Why "Magic" gets Censored and why People can Lighten up

It is curious to many that one of the most banned books in contemporary literature is also one of the most innocent.  While there are certainly a lot of dark things in Harry Potter, is it really worth all the effort many groups have put forth to ensure Christian youth do not read the book?

So to look more closely at the issue why do fantasy books get banned in the first place?  The Bible clearly states that sorcery and witchcraft are sins.  Therefore books that deal with sorcery and witchcraft, or even just mention magic, often find themselves on lists of banned books.

But why is the Bible against magic?  One crucial thing that you have to remember about the Bible is that it is a historical text that was written little by little by several different authors in several different time periods of the ancient world.  Magic had a very different meaning to the ancient Hebrews than it does to modern popular culture.

The Hebrews encountered magic while they were enslaved in Egypt.  The magicians of Pharaoh's court were trained priests of various gods and goddesses who used trickery and deception to make it look as though they had powers granted to them by the gods.  The Hebrews also encountered magic when they returned to the Promised Land, those using magic did so by calling on ghosts and spirits, gods and goddesses, and even demons and devils including Satan.

To use magic meant a person had to seriously violate the Hebrew law which forbade worshipping other gods, having images of those gods, and bearing false witness, since magic doesn't really exist.  Soothsaying also made Hebrews nervous since it was the act of prophesying with power other than that granted by their God, which to them meant that it had to be coming from other gods or the devil.

It was not so much magic itself that the Hebrews were against but the sources of magic.  The Hebrews had prophets and priests who fulfilled the same roles that sorcerers did in other societies, yet when the prophet healed someone it was not through magic, it was by the power of God.  What's the difference?  The difference is the legitimacy of the source of power.  The prophets, getting their power from the god of the people could be trusted and holy, while the witches, getting their power from other strange gods could not be trusted and were therefore evil.

So, how does this apply to modern and contemporary fantasy literature and movies?  For the most part, it doesn't.  Going back to the example of Harry Potter, the professors of Hogwarts never mention any Pagan gods or rituals, in fact they celebrate Christmas every year.  The power source for magic is the blood of the wizard, religion is simply ignored throughout the series.

Other books that get looked down upon for having magic are actually written by some of the great Christian thinkers of the 20th Century and teach Christian principals!  The primary example of this is the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis.  His main character, Aslan, is basically Jesus Himself but described as a lion.  CS Lewis used his story about magic and fantasy to teach important Christan doctrines.

Lord of the Rings also has a lot of parallels with Christian doctrine and was written by a Catholic.  It is a controversy to this day how much Tolkien did on purpose and how much people are over thinking it.  Here are a few examples.  Gandalf sacrificed himself for the quest but returns to life more powerful than ever.  Frodo carries a burden of evil that only he can rid the world of.  Aragon, after winning the final battle, leads the people in a peaceful era for 1000 years.  The themes of overcoming evil and temptation, of Christ's sacrifice, and the millennium, and others are present.

The popular cultural concept of magic that we have is very different from what magic was considered in Biblical times and is much more Disney than devil and in many cases it is even pro-Christian.  Ironically authors don't mind being banned as it increases their sales by bringing more attention to their work.  Kind of defeats the purpose of banning books in the first place.

Pinon Unified School District, A Great Place to Work

Every author has the dream of making a living by writing, the thing we love most in the world and then doing whatever else just for fun.  So far my teaching job is what pays the bills, but I'm okay with that.

If you're a teacher and you're looking for a Job, Pinon should be a place where you submit an application, here are some reasons why...

Student population

We have a very different population of students here in the Navajo Nation.  I have taught students who are Sac and Fox, Hopi, Apache, Filipino, White, and of course Navajos make up the majority.  Here you have the opportunity not only to teach but to be taught.  Where else are you going to have a population like this?  These students want to be motivated they want someone who is willing to come here and stay here for the long haul.

