Religion and Love in Tolkien
Double Entendres (I love this stuff)
Possible Recantation Part Deux
Rowling and Biblical Images
I might Recant
Granger has my 6
One Place
Lembas Bread: Tolkien and Rowling on Sacramentality.
Creation and Christian Meaning: Rowling and the Bi...
A Tale of Two Modes
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Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare
And full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff.
So teach us stuff worth knowing,
Bring back what we forgot,
Just do your best
We'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot!
1: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2: Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3: There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4: Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5: Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6: His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7: The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8: The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9: The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10: More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11: Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12: Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13: Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Comments on "A Consideration"
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Pauli said ... (October 16, 2005 11:36 PM)
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Pauli said ... (October 16, 2005 11:41 PM)
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post a commentCommenting on the morality of extreme actions: Shortly after I finished Half Blood Prince I heard a story about a military officer who was captured by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam war. He knew his men were being totured for information - he was also. He knew that if any of them cracked it could cause the death of even more soldiers and South Vietnamese. So he decided to commit suicide with a wire even though he knew it was a basically immoral thing to do to save his men.
The Viet Cong found him dying and immediately rushed him into surgery and saved his life. All torturing of prisoners for information stopped after that. I forget the officers name but he wrote a book about the experience; it's an intense war story.
What's my conclusion? that it's sometimes OK to commit suicide? No; I don't really want to make a conclusion on this, just a suggestion: In extreme situations killing isn't murder (killing enemy combatants in war, for example) and killing oneself might not be suicide, but self-sacrifice, e.g., jumping on the grenade to save other soldiers.
Is sacrifice what happened on the lightning struck tower rather than murder or suicide?
Here's another question: is Avada Kedavra like a gun, i.e., using against innocent is bad, using against Death Eaters is good? This has been presented before as the Barty Krouch, Sr. proposal for stopping the Death Eaters.