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["David R. Matusiak" <matusiak AT hotmail.com>]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/550860.asp

Church’s book burning gets attention

Records, CDs and Disney videos also fuel the blaze

PITTSBURGH, March 27 — The Rev. George Bender says he never thought a little 
book burning would get so much publicity. But reporters have not stopped 
calling his tiny Harvest Assembly of God Church in rural western 
Pennsylvania since word got out that church members held a ceremonial 
burning of ”ungodly” videotapes, music CDs and books, including some of 
Harry Potter’s fantasy tales.

Among the 30 church members and guests in attendance were teen-agers who led 
hymns including ‘Amazing Grace’and ‘Father of Creation.’

        “WE GOT A LOT more attention than we were planning on. I’ve been 
getting calls all morning from all around the country,” Bender said Tuesday. 
“We were only out to make a little noise in the local community.”
      The Pentecostal church, located about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh, 
sponsored a book burning at the edge of its gravel parking lot Sunday 
evening. Among the 30 church members and guests in attendance were 
teen-agers who led hymns including “Amazing Grace” and “Father of Creation.”
      Into the fire went 1970s albums by Joe Walsh and the rock group 
Foreigner; CDs by Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and AC/DC; and Walt Disney 
Co. videos of “Pinocchio” and “Hercules.”
      Titles by actress Shirley MacLaine and psychic Edgar Cayce, whose 
work touched on supernatural or paranormal themes, also went up in smoke.

‘SAME OLD DEVIL’
      “It’s the same old devil with a new face,” explained Bender, 60, 
whose congregation has about 95 members.
      The American Library Association, which tracks challenges to 
controversial books in the United States, said book burnings are relatively 
rare partly because local authorities seldom grant legal permits for such 
fiery spectacles.
      “We haven’t had any burnings that I’m aware of since ... I believe it 
was back in the ’80s,” said Judith Krug, director of the ALA’s Office for 
Intellectual Freedom. “This is not because people have not wanted to burn 
books. But book burnings are really very extreme.”
WashPost: Will the real Muggle stand up

      She also noted that the wildly popular Harry Potter series has 
attracted more formal challenges in public school libraries than any other 
book or book collection for two straight years.
      In 2000, ALA statistics show, 41 of 646 challenges were directed at 
Harry Potter books. In a handful of cases, the books actually were removed 
from the shelves.
      “The prevalent reason for challenges is the notion that if children 
read these materials they will become believers in [witchcraft] and that 
evil pervades the material,” Krug said.

INSPIRED BY NEW TESTAMENT
      Only a few Harry Potter books were among the trunkload of articles 
fed to the flames outside the Harvest Assembly of God Church on Sunday.
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        But Bender said British author J.K. Rowling’s ”supernatural” novels 
hold special status because local schools distribute workbooks that feature 
the boy magician but will not allow church members to hand out Bibles.
      “Harry Potter is a big flashpoint,” the clergyman said.
      The church modeled the book burning on a biblical passage from the 
New Testament’s Book of Acts, which describes how former practitioners of 
magic burned their books in public.
      Bender said the church had never held a book burning before but might 
try it again if doing so would “accomplish something positive toward 
expressing our love for God.”
      Meanwhile, publicity has not hurt. “We got some people mad at us. But 
it’s good to have publicity. It’s good,” he said.



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