Friday, March 29, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Spirituality > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Spirituality

Pastor: 'Harry Potter spells can summon evil'

By T.K. Randall
September 2, 2019 · Comment icon 45 comments

Not everyone is convinced that Harry Potter is fictional. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Suzelfe
A private Catholic school in Nashville has claimed that the Harry Potter books contain 'actual spells and curses.'
St Edward Catholic school in Tennessee, which teaches children up to the 8th grade, has taken steps to remove every copy of J.K. Rowling's popular book series from its library because its pastor, Rev Dan Reehil, believes that they contain actual spells capable of summoning evil spirits.

"These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception," he wrote. "The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text."

The Harry Potter series, which has often drawn criticism from religious groups due to its portrayal of wizards, witches and the occult, is well known for its often dark spells including the infamous "avada kedavra" killing curse and "crucio", which is used to torture an unfortunate subject.
All of these however are purely fictitious and utterly meaningless in the real world.

This hasn't stopped St Edward Catholic school from removing them from its shelves, though.

"[Rev Dan Reehil is] well within his authority to act in that manner - each pastor has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school," said Rebecca Hammel, superintendent of schools for the Catholic diocese of Nashville.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (45)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #36 Posted by kobolds 5 years ago
another Harry Potter  ads from publisher . 
Comment icon #37 Posted by Sir Smoke aLot 5 years ago
Good job. While reasons behind the decision are wrong the result might be positive. I hope that this will open more space to books which will actually be beneficial to students.
Comment icon #38 Posted by Bendy Demon 5 years ago
Hmm..if this is a catholic school then why were those books in the school library to begin with? Seriously, people can't tell fact from fiction anymore and feel they must pass on (force) their ignorance onto others just so they can have the illusion of confirming their own beliefs? Is it just me or is our collective species slowly losing whatever is left of its equally collective marbles?
Comment icon #39 Posted by Peter B 5 years ago
Funnily enough, Rowling identifies as Christian too, though as a member of the Church of Scotland (and thus Anglican) that means she isn't Catholic. Maybe that's the real problem.
Comment icon #40 Posted by Piney 5 years ago
Jacobitism still lives. 
Comment icon #41 Posted by Peter B 5 years ago
Yep, more so in some parts of the world than in others. I mean, I'm pretty sure I remember someone posting a comment here at UM who used the term "Christians and Catholics", with the context clearly showing he thought Catholics weren't Christians...
Comment icon #42 Posted by Desertrat56 5 years ago
It is something I have seen.  When I was a kid my friend went to a church that had a big split because many in the congregation wanted to put a cross on the top of the building, but the preacher said no, it would make it look like a catholic church.  A lot of protestants don't understand or are not taught that their religions foundation came from the judaic religions and then from Catholicism.  Very ignorant people.  My friend was bothered by the incident because she thought her mother was going to take them to a different church and the cute boys she had crushes on went to that church.
Comment icon #43 Posted by quiXilver 2 years ago
How utterly unsurprising.  Another Catholic who, having no actual faith reveals it as he tries desperately to protect himself from imaginary forces.
Comment icon #44 Posted by Sir Wearer of Hats 2 years ago
  change in Administration at the school I expect. The old one didn’t mind, the new one wanted to look puritanical.
Comment icon #45 Posted by Desertrat56 2 years ago
it is a sign of insecurity if they pray the same prayer over and over and over, it means they don't believe it could work.  If they pray once and move on about their life they probably are secure in their belief.


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles