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One of the things I remember from my Debate class in college (so many many years ago) was a lesson very early that went like this:
"One of the most important things in Debate is the definition of terms. How you define the important terms central to the issue - broadly or narrowly - can significantly determine your success."
Its sad that these type of things always come down to definitions and how people attempt to twist them to their own purposes. This latest business about how JRRT was NOT creating a mythology but a fake mythology is simply more intellectual craftsmanship designed to "win" this particular argument. What ever happened to all I have read over the years that one of the goals of JRRT was to create a mythology for England?
All of this becomes an exercise in semantics and legalism and borders on the arcane. Intellectual gymnastics employed to justify a particular personal position on an issue which is not clear at all. More heat than light is shed.
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