Imagine no religion - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

skip spence · 01-20-2010, 11:20 AM

This isn't my subject but looking at our cultural history I imagine it's very hard to find a single human civilisation or even tribe who hasn't got any religious beliefs, symbols, rituals, superstitions etc they share and find meaning in (obviously discounting modern secular states or where religion is officially shunned or forbidden like in the communist states).

Yet in Middle Earth, among the peoples described in LotR, there hardly a sign of religiousness of any kind and no-one makes any reference to any divinity or lesser spirits, direct or indirect. Well, there's Faramir looking West before eating, but that's it, to my knowledge.

Why do you think this is?

01-20-2010, 11:20 AM	#1
skip spence shadow of a doubt Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Back on the streets Posts: 1,125	Imagine no religion This isn't my subject but looking at our cultural history I imagine it's very hard to find a single human civilisation or even tribe who hasn't got any religious beliefs, symbols, rituals, superstitions etc they share and find meaning in (obviously discounting modern secular states or where religion is officially shunned or forbidden like in the communist states). Yet in Middle Earth, among the peoples described in LotR, there hardly a sign of religiousness of any kind and no-one makes any reference to any divinity or lesser spirits, direct or indirect. Well, there's Faramir looking West before eating, but that's it, to my knowledge. Why do you think this is? __________________ "You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way" ~ Bob Dylan Last edited by skip spence; 01-22-2010 at 12:14 PM.