Gargoyle, I think it's only "fundamentalist" Mudcatters who would object to a thread like this. It's downright fascinating.

I'm quite relieved to see that others think I don't have to adhere to Murray's definition if I want to call myself a Christian. Hell, even Jesus Christ might have trouble fitting those criteria.

You know, I don't know if it's fair to make a general statement that Fundamentalist or Conservative Christians would object to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. You could say that certain xenophobic Christians do such-and-such, but I think that's about as far as you can go. There are many Christians who are conservative in their beliefs, but they can be very reasonable in the application of those beliefs to real life. Wherever you go, you're going to find idiots. There are fundamentalist idiots, liberal idiots, Catholic idiots, and pagan idiots - and it's unfair to judge any of these groups by the small number of outspoken idiots who pretend to speak for them.

Yes, there are Christians who have trouble with just about any sort of literature other than the Bible, and they generally object to viewing the Bible as literature. I suppose they're looking for answers to their questions, and aren't comfortable with "grey areas." More exactly, I guess you could say they think they've found answers to their questions, and they have a fear of being "confused by the facts" if they are exposed to other information. As we've witnessed with "Harry Potter" and even with the "Last Temptation of Christ," many of these people won't even view a movie for themselves before they join the protest line.

Do we take these people seriously, or do we simply write them off as "idiots"? I dunno. I hate to write anybody off. Incredibly stupid people can also be incredibly dangerous - but I don't think we need to get parnoid about them. I also like to believe that people I once considered "itiots" can often turn out ot be quite remarkable.

-Joe Offer-