I hate to even mention this, but all this Harry Potter nonsense is crazy. Christians who (in my opinion) are being completely rediculous are making such a big stink about the fact that there's witchcraft and wizardry in it so we shouldn't let our young people read it because it will corrupt their minds and make them Satan-worshippers and on and on and on. Darren from The Living Room posted about it (but he's on the same side as me; not one of the rediculous ones!). You can read his post rather than me rehashing all the info. But I will say, on a similar note, that when all of us church kids of my generation were little we weren't allowed to watch The Smurfs because of witchcraft, yet The Gummie Bears with their magic bouncing gummy juice was perfectly fine because it wasn't stirred in a black cauldrin! (I'm probably slaughtering all these words that I've never had a reason to spell before! If I am, sorry!) But if my memory serves me right, it was a "natural" substance (i.e. herbal, i.e. so are drugs) so what are we saying, that you can do drugs but not cauldrins? In real life, witches don't go around riding on broomsticks and wearing tall, black, pointy hats, so why should we give the kids the impression that that's what they should beware of? If we're harming the kids in any way, I would be quicker to say that these arguments against HP are giving them the wrong impression of what "evil" looks like. Satan isn't red with a pitchfork and a pointy tail either! If you want to teach the kids anything, teach them that books like HP are FICTION and to be read only as entertainment, not something to pattern your life after. And for those who are ready to say "that's not the kind of entertainment our kids need," dare I ask you what movies you watch? I'm sure they're not oozing the gospel message either! Teach the kids the books are fiction, and move on to teaching them that the Bible is different because it is Truth and IS something we should pattern our lives after. If nothing else, redirect your energy from complaining to teaching.

I'm done ranting for now!