Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has dropped a hint that poor old Harry may shortly expire. I don’t really see why this should worry anybody as there are lots of dead people floating about in the novels and resurrections of various kinds seem par for the course.

Anyway, Peter Stokes of Salt Shakers has expressed great satisfaction with Harry Potter’s imminent demise:

And not too soon for my liking, for the sake of our kids … There’s no doubt [these books have] done wonders for getting children interested in spells … and these things aren’t harmless. We’ve had many stories of people being adversely affected by reading Harry Potter … nightmares, severe spiritual attacks. (John Elder ‘Why Harry Potter must finally die’, Sunday Age, 2 Jul. 2006)

By contrast, Angela Conway of the National Civic Council’s ‘Australian Family Association’ (AFA) merely notes that Harry’s death could have ‘potential as an educational event’ for child readers. Salt Shakers now seems eager to adopt significantly more extreme positions than either the AFA or (regarding gay unions) the Australian Christian Lobby.

Filed in: Christian Right

The very last weekly issue of the Australian evangelical publication New Life (29 Jun. 2006) reports that the worldwide distribution of the Bible is trending steeply downwards. I’m sure the expansion of the Internet would have something to do with this, but it contradicts just about every piece of Christian propaganda that I’ve seen. The Bible is always described as ‘the all-time bestseller’ with scads of the things being sold, given away or smuggled into the lands of the heathen. No longer!

United Bible Societies said 372.6 million Bibles, New Testaments, Scripture portions and selections were distributed by Bible Societies in 2005, down 4.6% from 2004. Since 2000 the distribution of printed Scriptures has dwindled steadily by 41.2%.

New Life dropping back to a fortnightly and Bible distribution in free fall. Do I hear Gabriel practising his horn solos?

Filed in: General

Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja (Dem. SA) thinks that anti-choice pregnancy counselling centres should have to tell women that they never refer for abortions. Jenny Stokes of Salt Shakers thinks this is a silly idea. If the question of abortion arises, counsellors should:

… explain the harm that can result from such a choice - such as medical complications, post-abortion trauma and breast cancer, all of which are medical facts. (Salt Shakers Submission: Inquiry into Transparent Advertising and Notification of Pregnancy Counselling Services Bill 2005, Jun. 2006)

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Filed in: Abortion