Harry, Harry! Wherefore Art Thou Harry?

Yes, this morning is a reference to William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is lamenting Romeo's name, alluding to the feud between the two families. It always amazes me the feuds that folks have over the sillest things. Remember the Hatfield and McCoys feud in Southern West Virginia. (Over a pig!) So goes with the continual conflict with one of my favorite literary characters, Harry Potter.

At 12:01 A.M. in the morning, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price goes on sale. This is the sixth installment of J. K. Rawlings best-selling series. The best-selling books of all time are: #1 - The Bible, #2- Mao's Little Red Book, and #3 (You guessed it!) the Harry Potter series. Amazon.com has promised delivery of our copy tomorrow. As in the past, the wife and I love the adventures that Rawlings creates. We usually take turns reading the chapters aloud. The current edition will be no different.

Now to the Harry Potter feud! This is where you folks who think reading Harry Potter will turn your children into sinful and satan-loving warlocks and witches. The opposition to Potter is the belief that the books corrupt the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a properly ordered sense of good and evil, thus harming their relationship with God while that relationship is still in its infancy. It seems that even Pope Benedict is in this field of opposition.

My comment is, for heavens sake, these are stories and great ones! These books are responsible for creating a unique reading environment. If you are worried about the hearts and morals of your childen; talk with them, hug them often, and treat them with respect. Parents must spend quality time with their kids if they wish to teach them the time-honored virtues of trust, responsibility, sense of good and evil, civility, religious values, and caring.

As my friend, Diana Frank says "The End!" She is the one who stops us when we are on our soap box.