>>For cryin' out loud, they're fantasy novels, get over it.
Take a look around you... How much of our culture has been influenced by books, movies, and television?
How has the concept of love and romance been affected? Do you think there is any relation to how Hollywood treats sex and the number of kids participating in it?
Print, television, and film help to define the culture. Young people take what is presented to them in these media formats, and they integrate it into thier belief system.
So, there isn't anything to get over. Rather, open your eyes and realize how *negative* books, film, and other media can be.
That's quite a bit more broad a statement/complaint than Harry Potter isn't it? You could say "Hey there is sin everywhere and some people aren't Christians!!! what are we going to do about it???".
Well said...that's why I particularly like then-Cardinal Ratzinger's statement that what we're dealing with are "subtle seductions." That's a very good way to put it.
Okay, so let's just ban everything that we don't like, and throw away the same freedoms we fight for.