Word: religion
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Parents have complained that the recent rave over the Potter books is nothing more than an evil curse, a sort of black magic that has cast its spell over fourth-graders everywhere. They argue that Rowling is promoting witchery (a bonafide religion in the United States) over good old-fashioned Christianity. You see, Harry Potter is no ordinary boy. He is a wizard-in-training, and in Rowling's books, there is a whole magic world out there which he inhabits. Except, of course, when he has to go home for the holidays...
Frankly, I'm a little appalled that the mothers and fathers of America are anti-Potter for religious reasons. There is far less religion apparent in Potters adventures than there ever was in another acclaimed Narnia series, starting with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. C. S. Lewis' books were a thinly veiled Christian tract where God posed as a lion named Aslan...
Kaminer's views on religion and politics will presented further in her forthcoming book, "Sleeping with Extraterrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety...
Into the contentious debate about the role of religion in public schools comes a nice bit of middle-of-the road common sense: Teach, but don't preach. "The Bible and Public Schools: A First Amendment Guide," unveiled Thursday by a coalition of 20 normally at-odds groups (such as People for the American Way and the National Bible Association), is a how-to book for schools who want to teach about the Bible without teaching the Bible. TIME senior religion writer David Van Biema calls the move "a terrific thing," saying that it could lead to a greatly increased...
...question is whether schools will agree. Religion is an issue many school districts don't want any part of, since feelings run so hot on the issue and courts have traditionally given a strict interpretation of the Constitution's separation of church and state in the classroom. But the new booklet draws its inspiration from the most famous ruling on the subject: a 1962 Supreme Court ruling that, while it banned school prayer, did say that the Bible could be included in school curricula if taught objectively. "After the 1962 ruling a lot of administrators, just...