Fantasy Morality

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by tumhalad2

Wow, glad you have all the answers. The Problem of Evil is a question for the "real" god as well as Tolkien's "sub-created" one. And besides, there is no single view of the Christian god, so speculation as to what he does and does not allow is arbitrary. I'm assuming that Eru corresponds to the mainstream notion of the Christian god: one who is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent. If the "real" god does allow suffering, then he, too, lacks one of these qualities. So your "answer" does not actually negate anything I've said. Why the tone of annoyance?

For one thing, because you simply ignored the statements. You said it, I argued, and you repeated it again over and over without paying attention.

You said that Eru is unlike the 'typical' christian God, because he lacks the qualities that God has. Now you say that the Christian God is not a proper God. So what are you trying to prove?

I don't want to turn this into a discussion about religion, but I think these two bits are important:
The Christian-Judean God: Gives punishment of suffering to those who choose to do wrong. Doesn't randomly make people suffer.

IN ME: People suffer because of their own choices. (Specifically about Turin: his choices bring about Morgoth's curse - not Morgoth. He chooses to ignore wise advice, chooses to be proud and arrogant, etc)

Also, I think that Mnemy has a good point when she compares the differences of the creation of the world.

I mean "undirected by providential aid/assistance/guidance". I see nowhere in your answers where you have refuted that contention: the Valar don't count, Melian doesn't count, Ulmo doesn't count. These actors are qualitatively different to the forces behind the scenes operating on the side of Good throughout LoTR.

In LOTR the consequences also depend on the choice of the person. Gandalf said that "Frodo was meant to have the Ring". But did Frodo carry it because Gandalf told him to do it? No. It's because Frodo chose to follow what Gandalf said. Just like Turin chose not to follow what Melian said.

Frodo was "meant to have it" by fate, not Gandalf or Valar or whatever (and saying that, he finds out from Gandalf that he's meant to have it, but maybe not to carry it all the way.). It's the same fate that does wonders in The Sil and COH, both happy and sad. I mentioned already that Earendil and Elwing, refugees from different kingdoms, somehow just met up and saved the world. Another example is how the Silmarilli randomly ended up creating a balance between the sky, the water, and the ground/fire.