May 16, 2006

Evil LotR and Judas' Gospel
Everett

Farlas, it looks like this will get posted too late to be of any use to you, but one of the accusations leveled against LotR is that it is racist because the battle lines were largely drawn along racial and tribal lines. On one side, you have Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, the Dunedain, Gondor, the Rohirrim, and the Eagles. On the other, you have Orcs, the Uruk-Hai, the Easterlings, Trolls, and the Haradrim. The only exceptions to this are the Nazgul, the Corsairs of Umbar, and Wormtongue, who are viewed as traitors.

Lem, I've not actually read the Gospel of Judas, nor do I intend to do so. However, I did read the the following review from the New Yorker (not exactly a bastion of Christian thought):

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/critics/060417crbo_books

Obviously, the Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic Gospel. From a doctrinal and literary standpoint, Mr. Gopnik's review strikes me as being spot-on, and the conclusion he ultimately draws about it fits fairly nicely with my initial reaction to news of its discovery: It presents more of a challenge to Protestants than to Catholics or the Eastern Orthodox.