Mother appeals decision on Potter ban in libraries
We reported previously on the Georgian mother, Laura Mallory, who campaigned for the Harry Potter books to be removed from Gwinnett County school libraries because, fundamentally, they "promote and glorify witchcraft." Following a public hearing to discuss the matter in April - in which the support for the novels staying put was predictably strong - the Gwinnett Board of Education ruled the books would remain on shelves.
Mallory, unsatisfied with the outcome, appealed the decision and a second hearing was held yesterday. Mallory rehashed her previous points regarding why the books should go, saying "Witchcraft is being mainstreamed to our kids today but people are not aware of it. They think these books are fantasies but Wicca is a real recognized religion."
Gwinnett County Schools attorney Victoria Sweeny says that under Mallory's reasoning, school bookshelves could become virtually empty, as she began to list many other stories with witches as characters, including Macbeth and Sleeping Beauty.
Mallory, unsatisfied with the outcome, appealed the decision and a second hearing was held yesterday. Mallory rehashed her previous points regarding why the books should go, saying "Witchcraft is being mainstreamed to our kids today but people are not aware of it. They think these books are fantasies but Wicca is a real recognized religion."
Gwinnett County Schools attorney Victoria Sweeny says that under Mallory's reasoning, school bookshelves could become virtually empty, as she began to list many other stories with witches as characters, including Macbeth and Sleeping Beauty.
Apparently she finds the books so disturbing she says she's never completely read any of them. But surely that's a necessity in order to dub them 'evil.'
Additionally, in an effort to strengthen her argument, she referenced the past week's school shootings, saying that "you would think that we would want to do everything we can to get any form of evil out of our schools now."
The board is expected to make a decision in December. Let's hope they finally put this issue to rest.
Additionally, in an effort to strengthen her argument, she referenced the past week's school shootings, saying that "you would think that we would want to do everything we can to get any form of evil out of our schools now."
The board is expected to make a decision in December. Let's hope they finally put this issue to rest.
Posted by Ciaran on Oct 4th |
628 Comments
Visitor Comments
You just gotta love Laura Mallory - the woman redefines entertainment! Nevermi nd that J.K. what's-her-name; Mallory has made a believer out of me. Of COURSE Harry Potter promotes witchcraft, that's obvious, but why leave it at that? The way I see it, Harry Potter has much more that just the possible strengthening of the Wicca religion to answer for. Naturally, there's the obesity issue - if you read the books it's evident that the author feels that the more you weigh, the more evil you are. Then you got the foul language - it doesn't help that it's disguised by phrases like "Ron swore loudly" - the damage is already done! What sort of examples are we setting for our kids here? And what's with the constant critic of big noses?! There's hardly a single discription of that horrible Snape that does not include a remark concerning his "abnormally big nose". It's bad enough that these books are discriminating fat children - they have to pick on the big-nosed ones too? And don't even get me STARTED on the mentionings of "inappropriate charms performed on goats"! What did goats ever do to that Rowling-woman? GOATS ARE PEOPLE TOO! (p.s.: ruthless flaming of my person will be highly appreciated)
ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHH HHHHHHHH!!!! This woman frustrates me SO much. How can she possibly tie in a school shooting to Harry Potter? I'm sure the killer was a HUGE HP fan and read the books every day in order to get "inspired". [/sarcasm] Geez, lady, get a freakin' grip. At least READ the books you're trying to ban, for crying the heck out loud! And the supposed "evil" in these books is so strong that it overrules the "good" parts of the books? Like friendship, bravery, dedication, staying true to yourself, and loyalty? If she'd even read book ONE she'd know that the series is much more about good winning the day, rather than evil. But does she care? Nooooo. She just wants the ENTIRE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF GEORGIA TO BEND TO HER WILL!!! ...Sorry. But it's true. Like Laura said on her blog, it's ridiculous to expect that the entire district should have to cater to one person's beliefs. If she doesn't like it, she should put her kid in a different school. If the board rules in her favor, I will scream. They'd better put this freakin' lady in her place! >:-(
She can appeal all she wants, she won't get her way. Hooray for Harry Potter =]
UMBRIDGE much? Maybe she is Mallory's secret idol...(if she did read any of the books she definetly read book 5)
Why do people always have to ruin our fun??? wow, that mother needs to be slapped... like every book has at least some magic in it... i hope all the hp books stay where they need to be.
i'm soo hapeh this isn't for MY SCHOOL. or i'd transfer to a shcol where HP is allowed...anyone on mugglenet that goes to this school???
Honestly. Somebody slap her a**.
WoW! i have the perfect 3 little words to describe her...RETARDATION FROM HELL! LoL!
thats so messed up. its fiction for gods sakes!
Um........
She'll never read the books if she did, she might find out how wrong she is.
i feel bad for her kids. They're probably the most hateed kids at the skewl...or at least their mom is.
She (and almost all the other HP haters) is just jealous!!!! JKR did the one thing that many of the writers of today have been trying to do for such a long time: get kids back into reading!! HP made me LOVE AND ADORE reading. In fact, I'm in 8th grade, so they are making us think about careers, and I wanna do anything that has to do with BOOKS!!!!!!! Also, after I started reading Harry Potter, I was recommended for Gifted, and then I continued reading them, and I got INTO Gifted. High math too! Now I'm taking Algebra I in 8th grade, and I'm getting a High School Credit for it!!! I was never really considerably smart in READING and SOCIAL STUDIES and MATH until after I started reading HP!!!!!!! What's Mrs. Umbridge (SO Sorry for the typo. Mrs. MALLORY) got to say to that?
Thanks vinci1126. I have sumthin' else to say! She's making Christians of all dominations (catholics, baptist, lutheran, ect. if you don't know what 'domination' means) seem like they hate hp. fyi they don't. Unfortunatlely,there will always be some christians that beleive hp goes against their faith. I'm fine with that. I have a close friend whose not allowed to read hp because of witchcraft. But I appreiciate that her parents keep it to THEMSELVES and not parade around saying "My kid can't read hp, and neither can you!" UGH! I'm gonna print out these comments, march right down to Geogia, and give that lady a page or two of them! Let's see if THAT will get the idea throught her thick skull!!!!
Please get over yourself!! they are BOOKS..and good luck with bashing Macbeth and Sleeping Beauty...now the board members are certainly not going to ban them. and please, next time, try reading the books before judging them. how can you even know what they are about with out reading them??
someone please help this poor, INSANE woman
Okay, this woman is just plain stupid. Worrying about her child is one thing, but to affect others is just about retarded. I think she needs to get her fat head out of people's business. If a kid in Gwinnett County wants to read Harry Potter, then they should be able to go check it out at the school library. It's all in the first amendment. Freedom, for God's sake. I read Harry Potter first in 3rd grade, and since then it's promoted me to read other books and expand my reading abilities. Without Harry Potter, I wouldn't learned many moral values, like courage and loyalty. Harry Potter series is a hero to me, and I couldn't imagine a life without them. Man, I would love to get in Mallory's face and tell her off. And then I could slap her. That would make my day. =]
wow that girl is a real girl its just a book dang it i mean come on in the bible it specificly says u cannot perform the practice of witchcraft it doesnt say anything about reading it if you go around saying your wizard or an oracle then you will be doomed but reading a good story wont affect anyone not children not teens not adults no one those stupid adults know crap
StrangeButCool i'll come with ya to georgia!! Maybe mallory works for voldie and she jsut doesnt want us reading how voldie got defeated twice and soon to be a 3rd time (hopefully uin the 7th book) Laura (from mugglenet) onc esaid on mugglecast, quote: YOULL GO TO HELL IF YOU READ HARRY POTTER, BUT ITS OKAY TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES? end quote. And i strongly agree with that. Halo and halo 2 have BLWOING PEOPLE UP in it. And i dont see this umbridge..er..MALLORY lady trying 2 stop that!!
