Religious Censorship

I found the conclusion of the article to be the most interesting. As each court ruling sets prescendent for future ones, it is impossible to ignore the huge consequences that censoring a book for "religious" reasons would have on our country. The text references previous decisions saying, "the courts have previously addressed the curricular use of fantasy literature that allegedly promotes witchcraft." But once a book is banned for promoting some type of religious ideas that is separate from the norm, it is impossible to for see where the line could be drawn. This article argues that removing the bible would have to be the next logical step which certainly would backfire on those attempting remove Harry in the first place. We've seen religious censorship all throughout the schools, arguments to against the pledge, or the supreme court case dealing with prayer before football games. It seems to me, most of the decisions allow religious or atheistic influences as long as they are not forced upon the students. In this case, as Harry Potter was not on a required reading list and merely one book among many in the library, the argument against the option of reading it carries little weight.

On a side note, it is interesting to think about the immense influence these books have had on children and reading. It seems as if JK Rowling has almost single handedly got a generation excited to put down the video game and read. And while dealing with issues of censorship, it's tough to swallow adults banning books that made a younger generation passionate to read.