Well unfortunately for Paradog he does not realize that guys may
be born male, but being a man is a matter of choice.
Not much point talking with these kind of people, simply because
they are the sheep and in their world their security is not
something they want to take care of:
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to
me:
"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind,
gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by
accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per
100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000
per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans
are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two
million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a
tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of
violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which
means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is
considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year.
Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat
offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably
less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the
situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but
violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens
are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other,
except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are
sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like
the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but
someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot
survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and
other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization
they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though,
they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the
wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are
wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You
better believe it. There are
evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The
moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep.
There is no safety in denial.
"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I
live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."
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
Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the
thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In
nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born
that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are
not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to
be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep,
then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand
the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are
going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect
you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but
the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have
rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and
walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral
decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to
thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking
at the door.
