| MercatorNet | June 23, 2017 | MercatorNet |

| MercatorNet | June 23, 2017 | MercatorNet |

Twenty years ago on Monday the first Harry Potter book burst onto the market and became a children’s fiction phenomenon. I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone myself, eventually, to see what all the fuss was about. But had I been 10 or 11+ the title alone would have grabbed me – the “philosopher’s stone” would have been a new and intriguing concept.

I have no idea how much “philosophy” is in J.K. Rowling’s hit series, but it is very clear that there’s a huge amount of entertainment in them, and, as our lead article today points out, reading for pleasure is a legitimate pursuit. In a companion piece Dr Susan Reibel Moore affirms that their pace and wit are among the things that make the books score highly.

There are more important and weighty issues covered in other articles and we hope you enjoy them all, whether you are Down-Unders holed up with the flu, or Northerners melting in the heat.

Carolyn Moynihan 
Deputy Editor, 
MERCATORNET

Harry Potter turns 20 By Di Dickenson Let's focus on reading for pleasure rather than literary merit. Read the full article

How many civilians are dying in the final assault on Mosul? By Michael Cook Unimaginable suffering in a 'Stalingrad in the desert" Read the full article

The Genevan Psalter: Calvin’s musical reformation By Chiara Bertoglio And its seedbed in the Catholic French court. Read the full article

Bernie’s religious test is bad for all believers By Ismail Royer A Muslim defends religious pluralism in the public square. Read the full article

The Islamic crisis of reason By J. Budziszewski The God of Islam does not have to be reasonable. Read the full article

The magical appeal of Harry Potter By Susan Reibel Moore Twenty years ago youngsters were hooked. Why? Read the full article

Canada’s new human rights law: use trans pronouns or else By Bruce Pardy Few Canadians realize how seriously their new anti-discrimination statutes infringe upon freedom of speech Read the full article

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales By Raffaele Chiarulli Worse than the best Pirates installment but still better than the worst. Read the full article

Glamorous and carefree or unmarried and lonely? By Nicole M. King Rethinking the single life. Read the full article

In its ethical cookbook, medicine needs more than autonomy By Toni Saad If autonomy is given priority in ethical inquiry, it spells the end of ethics Read the full article

Reforming the WHO: can the first African General Secretary be an agent for change? By Steve Fouch Or is the WHO already a spent force? Read the full article

Multiculturalism: all good - right? By Marcus Roberts And is large scale immigration the only answer to population decline? Read the full article

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