Good versus evil: Downplayed, or overplayed?

[Lush]

I think each of you that disagree (and you have the right to do so, make no mistake) should consider your own personal opinions, and how they affect the way you read the article.

I am curious as to what specific "personal opinion" of mine would make me annoyed at whiny, presumptuous, low-brow journalism.

For example: Did Ms. "Me gon' Bash 'em" not read the memo on how averse Tolkien was to allegorical interpretations of his own work? Was there no way of incorporating that fact into the rest of the article; giving her personal reaction to it; maybe juxtaposing it with what we know and don't know of Tolkien's spiritual beliefs?

She has a possibility of a great article in both instances you've provided, Knight; this is a matter that has a place is in her heart's very core, is it not? When a subject is personal for a journalist, the pay-off is often tremendous, though usually not an ounce objective (though I can tell that objectivity is not her main aim here anyway; she is writing for CBN, right?).

But due to the reasons already stated by me and others on this thread, her writing ends up being as stimulating as those inspired verses I read on the back of the cereal box as I try to wake up in the morning.

The one thing that particularly irks me, however, is the way that the author appropriates Tolkien's beliefs and makes assumptions as to what he would approve of. I see this sort of thing every day on this board, and I am guilty of doing it too: this whole argument that "Tolkien was Christian, therefore..." Wow, did any of us, like, sit down and have a chat with him about all of this? The truth is, we can read as many letters of his as we like (and I doubt this particular writer has spent as much time poring over his correspondence as, say, Sharkey or Squatter), but we will never get to the bottom of this man's spirituality. Why? Because we don't belong there unless invited.