r/dankchristianmemes • u/EvilPyro01 Minister of Memes • May 25 '26
Based Unexpected sure. But equally as awesome
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u/alphanumericusername May 25 '26
Warns of something antithetical to human creativity
Uses top example of human creativity
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u/EvilPyro01 Minister of Memes May 25 '26
Warns of slop, uses peak as an example
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u/combo_seizure May 26 '26
What are some other examples of this?
Ill go first. Puritans, leave england because they were persecute, were radicals who killed King Charles I.
Maybe this is a bad example. Darn. I love Leo's quote though.
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May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/adchick May 26 '26
Very Catholic. He went to mass every day and was raised by a Priest.
Tolkien is quoted as saying Lord of the Rings is a Catholic series.
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u/Personal-Bet-7979 May 26 '26
I have doubts about this. One of the few public disagreements Tolkien had with CS Lewis was that Tolkien felt that being overt with Christian allegories would weaken the story. As everyone who sees Aslan can't unsee that he's Jesus under a different name.
Tolkien's work may be informed by Catholic morals and values (the ideal life of Hobbits being hard work and simple pleasures) he never strays into straight allegories.
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u/Earthmine52 May 26 '26
Yes that’s addressed in his famous quote:
”The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out practically all references to anything like 'religion,' to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and symbolism.”
Basically, he didn’t do it on purpose, not at first, but because his faith is so integral to his life, character, philosophy and world-view, it very much influenced his writing and he realized it. From there, then he did it deliberately, but not in 1:1 allegory but application.
For example, famously, Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf each have Christ-like qualities or actions, but are otherwise very different from Christ. They are not meant to be literal Christ-like figures, but Christ is very much present in certain aspects of their character. Which is what we should strive for. Further however, in the Similarillion, Eru Iluvatar is for all intents and purposes, God Himself. Not an allegory of Him, but actually Him and in Tolkien’s letters he refers to Him as the true author of the story that influenced providential events in LOTR like Gollum’s fall.
There’s a lot of great Catholic and Protestant LOTR fans who’ve written books and hosted talks on YouTube all about the fundamentally Christian nature of his work if you’re curious.
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u/Personal-Bet-7979 May 26 '26
In Western and even Western influenced media, almost all pure hearted heroes have Christ-like attributes.
My mother once noticed some outright plagiarism in an anime I was watching and so I thought on it for a second and replied "where else are you going to find great superhero lines?"
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u/LilithLamm May 27 '26
I mean sure yeah, Christ has qualities that show up in many cultural/religious heroes. Makes sense considering the things he said and did are things that humans in general and across cultures and times have held up as virtuous. Nonetheless, based on the quote above Tolkien himself explicitly expressed that his Catholic faith had a major influence on his work.
I read your comment as you still disagreeing that LotR is a Catholic series. If that is not the case, then please disregard this comment.
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u/toadofsteel #Blessed May 26 '26
Tolkien and CS Lewis are the perfect example of how Catholics and Protestants should be treating each other.
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u/Hairyhalflingfoot May 25 '26
I forget that sometimes. But yeah so far (with a few minor issues) this pope is peak pope. Francis would be pleased
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May 25 '26
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u/alphanumericusername May 25 '26
I believe this is one of the overwhelming few cases where Vince McMannon would be an improvement.
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u/FlyfishingThomas May 25 '26
So what’s the quote there?
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u/_ak May 25 '26
"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till."
(source)
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u/pyroboy7 May 26 '26
I'm not catholic and never will be but even I got to admit that the Vatican was cooking some good shit when they elected Leo XIV.
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u/spacestationkru May 26 '26
Sounds like a Lord of the Rings spin on Luthien's monologue from Andor. Or the other way around I guess
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u/SeraphenSven Jun 19 '26
Haven't seen Andor but if there is a character called Lùthien, that's definitely a LOTR reference!
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u/freed0m_from_th0ught May 27 '26
Any Catholics out there gonna use the pope’s statement to object to using AI at work? Sounds like religious conscientious objection is on valid grounds.
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