Deuteronomy 31:6
Fear. Fear is the driving force that plagues men today. Fear is what seeks to consume us. But we can not let it. What do we fear today? Attacks from terrorists, loved ones dying in the war, the list goes on. If we do not stand strong, do not trust that God will not fail us nor forsake us, then we will be consumed by this fear. Fear that will lead to anger at what is going on. Anger that will lead to hatred. And where does hatred lead us? Does it lead us to happiness? To satisfaction? Or does it lead us to suffering?
Spain was our ally in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. They fought with us, for the same values. To crush those who dared to question honour, those who dared to question the liberty that we cherish, the ideals that we hold in high esteem. And yet, then, fear overcame them. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unexpected. And because of that, they withdrew their troops.
Then, on February 9, 2005, a car blew up in Madrid, Spain, not far from where King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, and Mexican President Vicente Fox would be for an inauguration a few hours later that day. The Basque newspaper Gara received a warning phone call from someone who claimed to be with the Basque Separatist Group ETA shortly before the car exploded. The ETA has been known to call a warning before an attack is done. These reasons have led the Interior Ministries to believe that it was the ETA behind it.
But what does this go to show? Does fear pay off? Or does it show that you are weak instead of strong? Maybe we need to re-examine things. The United States has entered with courage, and strength. And since we have entered Afghanistan, since we have shown we will not sit by and let our freedoms be torn asunder, we have not had to suffer another terrorist attack as we suffered on September 11, 2001.
Sons of Gondor, of Rohan. My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come, when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of Fellowship, but it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you, stand, Men of the West!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (listen to a clip of this quote)
I thought it was solid well written, but you could help yourlsef could you? LotR ist. lol
Very well written editorial, Ms. Kroger. The Lord of the Rings quote was most effective in grabbing my attention (being the absolute Tolkienite that I am). Very good usage of its context as well. It’s intersesting that decades after the books were written, we face a similar Shadow from the east.
Well done, Elf-friend!
Namarië,
David Ketter
Excellent, I love the quote!
I see allot of parallels with The Lord of The Rings and the present day conflict. We seem to have forgotten our sense of heroism.
In the Spirit of things I will post by my elvish name.
~Tiren
I’m all for courage and heroism, but I think it needs to be directed in the right area.
; )
And I think we obviously need to be focusing our attention toward our home. See my latest blog post on gay marriage as an example of what I’m kind of talking about.