Why Evangelicals Decided Harry Potter Bad, LOTR Good

InIn 2001, my grandfather died. My parents announced their divorce. I hit puberty, developed my first crush. And in that same year, in anticipation of the incoming movie trilogy, I found The Lord of the Rings. It's impossible to overstate Tolkien's impact on my life, and I can't imagine becoming a minister in the progressive United Church of Christ without his work and the films based on it. The Lord of the Rings made a believer out of me because it was the first story that taught me the power of story to give shape and meaning to our lives. And I saw it do the same for my conservative Christian classmates.