The new pope apparently dislikes the Harry Potter books. At least being Catholic, rather than Moslem, he won’t be issuing a Fatwa and calling on people to slay the infidel, unlike what happened when another British author ran afoul of some religious authorities.

Unfortunately, pronouncements of the pope, at least if issued ex cathedra, are binding on Catholics. Not that most Catholics would pay attention, any more than they pay attention to their church’s teachings on birth control. But they are being inconsistent Catholics when they behave this way, since the pope and church’s pronouncements are right up there as the equal of the Bible according to my understanding of Catholic theology.

The nice thing about being a Baptist, and part of the Protestant franchize that said something about sola scriptura, is that although Baptist “leaders” are no less likely to issue stupid statements and warnings (the one against Disney comes to mind as a relatively recent example of goofiness) at least ignoring them is actually consistent with good Baptist tradition which states that no one can tell you what to believe.

Personally I love the Harry Potter novels and intend to get the next one as soon as it’s out on Saturday.

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