To the Anti-Harry Potter Christians
(this is an informal, freely distributable article and an opinion by an author who wishes to remain nameless so as to not have hate coming his/her way)
The purpose of this article is to illustrate the fact of fantasy being the genre of the Harry Potter books. It is not to persuade you or others to read the books, which would be advertising. Heck I don't care if anyone reads them, simply just do not wish for anyone to burn, ban, or beat them out of their child's grasp to broaden their imagination.
Harry Potter is a boy born with magical powers and a scar left by Lord Voldermort (Lord not meaning god for you dumb americans, but simply a title to infer power, for instance: the lord of a manor (someone who owns a manor and various estates/land)) when voldemort tried to kill him at birth. The scar acts as a connection between harry and voldemort, but I do not wish to spoil the books. Harry grows up being bullied by his muggle (non-magical) family. they hate him, and hate magic. Finally Harry is sent a letter by a wizarding school and he goes off to it to learn magic, its history, and life in the realm of magic-folk.
Christians and other various religions have banned and even burned harry potter books because of their belief that it is basically blasphemous to their god, their bible.. etc. Claiming things like "The bible says no to sorcery.." blah blah. Well the truth here is, the bible means do not believe that you are magical, can perform magic, attempt magic, or believe in its possibility without a miracle of some sort from god him/her/itself.
The Harry Potter series is a collection of fantasy novels. The keyword being fantasy. You will be hard-pressed to find many novels that fit into this category that do not contain magic or mention thereof.
If you disallow your child, or persuade others to hate the harry potter series or basically just "not read them" here are some questions that i have for you:
1. Have you ever read the Lord of the Rings series, or cared about its existence, banned it from your child, seen the movie, etc.?
2. Is it your job to control your child's imagination, more than it is to encourage it?
3. Have you ever read a book concering fantasy or magic, and did it change your opinion on your god, bible, etc?
4. Would Jesus not encourage J.K. Rowling's peaceful brilliance applied through novel form?
5. Has J.K. Rowling ever given mention to a form or actually an occult in the novels, copied their traditions, etc?
A preacher who once banned the books from their family and preached to his church not to read them, read the first book, and realized since all of the magic inside the novel is made up, fiction, and not pertaining to real life or the disbelief of god, and didn't give him any reason to pursue his own magical career, that the books were fine, loveable fantasy that broaden your imagination and encourage reading.
6. Have you ever stopped your child watching television cartoons because they have magic in them? How about lets say.. a cartoon with non-human characters that have the ability to speak and converse with each other, and function in a society, such as the movie "Coneheads" or the popular tv show of the early to mid 1990's "Dinosaurs"
7. Do you have a personal problem with your child or friend becoming an avid reader?
8. Do you know a librarian that goes to church reguarly, and is a good person? If so, they are the devil in your eyes and should be burnt along with the evil harry potter books. (end sarcasm)
Basically, judgement should only be passed and kept private to one's self and one's own very personal opinion or belief. If your child or friend is a true christian, then these books will simply be an atrocity, a random collection of text, a wonderful fantasy and a gateway into the addition of your house of an imagination, or simply good fun.
Hatred towards either side, the non-harry potter believers, or the zealous Harry Potter supporters is not what Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc would want for their people. Love the author's creativity, Love the happiness it has brought to millions lucky enough to be able to read the books around the world, and most of all, love your child/friend/spouse/relatives own personal, private opinion.
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The only observation that I would add; is that while the parent should be cognizant of not stifiling imagination, the parent does however need to be aware of obsession and should be prepared to address the issue in order to prevent fanaticism.
...a mini-series of "StarSiege" would be great!
Personally my family was brainwashed by their church for a long time about the Harry Potter books. They thought the books were evil and promoted witchcraft. I asked my mom to read them and I think that she actually has a better opinion of them now. 
