Private citizens burned their own books to protest the depiction of wizardry in the series.
Background
Book burning by private individuals is protected by the First Amendment.
Members of the Christ Community Church in Alamogordo, New Mexico gathered to burn the book on Dec. 30, 2001. The church’s pastor, Jack Brock, said that the books were promoting witchcraft and were satanic both of which are against the Christian faith.
Others in the community stood across the street and protested the book burning chanting, “Stop burning books.” These community members felt that burning the books, no matter what the content is, represented a repression of free speech.
Book burning and free speech
Book burning is historically considered a symbolic, violent act of repression of speech and ideas by an individual, group, or government. When Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were beginning their rise to power in Germany, college students organized book burnings to symbolically cleanse the country of un-German ideas. The events were held in 34 university towns across the country in 1933. About 25,000 books that were objectionable to the Nazis were burned.
The American Jewish Congress urged people in the U.S. to protest the book burnings and Nazi attacks on Jews. Demonstrations took place in major cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
Another controversial symbolic act of free speech is flag burning. To learn more about the flag burning issue click here, visit Defining Freedom.
Harry Potter and sermon of fire The Guardian, Jan. 1, 2002 'Satanic' Harry Potter books burnt BBC News, Dec. 31, 2001 NM pastor leads flock in ‘Potter’ book burning Associated Press, December 31, 2001 NM church burns Rowling books School Library Journal, February 2, 2002 Book-burning in America: when wizards go up in smoke First Amendment Center, January 13, 2002 Book burning in the 21st Century American Library Association Nazi Book Burnings: Recurring Symbol U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum |