[Beanamir of Gondor]

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

I find this lack of religion very strange, especially considering Tolkien's Christian point of view and the very Christian themes in his work.

I'm not entirely sure what "Christian themes" you mean by this (though baseline societal mores could certainly suffice), but honestly? I have this feeling that Tolkien was attempting separate specifically Christianity from his works with Middle-Earth. Raynor gave lots of citations about Iluvatar as an active God, and frankly, if I were in Tolkien's place, creating an entirely new gods, goddesses, and hierarchy of power, I would try to leave existing religious frameworks out entirely. Given, as Boromir88 proved with a whacking direct quote, I don't quite think the same way as Tolkien but all the same...

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

The world of Harry Potter features the devil but no god - and the thought of a world with Satan but without God is frightening.

This is such a horrible digression, but after all, I started it: the powerful problem I have with the Harry Potter series (in terms of good and evil) lies in the fact that not a single person fighting against Voldemort is without an ulterior motive. Voldemort fights solely for possession of the magical world and the death of Muggles: yet even Dumbledore, our Good character, had ulterior motives.

In relation to Harry Potter/Dumbledore, I take back my comments from my last post, in light of Boromir88's introduction of the Istari and my brain waking up:

Originally Posted by Boromir88

The Istari's mission was to unite the Free People's of Middle-earth to guide resistance against Sauron. Both Saruman and Radagast fail at this mission, but they fail in different ways, and it's motive that makes Saruman the 'evil' wizard and Radagast a good, yet simply idle one.

Gandalf, the third Istari, comes pretty darn close to a definition of "the Good who fights for only the dominion of Good." Gandalf seems to have no ulterior motives whatsoever, in terms of his own life or power. He does not wish to supplant Denethor for the power of the Istari; only to bring Aragorn to his rightful place. Gandalf gives his life to save the Fellowship in their quest against Sauron; he doesn't even hesitate when Frodo chooses the Mines of Moria over the Gap of Rohan, though he must know it will take his life.

One thing that convinces me of this is that Gandalf is definitely not my favorite character. I much prefer the Men of Gondor, with all their failings. The fact that Gandalf, to me, is an emotionally neutral character, does even more to convince me that he is about the closest we get (strictly in The Lord of the Rings, anyway) to a purely Good character.