Burning books, ideas is the real sorcery

The Rev. George Bender, you're a putz. You have a right to be, of course. This is America, even if you behave as if Salem is our nation's capital.

You are the leader of the Harvest Assembly of God Church near Pittsburgh. You're also a book burner. I wish you could hear the contempt in my voice when I say that.

In late March, after overseeing a bonfire in which CDs, videos and books were burned for being "ungodly," you told any reporter who would listen: "We got some people mad at us. But it's good to have publicity. (We'll have another book burning) if it will accomplish something positive toward expressing our love for God."

I don't question your love for God, Rev. Bender. You must have faith in a higher power if you think your earthly actions are going to go unpunished in the afterlife.

In addition to CDs by Bruce Springsteen and Disney videos such as "Pinocchio," you burned several copies of the Harry Potter books.

I don't have to ask whether you've read a single page of a single Harry Potter book; I know you haven't. People like you, who condemn works of art for not fitting a narrow set of values, rarely take the time to experience the items you condemn. That would take an open mind, and yours is closed tighter than a space shuttle O-ring.

Children line up for hours to get each new Harry Potter book. To read! Anything that captures imaginations in the age of PlayStation, fast-cut music videos and DVD movies on demand is a minor miracle.

If you took the time to read a Harry Potter book, Rev. Bender, you would find supernatural beasts and witchcraft and sorcery. But this is not satanic, gratuitous violence. The children in the books are learning about life through extraordinary adventures that parallel most kids' less exciting lives.

The books show good kids making tough but honorable choices, with strong female equals and clear consequences for those who lie, cheat or hurt others. Harry gets through most of his battles on wit and teamwork, not sorcery. The most powerful magic in Harry Potter's world is love.

The central adult figure in the books is Albus Dumbledore, a wizard in the Gandalf/Ben Kenobi tradition. I assume you know who those characters are, Rev. Bender, as surely you've burned a few copies of "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" in your time.

Dumbledore teaches values you might appreciate and learn from:

• "You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"

• "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

• "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

• "You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him."

Do those thoughts strike you as counter to Christian beliefs, Rev. Bender?

The real job for parents is protecting kids from real-life monsters like you, Rev. Bender, ignorant trolls who swing their philosophical clubs without taking the time to get to know their targets.

Given a choice between explaining Harry Potter's dangers and yours, I'll take my chances with Harry's.

Yours run free, unfettered by logic, liberty or love.

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