August 11, 2003

Re: Anatar Sauron Past Redemption???
Danny

That is a very interesting question about whether Sauron was past redemption. I had never really thought about that before so I don't really know what I am going to say. I do know that the ring was utterly evil, and it was an embodyment of Sauron's will. So I kind of feel that Sauron himself had driven all good from his being long ago. Now wether that means that the Vala hard blown a chance to bring him back to the good in the past I do not know.

I do however feel that in this case the Valar shouldn't be blamed. It would appear that they made an effort to bring him back. One principle that I beleive Tolkien beleived was that you cannot force the mind. When it all comes down to what we do and do not do it all boils down to the fact that we make our decision. If I do something wrong, I did it and I decided to do it. Not to say there are never extenuating circumstances, but there is also accountability. If someone holds a gun to my head and tells me to do something, I can choose between the bullet and doing whatever they tell me to do. There are many things I would do in that situation while not in others, but there are also things I would take a bullet for. Just an example to say that at one level or another we have a choice.

So I don't think it would be fair to say the Valar screwed that one up because they did make an effort. Had no effort been made on their part, they would have made a mistake, but regardless of what they did Sauron chose to follow the path he did. The world would be a better place if people would accept accountability for their decisions and stop trying to blame it on what others did or did not do. Granted there are extenuating circumstances but, when it comes down to it, all our actions are our own decisions or are the consequences of past decisions (ie addictions) so at some level we should be accountable for them. So in my mind to say that the Valar failed to redeem Sauron is unfair. Sauron made the choices. That is not to say that the Valar didn't make mistakes and they should be accountable for those mistakes but at the same time the Valar didn't force Sauron to do what he did and so the blame for Sauron's evil should not be on their shoulders.

p.s. Anatar, I have always known your posts were for jest and have enjoyed the friendly debates and exchanges. No ego detected on my part, though I must say you play a good devil's advocate. So on my part, thanks for providing some of the more interesting posts (at least to me) and consequently the ones I usually reply too.