Animorphs and Christianity;an expose

[Marco]

No harm intended. This wasn't mean't to be a revision of Animorphs and religion. It was just to make a few things clear. I don't think Ellimist was meant to protray God but he could help us understand Him better. For example, like the ellimist, God gives us a world of our own where we make our own choices and are held responsible. Some even go through their whole lives not even realising he exists. He also see all the possibilities and gives you the opportunity to change them. One thing is certain those who met both God and Ellimist never remained the same. Crayak likes to torment and frustrate Ellimist. Ellimist would like to do certain things but can't. In other cases he allows things to happen because in reality he doesn't rule people's lives. Crayak and Ellimist's physical battles can be compared to old testament times where an error was met with immediate punishment. However new testament tries a more subtle approach. The animorphs represent immature misguided christians who cry out for guidance but don't get it. The way they see something isn't always the way it is due to their age and lack of understanding. They were just ordinary kids who by some extraordinary experience found themselves in this situation. Unfortunatly those who met Ellimist didn't turn out well. Tobias ended up a nothlit, Jake ended with an "old soul", Rachel died and Cassie and Jake's relationship broke. Marco and Ax who didn't meet Ellimist worked otu fine. Marco however though outwardly immature was actually the most mature of the group. He respected Jake as leader evn though he knew better.In all most of the other animorphs represent christians whose emotions and experiences get in the way of their faith,whiles Marco and Ax mostly remain above water. If they had less fear,more faith they would have seen Visser Three's weaknesses and beating him would have been easier. What do you think?

[delta]

Before I begin, I should let you know that I'm an atheist - just so you have reference to where I'm coming from. I wanted to play Devil's Advocate on what you said because I disagree that God equates to the Ellimist.

Like the ellimist, God gives us a world of our own where we make our own choices and are held responsible.

1. Neither the Ellimist nor the Pemalites planted the seed of life in our Solar System whereas God planted the seed of life on Earth.
2. The Animorphs made their own choices, but weren't held responsible by the Ellimist -- they were, however, held responsible by consequences as every action made has. They could have chosen to reject any of the Ellimist's offers at any time but would not be held responsible for the deaths of countless innocent lives because they did not act.

One thing is certain those who met both God and Ellimist never remained the same. ... Unfortunatly those who met Ellimist didn't turn out well. Tobias ended up a nothlit, Jake ended with an "old soul", Rachel died and Cassie and Jake's relationship broke. Marco and Ax who didn't meet Ellimist worked otu fine.

1. Animorphs taught us that war changes everyone. In the end, everyone suffers some kind of hardship.
2. Tobias ended up as a nothlit because of his own actions before he met the Ellimist -- the Ellimist gave him a choice to get his morphing powers back.
3. Jake ended up with an old soul because he carried the heavy burden of leading guerrilla warfare. The Ellimist did not cause him to "turn out bad." If he were to fight in the Yeerk/Human war without the Ellimist's intervention, he would have turned out the same.
4. Rachel died because she agreed to die. The Ellimist did nothing to force her into that decision.
5. Cassie and Jake's relationship was meant to be broken because he did not trust her intuition. The Ellimist played no part in giving the morphing technology to the Yeerks.
6. Both Marco and Ax both met the Ellimist as well because they usually met him while they were all together.
7. Along your line of reasoning, you could say that Ax didn't turn out fine because he was abducted by The One.

The animorphs represent immature misguided christians who cry out for guidance but don't get it.

They save humanity from Yeerk enslavement. The Ellimist "nudged" them every once in a while; I call that some guidance.

If they had less fear,more faith they would have seen Visser Three's weaknesses and beating him would have been easier.

If they had less fear, they would have died blindly. It was never about beating Visser Three anyway. The whole book was about resisting the Yeerks until the Andalites came to the rescue. When they figured out that the Andalites weren't their saviors, they then turned it into open war by recruiting General Doubleday. They always kept Visser Three in power because they knew that it was better to fight the enemy you know rather than get some new unknown person who could wipe them out. If they'd "beaten" him, the Council of Thirteen would have sent Visser One or someone else to lead the invasion.

Well, that's my take on it.

[Kotetsu1442]

By your reasoning, I would say that Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory. I mean, while the Ellimist vs. Crayak is definitely intended to represent a Good vs. Evil struggle more generally, I don't think it lends itself very well to Christian principles and the Christian Good vs. Satan very well at all, particularly because (not in spite) of many of the ideas that you say the Ellimist "helps us understand Him [God] better." Along with the ones delta already covered well:

Crayak likes to torment and frustrate Ellimist...

That really doesn't sound like a God/Satan relationship. The closest I can see is Jesus being tempted in the desert, but that was as a man is tempted, not as God.

Ellimist would like to do certain things but can't.

That doesn't lend to my understanding of God at all.

Crayak and Ellimist's physical battles can be compared to old testament times where an error was met with immediate punishment. However new testament tries a more subtle approach.

What subtle approach?

The animorphs represent immature misguided christians who cry out for guidance but don't get it. The way they see something isn't always the way it is due to their age and lack of understanding.

I heard a whole lot of annoyance at the Ellimist's 'meddling'; they did say things along the lines of "If you are going to mess with us, why don't you just do whatever it is you want" in frustration, at the most their attitude was "If you're going to help us, help us; if not leave us the *bleep* alone." Not really a Christian/Good relationship at all. And what was it that they didn't understand? That it was all a Game for dominance? Does the Bible teach that God has to win the Earth and depends on Christians coming out ahead because he cannot beat Satan on his own?

They were just ordinary kids who by some extraordinary experience found themselves in this situation.

Are most people not involved in God's plan then?

Unfortunatly those who met Ellimist didn't turn out well...

Is this still supposed to be part of how we can know God better through the Ellimist, or did you switch gears? I couldn't really see a change in trains of thought throughout your paragraph. It also seems like your specific examples of characters following this train of thought is really going out of its way to try and justify this point, as delta pointed out.

Marco and Ax who didn't meet Ellimist worked otu fine...In all most of the other animorphs represent christians whose emotions and experiences get in the way of their faith,whiles Marco and Ax mostly remain above water.

So Christians who don't know God in a personal way are the best Christians?

What do you think?

I don't mean to come off as overly critical, but it really does seem like, as I said before, that a Good vs. Evil struggle is obvious but a Christian God vs. Satan struggle really doesn't fit very well in general and perhaps specifically because most of your points seem to show how the Ellimist does not help us know what God is like. Feel free to clarify if I am misunderstanding any of your points however.