Don't wand them!
Harry Potter merchandise is banned by Ulster toy store chain over occult fears
Sunday, July 29, 2007
By Ciaran McGuigan
The owner of one of Ulster's largest toy chains has refused to fall under
Harry Potter's spell!
For while Potter merchandise is flying off the shelves in stores worldwide,
the owner of the local Toytown chain is sticking by his principles by
keeping JK Rowling's boy wizard out of his shop.
Alan Simpson has turned down the chance to earn tens of thousands in his
personal bid to save children from being sucked into the black arts.
He believes that the Harry Potter merchandise puts children at risk of
becoming tangled up in the occult, and it has been banned from Toytown
stores since the hero of JK Rowling's books first mounted his broomstick. Mr
Simpson said he doesn't want to risk children being exposed to witchcraft,
wizardry and the occult through buying the dolls and board games associated
with the Hogwarts wizard.
And as Harry Potter fever sweeps Ulster again, with the release last week of
the seventh book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - and
the box office blockbuster, Order of the Phoenix, Mr Simpson is standing
firm.
He said he did not "feel the need" to sell this type of
merchandise.
"It's a view we have had for years and we do not see any reason to
change it," he added.
"It's the uneasiness we have with the ideas behind the concept of magic.
"The money is irrelevant. We took our view on the principle and not the
earnings out of it. If it got some kids involved in the occult what I made
out of it would not be worth it.
"We haven't suffered as a result," he added.
The move was repeated in England, where the largest independent toy chain
The Entertainer, has refused to put Harry Potter on its shelves and was
praised by Free Presbyterian minister, the Rev David McIlveen.
"The whole concept of Harry Potter does give children a glamorisation
of witchcraft and wizardry and that is something that we see as contrary to
the wholesome teaching of young people," he said.
"This is obviously something that Mr Simpson feels very strongly about.
It's a very principled decision.
"There are many Christian people who would not buy either the Harry
Potter books or the merchandise."
