Would you read a book that wasn't religious?

Wyatt1992 said:

Books like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia have caused a lot of controversy because of their content.

When JK Rowling outed Professor Dumbledore, who had not shown any signs of homosexuality she caused outrage among fans and Christians, do you think this should have been a reason for parents to not allow their children to read the books or watch the films?

How many of you would read a book which supposedly contain anti-christian messages to see if it was true or would you decide based on what others say?

Also would you read a book with homosexual main characters or books that contain fantasy elements?

One last question is would you read a book set in the real world with a made up religion?

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I think the answer must be given on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes this question comes across as: would you read a book that mentions sin? Or, would you read a book that isn't perfect? Since there is no way to get away from books that do those things, I can and do read such material.

The real issue is whether the book threatens to come between you and God in some way. If so, then don't read it. For example, I'm knee deep in a massive work of fiction for which I have been educating myself on Islam. I debated whether I should buy a Koran, and decided not to. My decision was based on 2 things:

1) I didn't want my children reading it because I'm not convinced their faith is ready for that kind of challenge
2) I didn't want to support a publisher of the Koran

Note my decision didn't really have anything to do with how evil the book might be (and I do think it a completely false book).

I think that whether someone should read a specific book is something that person needs to decide on a case by case basis. There are a few that I've read in the past that I'm far from proud of now, though.

When it comes to what children read, they're more suggestible than adults. I would be cautious about letting someone read anything in their formative years that could be potentially harmful.