XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: morestelx@hotmail.com   
      
   Joseph wrote:   
   > "Morgil"   
   >   
   >>Of course it does. If Faramir could resist the Ring...   
   >   
   >   
   > I don't think you understand the Ring's power.   
      
   No, what I don't understand is why you keep going around in circles.   
      
     Resisting the ring is not a   
   > one-shot affair, it's a lifelong labor. Could Frodo resist the ring?   
   > Initially yes. He actually held it in his hand and offerred it to Gandalf.   
   > But in the end, it defeated him. To his credit, Faramir overcame his own   
   > initial desire for the ring and with was able to send Frodo to continue on   
   > his journey. But don't for a minute think that Faramir could have withstood   
   > the ring for any significant length of time. Given the ring's power and his   
   > initial inclination to possess it, I'd give him about 12 hours with it   
   > before it consumed him.   
      
   So we're back to "nobody could resist the Ring" argument, which you   
   earlier tried to deny by claiming that Gandalf showed he had strength   
   to resist the Ring when he refused to take it. Circle is complete.   
   Or can you explain why is Gandalf's one-time resistance more valuable   
   then Faramir's?   
      
   > Your assessment that Isildur's weakness is somehow not consistent with   
   > mankind's general weakness in this respect, is not consistent with Tolkien's   
   > scenario. In Tolkien's scenario, the Elves and Dwarves escaped the power of   
   > all of their rings, while men succumbed to all of theirs! If that doesn't   
   > suggest some greater inherent weakness toward the ring, on the part of   
   > mankind, then I don't know what does.   
      
   Well it doesn't. That rings had a different effect on each race,   
   says nothing of their general response to the ring-temptation,   
   which is the issue here.   
      
   Morgil   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)