Harry Potter books have been removed from the library of a catholic school in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to local news outlet The Tennessean, the pastor at St. Edward Catholic School sent out an email to students’ parents informing them that he had contacted exorcists who advised the removal of the books from the school. If he says so.
The pastor told parents that the curses and spells in the books about the young wizard are “actual” which may lead to “conjuring evil spirits” when read by a human being. We best not try them, then. For many of us, J.K. Rowling’s wizard-themed adventure books consumed our childhoods, leaving our imaginations in a tizz. But for Reverend Dan Reehil, a pastor at St. Edward Church and School, they’re much more sinister.
Rev. Reehil wrote in an email: “These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. 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.”
Reehil stated that he had consulted several exorcists in the United States and Rome and they recommended removing the books from students’ possession. According to the paper, the books were on shelves until the end of the previous term, but the school has just opened a new library from which they were removed.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released in 1997. In 1999, it was the most challenged book in the US, and the series topped the American Library Association’s list of the most frequently challenged books of 2000-2009.
