Those of you who are old enough to start reading fairy tales again might appreciate this exceedingly random article.
It all started with a meme I made for my coworkers:
It was a passing joke - and yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how this scene from JRR's Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings mirrors the sequence of events that have happened in the United States over the last decade or so.
First, there is the brave and loyal warrior who turns to legitimate authority to try to save his land and his people from destruction.
But there is a traitor who has gained control of the levers of power (institutions, political appointments, bureaucracies).
He must quickly condemn the loyal warrior as an extremist, then imprison or banish him so no one gathers to his cause.
The traitor must hijack those levers of power and force them to bend to their will. They know they do not have the authority to rule, but they can import ruffians to support them (perhaps by the millions), they can weaponize the bureaucracy, and where needed, they can even forge a signature (I hear autopens are convenient).
The traitor can make sure the loyalists are branded as outcasts and threaten anyone who associates with them.
But that, of course, is not the end of the story.
As the traitor continues to partner with enemies of the kingdom to ravage his nation and burn the Westfold, his countrymen increasingly understand that something is deeply wrong.
Their eyes turn to the throne in Edoras and wonder what has happened to the king.
And then, something completely unplanned happens - something by Divine Grace that the traitor nor his conspirators could have ever factored in their schemes.
Heroes thought dead and gone suddenly turn up on his doorstep.
Some of the faithful servants of the king, who still guard the institutions and bureaucracies with pride, allow those heroes entrance to the halls of power (they might even refuse orders to take a wizard's staff).
It is then that the traitor is confronted and outed.
‘The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.'
He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
And after the traitor is exposed, the work of restoring what he has corrupted begins.
As the seats of power are cleansed of the darkness that sought to bend them for the purposes of evil, rightful authority and justice as restored.
Slowly Théoden stretched forth his hand. As his fingers took the hilt, it seemed to the watchers that firmness and strength returned to his thin arm. Suddenly he lifted the blade and swung it shimmering and whistling in the air. Then he gave a great cry. His voice rang clear as he chanted in the tongue of Rohan a call to arms.
'Arise now, arise, Riders of Théoden! Dire deeds awake, dark is it eastward. Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded! Forth Eorlingas!'
This is where America is at today. We are at a crossroads - a moment where many of my countrymen are waking up to the Left's long erosion of our institutions and founding documents.
A moment where we see the traitorous scheme to destroy not only the United States, but all of Western civilization (and at the root, Christendom), through reckless spending, crippling bureaucracy, mass propaganda, sexual degeneracy, and the import of millions of "migrants."
This isn't a fantastical claim. The White House deputy chief of staff for policy explained it rather methodically this week. 👇
Americans have felt a shadowy spell fall off them. They are remembering their strength.
They are realizing that evil still exists, and their children and grandchildren's fate rests in what actions are taken to fight that evil HERE and NOW.
It is true that some have awakened from slumber and stumbled into opposite errors - from woke Marxism to anarchism and ethnic hatred, for example. Such men have much to learn when it comes to learning moral character and following rightly-ordered authority.
But the bulk of those who would adopt the labels of "based and redpilled" are genuinely seeking the good of their families, neighbors, and country. They are learning, right now, what role they can play in this struggle of our time.
Such an awakening is terrifying to the traitor, corrupt wizards, and the Dark Lord, because when courage and righteousness are rekindled in the face of hopeless odds, there is no telling what mighty deeds may follow.
‘Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!' And with that the host began to move. But the Rohirrim sang no more. Death they cried with one voice loud and terrible, and gathering speed like a great tide their battle swept about their fallen king and passed, roaring away southwards.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
