‘Harry Potter’ Books ‘Conjure Evil’ In Readers: Catholic School

NASHVILLE, TN — British author J.K. Rowling uses magic as a supernatural force in the wizardly world she created in the beloved “Harry Potter” series, but a Catholic school in Nashville says her imagery isn't just playful fun. The St. Edward Catholic School has banned the series from its library over worries that children who read the seven-book series are at risk of “conjuring evil spirits.”

The Rev. Dan Reehil, a pastor at the school, worries the books glorify the occult and witchcraft, and several exorcists he consulted in both Rome and the United States apparently agree that children who read them are in real danger of becoming possessed.

The “Harry Potter” books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide since the first in the series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone," was released in 1997 — and two years later in the United States under the more mystical name of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The books are among the most challenged texts of the 21st Century, according to the American Library Association.

“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” Reehil wrote in an email obtained by the Tennessean. “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”

The Roman Catholic church doesn’t have an official position on the books, Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, told the newspaper. However, “each pastor has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school” and Reehil is “well within his authority” to ban the books, Hammel said.

The books were included in the school’s library collection in the 2018-19 school year, and Hammel told the Tennessean she doesn’t know what, if anything, occurred over the summer to prompt their removal this school year. The “Harry Potter” books remain on library shelves of other schools in the diocese, she said.

The books have long been controversial among many evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups whose members believe the Bible is a literal tomb that makes clear all magic stems from demonic sources. As a result, Rowling’s books have been burned, banned and even litigated.

The American Library Association says the “Harry Potter” books fundamentally changed the nature of book challenges in schools and public libraries in the United States. Before the 1999 U.S. release of the first book in the series, book challenges were mainly centered around sex, the human body and “inappropriate” language.

“Rowling’s books shifted the censors’ attention to fantasy with challenges asserting that Harry Potter glorified magic and the occult, confusing children and leading them to attempt to emulate the spells and curses they read about,” the library association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom says on its website. “There were some concerns over the violence and the increasingly dark tone of the later books in the series. But most of the censorship attempts aimed at ‘Harry Potter’ were for religious reasons.”

For example, Focus on the Family, a global Christian ministry, says any books or movies that make references to “wizardry, sorcery, spells and magic” are “dangerous, destructive in nature.”

The ministry’s concerns extend beyond the “Harry Potter” series to include “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and even “relatively innocent Disney movies.”

“The ability of Cinderella’s fairy-godmother to turn pumpkins into coaches, Mary Poppins’ talent for sliding up the banister, Peter Pan’s aeronautical skills, and Alice’s wild experiences with shape-altering mushrooms all belong to this category,” Focus on the Family wrote on its website.

The “Harry Potter” series last appeared on the American Library Association’s top 10 list of most challenged books in 2003, and also had been challenged in the two years before that. From 2000-2009, the “Harry Potter” books were the most challenged, ahead of the “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier, “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.

The 2018 list included:

1. “George,” written by Alex Gino: Those objecting believed iit encouraged children to clear their browser history and change their bodies using hormones; for mentioning “dirty magazines,” the male anatomy, “creating confusion”; and included a transgender character.
2. “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” written by Jill Twiss and illustrated by E.G. Keller: The book was challenged because of LGBTQIA+ content and for political and religious viewpoints.
3. “Captain Underpants” series written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey: The series was challenged because it was perceived as encouraging disruptive behavior, and also because “Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot” included a same-sex couple.
4. “The Hate U Give,” written by Angie Thomas: The book was challenged because it was perceived as “anti-cop,” and because it included profanity, drug use and sexual references.
5. “Drama,” written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier: The book was challenged because it included LGBTQIA+ characters and themes.
6. “Thirteen Reasons Why,” written by Jay Asher: The book was challenged because it addresses teen suicide.
7. “This One Summer,” written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki: The book was challenged because the text contains profanity and sexual references, and because of certain illustrations.
8. “Skippyjon Jones,” written and illustrated by Judy Schachner: The book was challenged for depicting stereotypes of Mexican culture.
9. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian,” written by Sherman Alexie: The book was challenged for sexual references, profanity, violence, gambling and underage drinking, and for its religious viewpoint.
10. “This Day In June,” written by Gayle E. Pitman and illustrated by Kristyna Litten: The book was challenged for sexual references, profanity, violence, gambling and underage drinking, and for its religious viewpoint.

“Banned Books Week,” which the American Library Association says celebrates “the freedom to read,” will be observed this year from Sept.22-28.