Is that your wand or are you happy to see me?

DISCLAIMER: The War Department and I follow the Harry Potter series because it's interesting fiction. That is the only reason I have any real knowledge of the characters. Nothing more.

PORTLAND, Maine, October 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "What would Dumbledore do?" is the slogan of the popular Harry Potter fansite called the Harry Potter Alliance, which aims to turn fans into activists for a better world. However, the fansite is now directing tweens, teens, and young adults into a new kind of activism: pushing same-sex "marriage" and it has now set its sights on Maine. (Nobody could make this stuff up. Honestly, trying to turn teen fans into activists? Wasn't that done in Orwell's "1984", only in that book the activism entailed snitching on your parents to the state.)

The Alliance has scheduled October 24 in Portland as a day of training in door-to-door activism to urge Maine voters to reject Prop. 1, which would overturn the law legalizing same-sex "marriage" by way of a "people's veto." The event includes five hours of Potter-fans canvassing Maine voters with Maine Equality, a homosexual activist group. The event is called "Wrock 4 Equality" and begins and ends with concerts from the indie rock bands known as "Harry and the Potters" and "Draco and the Malfoys." (Why not go for "Potter's Peterpuffers" or "Draco's Dykes"?)

The Massachusetts-based Alliance has also contracted with MassEquality to recruit its Potter fan base into Potter telephone activists, who will call up Maine voters asking them to vote "No" on the people's veto of the state's same-sex "marriage" law.

The Alliance intends to have its activist fans take part in a one-day House Cup Competition and register in one of the four Hogwarts Houses: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. The event employs a point-system - 5 points per call, 15 points for knocking on a door, and 20 points for speaking directly with an individual. (These fools are really into this stuff. Kinda like Trekkies with brooms and wands I'd guess.)

The effort also features Irish actress Evanna Lynch, 18, who plays the character Luna Lovegood in the Potter Films. (Yep, the Hogwarts student referred to as "Loony" when introduced to Harry Potter. Maybe the actress attending this in order to stay in character.)

The Harry Potter Alliance is the brain-child of 29-year-old Andrew Slack. (So the Alliance members are "Slackers"? Yeah I'm having a lot of fun with snarky comments, but if I can't go for laughs in this my head might explode. I just cleaned the carpet a few weeks ago too.) The site urges fan to interpret current events in light of the lessons of Harry Potter and sets up Potter's mentor, the wizard Albus Dumbledore, as a moral teacher. (God, does it get any more bizarre? ) Interestingly, the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, had stated in response to a question from a fan in October, 2007, that Dumbledore was homosexual. (I've always thought she gave that answer out of exasperation with stupid questions regarding her characters. Honestly, the woman has more money than the Queen and she has to attend events where she'll be asked about the love lives of wizards, goblins, giants and house elves.)

Arthur Slack makes clear that the Alliance intends to be "Dumbledore's army in the real world" and the fight against the "Dark Arts in the real world" includes not only poverty, genocide, and disease - but traditional marriage as well. (I don't know whether to laugh or throw the keyboard at the monitor.)

For over the past nine months, Arthur Slack has used the star-power of Harry Potter to attempt to motivate Potter fans to lobby against ballot measures designed to preserve the traditional institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman and the natural environment for the rearing of children.

The Alliance did not succeed in its efforts to overturn Prop 8 in California, but with the electorate so sharply divided in Maine, it tells its members that their involvement can have a decisive influence in that state. (I recall that the natives of Maine are called "Maniacs", go figure.)

In November, Maine voters will vote either "yes" or "no" on Prop. 1, which reads: "Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?" (So if it doesn't pass, religious groups will be bound to perform marriage ceremonies that go against their beliefs?)

The latest poll results from the Portland-based Pan Atlantic SMS Group shows that 51.8 percent of voters would vote "no" on Prop. 1, while 42.9 percent would vote "yes". 5.2 percent report they are "undecided." The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent. (Sheesh this thing will be closer than Prop. 8 in California, the state known as "the land of fruits and nuts". Maybe they'll have to give that honorific to Maine.)