Braedley wrote:He claims that Tolkien was a Satanist, yet provides no evidence for this statement. The argument simply has no logical strength. If he had said "Given that Tolkien is a Satanist, and that he created the language know as Elvish, we must wonder if his views of God skewed the creation of this language."
Replace "Satanist" with "Catholic" and I think you have it.
Eric Barger wrote:Following standard Catholic operating procedure, it is obvious from his works that Tolkien saw nothing wrong with integrating not just secular but downright unbiblical ideas and imagery into his writing.
It is a fact that when embarking upon fresh mission fields, Catholic missionaries have for centuries made a habit of integrating the religion of a region into the tradition and practice of the Church in any given area. The resulting cultural and spiritual synthesis has allowed many unbiblical beliefs to operate alongside the teachings of the church. (A glaring example of this is the current mix of Catholicism and Caribbean Santeria and voodoo that has now immigrated to Catholic communities within the United States in places such as Miami and New York City. A quick search on the Internet turns up thousands of page hits showing the complete marriage of these occult religions and Catholicism).
The idea was and is, “come and join the church, participate in the mass, follow our teaching and keep your pagan idolatry and customs too.” This may explain why Tolkien and to some lesser extent his protégé Lewis often steered their fantasy stories into the world of sorcery, spells and incantations. Though apparently not occultists themselves, Tolkien in particular seemed to see very little wrong with the occult. This is obvious from the near compulsory use of sorcery they displayed in their fantasies. To them it was a vehicle just as it is for millions of New Agers and pagans today.
Braedley wrote:This is logically strong, as the premises can be connected to the conclusion. Having said that, the argument becomes unsound if one of the premises proves false.
Yep. Another thing that bugged me was this statement.
Eric Barger wrote:Tolkien also overstepped the biblical mark by building ancestor worship into the storyline – one of the pagan world’s most revered practices.
I'm now racking my brains, trying to remember where ancestor worship is depicted in LOTR. Can't think of an example.
If anyone wants to read the article in its entirety and try to make heads or tails of it, it can be found
here.
I must also say that I am the friend Majin Gojira mentioned in his opening post (hi, Majin, thought I'd crash the party!
), and while I'm not yet in a debate with Mr. Barger, I am thinking of it. I just don't want to go into a battle of wits unarmed, as it were.
Mr. Barger does this annoying logical fallacy in other articles, as well.
Eric Barger, on J.K. Rowling wrote:Some educators and parents have touted the use of Harry Potter books in teaching children to read. However, it strikes us odd that with so many words that are simply Rowling’s own invention, the vocabularies of children using Potter books to learn to read could be skewed at best.
Better lock up Shakespeare: he invented some words, too.
And HP's "invented words" are just usually Latin or Latin-based words squeezed into a rather humorous context. Tolkien did some similar things with some of his names and terms, especially when he was trying to be funny.
Eric Barger, again wrote:Here is a sample of terms from Harry Potter.
Animagi Azkaban Daedalus Erised Gryffindor Malfoy Quidditch Slytherin Voldemort
Which are all words that (with the possible exception of Quidditch) just about anyone can figure out the meanings of if they have a bit of knowledge about Latin, Greek mythology, and word-play in writing. They're really not that hard
or mind-bendingly mysterious, so Barger's attempt at conflating their significance into a threat to young readers only undermines his argument.
Another example:
Eric Barger wrote:Is J. K. Rowling a real, practicing, bona fide witch? Our research turned up no overt statement she has made to make us believe so. However, when Ms. Rowling was asked about her favorite holiday, it was Halloween. We realize that many people who are not occultists might respond this way, but we figured her answer wasn’t going to be Valentine’s Day!
What makes us explore this possibility further is just the occult accuracy of the texts. She has also intimated that some of the scenes in the books were fashioned out of real life experiences she’s had. While from the materials and interviews we researched Rowling only named some railroad scenes portrayed in her writings as something actually from her childhood. However, it’s not a huge leap to believe that the occult crux of the Harry Potter story could be from personal experience as well.
"
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know, the piper's calling you to join him
