An interesting story from the Great White North has my attention this fine morning and I’m going to rant about it for a bit. A Salvation Army post in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has been refusing to take toy donations this holiday season because “the items promote black magic and the occult”. According to a Salvation Army volunteer, workers have been instructed not to make Harry Potter, Twilight, or other related donations available for purchase or to be put into the bundles that are given away to homeless and needy children. This all started because of a “parent” causing a scene over their child playing with a toy and, oh, my god, having fun while doing so. The horror! The “parent” freaked- a reaction caused more from fear, ignorance, and arrogance then outright discrimination- and ripped the toy out of the child’s innocent hands and took to the pulpit by threatening to sue or boycott the Salvation Army. Therefore, to appease the very small percentage of like-minded religious zealots they decided to ban all such items. The story is getting quite a bit of attention and feedback from readers online at sites such as About.com and in newspapers from Virginia to Texas with opinions and comments on both sides of the liberal-conservative spectrum. Interestingly, I find myself agreeing with a lot being said on both sides. A commenter in Houston said, “As Pagans, would you give out books of Bible stories? I don’t expect so.” To me, that’s fair enough. Like many others, I’ve secularized so much of our integrated society. I’ve forgotten that the Salvation Army, like the Boy Scouts of America, is a Christian organization and as such has the right to determine how they will maintain their image and personal integrity. Thinking on these issues has opened my eyes to the fact that they call themselves an “army” and wear soldier uniforms, and that has me a bit on edge. A spokesman for the Salvation Army says it “isn’t appropriate for them to distribute toys they think promote things like the occult, vampires, or black magic.” Keep in mind that toy guns are always considered to be acceptable items, but being an “army” I guess that’s to be expected. Hmmm, so, if Harry Potter “promotes” witchcraft, doesn’t it stand to reason that guns “promote” violence? This logic fails to pass what writer Peter David refers to as the “Yeah, So?” test. This test was in reference to complaints by parental groups of too much violence in cartoons in the 90?s, but the reasoning behind the “Yeah, So?” test remains true today and the parallels to claims of witchcraft are much the same.

CLAIM: “Children watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and start doing Kung Fu stuff.”
RESPONSE: “Yeah? So?”
REBUTTAL: “Well… don’t you see that it means that kids will start jumping around and acting like the Turtles? That they’ll play violent karate games?”
RESPONSE: “Yeah? So?”

These parents who want the fracas out of Bugs Bunny cartoons GREW UP WITH IT. So, what they’re saying, essentially, is that watching Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck unhinged them. Then they’re crazy and we shouldn’t listen to their whining. Or, if it didn’t unhinge them, what exactly are they complaining about? The idea that violence is learned from watching the Turtles, or Transformers, or Bugs Bunny is ridiculous. Method of play may be learned, but not violence. Violence has emotional and cognitive elements behind it. What was Cain reading before he killed Abel? Did Hitler read The Lord of the Rings before making any big decisions?
The Chronicles of Narnia is considered a classic of childrens’ literature around the world, yet it has just as much sorcery and violence in it as Harry Potter, but I guess since the Narnia books are Christian in structure it makes it okay. What about the Bible itself? There’s more racism, violence, persecution, sex, magic, and destruction in that book than any I can think of. Aren’t they afraid that kids will read the Bible and drown while trying to part their local river or lake? In the end Harry Potter, Narnia, the Bible, and even Bugs Bunny are all the same. They portray the struggles of good versus evil and right versus wrong. The notion that violence and negative patterns of behavior are caused by reading books, watching movies and television, or by listening to music is absurd. If you’re educated enough to make rational, cognitive decisions, have an ability to problem solve, raised to know the difference between right and wrong, and the difference between fantasy and reality, then there shouldn’t be an issue. So here we are with this whole Salvation Army fiasco. The banned items are specific to the Calgary Salvation Army only, but if decisions on what to accept are made by local Salvation Army posts, then I’m willing to bet this isn’t relegated to one little shop in Canada. The Salvation Army also openly discriminates against gays and lesbians, actively opposes abortion, and participates in a variety of Christian Right activities and organizations. A spokesman for the Salvation Army released a statement saying: “The Salvation Army has no policy against distributing Harry Potter or similar toys and, in fact, these types of toys are donated and distributed in some areas. Decisions about what to distribute are made at the local level, often in consultation with parents of recipients and based on years of feedback.” The sad truth is that the age group that would most appreciate those rejected items- teens and mid-graders- is the age group that traditionally is harder to get donations for in the first place. The bulk of donated toys are for the little kids. The older ones usually are left out, and the teenage years are enough of an identity crisis for the well-to-do, let alone those who stare in the face of poverty and hunger every day. If you are looking for a place or organization to donate items to, keep in mind that the Salvation Army isn’t the only one around. The United States Marine Corps sponsors an annual Toys-for-Tots campaign, many fire departments also collect toys for needy kids, and local social service agencies always need donations of new toys and games, food, and clothes throughout the year, not just in December. I wish more people would learn to read books instead of burning them.

© 2010 R. Wolf Baldassarro/Deep Forest Productions