Curses and Spells

Fandango

8ECCA349-4791-493D-8664-44D23DBA63FCThis is truly bizarre to me. I read an article yesterday about a Catholic school in Tennessee has banned the “Harry Potter” series of books because a reverend at the school claimed they include both good and evil magic, as well as spells, which, if read by a human can conjure “evil spirits.”

I am not making this up. The reverend, apparently shortly after touching down from his magic carpet ride from heaven, claimed that there are curses and spells used in the books that are actual, real-life curses and spells. When read by a human being, these curses and spells can conjure evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.

Is that not something to marvel at? But wait! It seems that a number of Christian critics believe the Bible makes it clear that magic stems from demonic sources, and that “Harry Potter” books and movies may seduce children away from the religion and into occult practices.

Seriously?

The school’s pastor made the decision to ban the books after receiving a complaint from a parent. He then sent a letter to parents of the kids in the school warning them that if their children read the “Harry Potter” books, the parents may need to surmount an invasion of their home by evil spirits or migrants from Mexico and Central America.

Actually, that’s not true. I am making up the part about Mexican and Central American migrants. I was merely using some levity to offset the tension I’m sure you’re feeling if you have any “Harry Potter” books in your home, and your kids cast a spell on you.

But I was serious about the conjuring up of evil spirits. For what it’s worth, the Catholic Church does not have an official position on the magical book and movie series. Instead, each pastor has canonical authority to map out his parish school’s policies in such matters and to “act in that manner.”

You gotta love religious superstitions, don’t you?

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (bizarre), The Daily Spur (carpet), Ragtag Daily Prompt (marvel), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (surmount), Your Daily Word Prompt (levity), and Daily Addictions (map).

37 thoughts on “Curses and Spells”

  1. Paula Light September 2, 2019 / 8:24 pm

    Now they’ll all want to read HP. I wish he’d ban my books!

    Liked by 8 people

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  2. sgeoil September 2, 2019 / 8:27 pm

    I was once told I shouldn’t be reading Roald Dahl’s Witches to my students for similar reasons. This was a public school, needless to say I kept reading it.

    Liked by 3 people

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  3. grocerywhisperer September 2, 2019 / 8:29 pm

    This is nothing new, the churches banned those books a long time ago. Some people have a hard time knowing the difference between real life and make believe.

    Liked by 3 people

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  6. Jen Goldie September 2, 2019 / 8:47 pm

    They better stay clear of THE DAVINCI CODE movie too! Just saying LOL!!! Great job on the challenge btw.

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. Chocoviv September 2, 2019 / 9:09 pm

    I love Harry Potter!! My next blog post is about the Chamber of Secrets!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Fandango September 2, 2019 / 9:48 pm

      What’s not to like…unless you’re the Catholic Church. 😱

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Chocoviv September 2, 2019 / 9:54 pm

        I like how the article mentions that it’s up to the local priest to decide…. luckily for many of my Catholic friends… censorship of HP never happened:)

        Liked by 2 people

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  8. wscottling September 2, 2019 / 10:22 pm

    I read that article too. It was similar to the arguments that came out when Harry Potter first hit the bookshelves. I’d laugh if it wasn’t so sad.

    Liked by 3 people

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  10. dawnbirdau September 3, 2019 / 12:46 am

    I know some Christian schools and parents see HP books as evil but haven’t come across this in Catholic settings.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. willowdot21 September 3, 2019 / 1:38 am

    OMG! 1984! Seriously I just cannot believe this …well actually I can . I wonder if they have ever actually read the Bible there is plenty of what you could call magic and the devil in there. God help the world in going to hell in a hand cart 🥴🙃😒🙁💜

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Taswegian1957 September 3, 2019 / 4:45 am

    I thought that the Harry Potter series had seduced kids into reading books not doing black magic. I have heard this before and it’s ridiculous.

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. newepicauthor September 3, 2019 / 7:40 am

    I hope that they don’t conjure up Rosemary’s Baby, because I am afraid of Satan’s spawn.

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    • Fandango September 3, 2019 / 11:30 am

      I think it would be hilarious if people didn’t believe it.

      Liked by 1 person

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  16. Melanie B Cee September 3, 2019 / 9:42 am

    Well no I don’t love idiocy in any form and your story certainly qualifies. That clergyman should be ashamed of himself, but I’m not terribly surprised at his stance. Just because one is an alleged ‘man of the cloth’ doesn’t grant that man (or woman) any wisdom, now does it? Caving to ‘peer’ pressure is a thing among the clergy, as I’ve noticed. So I focus on God and what I can do to live more like Him and I mainly ignore the clergy and religion as a whole. Religion is man made, right? So it’s flawed and stupid in the extreme sometimes. I know you don’t buy the whole ‘magic big man in the sky’ business and that’s your right. It just saddens me to read of those who allegedly do believe who have no brains. And are too busy proving why a lot of people don’t believe at all – the stupidity shines through, not the intent. Harry Potter? I read the whole series myself, and admit at the end to being stupified by the endless dumbf*ckery of those who could and did perform ‘magic’. I know it’s not real. One can’t recite spells and change a darned thing. It’s too bad those parents and that clergyman don’t realize the same thing.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Fandango September 3, 2019 / 11:42 am

      I am amazed by what people believe and that they have a hard time distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

      Liked by 1 person

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  17. Shweta Suresh September 3, 2019 / 9:57 am

    Ironic, really. Now the kids are going to read the books at any cost. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was one of the very first books that I’d ever read. It’s also the book that was one of the foundation stones for my transition to a bibliophile. So naturally, you can imagine the impact this had on me! I’m not Catholic but my faith in priests would have been endangered if I were.

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. anne leueen September 3, 2019 / 5:40 pm

    Good grief! This reminds me about a song by the Rolling Stones or maybe the Beatles that if you played it backwards it was a Satanic chant. Played it backwards? Some people get some bizarre ideas about things.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Fandango September 3, 2019 / 10:26 pm

      There was one Beatles song, I can’t remember which one, where if you played it backwards you were supposed to hear the chanting of the words “Paul is dead.”

      Liked by 1 person

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      • anne leueen September 4, 2019 / 7:05 am

        Oh my I never heard about that one. Curious since he is one that is still alive! Hmmmm…

        Liked by 1 person

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  20. leigha66 September 3, 2019 / 9:44 pm

    Sometime when my daughter was in high school we began a tradition of buying one banned book every year during banned book week and then talked about it. So many of the banned books are so well written. It really sickens me how much great literature has been banned at one time or another. Check out the website https://bannedbooksweek.org/ to learn more about this week to celebrate our freedom to read anything.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Fandango September 3, 2019 / 10:50 pm

      Only those who are insecure would stoop to banning books.

      Liked by 1 person

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  22. sirirani27 September 10, 2019 / 7:10 pm

    That really is bizarre. Harry Potter is a wonderful series to read and the movies were definitely amazing as well. I do believe the kids will feel like they should read the series just because the Priest banned Harry Potter books. Ironic that they would ban the books. It makes you think of Hitler’s Germany because they first started banning books then they burnt the books that were written by people that they didn’t like. Kind of reminds me of a elder in my community that convinced my parents not to let me go to a certain college because he felt that many Hindus who went there were convinced to convert to Christianity.

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