December 6, 2001
The Lion’s Eye
Page 7
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New-age
By MEREDITH BECKER
Staff Writer
“Give me a break.” That’s exactly what I thought when I sat
down Halloween night to enjoy an episode of 20/20. The topic
was book bans in regards to none other than the popular
“Harry Potter” series. John Stossel of the 20/20 staff was on
the television screen interviewing parents and kids who said
they love the J.K. Rowling books. Then he veers off to the
crowd that isn’t so fond of these books. :
Caryl Matrisciana, co-founder of Jeremiah Films, helped
produce a movie to warn parents away from these books. She
cites that the broomsticks the children ride on are a “a phallic
symbol and it's very important in feminine cult worship,” and
that the lightning bolt on Harry’s forehead is somehow con-
nected to the swastika that Hitler put onto troops uniforms.
Saying that the bolt is half of the swastika, uh Caryl, I think
you’re going a little bit far on that one. I was taught in all of
my history classes that the swastika was a cross with broken
ends as a sign that Hitler somehow outranked or was better
Nazis
& mystical spells
than God. You would think that these right-wingers would i :
know that. :
Rev. Joseph Chambers of Paw Creek Ministries in North
Carolina says, “one of the signs of the anti-Christ will be a
mark on the forehead. [This book is] a how-to course in witch-
craft and Satanism. They’ re actually being taught how to be
wizards and witches."
What I cannot comprehend, is how Peoble can ban books
that children are rushing out to the stores to buy. Children are
sitting down, and asking their moms and dads or big sisters
and brothers to read them a chapter or two. They are actually
asking to spend time with mom and dad. Most importantly,
they are learning how to read and they are loving every second
of it.
People against the books are saying how the pure fantasy of
children flying around on broomstick puts evil thoughts into
children’s minds. They say that it’s teaching them that Satan is
good. In these books I’ve yet to see any mention of Satan in
any part. These books are teaching children the power of
imagination and dreams — that a goofy kid can be cool.
In the past there have been some been books banned that you
would not, and could not comprehend as to why. People in the
past have attempted and in some small minded counties suc-
ceeded in banning books such as, “Of Mice and Men,” “The
Giver,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The
Chronicles of Narnia,” even “Mary Poppins” for God’s sakes!
What could any human being find wrong with Mary Poppins!
She’s the one person who actually got me to take my medicine
when I was sick. Oh, so she flew around with an umbrella,
that’s why people banned it because it was too “fanciful.”
What kind of child is this type of society going to raise?
Drones, that’s what. Children who have no concept of imagi-
nation. Children who are so coddled and small minded that
this pathetic attempt at trying to conform everyone into a sim-
ple cookie cutter way of life will never ever end. They will
carry on what their parents instilled into them, that fanciful
books — books which display in words every little and big
person’s dreams — are the enemy.
Then they will do what I found the most horrifying thing of
this whole T.V. report. There were photographs of a book
burning and — ironically enough — there, behind the flames,
was a fat old man wearing none other than a Penn State sweat
shirt.
How dare that small-minded, beer-bellied old fart wear a
piece of clothing representing a place of education, where I go
to school? Where you go to school; where we are taught
everyday through examples like the flags representing the
countries we are all from, that Sontormity 1s not something to
strive for but understanding and equality are.
It’s sad to think that people are banning books these books
of imagination saying that it’s just too crazy to think of a child
flying around on a broomstick. Here, I was raised watching
mutant turtles doing martial arts in the sewers of New York,
being taught by a huge Japanese rat. Yet I'm perfectly fine and
mentally stable and any misgivings as to my mental stability
have come from experiences of college applications and
scheduling.
These books are loved by all ages. I’ve been in the book
stores and seen adults who buy the books for themselves. Yet
I’ve also been a witness to a parental protest against the books.
I went online to the 20/20 site to take a look at some of the
comments of the viewers of the episode and to my dismay one
woman who called herself, “Supermom” stated that she was
fretful that her child, if read this book, would eventually
become © ‘curious later in life about the occult,” saying that,
“it’s just a natural path, when taught to be a witch one will
want to be one.”
Give me a break. In Stossel’s interview, he closed with a lit-
tle girl proclaiming my view, not quite verbatim but you get
the idea, "The people who want to ban the Harry Potter books
are really cuckoo!"
So my accusation to you, the people who find Satan among
the pages of “Harry Potter,” is that you are the people who are
a reflection of the’ Nazis. You are the ones living in a world
without dreams, living only in your sad, sad reality, trying to
conform all those around you to live in that reality with you.
I feel so sorry for you, but that pales in comparison to how
sorry I am for your children. :
Have we reached
our “Defining
Moment”?
By SHAWN PETTIT
Assistant Editor
“Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask ‘what you can do for your country.”
— John F. Kennedy
ee n
President Kennedy presented this quote in.
his inaugural speech in 1960, It applied back
then, with the turmoil of racial segregation and
the “threat” of communism already there.
Kennedy wanted people to be proud of being
Americans as a whole, just like a generation
earlier in World War II. Americans came
together to fight oppression in their time and
won. Kennedy wanted the same in the 1960s. |
Many argue that this quote can be applied
today. Others, such as myself, beg to differ.
The horrifying attacks that occurred on Sept.
11 have been compared to Pearl Harbor. The
one positive thing that came out of these
attacks was that our country stood together and
said, “We will not die without a fight.”
Then, a few weeks ago, Newsweek wrote a
story about “Generation 9-11”. This is now the
media staple for current college students. The
paraphrase used at the beginning goes as fol-
lows: “After years of peace and prosperity, it’s
time for their defining moment.”
| They told the stories of bright young students
at the University of Michigan who planned to
fight for their freedom. The stories were meant
to be inspiring. They were meant to tell other
college students to take action. Personally, I
don’t see the inspiration.
~ I'd like to start my ranting and raving by ask-
ing this; is this really our defining moment?
We are now expected to take charge and go
and fight terrorism any way we can, even if it
means getting our heads blown off.
On Sept. 10, the attitudes of most parents are,
“My little Johnny isn’t going to be in the army.
He's going to make lots of money!” Only a
day later, we're expected to grab a gun and
hunt down Osama Bin Laden. We are not the
World War II generation.
We were born in the '80s, grew up in the
90s, and we now have a reason not to £0 to
war. We want to live our lives the way we want
to without feeling obligated to our country. In
1941, parents felt honored to say, “My boy’s a
: soldier. > Today, that pride is almost lost unless
the kid wins a Medal of Honor. We don’t want
to fight. We want to live to see the future.
The children of this generation shouldn’t
have to feel the burden of the previous gener-
ation. We have our own problems that we have
to deal with. War with an old enemy of our
parents isn’t one of them. :
This country is supposed to protect that right.
| They don’t want to protect it. They want col-
: lege students to protect it. If it comes to the
point that we’re forced to fight, we should
refuse to.
Our generation has learned to try and live
posse We should use that to our advan-
tage. As for right now, before we do anything
for our country, let’s see what our country does
for us.
“What's the one gift you always wanted but never received for the holidays?”
"A pony" "A stripper” "Monopoly "A car" "A car" ee
"A cure for cancer” — Anthony — Oak Pra, Millenium edition" — Megan Mann, — Melvin Clarke,
— THON crew Costantini, Junior, IST — Kia Joynes, | Freshman, Sophomore, =
Junior, HDFS Freshman IST undecided major Engineering