If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy
productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence
and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an
aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for
violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you
have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's
path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the
universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed
Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the
sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in
denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe
that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that
fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire
sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids'
schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed
police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of
times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school
violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the
possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to
kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the
path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot
like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The
difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will
not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the
lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot
work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a
republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant
reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that
he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or
stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding
an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his
fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately
to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big,
tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they
would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were
not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the
school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the
rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those
clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs
feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.
Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf
pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever
before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and
military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word
hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a
sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a
sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on
the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump
in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the
young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are
a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns
when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The
sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for
that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the
sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't
on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear
God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could
have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a
warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want
to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the
warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is
that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that
destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted
a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These
cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence:
assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast
majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body
language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness.
They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they
select one out of the herd that is least able to protect
itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be
genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that
most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to
say that more and more Americans are choosing to become
sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer
was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you
recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on
his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the
hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that
had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the
words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the
other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour,
a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business
people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they
fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on
the ground.
There is no safety for honest men except by believing all
possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke
