Catholic School Bans Harry Potter Books, Claiming Its Spells And Curses Are Real

[Demovictory9]

Catholic School Bans Harry Potter Books, Claiming Its Spells And Curses Are Real
The Rev. Dan Reehil warned that reading the spells in the J.K. Rowling novels could conjure up actual evil spirits.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-school-harry-potter-books-tennessee_n_5d6d5be1e4b0cdfe05742e46

St. Edward School is no longer allowing its pre-K through eighth grade students to check out Harry Potter books from the school’s library.


The reason? Well, the Rev. Dan Reehil, one of the school’s pastors, says the spells and curses presented in the fictional children’s series are legit and could present problems for kids who read the books, according to the Tennessean.

Reehil fleshed out his point in an email sent to parents, per the Tennessean:

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.

The pastor reportedly made the decision after consulting several exorcists in the U.S. and Rome who recommended removing the books.

HuffPost could not reach Reehil for comment, but Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville, told CBS News that the email is real.

[stopbush]

1. Fucking morons.

[dweller]

2. ...

✌🏼

[Beartracks]

3. Point of confusion...

When the pastor says that "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," is he referring to a character in the book who reads the spell as part of the story, setting a bad example for the reader. .. or is he referring to the reader who reads the fictional spells that, as far as I know, we're made up by JK Rowling?

======

[Demovictory9]

5. ,,

[dflprincess]

6. It's not an archbishop just a priest at the school

I remember an article several years ago about a priest who mocked those who tried to "demonize" Harry Potter. As I recall he had read & enjoyed the books and thought them good fantasy.

BTW Nashville is only a diocsese, not an archdiocese so it would have a bishop, not an archbishop.

[Beartracks]

8. Fixed. Thanks.

[Beartracks]

7. Ah, never mind. Not confused anymore.

Read another article at Huffpost. It's clear he thinks the spells could do bad things in the real world.

=====

[Caliman73]

15. Unfortunately, he means the actual student reading the book.

I went to Catholic school from 2nd grade through high school. The reality is that there are some priests and sisters who do believe in and promote the doctrine that reading books on witchcraft and using games like the Ouija board are inviting evil spirits into your life. How they figured that the spells in the Harry Potter series are actual spells is beyond me.

[jberryhill]

4. after consulting several exorcists in the U.S. and Rome

Ugh

[walkingman]

9. These folks are not playing with a full deck. The history of the Catholic Church is enough to

discredit anything they might believe. Disgusting.

[Mike_DuBois]

10. Goodness. So what is prayer but Evocation magic?

[virgogal]

11. I was an avid reader as a child in the 40s

and we all loved Grimm’s Fairy Tales.....some terrifying stuff,but we all survived. I never monitored what my kids read. This priest is a nut.

[Volaris]

12. I wanna play this game:

My proof that Harry Potter spells are real?

Somebody Obliviated President Trump of all known sentence structure.

I suppose priests are like any other segment of the population...some are fine, others are batshit.

This fool quite clearly belongs in the latter half.

Full disclaimer, I'm a non practicing catholic...and i loved reading the Harry Potter series.

[msongs]

13. moses, throw your staff on the ground and it becomes a serpent. nt

[defacto7]

14. I have a one word answer for this guy...

Transubstantiation

So, what was he saying about magical spells?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Oh, dear lord.

Talk about dumb. And ignorant.

[area51]

17. "She turned me into a newt!" (Monty Python)

[Beartracks]

18. Hope it got better.

It doesn't always.



========

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

19. Catholic school bans dictionary.

They determined the words in the dictionary can be rearranged to create spells, descriptions of child abuse by priests, and worst of all, the sacrilege, "It is all right to eat meat on Fridays."

[LuckyLib]

20. Upside: lots of kids (and their parents) sit right down and read Harry Potter books.

My daughter devoured them in 4th grade -- couldn't get enough.