Is it just me or are some of us getting a tad loony?

I am a father, I go to church on Sunday, and I have read the Harry Potter books. Neither my children nor I have turned to Satan worship, slaughtered our neighbors or any of the dire consequences feared by some in the religious community. My concern here isn't really with the religious community because more often than not, the actual religious community is ignored and the press seeks out the crazies to report as examples of the religious community. But in this case, I will play along because the crazies are unusually vocal on the subject of Harry Potter. They have come out of the woodwork to denounce this movie as the work of the devil and seem to be convinced that children are so clueless that they will be unable to discern the fiction of the movie from real life.

The fear is that kids will see Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger going through their wizard lessons and immediately turn into violent satanic serial killers. Kids nationwide will abandon their families and go in search of Hogwarts so they can throw off their mantle of pious conformity to Christian teachings and grab brooms and proceed to jump out of windows in an effort to fly…just like Harry Potter. The blood of innocents will be on the hands of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. I really think these people should take a deep breath, relax, and give the kids a little credit. It's a movie! Kids see movies and they see television all the time. They will be fine. It isn't the kids we should be worried about, but the adults.

Another group of people unhappy about the Harry Potter phenomenon are those who think there is too much marketing and commercialism involved. Hey! The United States is a capitalist nation. Our economy and our standard of living are directly tied to consumerism. Making money is good. Materialism, sales, marketing and commerce are the engines that keep us from starving to death like they do in less economically enlightened nations. If you don't like the products…, don't buy them. It isn't the children buying this stuff anyway. It is the parents. If you don't want your child to have a Harry Potter doll, a chocolate frog or a Quidditch ball then don't buy them one. If you are unable to say no to your child then you are the problem and your kids have bigger worries than just Harry Potter.

Finally, as if the other two groups weren't enough, enter the witches. There are people out there who actually think they are witches or wizards. Really! I'm not making this up. The people who think they are witches or wizards are also upset about the movie. They believe that the inaccurate depiction of witches and wizards in the Harry Potter movie will give people the wrong impression about the genuine article. Since my current impression is that these people are either daft or lunatics, I think that any change in my opinion brought on by the Harry Potter movie would be positive.

The "real" witches and wizards are unhappy about the nature of magic shown in the movie and are even concerned that the brooms the students of Hogwarts are riding face the wrong direction. It is a movie! It is a fictional story! It is a fictional account of fictional people in a fictional situation! It isn't meant to be a documentary. It is entertainment. So all you witches out there, take a deep breath and consider how silly your concerns appear to normal people.