^^^Yes, it's very hard to be in the public eye. You have to be careful about what you say and do. But no one should compromise speaking the truth in order to keep fans. If someone does that, it may be a sign that their priorities are off. I don't mean to sound condeming, and I know that it's hard, but it's something you have to deal with for fame and glory.

I greatly admire actors and actresses that are outspoken Christians, because they recieve a massive amount of scrutiny for it.

Amen to that!

Yeah, it would be difficult for me to have every moment of my life photographed and framed for the whole world to scrutinize and pick apart.

Yes that's very true. Especially since often times people make up stories about them... But it is their own choice. Most of them could just fade out of the public eye, but many continue to advertise themselves to get publicity. I have to say though, it would be nice to be famous. At least you have a chance to influence a large amount of people for good.

I suppose that's one way to look at it...then again, what's to stop us from influencing a large amount of people right where we are? Think about it...how many friends do we have at work, at school, at church, in our neighborhoods or online who aren't saved? How many people do we actually know? How many family members do we have that are not saved? I've got family and friends spread from Japan, to Germany, all the way to Hawaii. If I couldn't even become an influence to them, then what would be the point of becoming famous? Something to think about....

Yes you are very right. I wasn't speaking solely of planting salvation seeds, but that is of course one of the most important things you can do. Just because we are not famous does not mean we can't influence societly in a major way. But I think we are getting off the topic... (probably my fault).

I read that too. And I am not going to go through all the pages of debate here. When I first heard it I just kinda laughed to myself. No reason to get upset. He did just what Lewis predicted would happen in The Last Battle. The whole Tashlan thing. Combing the two. Of course people are going to think that. We all know what Lewis meant for Aslan.

I dont think he meant any harm, but I also dont think he read and understood the whole idea of Aslan.

Wow, I never knew Liam Nesson felt that way about Aslan. And I don't see how he sees Aslan as other spiritual leaders...I mean, I would think that he sees Aslan as representing Christ, since he is the voice of Aslan in the movies, and he must have people writing to him about Aslan. He must have read the books, too. So I wonder how he could have missed the point of Who Aslan is.

And just logically, C.S. Lewis was a strong Christian, and I don't think he would have made Aslan to represent Mohammed and others. In a respectful way, I'd like to hear how he can explain that.

I find the whole situation disappointing, and not necessarily for Liam Neeson's comments.

He articulates in the quoted statement that in his own personal opinion he sees Aslan as representative of other figures of other faiths in some form or attribute. Does he explicitly say that Aslan is anything other than Jesus? Nope. He was asked a question about his own personal faith (regardless of what was intended in the Chronicles of Narnia), and his answer is not some unwritten law because he does Aslan's voice over. It seems like most of the discussion that's evolved out of this in the various fan communities (and picked up as a "topic du jour" by various pundits with dubious motivations) comes down to "how people are mistaken for thinking that Lewis was an inclusionist by thinking that Aslan represents all forms of religion". I feel like this is totally abandoning the context of what he said to use it as a lynch pin for a totally unrelated argument. I feel like some Narnia fans feel motivated to default to this argument for the sake of the greater good in clarifying that Aslan does in fact represent Jesus Christ rather than taking it at face value. And really, at face value, it's nothing.

Also, Mr. Neeson's comments are so sparse on the matter that the whole argument against him really does boil down to assuming that he said something he didn't. To see a spiritual leader and "long-time fan of the Chronicles of Narnia" like William Oddie resort to name-calling over this is extremely disappointing and I'm ashamed that such people try to represent C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia series. Caustic comments like these only serve to alienate people from an excellent series of books.

There is a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel if I can phrase that in a meaningful way. I feel like people that may have been turned off by the Chronicles of Narnia because they have personal barriers with Christianity may read the series out of curiosity. Even though people may not take to the idea that Aslan represents Christ right away (although evident through reading the series), I think they may come to understand the nature of faith and faith in Christ. It gets the foot in the door, so to speak. The Chronicles of Narnia I feel are about a journey of faith even as much as they are about coming to know Aslan and Jesus Christ. It seems like some people see the Chronicles of Narnia as a tool for conversion rather than a means to understanding faith or faith in Christ.

I guess it all really depends on what Mr. Neeson meant by his comment. If he meant that it was possible for members of religions other than Christianity to identify Aslan with one of their own deities/prophets, then I don't really have a problem with his comment. If, on the other hand, his meaning was that for him personally Aslan represented all these beings; then I think someone ought to sit down and have a nice looooooong talk with him. If Mr. Neeson was implying that C. S. Lewis meant for Aslan to be all these deities, then he needs to read his Bible more.

It's not my place to judge Mr. Neeson for what he has said, or failed to say, concerning his faith, though I have done that in the past and had to repent of it.

I pray that before he is done with the Aslan voiceovers in the rest of the movies to come, he will come to understand the deeper meaning in the words he has been saying.

]lewis was a strong christian full stop. so how could a guy like lewis base aslan on anyone else?