'Getting rid of demons': 'Twilight', 'Harry Potter' and other books were burned in the US

An infamous Tennessee pastor has led a book burning campaign to combat "demonic influences", with Harry Potter and Twilight among others. Read more about this publication The Guardian.

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The burning, which was broadcast live on Facebook, follows the Tennessee School District's decision last month to ban the Holocaust-based graphic novel Maus.

“We understand very well what we are getting into. Stop allowing demonic influence to enter your home,” QAnon pastor and conspiracy theorist Greg Locke wrote in a Facebook post.

“We will continue the Demon Extinguishing series going forward. We have things coming from everywhere that we will burn. Witchcraft and cursed things must go out of our lives, ”Locke specified.

This kind of anathema act in the Nashville suburb of Mount Juliet drew a huge crowd. Those in attendance threw copies of the Harry Potter and Twilight series into the fire, among other books.

Before the burning, Locke said in a sermon that he was fighting "the devils of the Freemasons" and was not going to "commit suicide anytime soon".

“I won't mess with witches anymore, I won't mess with witchcraft… I won't mess with demons. I call everyone in the name of Jesus Christ,” Locke said.

According to Tyler Salinas, a photographer who was present around the fire, there was one protester among the crowd. He pulled copies of Fahrenheit 451 and The Origin of Species from the flames, but threw a book into the fire that he said was the Bible.

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The American Library Association (ALA) said it recently noticed an "unprecedented" rise in requests to ban certain titles, with 2021 books that were labeled objectionable in the fall of 330 - up from 156 in all of 2020.

“In twenty years of operation, I don’t recall that we faced many problems every day,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Michelle Obama biography ban

The biography of Michelle Obama also got to the books that are asked to be banned, writes Yahoo!.

A Texas parent has called for former First Lady Michelle Obama's childhood biography to be removed from school libraries because he felt it was unfair to former President Donald Trump. In addition, the book makes white girls feel "ashamed."

A Texas parent took issue with Heather Schwartz's book Michelle Obama: A Political Icon and said it "unfairly" depicted Trump as a "bully".

The ban request came as books depicting race, sexuality and gender came under increased scrutiny. Many demanded that certain books be removed from school libraries.

Parents say that the book about Obama made an impression, and that "if you talk like a white girl, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Schwartz said she was "shocked" that someone would want to ban her book because it is "a non-fiction book that doesn't seem controversial."

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Maria Corrales DiPetta, spokesperson for the Independent School District, said they reviewed the book after the complaint and decided they would not remove it. Any book that is contested is reviewed by the county, even if only one parent files a complaint, she said.

“We could get hundreds of requests and they would go through the same process,” she explained.

In December, Katie County began removing books from shelves after parents complained they were vulgar.

"The Board of Trustees and I are committed to this policy and strongly believe that there is no place in the Katy ISD libraries for books that contain highly vulgar content," County spokesman Ken Gregorsky said.

“We expect the books in our collections to be age appropriate,” he said.

Such efforts have received support from state legislators and other public figures in the United States. Last year, the Oklahoma legislature proposed a bill to ban books in school libraries that depict sexual activities or contain discussions of sexuality and gender identity.

In October, a Wyoming prosecutor denied a request to prosecute library staff in a conservative city for possessing several books on sex education and others on LGBTQ+ topics.

“As an author, reader, and parent, I am fundamentally opposed to a book ban,” said Schwartz, author of a biography of Obama. “There can be no safer way for children to learn about complex topics, gain new perspectives and explore the world and their place in it than through reading.”

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