[Kath]

Thank you everyone for your fantastic responses!

Anguirel and lindil I hadn't really thought about the fact that the two were published in different time frames with completely different circumstances surrounding them. The society we have today is much less liberal than it was - even if that sounds odd it is in essence true as though we have more in the way of general freedom and women have gained the right to vote etc. we are incredibly controlled. Just look at the amount of CCTV and the fact that media covers every aspect of our lives. There is no real prvacy anymore. This kind of society breeds fear and distrust so anything that can be used a reason for the perceived terrors of that society (teenage violence for example) is condemned for no real reason.

I did know that Tolkien had written a lot of Christian and religious symbolism into his tales but I thought that might have actually contributed to any outcry surrounding the books as people may have thought he was trying to bastardise the Christian message in some way. That's not too clear, I mean that he was almost trying to create his own Bible - he was writing his own creation story, that we know, so I thought maybe this would cause problems.

The argument on different types of magic (from mormegil?) is a good one. In Harry Potter the magic is much more upfront and obvious as they are chanting spells, making things float etc, whereas in Lord of the Rings the magic is hidden almost. It is there in the world itself, the descriptions of landscapes and the land of the elves show magic. In the book itself Galadriel says she does not understand the word magic. The type of magic though is also less obvious, it is rooted in fairy tales, Eomer is surprised at the appearance of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and their tales of Lothlorien. The real magic here is in the reality of things that should be myth and legend.

Then this

In Potter, which I've never read but have seen, I assume that the use of magic is encouraged, and it's not always clear on which side the characters are.

This is not entirely true. Yes the use of magic is encouraged but it is always obvious which side the characters are on by the end of the book at least. And those who are Dark wizards use curses that hurt others, whereas Good wizards are taught to use their powers to help others and to protect themselves, never attack.

Hookbill your Pastor sounds great! And what he said makes perfect sense.

Oh and thank you to The Saucepan Man, Lalwende and alatar for those links. I've only had a chance to skim read them so far but I'll definitely be going back to them.