C.S. Lewis, the acclaimed author of the children's fiction series The Chronicles of Narnia, has provoked an avalanche of criticism after it became known that the 7-part series, particularly The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Book Two), contains many similarities to the biblical story of Jesus and is construed by many as an allegorical interpretation of his crucifixion and resurrection. Outrage on the part of the fundamentalist secular community peaked when it was revealed that Lewis has previously spoken of writing the books with the intent to: "Bring children to Christ, and kill the idea of a benevolent, non-dogmatic human community in the minds of children."
Calling the books, "Christianity for kids," Phil Donahue, president of the American Association of Atheistic and Agnostic Secular Humanists (AAAASH), was one of the first to publicly denounce them. "What Mr. Lewis is trying to do is slip these dangerous Christian themes of love, forgiveness, and redemption past trusting parents and into the minds of our innocent children. Most parents will simply read the synopsis on the back and think, 'Oh, adventure stories about good lions and evil witches. Those seem pretty harmless.' That's precisely why these books are so evil- and threatening. All our lives we have tried to instill in our children a strong sense of belief in the fact that when we die we will end up in the ground as nothing more than worm-food. But Lewis is pushing responsible parents aside and directly trying to pervert the faith of the most easily swayed. The faith of innocent kids! This guy makes me sick," Donahue said in a joint press-conference with Nonbelievers UNITE!
Rather than back away from the stances that make him so controversial, Lewis has only reiterated his positions, claiming that he is "trying to save all the young ones from their parents' stupidity and deception," as well as prevent them from enduring an eternity "burning in hellfire." In a recent press release he stated that, "Christ is our redeemer, and I'm not going to shy away from proclaiming His gospel simply because some skittish parents are afraid their bubble of falsehoods will be burst and the brainwashed children will finally be exposed to truth."
Public school districts nationwide have sent out letters warning parents that the Narnia series may contain messages they may not want exposed to their children, fueling the controversy. Dianne Schiulte, Superintendent of Schools in Webb County, Texas put it this way, "It's not like we're telling parents not to let their children read Christian-themed books, which would be unconstitutional. We simply realize that most of the children in our schools come from non-religious families and they won't know how to put these ideas in their proper context- namely, hysterical nonsense. We live in a century when most people are aware that Christianity has been disproved time and time again. But most children don't know this. It's our duty to let parents know of objectionable materials aimed at young children that they should be aware of."
Whether innocuous children's fiction or a subtle ad campaign for Christianity, these books aren't likely to fade into obscurity anytime soon. Sales of the Narnia series are through the roof and many of AAAASH's critics think the association has much to do with that. "Prudish busybodies," said an anonymous source at Lewis's publicity agency. "Although controversy definitely sells more books." But Donahue rejects any suggestion that all this publicity will garner support- intellectual or financial- for Lewis. "Let's not forget that Lewis has called his books 'a repudiation of His Dark Materials' (Philip Pullman's beloved classic children's novels). This man must be stopped."
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