J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released in Germany this weekend, to the delight of children and the outrage of the right-wing group Christian Fe-Medienverlag. They've published a fervently anti-Harry Potter book titled "Harry Potter - Good or Evil?" written by religious sociologist Gabriele Kuby.

Kuby and other conspiracy-minded fanatics believe that Harry Potter novels are part of a "global, long-term project to change the face of culture." Unfortunately, she's not the lone vocal Potter critic. Pedagogics professor Reinhard Franzke says that, "[t]he horror scenes violate childish minds. They could make sensitive children psychologically ill, trigger depression and nightmares, and affect their reading and learning abilities."

According to Franzke, Potter-mania will mean that "the number of patients admitted to psychiatric wards will explode, health care contributions will rocket and there'll be a rise in the number of unexplained murders and suicides."

J. K. Rowling herself rejects the accusations, saying her books are "very moral" in their view of the struggle between good and evil.

Source: DW-World [1]