Professional Community

Pinon Unified School District has many great staff members from many backgrounds who are dedicated to student success.  New teachers will find that there are many people here who will welcome them into the schools and offer cultural advice, help with the classroom, and friendship.  Collaboration and professional development are very important to the district.

Beautiful Area

Pinon's greatest natural treasure is the night sky.  Being so remote gives us a great view of the Milky Way that most areas just can't compete with.  Also since we are in Northern Arizona, we have a higher elevation.  This means we get snow every winter.  The gorgeous ski resort in Flagstaff is only two to three hours away, depending on the route you take.  I will admit, there aren't many trees, but come out here and see the sunrises and sunsets for yourself and you'll agree that Pinon is a beautiful place.

Quiet Area

Pinon is a safe place to live.  Let me repeat that, Pinon is a safe place to live.  I have lived here for four years, it is a quiet community where I take my son out on walks almost daily and I feel safe doing it.  Does Pinon have problems?  Of course it does but so does every location.

Crime in Pinon

Pinon has been described by some people to be a rural area with urban issues in a third world country.  It's actually a pretty accurate picture.  The closest Wal-Mart is over two hours away, along with movie theaters, nice restaurants, and many other businesses.  Being so remote and having a lack of economic opportunities means that the area has a higher poverty level and high poverty tends to mean high crime.  Crime happens here, however, Pinon is much safer than many other small towns I have been in.

Monetary and Job Security

Pinon Unified School District is offering a 13 percent raise next year to all teachers who stay here.  Pinon is also giving a 10% raise to new hires.  That's right, to people who are brand new at the district! Our district offers some of the highest salaries in the state of Arizona and is in great fiscal shape, unlike many public schools in the state.

Stone Valley Zoo

These fun books all use a little rhyme and have positive messages.  Toki the monkey learns to play nice.  Milo the bear teaches Gerald Gator to make up for his mistakes and Cynthia Cheetah finds out that we are all special in some way.  It is my hope that you and your children will enjoy these stories from the Stone Valley.

Godsword Dynasty Books One and Two

An epic two part story that chronicles the rise and fall of Roan Godsword as he battles against men, women, plots, and even immortal beings.  Roan fights for several reasons, survival, family, and love being among them.  This fantasy delivers on action and romance.

Fun Fact: As I was planning book one in the series, aka, Bring the Rain, Roan was originally envisioned as only a minor character in the story of Skyfyre.  The more the story developed however the more it became obvious that it was really Roan's story and Skyfyre became the minor character.

Hope you'll check out this one, it's well worth the read.

Removed from the Kindle Store

ABC's of Mayan Culture had to be removed from the Kindle Store due to technical problems with the book.  This is most unfortunate since I put in a lot of work to solve these problems.  Everything worked perfectly when it was posted for sell.  I checked the book and all the issues that it had been having were back.

Most of the problem has been caused by the fact that I used a lot of photos in the book from my trip to the Yucatan back in 2011.  The file is just too big unfortunately.  I need to work on a way to make the book work without sacrificing its quality.

It is my hope that it can be reposted to the Kindle Store in August or September.  I apologize to my readers about the problems with this book.  Thank you for your patience and for reading.

Newest Edition to Historic ABC's

ABC's of Mayan Culture has been a difficult but exciting project.  Most of the photographs in this book are ones that I took myself when I honeymooned in the Yucatan.

http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Mayan-Culture-Historic-ebook/dp/B00D8DLKJQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370535894&sr=1-1&keywords=brent+maynard

Hope you have happy reading!

Success

This month I have reached my highest author rank ever thanks to you my readers.  Thank you so much for your interest in my Historic ABC's series which has been making this success possible.  I am very happy that you are interested in many of the same things that fascinate me.

For those of you who don't know Amazon tracks its top 500,000 authors and gives hourly updates.  At the end of June 2nd my readers helped me go higher than I have ever gone before.  I truly appreciate all those of you who buy and borrow my books.

As always happy reading and thank you.