Not "just escapism"

" . . .through the heart of the accusation that fantastic stories are “just escapism”: “Why should a man be scorned, if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?” - Tolkien

"For the growing number of people who believe there is no world outside our present prison, any talk of sunshine, meadows, and mountains has to be plain denial, a way of fooling ourselves about our true situation. Materialists who write about Magic are likely (though not certain) to write about it badly. They shouldn’t try it, for the same reason a Christian shouldn’t try writing porn. It’s hard to do well something you despise." - Lars Walker in "The Christian Fantasy"

I like that he qualifies it "likely (though not certain)."  At first, I didn't realize he had, and I thought, "That seems to require a kind of consistency of thought and action that humans are generally not great at."

Anyone read Walker's book? Be sure to check out the full article (or at least the comments, if you're looking for some good suggestions of what to read next).