Ouch!!!!!
I've just visited the sites posted by Mithadan as relevant ... check this out, a critique from an avowedly Christian perspective -
Quote:
"Though not as overtly and sympathetically occultic as the Harry Potter series, Tolkien’s fantasies are unscriptural and present a very dangerous message ...
The world knows its own; and when the demonic world of fantasy role-playing and the morally filthy world of rock and roll love something (ie. Tolkien), you can be sure it is not godly and it is not the truth ...
Tolkien certainly did get his ideas from pagan religions, and the message promoted in his fantasy books is strictly pagan."
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Now, from the second one - an explicitly Christian review of the film -
Quote:
... (a) bright and dazzling display of the occult, witchcraft and evil. It is another presentation of the "good" using evil to fight evil. And it presents sorcery as both "good" and evil. Violently. Grotesquely. While the story being based on "good" fighting evil using evil is bad enough, it is clear the filmmakers capitalized on extremism. Tolkien certainly described the evil and demonic characters in his novel quite grotesquely but not nearly as hideous and vile as those in this movie.
... I am not going to try to debate the claims that Tolkien's Rings trilogy parallels shards of the Truth shattered from the Bible. Satan is very good at making the truth into a lie through the most innocent vehicles and by the least obvious methods.
Maybe the Christian faith is under more attack [by the adversary through the unbelievers] than any other faith because it is the "right one": the one faith that poses the greatest and maybe the only real threat to the adversary ...
It is fine that there are symbolisms of the Gospel and behaviors expected of Christians in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, however "adapted" or "adjusted" they may be ... But my original point still stands firm: the "good" used evil (sorcery/witchcraft) to fight evil.
Gandlaf (sic) dying in sacrifice of himself for the lives of others and later being resurrected does not fit the picture of the Crucifixion and Resurrection but is a counterfeiting of them.
Regarding the powers possessed by the "nonhuman" characters being hardly wizardry or sorcery since the users were not human, Satan is not human either. The source of the power determines the holiness of it, not the use of it.
In essence, maybe The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring is in itself a "One Ring."
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[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] :: shudder ::
Still, I'm always interested in what people are thinking [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
PEACE
[ May 17, 2002: Message edited by: Kalessin ]