[Dan31629]

It really depends. I am also a lifelong fan of Fantasy. I went to see LOTR on opening day and reread the entire trilogy once every few years. LOTR is also steeped in Christian ethics and theological overtones, as were the various works of C.S. Lewis and others. LOTR also has many elements of iron age and dark age Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Germanic mythology. Harry Potter is sort of neutral; there are no tangible references to real life pagan religion that I could discern. However, this is not to say that pagan influences do not exist in certain segments of the fantasy genre. A lot of your novels aimed at the D&D generation (20 or 30-something, or high school kids) have influences from paganism, druidism, asatru, wicca, etc. etc. Even a lot of D&D and other RPG’s have similar influences, though the untrained eye generally won’t spot it. I don’t think it is deliberate prosyletization (sp?) by any means; either the authors are practicioners of such religions and are drawing from their own knowledge and experience, or they are trying to draw from real world sources for purposes of authenticity. If it’s blatant propaganda or ‘brainwashing’, then anyone with a brain can spot it immediately, although I’m sure there have been a few who have attempted it. I suppose this all makes no difference to the average fantasy reader, who just wants a good bit of escapist storytelling. But as a Christian, the reason I tend to object is the same reason that I won’t listen to Ronnie James Dio or nordic black metal: Why should I continually cause myself to be passively subjected to that which I disbelieve? This is not to say I won’t learn (or debate) about these things… but having it streaming through my headphones or through my literature is something I am not privy to. This is why I prefer discussing such things on internet forums or face-to-face conversations, rather than reading in-favor-of arguments by print: because I can respond.

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Name : Dan31629, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 23, City : L.A. area, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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