Catpaw - diary of an angry cat

Oh dear, oh my … it’s time to hide your kiddies from the big bad evils of literature and imagination.

Yes folks, the last Harry Potter book is out, hot on the heels of a successful movie release.

Can’t you just feel the ire of the anti-Potter factions? I hesitate to call them Christian, because this group won’t know a Christian thought if it reared up and bit them in the ass.

They seem to be obsessed with the thought children who read the Potter books will become sucked into the world of witchcraft and magic. Hee, hee…. I wish. Do you think I would work if I could wave my wand and zap into a different world? Not on your Nellie. I’d be off to to Diagon Alley to find nice digs and whip up a whole bunch of great food, have my laundry and house cleaning done via magic and zap in anything I wanted. Who needs work when you have a wand.

I like to scour the internet and papers for conspiracy theories. I have a collection of these tracks. They fascinate me. The anti-Potter crowd now has an entire section all their own. I found a website called Christian Answers awhile back and found this ripe little claim for their book:

Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged studies elements of Rowlings’s imagery and writings, including the use of the “Potter” name in Pagan religion …, shapechanging …, meditation …, human sacrifice…, feminine power, Wicca (the religion of witchcraft) …, the tools, spells and curses used in witchcraft … , Christian youth and their involvement …, communicating with the spirit world, reincarnation, situational ethics in witchcraft, the lightning bolt as a power symbol, broomsticks and witches’ hats as phallic symbols, dabbling in divination and sorcery, recruitment, teaching children dark arts, … and more.

Oh.. I am impressed - human sacrifice and feminine power all in one book! How the hell did we get back to the “woman as bogeyman”? Personally, I think an old fashioned human sacrifice is a whole lot scarier than women seeking equal rights. But then Feminism always has scared the proverbial pants off this group.

I’m still pondering their “situational ethics in witchcraft”. What does that mean? The characters in the novels aren’t allowed to distinguish between right and wrong? They can’t have morality?

The “lightening bolt as a symbol of power” is another interesting aspect of their worries. This is an ancient symbol of power. Guess that means no more tales about Zeus eh? Pity, I’ve always enjoyed the Greek myths.

But my favourite is this one, “broomsticks and witches’ hats as phallic symbols”. I have to be brutally honest here. Until I read that, I was naively and blissfully ignorant of the sexual dangers of Harry Potter. Now I want to go through all the novels and see what else I’ve missed. I’ll have to really read between the lines and get as much smut as I can. Can’t wait!

I would like to know if these people have actually read the novels? Maybe they did and the real problem is they think their narrow version of Christianity is the only one that can have such values as friendship, loyalty, honour, do the right thing in spite of overwhelming odds, family values … should I go on? Or perhaps they don’t like the way the characters (especially the strong women) ask questions. Don’t ask questions, just do as we say - even if we are a group blind jackass’ lost in the forest.

Guess I’m just a pagan at heart. I’m happy that way.

Stumble it!