Topic: School trip to see Harry Potter has been canceled because it was a violation of C&S?
MIB
Ex-Member
posted
Apparently several battle axes at Fargo decided that a school trip to the H.P. movie was in fact a religious practice worshiping our lord and savior, Harry Potter. This, in turn, means that it is a violation of church and state. Take a look.
FARGO, N.D. (Reuters) - A witchcraft controversy brewing in a North Dakota town forced a local school to cancel a field trip to a screening of the new Harry Potter movie on Friday.
About 100 students from Agassiz Middle School in Fargo were slated to attend the opening day of the widely anticipated movie, ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' which revolves around the adventures of a young wizard in a world of nonmagical mortals known as muggles.
All the students, mainly aged between 12 and 15, had parental permission to attend the trip to a local movie house during school hours.
But a few concerned parents and one local radio personality successfully killed the trip after raising concerns about the movie's depiction of witchcraft.
The fact that some consider witchcraft a religion, the protesters said, meant that the school-led trip to the movie theater would constitute a violation of the separation of church and state and possibly lead to legal action.
``It's a little bizarre,'' said Fargo School Superintendent David Flowers, who supported the field trip. ``We believe that we were on firm ground in letting the kids go. But (the school) made the decision ... that they would just as soon not be embroiled in a controversy.''
Meanwhile in Memphis at least two Catholic schools said they were keeping the series of ``Harry Potter'' books by author J.K. Rowling out of their libraries because of the witches and wizardry content.
``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' opened on Friday throughout the United States and was widely expected to break box-office records.
I'm not exactly sure why the school was taking it's students to see Harry Potter of all things. IMO, it really isn't the schools place to be taking kids to theaters to see block-buster movies rather than teaching them something that would be useful in their lives. If they wanna see H.P. they can do it on a Saturday. With that being said I think it's idiotic that going to see H.P. would be counted as a violation of the seperation of church and state.
When using that kind of logic they can say that a school taking a bunch of kids to see Star Wars would be a violation of the seperation of C&S too sense it involves some made up, sci-fi religions. In that case, the mighty Jedi-knights and the Sith. Same would be true if a school let it's students watch Star Trek 5 or any Star Trek episode involving any type of religions. Especally the ones that dealt heavily with the Bajorans. This is just stupid know matter how you slice it! I'm leaving.
posted
For a church-state violation to occur, the school would need to be actively promoting a specific religion, or actively promoting the lack of one (atheism). Assuming that this wasn't the case, and there isnt some "witchcraft agenda" going on at this school, then there was no violation. Otherwise, social studies classes could never study other religions. Interestingly enough, I wonder of those teachers who show Star Wars to their students after final exams are committing a violation. After all, we all know that The Force is a mystical religion, don't we? Chuckle, chuckle.
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Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
Man, don't you guys get it, there's always gonna be some messed up ultra religious screw-ups that points at every single new thing that comes along and said:
"Oh my gawd! that's un-religious practice, it will burn in hell with any one that supports it!"
The secret is, let those mad dogs with rabies keep on their crazy barking (or ranting) and simply turn your head to the other way, and maybe occationally turn back and laugh at them just for kicks.
[ November 19, 2001: Message edited by: BlueElectron ]
-------------------- "George Washington said, 'I cannot tell a lie.' Richard Nixon said, 'I cannot tell the truth.' Bill Clinton said, 'I cannot tell the difference.'"
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Registered: Jan 2000
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B) it's standard public school policy, as some people object to just as dumb things on the Christian or general patriotic side of things
C) I, too, would love to know why they're taking a field trip to go see this movie. That's not a field trip: it's a vacation. You LEARN stuff at field trips.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
posted
Spoilers$$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yeah, actually I heard that in the next book, Harry Potter will reveal his true identity as the fallen angel, Lucifer, and will unleash a dark and mortal terror upon the earth. Then, crossing the the fourth wall as it were, he will thank his loyal fans and encourage them to offer up their immortal souls to the dark lord. He will then give detailed instructions on how to cast a mind control spell on the parents using only the intestines of a cocker spaniel and three bowls of Cap'n Crunch.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
That's not the plot of Harry Potter Book #5, that's my Autobiography!
Anyway, anybody who thinks that 'Harry Potter' bears any similarity to the Wiccan or any other actual religious-type organization has to be several letters short of an alphabet.
In any case, you can come to my Library and see that I have at least two copies of each Harry Potter book on the shelves, and if anybody tries to ban them here, I will ridicule them, berate them publicly, and then proceed to eat their souls.
[ November 20, 2001: Message edited by: First of Two ]
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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MIB
Ex-Member
posted
Thank god you don't live in the south. Do you have any idea what the yokles around here will do to you if you said that in public? lol.
I'm not a religious-type conservative, but I AM a 'Right to Keep and Bear Arms' Conservative... at least partly because I'm NOT a religious-type conservative, and there has to be SOME way to even the odds when the peasants with torches come...
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
posted
I've just started reading "The Philosopher's Stone" myself, before I go and see the movie.
On a related point, does anyone know if there's a web-site that lists the differences between the English and American versions of the books? I'm guessing that "secondary school" gets changed to high-school, but I'm curious about the part where he goes into a pub in London.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
With that being said I think it's idiotic that going to see H.P. would be counted as a violation of the seperation of church and state. 
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