A Catholic school in Nashville, Tennessee has banned J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books from the school library because a Reverand there claims that the books teach kids how to utilize real, working witchcraft.

97.1fm The Ticket is reporting that the Diocese at the school, Reverand Dan Reehil of the Nashville’s St. Edward Catholic School, informed parents and the rest of the school as to why the books were removed from the library, with part of the e-mail stating…

“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 decision to ban the books from the library was backed up by the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, Rebecca Hammel, who noted that Reverand Reehil’s decision was final.

According to CBS News, the Harry Potter series was one of the most contentious novels during the turn of the century between 2001 and 2003, where multiple requests were made to have the books removed from library shelves.

For those on the Religious Right, books like Harry Potter promulgate the acceptance of magic and divination, which is believed to be yet another stepping stone in the erosion of traditional Western values. Funnily enough, J.K. Rowling’s promotion of LGBTQIA+ content was not an issue for the church but the witchcraft was.

It’s also interesting because not long ago a Catalonia school in Spain banned over 200 books for encouraging “toxic” stereotypes. So different religious and ideological busybodies seem to have their sights set on banning books from libraries that don’t fit with their belief system. For the Religious Right this includes books that go against the teachings in the Bible, and for the Authoritarian Left it’s anything that promotes sound mind and traditional Western values.

(Thanks for the news tip alex9234)