The Lion, the Witch and the Warpers Date Thursday, April 25, 2024 - 03:56 AM PST Topic Books I loved books as a child. From the moment I could talk, I begged my parents to read to me. My fondest memories involve C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, a childrens' fantasy series laden with interesting creatures, fascinating worlds and Lewis's gentle yet complex interpretation of Christianity. My mother used these books to teach me Christian values without scaring me with tales of hellfire. When the White Witch sacrificed Aslan the Lion, I learned that Pontius Pilate had done the same to Jesus. When Aslan came back to save the children in the next chapter, I was told that Jesus, too, would return to save me. When Shift the Monkey dressed a donkey in a lion's skin and pretended to be the spokesape for Narnia's God, I was taught that cult leaders and greedy evangelists were not to be trusted. As a non-Christian adult, I still revere these books. The complex symbolism, while accessible to children, is even more beautiful and relevant to adults. Such a shame that the next generation of young readers will never see it. Harper Collins Publishing, riding the Harry Potter wave, has decided to reissue the Narnia books, with one difference: All Christian symbolism will be removed. The publishers feel that it might offend the "secularist" audience, who might not buy the books. In a memo leaked to the New York Times and published on MS-NBC's Web site, Harper Collins executives state, "The surest way to prevent secularists and their children from reading it is to keep it in the religious section of the book stores or to firmly link Narnia with modern evangelical Christianity." Never mind that most of America is Christian. Never mind that Lewis's series was often placed in the Childrens' or Fantasy sections of bookstores nationwide. Never mind that Christianity is central to Lewis's writing, and to remove it entirely, several major characters-- including Aslan the hero--would need to be completely written out. The fact that Lewis was a Christian has never stopped non-Christians from reading Narnia to their kids. I know a Buddhist teacher who praises the books' theme of the world as a temporary illusion. A Jewish friend loves Lewis's difficult-to-fathom grey areas of right and wrong. As a child, the books made her think. And although the main villain is the White Witch, many Wiccans love the stories, full of mythological characters from all cultures. All this is irrelevant to Harper Collins. In their pursuit of cash, they have twisted every rule of publishing to their bizarre ends. It would be one thing to commission Lewis himself to rewrite the Chronicles, but Lewis is deceased. His writings are a testimonial to his beliefs. Harper Collins could certainly find new writers who could produce secular fantasy worlds. Such writers abound. But they want to capitalize on Lewis's name while attaching it to books which bastardize what Lewis stood for. And why? Money. The precise evil that Lewis railed against in his book "Mere Christianity". At first, this may look like another manifestation of political-correctness. Harper Collins believes that Christian imagery is offensive to the mainstream public. They must not have left their offices much lately. They must not know any of the millions of churchgoing Americans. Even dedicated enemies of "politically correct" speech must agree that the motives of those who espouse it are sometimes noble. When a junior high school forbids students to use racial epithets on school grounds, the policy is designed to reduce school violence and provide a better learning environment. Perhaps such policies are futile, but they are often well-intentioned. The Harper Collins decision is a different animal. It goes beyond censorship into pure mutilation in the name of greed. Andrew Greeley, the best-selling author and Catholic priest who is also a contributing editor to MS-NBC, writes in his June 14th Opinion column, "The Harper plot is evil, not merely because it is dumb, arrogant and greedy, but because it shows no respect for a great writer...The series would flourish in the Christian Bookseller Association stores. There are far more evangelical Christians in the United States than there are secularists." I'm so glad my mother saved the books she used to teach me. I had no idea they-- and the messages within-- would become relics of an outdated age. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=96