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I think I object to the use of "Luddite" because I equate Luddites with those Greenies who don't want us to use any technology, not to make life easier or more interesting. Frankly I don't care what Tolkein thought of washing machines; I don't watch Star Wars for my opinions on bioethics. They're for entertainment, and sometimes a little more, but if they preach something I don't accept I simply throw it out. (For instance, I read science fiction. Most of the authors seem to be devoted atheists and humanists. That doesn't mean I don't read the books, nor does it shake my faith.)

So it's not what the article is calling Tolkien, it's what the article is implying about us that I mind.

I suppose... I don't mind Tolkien being called Luddite because he is past tense... He lived and wrote in an even simpler time than now, and perhaps he saw where it was going and didn't like it. I don't blame him for that.

You're right. We are not supposed to consider it a guide book for real life (although I do like the cloaks) but instead a fantasy escape. The non-tech (and yet magical) world he created holds a lot of romance for me, and that attraction I don't mind sharing with the hippies or the greenies. It is OK to share this appreciation with them, IMHO, because it is a good vision. The fact that people from many different ethos love the story speaks to the very basic truths that lay within it... Virtues that are good no matter what your point of view must be right on... on everything else, we have to argue.

The publication this came from is fairly liberal, so the connections it points out to readers are those that are important liberal readers. We just happen to like them too... There are other elements of the story that would be highlighted in a conservative publication (like loyalty, patriotism, freedom), that they may like too (yes they would) even though that writer was conservative. Both sides can like it because it rings true.