Editing J. K. Rowling (section)

=== Religious reactions ===
{{Main|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series{{!}}Religious debates over the ''Harry Potter'' series}}
<!--This section is linked above, in the Religion, wealth and remarriage section-->There have been [[book censorship|attempts to ban]] ''Harry Potter'' around the world, especially in the United States,{{sfn|Gupta|2009|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Cockrell|2006}} and in the [[Bible Belt]] in particular.{{sfn|McAvan|2012|pp=100–103}} The series topped the [[American Library Association]]'s list of most challenged books in the first three years of its publication.{{sfn|Gupta|2009|p=18}} In the following years, parents in several US cities launched protests against teaching it in schools.{{sfn|Foerstel|2002|pp=[[iarchive:bannedinusarefer00foer/page/180/mode/1up|180–188]]}} Some Christian critics, particularly [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Christians]], have claimed that the novels promote witchcraft and harm children;{{Sfn|Whited|2002|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Guanio-Uluru|2015|pp=85–86}} similar opposition has been expressed to the film adaptations.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=187–190}} Criticism has taken two main forms: allegations that ''Harry Potter'' is a [[Paganism|pagan]] text; and claims that it encourages children to oppose authority, derived mainly from Harry's rejection of the Dursleys, his guardians.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=188–190}} The author and scholar Amanda Cockrell suggests that ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} popularity, and recent preoccupation with fantasy and the occult among Christian fundamentalists, explains why the series received particular opposition.{{sfn|Cockrell|2006}} Some groups of [[Shia]] and [[Sunni]] Muslims also argued that the series contained Satanic subtext, and it was banned in private schools in the [[United Arab Emirates]] by its Ministry of Education and Youth, which stated it contradicted Islamic values.{{sfn|Guanio-Uluru|2015|p=85}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1816012.stm|publisher=[[BBC News]]|title=Emirates ban Potter book|date=12 February 2002|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/14/news|work=[[The Guardian]]|title= Harry Potter expelled from UAE schools|date=14 February 2002|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>

The ''Harry Potter'' books also have a group of vocal religious supporters who believe that ''Harry Potter'' espouses Christian values, or that the Bible does not prohibit the forms of magic described in the series.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=192–193}} Christian analyses of the series have argued that it embraces ideals of friendship, loyalty, courage, love, and the temptation of power.{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=15–17}}{{sfn|Ciaccio|2008|pp=33–37}} After the final volume was published, Rowling said she intentionally incorporated Christian themes, in particular the idea that love may hold power over death.{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=15–17}} According to Farmer, it is a profound misreading to think that ''Harry Potter'' promotes witchcraft.{{sfn|Farmer|2001|p=53}} The scholar Em McAvan writes that evangelical objections to ''Harry Potter'' are superficial, based on the presence of magic in the books: they do not attempt to understand the moral messages in the series.{{sfn|McAvan|2012|pp=100–103}}