February 26, 2004

Faith of Tolkien
Jevic of Highgate

Living in Alabama, there always seems to be a religious controversy surrounding anything that suddenly becomes popular. And being a Christian myself I am usually caught in the crossfire.
People around here seem to immediatly jump ontop of anything as soon as it becomes popular. Always proclaiming its of the Devil, without really knowing what the heck they are even talking about. They state hear-say and gossip as God's honest truth. You should have heard all the idiotic things going around about something as stupid and meaningless as Pokemon.
But now it seems that Lord of the Rings has become the target. Though thankfully it hasnt become as bad as it was a few years ago with the stupid Pokemon.
Unfortunatly my grandad, who I have the upmost respect for his knowledge of christanity, HATES Lord of the Rings. We got into a discussion last week about it. He told me that its of the devil, because it has to do with fantasy and magic. And that anything that says there is any other force other than God is of the devil(ie magic or the Force from Star Wars). Also that the movies cant be any good (religiously) because very few GOOD Godly things come from Hollywood. And I had to agree with him there.
Well I didnt want to argue with him. But I was seriously bummed out that he would say such things about the very thing that I love. I believe that entertainment is entertainment, I dont see anything wrong with Tolkien's works. When I read LotR I dont have the sudden urge to go out and worship the trees and/or Satan. Though I guess Satan can take anything and pervert it. And it seems he loves to especially use the Church. But I have visited a website where a few fools posted a way to conjure up the Valar. I guess that a very weak minded person like these could do something stupid with Tolkien's works, but most are intelligent enough to know that LotR is simple entertainment.
Now I am not a believer in the idea that The Lord of the Rings is an allegory to the Christians life. But I do believe that Tolkien was a christian. In reading the Silmarillion, I keep seeing the book of Genesis when I read about how Iluvatar created the world.
But I am looking for some hard facts concerning Tolkien's spiritual beleifs. I figured that I could look in the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, but I just dont have the book, and I dont think the Library has it. I'm sure that he was either Anglican or Catholic. But if anyone out there can show me something or direct me in the right path I would be much appreciative. I want something that I can show people when they blast me about Tolkien being satanic.
Anyway thanks
Jevic
PS- BTW if anyone responds to this post, DO NOT insult my Grandad.