August 18, 2002

Re: Mathew on Tolkien and Religion
Danny

I agree with everything you stated, and if any of my previous posts gave you another impression, then it was a lack of clarity on my part. I never intended to say that it was a book for all religions, or one that would agree with all religions. That is an impossability, unless you are so ambiguous that you say that anything can be true (like many agnostics.) I am Christian, but I also recognize that in virtually all religions, there is a concept of good and bad, and in most a concept that a higher being is involved in the lives of men (excluding maybe the clockmaker theory some hold to.) I beleive that Tolkien wrote his mythological writing in a way to avoid alienating people of any particular religion, but still one that reflects the religious principles he holds to.