Fantasy Historical Revisionism - Loconte's Manipulation of Middle-Earth, Narnia, and the New Testament

For some time I've received recommendations of Joseph Loconte's 'The War for Middle-Earth: JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945'. I was dubious, and so when I was recently in a Barnes and Noble and saw the book, I picked it up and spent some time perusing it. It was what I had feared, a Right-wing attempt to hijack these authors and appropriate them to contemporary political struggle. It immediately reminded my of the kind of skewed historical work produced by Eric Metaxas, most famously with his Bonhoeffer biography which despite being discredited, continues to sell.

Appropriating Tolkien by Means of Anachronism

https://www.politico.eu/article/inside-giorgia-meloni-hobbit-fantasy-world-lord-of-the-rings-fratelli-italia-brothers-italy-politics/

As one who has been reading Tolkien since elementary school, and even now enjoys discussing his works with my adult children, I am beset by many emotions when I read something like this. I feel as if someone has hijacked something from my childhood or like a memory has been violated.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not a Model of Christian Womanhood

I grow weary of having to endure her praises and the notion that she's somehow being persecuted for righteousness sake.

The job of White House Spokesman or Press Secretary is one of the worst jobs there is. You can become famous and many have gone on to rather lucrative careers in the media and yet it's not a job for the faint hearted... or rather for the ethically strong.

For one must virtually abandon one's ethics and one's obligations to maintain the position. Your family, your church and your God must take a backseat because loyalty to the regime and the defense of it are your priorities in life.

Tolkien Cosmology Update

I recently updated The Cosmology of Tolkien on The Pilgrim Path/Proto-Protestantism website. The link is here if anyone is interested, followed by the additions I made.

The Economist: Right Wing Movements and Medievalism

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/01/medieval-memes

This tendency to romanticise and even glorify the Middle Ages was already at work within the Christian Right during the 1990s and certainly received a boost in the climate created by the 9/11 attacks.