AMA Sends Senseless Signals

I agree with Rep. Tom Coburn and Mary Beth Bonacci in their criticism of the American Medical Association's position in rejecting abstinence and supporting condom distribution programs (“AMA Rejects Abstinence,” Dec. 26-Jan. 1). As Ms. Bonacci states, “safe sex” programs have been evaluated for 30 years and they don't work.

The AMA approval of condom distribution programs does not make sense. In all other areas of inappropriate behavior, we request that the activity be stopped. In this area, though, it appears that the AMA is merely asking young people to take steps to avoid the consequences of misbehavior, thereby approving the behavior itself.

During the time I served as a juvenile judge, I encountered many young people who were committing shoplifting, burglary or car theft. It certainly would have been wrong to say to them, “Don't do this, but, in case you do, we will give you free kits containing bulletproof vests, which might provide some protection should things not go as planned.” This approach would be dishonest and do a grave disservice to young people in that it would give the obvious impression that we were not serious in our objection to their misbehavior.

Judge Joseph Moylan (Ret.) Omaha, Nebraska

Harry Potter Revisited … Again and Again

May a rather amused 80-year-old join the Harry Potter combat? Let me first say that my parents had very strict morals and strict ideas about childhood obedience, and also carefully monitored our books and the few movies we were allowed to see. (No TV in that era!) Nevertheless, they did not object to my reading every fairy-tale book, some of which had been my mother's, that I could lay my hands on. Now many of these stories, especially those based on folk tales, have plenty of incidents of broken promises, acts of duplicity, smart-aleck cleverness, etc. All, of course, used to win the kingdom, rescue the princess or whatever. My parents never sat down and explained to us that these things were wrong. They expected us to use our intelligence to realize that they were just fairy tales and, indeed, I do not remember ever being wrongly influenced by those tales. As to Harry and his friends breaking school rules, mostly minor ones, well, he never does it maliciously or just for the sake of breaking them.

Mike Williams (“Harry Potter, Faith and Fantasy,” Feb. 6-12) especially objects to Albus Dumbledore (my favorite character) counseling Harry and Hermoine to break a strict wizard rule [in J.K. Rowling's series of fantasy books for kids], but Mike fails to mention that he does it so that two innocent lives may be saved. I suspect that Mike was not around during World War II, when many rules, including the very strict enclosure rules for nuns (excommunication as punishment for an infraction) were broken to save the lives of Jews and downed Allied airmen. I think that it is more correct to say that Dumbledore was wise enough to know when a rule should be broken. (The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.)

Perhaps it would be helpful for parents to remember that, at 10 and 11, a child who reads is perfectly capable of living in two distinct worlds at the same time, one real and the other imaginary. This is a wonderful gift which most children lose only too soon.

Dear concerned parents, remember that what most influences children is what they see and hear you doing and saying, and what you allow them to do and say, not what happens in [fantasy] tales. So do let them wander with Harry through the halls of that fantastic castle of Hogwart as they wash the dishes and let them mount their trusty magic broom when they run down to the store to get something for Mom.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that, as one grows up, one leaves fairy tales behind and then finds them again as one grows old. With this I agree. Would that I had a magic broom!

Jeanne Palmer Flemington, New Jersey

Benjamin Wiker made very good points regarding the Harry Potter books and I recommend his article to my friends. However, I would urge parents to be more cautious than Mr. Wiker appears to be. He neglected to mention the coarseness and vulgarity sprinkled throughout these books (earwax-, vomit- and booger-flavored jellybeans; troll [mucus] all over a sword; burping and vomiting up slugs). I suppose it gets lost in the brouhaha over the witch/wizard content.

As Mr. Wiker said, vice is exemplified much more thoroughly than virtue. However, parents should also know that even the “good” characters like Harry, appealing as he is, lie and disobey in small things (always small), whenever it's convenient, and always with impunity. The books are so entertaining that the reader finds himself accepting these lesser evils as irrelevant.

A theme that runs through all three books is the idea that witches (and wizards) are just nice people who have gotten a lot of bad press, but who happen to have powers that they can choose to use for good or evil. The utter contempt with which the author treats the “human” characters who fear/disbelieve in witches must have some purpose. She spends too much time building up a case against these people, making them completely repulsive. The contrast between these people (narrow, conformist, gross)and the exhilarating, imaginative, exciting world of wizard school, is striking and present in all three books. Whether the author does it in order to entertain her readers or for more sinister purposes is not for me to say. But the Harry Potter books might be disarming in more ways than one.

Theresa Fagan Chevy Chase, Maryland

While Mr. Wiker is technically correct that no one will be hurt by not reading the Harry Potter books, I'd like to suggest that we may be doing an injustice to our religion by being so suspicious of them. Historically, our Catholic faith has always really believed that God created the world, and acted accordingly, in contrast to some sects which have viewed creation with suspicion, as though it were the work of the devil. While some sects banned singing and music and color, the Church has used them in worship, and encouraged them in secular society. While some sects have viewed the human mind with suspicion, the Church encouraged the use of reason, symbolism, and imagination. Remember that Catholic civilization, long before Tolkien, produced the Arthurian cycle, which has captured the Western imagination for centuries. It was also the Church which saw much goodness and nobility in the works of pagan antiquity (in spite of the false gods), and preserved them for later generations. Are we living up to this history, or are we presenting our faith to our children as if it were narrow and paranoid, unable to see good if it happens to be mixed up with imperfections?

Theresa Graham Seattle, Washington

Advertisement for What?

I am a subscriber to the Register who is disturbed by an ad that you are running in the Feb. 13-19, 2000 paper. The ad is for the College of St. Elizabeth, Center for Theological and Spiritual Development. It appears on Page 11 in the paper.

I am familiar with two of the keynote speakers at the center's “Spirituality Convocation.” Both of them are less than orthodox and obedient theologians. One of them taught at the university I attended for undergraduate studies, and it was common knowledge that he had left the priesthood and married without being laicized.

As a convert to the Catholic faith, I depend upon your paper as a trustworthy medium for learning more about that faith. When you run ads for organizations and events with participants as questionable as the participants in the Center for Theological and Spiritual Development, you undermine the trust I put in your newspaper.

Please make sure you examine advertisements more closely so you do not inadvertently promote dissent within the Church.

Rebecca L. Kroeger Charlottesville, Va.

Editor's Note: The advertisement in question will not appear in the Register again.