Eric Schwartz, 21, is a journalism senior at the University of Arizona.

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Ever since the first Harry Potter book was published, religious and conservative groups have lobbied against the Harry Potter books and related media for promoting witchcraft and luring children into satanic acts. Their fixation on a fictional problem, magic, must seem petty now that another concern of theirs, gay rights, has become relevant to the books with the outing of Dumbledore, the heroic mentor of Harry.

Dumbledore, the headmaster of the magic school Harry attends, was revealed to be gay by author J.K. Rowling when she spoke at Carnegie Hall as part of her U.S book tour for the seventh and last Harry Potter novel.

Already there have been complaints from conservatives that having a figure, fictional or not, revered by millions of children revealed as gay is wrong.

Dumbledore is wise, he makes personal sacrifices over and over again for the greater good, and his mistakes are almost always revealed as mistakes of compassion. His sexual orientation does nothing to detract from his being an excellent role model for anyone, child or adult.

Sexual orientation should be as irrelevant to judging the worth of a person as gender, ethnicity, religion, or, as in the series, Muggle blood. The entire series is a message of tolerance and acceptance — yet how much are those who lambaste Rowling aware of the irony?

If even a few kids who have been following the novels all their lives are now a little less afraid of, and a little more empathetic to, their friends who may be coming out themselves, then Dumbledore being gay has served a worthy purpose. Some might also be a little more accepting of differences, the way the books encourage people to be. Empathy seems to be what's missing from those who think that having a fictional role model be gay is a problem, just as common sense is missing from those who believe that magic is real, evil and promoted as practical by the series.

It's almost 2008, and we fight religious wars, restrict the civil rights of people who differ from us in no real way, and we are witnessing a resurgence of superstition unseen since the beginning of the Enlightenment. The furor over Harry Potter whether for gay characters or the promotion of magic is merely a symptom of what seems to be a revival of the Dark Ages.

The good the books do, whether it is encouraging literacy or advocating acceptance of those who seem different, is much more important than any fear of black magic or ridiculous notions of homosexuality. Kids could do a lot worse than try to be like Dumbledore, whatever his love life.