David Kronke: Reading is (only for) Fundamental(ists)

Thursday’s idiot du jour – heck, we’ll give her the honor today, as well – is Laura Mallory, who wants her children's Georgia school to ban the Harry Potter books. No, it’s not enough for her to keep her own children from enjoying J.K. Rowling’s personal publishing industry: No student should have his or her mind warped by the sinister influences of Harry and his demon friends.

Yes, it’s the old witches-and-warlocks-are-bad-for-you argument, which might be true, if witches and warlocks with magical powers actually existed. As incontrovertible proof, Mallory trotted out a student who, after reading the books, tried to dabbled in sorcery and got depressed (probably because it didn’t work). Seems to me that this kid is so impressionable that if she read the Bible, she might be convinced to smash babies’ heads on the rocks (Psalm 137: 8-9, for the record). So, while we can’t outlaw supreme ignorance, we can try to outlaw anything that might put an idea in some moron’s noggin.

Of course, outlawing the books would in fact probably make ignorance all the more legal: Rowling’s books have made reading genuinely cool to legions of kids that might have not otherwise discovered its joys. As, in fact, many students pointed out during the meeting seeking to wave a wand and make Harry go poof.

Why are people like Mallory even given the time of day?