Recently, The Tolkien Society hosted a series of seminars exploring LGBTQ, Feminism, and social justice issues in Tolkein’s work. Many people will cringe at the sound of this. But this has been a long time coming and now that it’s manifesting itself in full, I thought I’d present how this came to be as a pleasant case study in how progressives conquer institutions. Friends, I want to show you an excellent case study of a march through the institutions. Read along as we reveal the collapse of beauty and truth from within a Tolkien fanclub.
The first man you need to know about is one Shaun Gunner
He claims to be a Conservative, though what he’s conserving I am not quite sure. He’s made it clear he’s not interested in conserving Tolkien’s spirit, that’s for sure.
Shaun is also a Councilman of his local Tory Party which is amsuing.
Another name is Will Sherwood, who preemptively blocked me. I do not believe I ever had any conversations with him.
This pale orcish creature seems to be some kind of point man to the public. Perhaps a discount lawyer, I am not sure.
There’s another, Tim Bolton, who I fear may be autistic as he can’t stop replying.
I believe Tim may be something of a teacher’s pet.
Yet others include Dr Dimitra Fimi and her oft-spelling-error student Luke Shelton:
But suffice to say, a host of clowns.
Now, the jist of these “scholars” is that they want to present Tolkien’s work in a broader perspective that’s more inclusive. The problem, of course, is that Tolkien was a conservative religious fanatic with a distaste for feminism, once writing in a sarcasm:
It is getting to be all one blasted little provincial suburb. When they have introduced American sanitation, morale-pep, feminism, and mass production throughout the Near East, Middle East, Far East, U.S.S.R., the Pampas, el Gran Chaco, the Danubian Basin, Equatorial Africa, Hirther Further and Inner Mumbo-land, Gondhwannaland, Lhasas, and the villages of darkest Berkshire, how happy we shall be . At any rate it out to cut down travel. There will be nowhere to go.
Oh I do love Tolkien’s sarcasm.
Now, what Gunner and his merry crew of faux conservatives have done, is slowly march through an institution on half-truths and forced bridges. I don’t know exactly how it began, but Shaun was made the chair in 2013, about 4 years before Christopher Tolkien retired from managing the Estate side of affairs. It seems he brought in some other people with him into the executive and funding side of matters, and there directed the sponsoring of often crap-takes of Tolkien.
Take, for example, the laughable scribbles of one of their members Gretchen Felker-Martin, who attempted to argue that Tolkien was pro-trans because the Valar can change their form:
Now the Valar took themselves shape and hue; and because they were drawn into the World by love of the Children of Ilúvatar, for whom they hoped, they took shape after that manner which they had beheld in the vision of Ilúvatar, save only in majesty and splendour […] But when they desire to clothe themselves the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some of as female; for that difference of temper they had even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the choice of each, not made by the choice
-Ainulindalë
Here, the Valar are actually changing their form but it doesn’t change their inner identity. This is quite the opposite of the normal trans argument that the outer form must be made to conform with the inner identity. Rather the opposite, theValar of free to take whatever form they please though much like clothing, just because you wear a dress doesn’t mean you are a woman. Rather transphobic of Tolkien, there. Moreover, the witness of these things in the book is not a human, but an elf. And if memory serves, elves can reincarnate as they please, but are stuck in that flesh when they do. Unlike humans, who are doomed to die.
But, with a slight almost demonic slight of hand, Gretchen manages to turn the sentences to mean something of the opposite kind. But do learn to read, Gretchen. Do please learn to read.
I won’t waste time picking other ridiculous topics other than I get a laugh when I read the title “Gondor in transition” every time. I just can’t stop laughing at the forced topic. If you would like to watch a video I was part of discussion these things, do watch here. We currently have more viewers than the Tolkien Society’s lectures :)
Of course, the reader here may be annoyed to find I tolerate all people of all kinds and shapes and am not interested in the pronoun debate or any such nonsense. What I am interested in is telling progressives to stop stealing and lying and to go make their own things. But I doubt they ever will.
No, my main writing of this is to point out how easy it is to take an institution. Shaun did it with less than a dozen people. With those Dozens, he influences hundreds of scholars every year into the dark ways of Sauron. And those scholars go on to teach your kids such corruptions by the tens of thousands. Viewcount doesn’t mater. Who views does. 100 scholars can influence more than 100 randos on youtube.
This is how you influence culture. It’s not from politicians. It’s through institutions.
And if you’d like to help reclaim the Tolkien Society, I would encourage you to write to the Tolkien Estate and tell them to intervene in the society’s mismanagement of Tolkien’s memory. You can do so here:
https://www.tolkienestate.com/en/paths/contacts.html