Why does the religious right in the US condemn fantasy according to Cockrell?
“Listen to god and say no to Harry Potter!”
Cockrell (2006) suggests that the popularity of the Harry Potter as part of the fantasy genre induces fear in the religious right wing groups of America. There are many possible reasons for this and I almost feel I could write a novel about the subject, including and going beyond what Cockrell (2006) has said - however I will not!
Firstly, the exposure to the Bible and then to fantasies such as Harry Potter or Tales from Earth Sea may encourage Christian children to draw comparisons between these storybooks and the Bible. Children and academics alike would be able to see relationships in the mythic structures of the Bible and novels found in the fantasy genre. It would of course create great stress upon the Christian societies to see their children viewing the Bible as fantasy, weather that be accurate or not.
Cockrell (2006) states that fantasy stories are the most advance of all sciences and that the fear of the right wing Christian fundamentalists lies in the mystery of it all, the fact that there is no God or Devil. Perhaps they feel that without clear cut rules for right and wrong the temptation of mystery is too great for their children to handle. Least not they eat an apple from the forbidden tree.
REFERENCES
Cockrell, A. (2006). Harry Potter and the Witch Hunters: a social context for the attacks on Harry Potter. The Journal of American Culture, Vol 20, No 1
I appreciate how you point out that Cockrell could have said more on the subject. It is interesting how the Bible uses fantastic stories with magic and murder, yet Harry Potter is condemned for doing the same thing in a less "R-rated" way.
ReplyDeleteI feel Cockrell was almost vague in her attempts to defend the fantasy literature. I did however find other resources more encouraging, but one would have to approach this with an open mind as did the students of an example I found to support my response to this question. The religious right are perhaps people who live, eat and breath for the word of God, and anything that is unfimiliar or challenges their ideologies of that becomes a 'threat' to their doctrines. Nice post Jennifer.
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