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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