One thing that we learn from The Lord of the Rings is that a ring of power is not to be shared or used. As a matter of fact Gandalf instructs Frodo to “keep it secret, and keep it safe.” I cannot help but see the parallel to politics, specifically American politics.
The Declaration of Independence starts by saying:
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. 1
The Declaration states, “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” This is where I get the analogy. If any person tries to wield the “Ring” (government) himself, he will be not only defrauding the people but also himself. You see, in the book Gandalf states that not even he could wield the “Ring”, but that it had to be destroyed. So too with corrupt politics, politicians, and their cronies. They try to wield this power themselves, but neglect the people whose power it is to grant them the very position they hold. Unlike Hobbits, these political masters are corrupted quickly by the seductive rewards of the Political Ring of Power. However, I am afraid that there are not many Hobbits these days who are not easily affected by the power of the Ring of Political Power.
Without getting our hands dirty the next few years this country may well be barely recognizable to those born in the last three decades. Many are going to have to rise up against silent oppression, the repression of ideas, values, and freedom. Now, I am not advocating the action taken by those who wrote the Declaration, but rather an involvement by those who have belonged, still belong, or thought about belonging to the Republican Party or its more conservative alternatives. We need bold ideas, new ideas, new people, and bold people to turn this country around. Someone has got to throw the Ring back into the mountain of its creation.
July 4 is one month from today. Over the next month, let us consider what we can do to foster true freedom in the land of the free.
