From: psperson@ix.netscom.com.invalid
On Mon, 14 May 2018 23:33:01 +0100, temujin
wrote:
>> On 2018-05-11 20:06:42 +0000, temujin said:
>> > Manwe's emissaries urged resistance but sent no arms.
>> > Offering only a heroic death or a fool's errand. So why not be
>> > ruled by Mordor rather than the allies in Rivendell and Arnor?
>> > Peace benefits the living more than the undying.
>
>On Sat, 12 May 2018 10:40:28 -0700, Paul S. Person
> wrote:
>> And a lot of Men felt that way (Easterlings, Southrons, Black
>> Numenoreans). The Men of Gondor and the Rangers felt
>> otherwise.
>>
>> That is what makes them courageous.
>
>Implying that those who fought for Mordor were cowards for not
>choosing martyrdom?
No, that they were cowards for not choosing to resist Sauron.
Going along with evil is a form a cowardice. And surrender.
>On Sun, 13 May 2018 22:46:25 -0400, Bill O'Meally
> wrote:
>> Manwë knew that Sauron could not be defeated by force of
>> arms. He knew that only by the hand of Eru (call it Providence,
>> if you will) could Sauron be ultimately defeated. The Istari
>> were sent to guide the Free People of Middle-earth on such a
>> path that would induce Eru to intervene. Perhaps a fool's
>> errand, but if they failed it would have been due to their own
>> moral failings. A heroic death would have been their
>> reward/punishment. The outcome balanced on a knife edge,
>> even four out of the five Istari failed in their mission.
>
>Can we question the ethics of those who sent child-like hobbits to
>infiltrate enemy territory and face almost certain death? It seems
>perverse to ascribe moral failure as an explanation for a probable
>negative outcome.
Child-sized, not child-like.
Well, except the younger ones. But they weren't adults yet. And they
insisted on coming.
--
"Nature must be explained in
her own terms through
the experience of our senses."
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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