: : And about 30,000 on the infernal movie, my point exactly

: I wish we could go back to discussing the minute points of
: Tolkien's works. By the time RotK airs almost everyone here
: will have rither moved far, far away to avoid publicity and
: "pop-culturization" of LotR or commited suicide rather than see
: what Jackson has done with the story; and that's me assuming
: that Xenite.Org will still be in existance by that time.

Well, the minute points of Tolkien's works often lead us to many different issues. I, as the founder of the forum, have a responsibility for directing traffic to a certain extent. To encourage some kinds of discussion and discourage other kinds. But Xenite.Org is growing and becoming more popular (in accordance with my nefarious schemes for seizing control over the World Wide Web) and that means more and more of my time is devoted to other parts of the domain.

I've all but pulled out of the news groups for now. I can only post to them every other day, though that is partially because I'm sick, and partially because I'm tired of the constant flame wars.

But I've been reluctant to restore the White Council's focus to Tolkien discussions for several reasons. Chief is that if I get too involved in a discussion, I'll either have to let other concerns drop or I'll have to cut out in the middle of it. And I've already cut out on several. Another is that I'm getting a bit burned out on the Balrog Wings issue myself. There are so many ways I can argue it (and I recently got into another Balrog Wings debate on another message board). It doesn't seem likely anyone is going to turn up the Lost Passage which proves the Balrog of Moria didn't have wings. It seems that would have happened by now. So the debate is in a stalemate. There are those of us who say it has wings and those of us who say it doesn't (and those who look for a middle ground).

The same is true of the Elf Ears debate. And of the Ring On Mount Doom debate. And....

But my point is that we don't need to force ourselves to talk only about certain things. I've been content to let discussion go where it would, so that people are speaking what's fresh on their minds.

: Also, no one seems to bring up the other Inklings any more. Why
: not?

Inklings discussion comes and goes. Keep in mind that I push this mostly as a Tolkien forum. I welcome other Inklings discussion, but most (if not all) of them were religious writers. Once you get past Lewis' fiction (which is highly allegorical) you get into heavier content than the science fiction and fantasy community (of which Xenite.Org is a part) usually discusses.

I'm a Christian. I can discuss God and the Bible all day long, but I haven't tried to promote Xenite.Org among the Christian communities. Science Fiction and Fantasy are welcomed by some, tolerated by others, and deplored by still others. And there are many SF fans who are either atheistic, agnostic, or non-Christian. I'm afraid there might be friction I don't want or need here if I try to cater to a religious community.

So I suspect many of the Inklings fans look elsewhere for discussion. I know the C.S. Lewis fandom already has active forums, and they warned me when I started the White Council that I'd have a hard time competing with that community.

So I'm content to let people discuss Tolkien, and welcome other Inklings discussion when it comes along.

Hope that makes sense. Keep in mind I'm STILL sick. :)
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Xenite.Org: Science Fiction and Fantasy