Book Banning Alive Today

In “Harry and Hierarchy: Book Banning as a Reaction to the Subversion of Authority,” Rebecca Stephens writes about the many controversies over the Harry Potter series, and the apparent belief systems behind those controversies. The article, written when only four books in the series were published, is still relevant today, as some (mostly American) groups are still trying today to get these books banned from public and school libraries.

Stephens mentions early on that banning the Harry Potter series is an American phenomenon. She quotes London’s Evening Standard to explain that in the United Kingdom, where the books were first published, the mere popularity among young readers is enough to banish any thoughts of banning the books (Stephens, 51). This seems to suggest that citizens of the United Kingdome are more concerned with literacy and promoting young readers and are also seemingly more trustworthy of children, believing that they can realize on their own not to take witchcraft seriously (Stephens, 52).

Among the many reasons for banning the Potter novels are the fears that children will get the wrong ideas about witchcraft (such as that witchcraft is fun and is something to be desired) and ideas that the books are “too violent, present ‘occult activities’ as fun, are anti-Bible, depict sorcery and magic, and open the door to ‘spiritual bondage’” (52). While this article was written when four books were published (the fourth being published in 2000), these ideologies are still present nearly seventeen years later. This cultural singularity is evidenced in a poll that was released on www.debate.org in 2015, and still is receiving votes and comments today. The poll which asks, “Should the Harry Potter series be banned from schools” received an answer of “yes” from eleven percent of its online voters. While eleven percent is not a relatively high percentage, it does exemplify that there are still people today who are reluctant or extremely opposed to letting their children have access to these novels, despite the undeniable popularity of the books and the films. In addition to this poll, there are also a few web sites dedicated to spreading information about the Rowling novels and advocating for the banning of the books.

Book burning certainly seems to be a facet of our history, and is something many people may consider obsolete. Because of their immense popularity, it is truly difficult to imagine that the Harry Potter books are still targeted for banning. Similarly, considering the American standards of being “open-minded,” it is difficult to imagine any books are still being banned. However, because of deeply-rooted religious beliefs, and fears of children becoming wiccans or being sensitive to wiccan beliefs, or for various other reasons, book banning is still alive and well today.

(I am aware that I need to add proper citations for the web sites and I also need to increase the word count)