This is really good, Royce. I'd like to pass it on. Thanks for posting it.
Jim
Royce C Hayes wrote:
> I am a veteran. I would rather be a dead idiot than a dead coward. I
> trust me to protect me more than someone else. Just give me the
> opportunity to protect myself, if necessary. Please read the Parable of
> the Sheep below.
>
> Royce
> ============================================
>
> > > You can have all your Die Hard - Steven Segal fantasies, but in
> > the
> > > real world an idiot with a gun is just a dead idiot.
> > >
> > > There are a lot more idiots out there than criminals.
> > >
> > > I prefer to keep the guns in the hands of people who know how and
> > when
> > > to use them.
>
> --------- Forwarded message ----------
> Subject: A modern Parable
> Author: gonzokid
> Date: 03/24/2000 11:09:29 AM
>
> The Parable of the Sheep
>
> Author unknown
> Not so long ago and in a pasture too uncomfortably close to here, a flock
> of sheep lived and grazed. They were protected by a dog, who answered to
> the master, but despite his best efforts from time to time a nearby pack
> of
> wolves would prey upon the flock.
>
> One day a group of sheep, bolder than the rest, met to
> discuss their dilemma. "Our dog is good, and vigilant, but he is one and
> the wolves are many. The wolves he catches are not always killed, and the
> master judges and releases many to prey again upon us, for no reason we
> can understand.
>
> What can we do? We are sheep, but we do not wish to be food, too!"
>
> One sheep spoke up, saying "It is his teeth and claws that make the wolf
> so terrible to us. It is his nature to prey, and he would find any way to
> do it, but it is the tools he wields that make it possible. If we had
> such teeth, we could fight back, and stop this savagery." The other sheep
> clamored in agreement and they went together to the old bones of
> the dead wolves heaped in the corner of the pasture, and gathered fang
> and claw and made them into weapons.
>
> That night when the wolves came, the newly armed sheep sprang up with
> their weapons and struck at them, crying, "Begone! We are not food!" and
> drove off the wolves, who were astonished. When did sheep become so bold
> and so dangerous to wolves? When did sheep grow teeth? It was
> unthinkable!
>
> The next day, flush with victory and waving their weapons, they
> approached the flock to pronounce their discovery. But as thty drew nigh,
> the flock huddled together and cried out, "Baaaaaaaadddd! Baaaaaaadddd
> things!
> You have bad things. We are afraid! You are not sheep!"
>
> The brave sheep stopped, amazed. "But we are your brethren!" they cried.
> "We are still sheep, but we do not wish to be food. See, our new teeth
> and claws protect us and have saved us from slaughter.
> They do not make us into wolves, they make us equal to the wolves, and
> safe from their viciousness".
>
> "Baaaaaaad!" cried the flock, "the things are bad and will pervert you,
> and we fear them. You cannot bring them into the flock!" So the armed
> sheep resolved to conceal their weapons, for although they had no desire
> to panic the flock, they wished to remain in the fold. But they would not
> return to those nights of terror, waiting for the wolves to come.
>
> In time, the wolves attacked less often and sought easier prey, for they
> had no stomach for fighting sheep who possessed tooth and claw even as
> they did. Not knowing which sheep had fangs and which did not, they came
> to
> leave sheep out of their diet almost completely except for the occasional
> raid, from which more than one wolf did not return.
>
> Then came the day when, as the flock grazed beside the stream, one
> sheep's weapon slipped from the folds of her fleece, and the flock cried
> out in terror again, "Baaaaaad! You still possess these evil things! We
> must ban you from our presence!"
>
> And so they did. The great sheep and his council, encouraged by the
> words of their advisors, placed signs and totems at the at the edges of
> the pasture forbidding the presence of hidden weapons there. The armed
> sheep
> protested before the council, saying, "It is our pasture too, and we have
> never harmed you! When can you say we have caused you hurt? It is the
> wolves, not we, who prey upon you. We are still sheep, but we are not
> food!
> But the flock drowned them out with cries of Baaaaaaddd! We will not
> hear your clever words! You and your things are evil and will harm us!"
>
> Saddened by this rejection, the armed sheep moved off and spent their
> days on the edges of the flock, trying from time to time to speak with
> their brethren to convince them of the wisdom of having such teeth, but
> meeting with little success. They found it hard to talk to those who,
> upon hearing their words, would roll back their eyes and flee,
> crying "Baaaaddd! Bad things!" That night, the wolves happened upon the
> sheep's
> totems and signs, and said, "Truly, these sheep are fools! They have told
> us they have no teeth! Brothers, let us feed!" And they set upon the
> flock and horrible was the carnage in the midst of the fold. The dog
> fought like
> a demon, and often seemed to be in two places at once, but even he could
> not halt the slaughter.
>
> It was only when the other sheep arrived with their weapons that the
> wolves fled, only to remain on the edge of the pasture and wait for the
> next time they could prey, for if the sheep were so foolish once, they
> would be so again. This they did, and do still.
>
> In the morning, the armed sheep spoke to the flock, and said, "See? If
> the wolves know you have no teeth, they will fall upon you. Why be prey?
> To be a sheep does not mean to be food for wolves!" But the flock cried
> out, more feebly for their voices were fewer, though with no less terror,
> "Baaaaaaaad! These things are bad! If they were banished, the wolves
> would not harm us! Baaaaaaad!"
>
> So they resolved to retain their weapons, but to conceal them from the
> flock; to endure their fear and loathing, and even to protect their
> brethren if the need arose, until the day the flock learned to understand
> that as long as there were wolves in the night, sheep would need teeth to
> repel them.
>
> They would still be sheep, but they would not be food!
>
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:58 PDT