[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

Been there, been there Eruwen. Kids who go to public schools don't understand the rules are completely different in the tiny sub-culture of a private school.

You know who you're dealing with. Each private school is its own world.

If any of the faculty feel the LotR is more properly classified with the Narnia Chronicles, so much the better.

Sometimes these autocrats stubbornly stick to their guns even if they discover they were mistaken. Their feeling is "if I give in on this, what else will have to swallow? I'll lose my authority."

So it seems to me - from over here - that the less of a big deal you make of it, the more likely you won't back him into a corner where he has to say 'no' to save face.

Leave the decision with him.

I wouldn't attack his views on magic in general (heh - you know that!), but the LotR should be reclassified with C.S. Lewis's works. They are not directly allegorical, but they are spiritual in nature.

Perhaps privately and anonymously give him a copy of "Finding God in the Lord of the Rings."

Any copy of the "Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis shows the dedication "To my friend, J.R.R. Tolkien." No kidding!

You are looking for a change of heart, not a victory in a battle of wills.

The fact that C.S. Lewis is accepted is wonderful. That's your "in." The Lord of the Rings is misclassified with the Harry Potter books, when it should be classified with C.S. Lewis' works.

I love Harry Potter, but for those who dislike witchcraft, it's on the side of the witches and wizards. In the LotR magic is dangerous, Frodo's main job is to destroy it and avoid the temptation to use it himself. You couldn't have a more different premise.

-Maril