And the beat goes on. The deluge of e-mails about Harry Potter continues. The following notes from readers of “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade” ended up in my inbox this morning and caught my attention:

Well now — everyone is entitled to his own opinion. One of the goals of classical education is to develop the minds and hearts of young men and women and to teach them to think critically and with discrimination.... However, he [Phillips] lacks winsomeness in his arguments. No one ever convinced anyone else to change an opinion by blasting them with Scripture verses.... Thanks for an article to remind me of why I am working at a classical Christian school. M.

Oh good grief! Doug Phillips oughtta take Maria and the von Trapp family singers (a.k.a., his family) to English L’Abri in Greatham, formerly the home of the very bright and wonderful Jerram Barrs. Of course poor Mr. Phillips would be eaten alive at the lunch table since his entire premise is ridiculous. If Captain von Trapp spent more time sucking the marrow out of life instead of sucking the joy out of everyone else’s, what a happier world it would be. Why on earth are you subscribing to such garbage?! ... I’ve just read more of the Phillips guy’s website, and quite frankly it scares me.... It’s not Christianity. At all. It’s another case of “Dominant Male Look-at-how-many-times-I-can-procreate-and-get-me: I’m being the Head of my household” syndrome.... I’ve been ticked off at Doug Phillips all day. The very fact that his entire article was refuting L’Abri teacher Jerram Barrs’ opinions doesn’t sit well with me at all as I’m a huge fan of both L’Abri and J.B.... [T]he picture of him and his family was just weird — the long-haired wife from the ’80s, matching clothing for the kids: girls in dresses, boys in ties, I mean the whole thing just makes my skin crawl. And his ultra PRO-family stance doesn’t fit someone like me, so he’s wasting his time trying to impose his opinions. T.

Note from Beall: Dear T., I will work on the hair, but the kids’ clothing is staying.