Jeb!’s One Christian Florida initiative
C.S. Lewis and Christian Allegory:
The problem is, Lewis either wasn’t capable of or didn’t think highly of subtlety. The Christian allusions in the books come on fast and strong, with little apparent effort to construct a story that might exist independently of the religious references. As a point of contrast, consider J.R.R. Tolkein’s books which also contain Christian references. In that case, the references can be missed because they are buried in a deep, complex story that can stand independently of Christianity.
Group wants nonreligious book for contest
Gov. Jeb Bush's promotion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for a statewide reading contest violates the U.S. Constitution, the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State said Thursday, asking in a letter that Bush add an alternative, nonreligious book to the contest.
Students should have the option of reading a book other than a Christian-themed book by C.S. Lewis, the group's director, Barry Lynn, wrote Thursday.
......The governor's Just Read, Florida office last month announced that children could win a trip to a Disney resort and see the Orlando premier of the film version of the book if, depending on the grade level, they wrote an essay, drew an illustration or produced a short movie based on the story.
Lynn, a lawyer and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, cited court cases that he said support his idea that "the state's sponsorship of this contest creates the appearance of a governmental endorsement of the book's religious message, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
The movie is being co-produced by the Walt Disney Co. and Walden Media, which is owned by Philip Anschutz, a devout Presbyterian and Colorado billionaire who — with his family, his foundation and his company — has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and causes.
......But Lynn's letter cited Lewis, who said that he hoped his Chronicles of Narnia books, of which the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first written, would "make it easier for children to accept Christianity when they met it later in life."