Like many of you, I loved reading Harry Potter when I was a teen. I feel Harry and his challenges have become a part of my identity. The other day my roommates said this line from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
"Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
She was using it in a funny context, but it got me thinking.
There are things in society we don't like to talk about or even name, and that just increases the fear of those things.
Remember Cornelius Fudge in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix? His plan to deal with Voldemort's return was to ignore it. Pretend like it never happened and try to make people think Harry was crazy to discredit him. And that's just what Voldemort wanted.And do you remember what happened at the end of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix? Voldemort really had come back, Fudge was discredited and was afterward removed from being the minister of magic. The problem that was always there was finally exposed, and wizards returned to living in fear of a problem they had assumed had gone away.
We have to be willing to face the Voldemorts in our society now. Abuse, pornography and body objectification are all hard topics to address, but the problems are still there even if we choose not to address them. It can be scary to share your real feelings about these issues if you feel like you're the only one who sees a problem, but that's when we to live with integrity and be leaders. If the silence continues, the problem and the number of victims will grow until the problem can't be ignored.
But many are suffering from the silence now. Another lesson from Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is how the victims of these tough problems feel when nobody believes them or thinks their problem is real. Do you remember how hurt, angry and confused Harry felt the whole book when nobody believed what happened to him in the graveyard? Victims of abuse and those addicted to pornography also feel isolated and hurt when the problems they have faced are not acknowledged or recognized by society. They may also hesitate to get help if they feel like nobody will believe them. It's time to start talking. We can't quietly stand while problems in our society are growing. But we don't live in a magical world, and the problems confronting us may seem less threatening in the moment than Voldemort. Maybe it would be easier to fight the plagues of our age with a wand, but there are many ways to be involved. The easiest way is to speak up against abuse, pornography and body objectification. If you see something that bothers you, let others know. Visit the linked sites and start to learn why the little things make a big difference.
Be brave, and don't be like Cornelius Fudge.
-Genevieve
ADSENSE HERE