Church group yells at children
November 3, 2003 at 3:23 PM ET
grae
Godric's Hollow (via Payson Roundup)
"God would think Harry Potter is an abomination."
"Don't go in there, it's evil. Don't read Harry Potter."
These are just some of the things protesters from Victory Chapel yelled at children
as they entered the Payson Public Library last Wednesday to attend an event called "Harry Potter, a Kid's Night Out."
Two other children, ages 10 and 12, said the protesters were shouting that Harry Potter is the work of the devil and that the children could be forgiven, if they would repent.
Library circulation clerk Pat Helmick said she thought the protesters crossed the line by yelling at the children.
"They were screaming, 'Don't go in there, it's evil. Don't read Harry Potter.' It was amazing and pathetic," Helmick said. "I mean, if you don't want your kids to read a book, then just don't have them read it. It's so simple. A person came in and gave me a copy of the paper they were handing the children. It had scriptures on it talking about abominations and adultery -- stuff that I never got from reading Harry Potter. I mean, my goodness."
Victory Chapel Pastor Gary Basham said the scare tactic was justified.
"Yes we scared them, but I'd rather scare them to heaven than just let them go to hell -- because hell's kind of scary." Basham said. "What we were trying to do was a peaceable protest against witchcraft and sorcery which Harry Potter is directly involved with. The Bible says to raise your children up in the ways of the Lord, not in sorcery. The Bible speaks out against witchcraft and sorcery throughout the old and new testaments. We believe that this Harry Potter thing is wicked. All we were trying to do is open the people's eyes to reality -- it's not just a little story book."
Basham, who admits he has never read any of the Harry Potter books, believes that the author J.K. Rowling is a witch herself and is trying to promote witchcraft through her books.
"In reality, we really didn't mean to frighten the children," Basham said. "It's the parents we wanted to scare, and now I think we've got their attention. Our message is that the parents should teach their kids what the Bible says about this. Then they would know."
When asked if he believed it was fair to hurt children to send a message to parents, Basham responded, "Is hell going to hurt?"
"The kids had a good time, despite the protesters," Helmick said. "But we didn't let the kids leave unless they were with a parent in case the Victory Chapel people were out there lurking on a corner."