[Kath]

I'm slightly lost in this thread now thanks to that enormous post from lindil!

This may explain why the Harry Potter books are more heavily targeted than LotR was when it was first published, but it does not justify it. Not does it justify the differing present day reactions to the renewed interest in LotR as a result of the films (on the one hand) and the Harry Potter books/films (on the other).

Thats true SpM but there is no way we can truly justify anything on this thread because we (so far as I know) do not wish to ban these things and so cannot explain and justify that point of view. In order to do that we would need someone who could remember back to when LotR was released for real proof as to whether there was a negative reaction to it, another person who had been behind a ban on Harry Potter but not LotR and yet another who had wanted to ban both. Unfortunately we are unlikely to get all three on this site and in this thread so we have to stick with conjecture.

Now about LOTR. I don't believe that it would ever cause any controversy, because even though it has Wizards in it, Magic is not the only factor in the Story. We have the power of love, the human spirit, friendship and friends who are willing to die for what is right. The Bible says: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) We see this so many times in LOTR, Gandalf in Moria, Boromir at Amon Hen (Amon Hen, right?), Eowyn almost died protecting Theoden. There are so many cases which reflect Professor Tolkien's Christianity.

Yes Larien this is true but as lindil and Lalwende said there are many examples of this in Harry Potter as well. There is intense friendship that is deep enough that they will risk their own lives for each other. The power of love is an incredibly strong theme, with the love of Harry's mother protecting him from beyond the grave. There is a huge discussion on the types if magic that seems to have sprung from this thread but though the magic in HP is often much more obvious there are these instances where it is hidden but all the more powerful for it, just as it is in LotR.

Maybe that's part of what causes outrage: when writers mess around with the present reality.

Thats a good point Enca but didn't Tolkien do this slightly as well? In the Prologue when he talks about Hobbits he claims that they still live among us today, but that we can't see them because of our own lack of belief and because they run and hide from us as the world has changed. But this is one small example compared to the large version in HP.