<<a href=A volunteer group is refusing to direct traffic at a YMCA triathlon because it claims the club promotes witchcraft by reading Harry Potter books to children.

What really irks me is that these blithering crackpots, along with their comrades who burn Harry Potter books on bonfires, are often painted as "typical" conservatives, which is kind of like describing Ralph Nader as a "typical" liberal. Dr. Laura*, who is far from middle-of-the-road, thinks Harry Potter is just fine, thank you, and has reamed out several callers who condemn the books' "Satanic influences." You would be hard-pressed to find any major conservative voice who would attack Harry Potter books like the nuts do.

Cripes, if you couldn't read anything with magicians or witches in it, what would you do with the entire "Narnia" series, written by Christian icon C. S. Lewis? Or "Lord of the Rings," written by Lewis' friend and also devout Christian, J.R.R. Tolkein? In my opinion, keeping Narnia or Middle Earth away from children would border dangerously on the realm of child abuse.

Like crackpot leftists, like those who believe "Huckleberry Finn" should be burned for racist content, these crackpot rightists should simply be condemned and then ignored.

Unless they show up in your neighborhood to make a fire. Then it's time to hit the ramparts.

"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen."

("They that start by burning books will end by burning men.")

--Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), from his play Almansor (1821)