I know whatcha mean, StrangeButCool!!! A few of my really close friends are not allowed to read HP, but we just don't talk about it!!!! My best friend can't (and really doesn't want to) read HP, but her mom has NEVER SAID A WORD TO ME ABOUT IT!!!!!!! I really appreciate all those anti-HP paople who keep their opinions to themselves. Thank you all. We dont' care if they don't like the books, so they shouldn't care if we do!!! It's a free country!!! We have freedom of speech, yes, so Mallory CAN voice her opinion. But we also have the freedom to read what we want!!!! If Mallory wants to make sure that everyone doesn't read HP, then she can start her own little country and become a dictator. Leave HP fans alone!!!! What did we EVER do to YOU???????!!!!!!!!! WE DID NOTHING!!!!!!!! LEAVE US BE!!!!!!!!!!!!
she's absolutely ridiculous.
Someone snuck into the gene pool while the lifeguard's back was turned. Honestly. If this woman (how embarrassing) had done any research whatsoever, she would have realized that Harry Potter does not anywhere in any of the books promote or even contain any reference to Wicca. Wicca is not even an evil religion like she so wrongly believes. There is no devil/Satan worship in Wicca. Satan is a Christian creation. Wiccans have a code of ethics by which they live. They do not practice black magic. They are an essentially peaceful religion. All they seek is to become better attuned with the universe and everything in it. And I doubt Harry Potter influenced any school shootings. Seriously. The shooters probably haven't even read the books. And neither, obviously, has Mallory. Psh. Ignorant fool.
OMG, why is she making such a big fuss!!! I feel bad for her children if she has any!!! What do they read, Barney?!? Oh no wait they couldn't cause it has a talking dinosaur!!! Oh no there must some evil presence in Barney!!!
dose she know that witchcaft is real and not go to harm ppl
GorgeousGinnyxoxoxox, you have a good point. It's a funny point too, which makes it super cool. (LOL) Just had to say that.
oh for the sake of peanuts, don't go against one of the biggest franchises in the world!! It has a tendency of not working....
LOL yea GorgeousGinnyxoxoxoxi agree..*sigh* She knwos shes gonna looze. But thing is, ahven't she thought about transfering her children to CATHOLIC/PRIVATE SCHOOL?!?!?! EEEK!
Ha. Lol. Someone slap her. Psh. :] Yeah, about that whole "let's ban it cause it has references to magic" issue......that lady really has no idea what she's talking about. The library would be virtually empty if she had her way. Except for the Bible. Oh, wait, sorry. Forgot. That has magical references as well. Let's ban the Bible too! -_- She doesn't even know her own religion.
"I solemnly swear that this woman is off her rocker."
honestly! you don't want yer kid ter read the books, don't let them read the books! i thought that the folks in the books celabrated christian holydays like christmas and easter. the ignorant woman!
-snort- Barney is possessed.....
*POP* [apparates] In 3 minutes time, Tick, tock, check the clock!! Owls will be on their way....
If ignorance was bliss, Ms Mallory would be the happiest person on earth. OMT
you guys make sure you are not blaming Christians for this womans actions b/c that is just as bad as what she is doing! NOT all Christains feel like her! I am one of those Christians who likes the books and a lot of you are very offensive! What she is doing is idiotic, but that is HER not our Religon!!! Remember that!!
Nevermind all the good lessons Harry Potter teaches about loyalty, love, and friendship. I bet she hasn't read a single chapter of any of the books. Don't you just love arguments that stem from ignorance?
what a stupid lady... it's true... every other book would be gone if we tried to censor magic out of writing.. where is the freedom of speech and all that? once we start cuttin out little things like that.. soon books will only be descriptions of flowers... just for goodness' sake... don't describe the bug on the flower.. it might scar someone and make the shoot someone else.. i mean... GEEZ!!!
She insults the intelligence of children. if her kids aren't smart enough to realize the difference between life and fantasy, then that's her problem. nobody can stop her from not letting her kids read fairy tales or harry potter, but it's going too far to stop other peoples' kids reading them at school. that's just wrong. When she starts to campaign against the Chronicles of Narnia, let me know.
I bet this lady still hasn't read any of these books! I hope her kids want to read it even more since she's trying to ban it!!!! ( just like everyone wanted to read the quibbler after umbridge banned it) only she wouldnt know that because she hasnt read a single book and is depriving her kids!
well color me disappointed. :( The clock hasn't changed....I really thought I was on to something....perhaps tomorrow the owls will be sent.
OMGosh. This woman aggravates me to no end. She has not read the books. How can she call them evil if she has not read them??? And how can she blame school shootings on Harry Potter? Do we even know whether those poor disturbed people read Harry Potter? No. And Wicca is not evil. I am a Christian myself but I know a few Wiccans and they are anything but evil. This woman is not informed about anything other than her religion and she does not want to be informed. But if she gets those books out of the libraries, I'd take that as religious persecution. Aren't we living in a country with freedom of religion? Is she not stomping on our beliefs and rights as students and book readers? If she gets away with this, I'm gonna fight it.
something crawled up her butt and died. i mean seriously. she appealed to the school and lost. she appealed to the county and lost. COME ON WOMAN! she's so going to lose. and you know what? i'm going to laugh at her. she should at least read the books. stupid, stupid woman. AND she makes Christians look bad. WE AREN'T ALL BAD, I PROMISE! just people like her. stupid, stupid, stupid woman.
this woman needs to lighten up! And for god sakes, what's wrong with wicca anyway. It's a free country, if people want to have different religious beliefs, then let them. Besides, the witches in Harry Potter aren't at all like Wiccans. Wiccans are more shamanistic, similair to the native americans with certain beliefs. They focus more with the earth and meditations. This lady needs to get her facts straight. Besides, Harry Potter rocks!
WOW! its amazing what people will do when theyre bored!!!!! i didnt know that being bored makes you stupid!!! i learn something new everyday
Haha Lol Patronus!!! Ya and that something that crawled up her butt is really BIG!!!
Ok, i've got it: Barney crawled up her butt and died. (look at GorgeousGinnyxoxoxox's post and patronus's post it ur clueless. it's would be pointless if don't) lol
Not this AGAIN!! I am getting very sick of this woman. She needs a hobby. She also seems to be contradicting herself. So Harry Potter promotes Wicca, but there's no speciffic religion mentioned in it?? Now, that doesn't make since, now does it? I also thought that the last time all of this showed up, she didn't read the books because they were 'too long'. Now she doesn't read them because they're 'too disturbing'. Hmmm. Why has her reasoning suddenly changed, I wonder. Either way, she still hasn't read the books, so she shouldn't be saying anything at all about them.
Her argument is that Harry Potter is bad because Wicca is a recognized religion. Some people don't believe in christianity, which is a recognized religion, so by her logic, all books with christians should be banned as well.
I'm sorry if someone has pointed this out already but the compliment: "The major themes are good versus evil, overcoming adversity, loyalty, friendship and courage." wasn't said by Mallory but by Victoria Sweeny. Mallory really should read the books thoroughly before she accuses them of encouraging evil. And as for her comments reagrding the shootings - that is So Wrong I don't know how to start expressing my disbelief. HOW can she blame a book on that? enless she's refering to the Draco insident in HBP? and her advice that the bible should be read in class? Wouldn't this entail forcing one set of religious beliefs onto others with different beliefs. How would that help in people from different cultures and religions learn about each other? Reading books - ANY book should be a personal choice or at least a parent's choice where their children are concerned.
I just can't believe she brought up the school shootings as a relevant point to banning Harry Potter. That's the kind of examples you use for banning guns or at least for gun control, like Michael Moore did on Bowling for Columbine. It's not something to exploit to ban a book, when there are so much more important issues in the world that are cause of pain and suffering for people. Plus the Harry Potter books aren't evil, no matter who says it, be it this woman or the Pope's chief exorsist. There's no chance, no argument, no way. And then admitting you haven't actually read the books while making accusations like that, well, that's just making yourself look ridiculous...
"Additionally, in an effort to strengthen her argument, she referenced the past week's school shootings, saying that 'you would think that we would want to do everything we can to get any form of evil out of our schools now.'" ._._._._. Words cannot describe how furious this comment makes me. Never mind that I cannot fathom why she thinks the two are connected; how dare she use those recent tragedies (inefficiently, IMO) to push her own agenda?
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