A Roman Catholic school in Tennessee, United States of America, has removed JK Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series of books from its library.
The move came after the pastor Rev. Dan Reehil felt that the magic shown in the books is a ‘clever deception’. As per reports, the pastor at St Edward Catholic school emailed parents of the children studying in the school that “several exorcists” he has been in touch with who recommended removing the books from the library. “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,” he said.
Turns out, Rev. Dan Reehil’s word on the matter is the final since the Catholic Church does not have an official position on Rowling’s super popular books which are enjoyed by children and adults alike across the world.
Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for Catholic Diocese of Nashville said that she was aware of the decision and that the pastor was well within his authority to take the decision.
The popular book series were published between 1997 and 2007 and has been a super hit movie franchise as well. The curses in the books include ‘unforgivable curses’ like ‘avada kedavra’, the killing curse, ‘crucio’, the torture curse and ‘imperio’, the curse which allows the wizards to control action of others which are the most powerful and sinister curses in the fictional series.
This is not the first time Harry Potter books have drawn disapproval of the Christians. The religious parents have wanted Harry Potter books banned because it ‘glorifies witchcraft and occult’ and ‘normalises magic’.
