Satanic School Books By Tandika Star @Fido 1:308/0.4 Apparently, some people haven't anyth

Satanic School Books             By Tandika Star @Fido 1:308/0.4

Apparently, some people haven't anything better to do than to
look for satan in school books. My concern here were:

1. Since when does the presence of ghosts or witches in a story
have anything to do with Satanism.

2. What kind of "violence" is in this series of books? How can
it be WORSE than what they probably allow their children to
watch on T.V.?

3. The quality of education is pretty bad; (IMHO). Along comes a
series of books that supposedly will INCREASE the DESIRE of the
students to READ! If that's true, I think (see comment #1) is a
DUMB reason to disallow them!

4. If a group of people is allowed to "censor" books because
they don't adopt a "proper christian attitude", then we're ALL
in big trouble. I'm not a Christian. I'm not specificially a
wiccan, either. I disagree with some things that fall into the
category of "proper christian attitude". I feel much MORE
comfortable with my children knowing the there IS A DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN WICCA AND SATANISM and that they are NOT "the same
thing!" I'm really tired of people telling my children that
"what I do" is "Of the Devil!" (This comment normally comes from
people that really have NO IDEA "what I do".) Furthermore, if
heckling speakers, and booing and hissing is considered "proper
christian behavior" (see the following message) I am embarrassed
for them. I was always taught it was RUDE BEHAVIOR.

I am assuming, given the complaints listed in the articles that
Shakespeare is also on the no-no list....after all, it contains
witches, ghosts, lewd behavior, men dressing as women, women
pretending to be men, murder and mayhem, disrespect for parents
and drunken orgies!

When I went to High School, it was a catholic school. There were
certain books we "weren't allowed to read". I went OUT OF MY WAY
to read them! Several of which I "found" on my parents
bookshelves in the living room.

I don't believe in "censoring" reading material. In my
household, my children have access to ANYTHING that has printed
words in or on it, from Penthouse to the instructions that come
in the sanitary supply boxes; from Shakespeare to the Koran to
In the Shadow of the Shaman. They are encouraged to DISCUSS
anything they don't understand or have questions about, to THINK
about what they've read and whether it applies to them or not,
and to RESEARCH further information about any subject and not
take a single opinion for gospel. (Hehe, however, it does make
for some INTERESTING parenting! Anyone want a spare,
well-informed, outspoken teenager?)

                   -----------------------------

The following is from the El Paso Times, New Mexico edition,
printed on October 12, 1990. It was the "headline story" on the
front page:

Title: "Board overrules suggested book ban"
Subtitle: "Hostile parents heckle officials at meeting"
Source: Associated Press

The Impressions series of schoolbooks -- attacked by some
parents as rife with violence and witchcraft -- may be used in
New Mexico public schools, the state Board of Education decided
Thursday.

The board voted 12-2 to overrule its Instructional Materials
Committee's recommendation that the series be omitted from the
board's list of approved materials.

The meeting in Santa Fe was packed with hostile parents who
opposed the books and who occasionally hissed and heckled board
members who favored leaving the books on the state list.

Some parents contend Impressions -- a collection of about 80
stories, slides, activities and workbooks, some of them literary
classics -- includes references to witchcraft, the macabre,
disrespect for parents, bedtime fears and other topics they
found objectionable.

If the state board rejects this massive parental input by
adopting Impressions, the state board directly strikes a blow
against the single most important factor which would enhance
education in New Mexico," said Bill Redmond, a Los Alamos
educator.

Doug Booth, a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties
Union, argued the parents' reaction would stifle children's
imaginations nad creativity.

Seeing witches doesn't make you a satanist," Booth said. "But
when a child's imagination is blocked off, that's when they join
cults."

In the series are writings from A.A. Milne, author of the
"Winnie-the- Pooh" series; Laura Ingalls Wilder of the "Little
House" books and Martin Luther King Jr.

Also in the materials are excerpts from the "Anne of Green
Gables" works by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

It also includes works by Albuquerque author Jack Prelutsky's
"The Invisible Beast" and "The Poltergeist."

Local school boards will decide whether the series will be used
in their districts.


"I found considerably more positive materials that are
available, which do not consistently focus on the death,
dismemberment, torture and violence that are in those books."
-Van Witt, State Board of Education member"

 "The state board said Impression will be accompanied by a
warning that advises districts to use "particular care" in their
review and consideration of the materials.

That recommendation was made by state Superintendent Alan
Morgan, who also said he found "unnecessary references to the
macabre" in the materials he reviewed.

The two board members who voted against the series -- Van Witt
of Carlsbad and Millie Pogna of Albuquerque -- were on the three
member committee that recommended against the education series.

"I found considerably more positive materials that are
available, which do not consitently focus on the death,
dismemberment, torture and violence that are in those books,"
Witt said.

Board members who favored the materials said parents should help
their local school boards decide whether the materials are
acceptable in their communities.

"God chose to provide us with the option to choose," board
member Maria Chavez of Albuquerque said.

The materials now are being used in Albuquerque sixth-grade
classes, Pogna said, and are used in 393 school districts in 34
states.

The materials were defended by a representative of Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich of Orlando, Fla., the publisher of the series.

Jan Spalding, the publisher's director of sales support
services, said excerpts and pictures have been taken out of
context by opponents and that the stories are readable, carry
universal themes and strong story lines, and help children
become better readers.

She acknowledged that some objectionable stories have been
removed from editions.