[Rumil]

There are of course many parallels between Tolkien's works and religion. In particular, Christianity and worship of Morgoth. <P>When Sauron was on Numenor, he built a temple, which was viewed as a heinous act. Who builds temples? Well, organised religions such as Christianity of course. The point being that religion in Middle earth was un-organised, apart from Morgoth-worship. The lack of organisation meant that worship was an individual spiritual activity, not part of a bid for secular power by priests/ministers/pastors/etc.<P>Additionally, the orcs were well prepared to follow bible teaching. In Psalms, you are recommended to beat out the brains of your enemies' children on convenient rocks. The genocide at Jericho has served as a template for many war crimes over the centuries. Basically, if your leader says that God wants you to kill everyone inside an enemy city, the bible says that you should obey this instruction. At Minas Tirith the orcs were enthusiastic to carry out these despicable acts of savagery, as they had prviously displayed at Gondolin, Minas Ithil etc.<P>This thread appears to be dominsted by talk of Christianity, but why no contributions from Hindus, Moslems, Buddhists, Jainists, Zoroastrians, Celtic and Scandinavian pagans, Confucians, Mithraists etc.? <P>(I'll represnt the atheists for the moment!)