Thread by @MiddleearthMixr

“Sauron was able to destroy Numenor by subverting morality and replacing truth with lies. The few voices willing to call it out were shouted down or systematically neutralized.”

America faces a similar threat.

My article on Tolkien for @theblaze

theblaze.com/op-ed/commenta…

“Númenor was the greatest nation of men to exist in Tolkien’s legendarium, one whose material success, technological prowess, and military might were surpassed by no other nation.

Numenor had everything: wealth, comfort, pleasure, disease-free living, longevity, and wisdom.”

Then Sauron enters the picture. He convinces the wicked king Ar-Pharazon to destroy cultural symbols and institutions, telling the king that their creator was a lie and his representatives sought only to keep men restrained by mortality and subservient to the forces of good.

Sauron went about the land pitting neighbor against neighbor, persecuting the faction of faithful men who refused to bend the knee to his will, and began encouraging the king to throw them in prison on false charges of disloyalty to the regime.

The Numenoreans surrendered themselves to Sauron and began committing human sacrifices to extend their life spans. This ultimately leads to Eru, (Tolkien’s monotheistic creator god) breaking the Earth open and swallowing Numenor into the depths of the sea.

American society faces a similar threat. No one is taking part in human sacrifice (we hope), but we are degrading into a culture of vain subjectivism.

In America today we find ourselves in an unprecedented time when a former president of the United States is facing a list of legal charges designed to neutralize opposition to the ruling administration.

Concerned parents are labeled “domestic terrorists” by Merrick Garland’s “Justice” Department for showing up at PTA meetings in protest against gender ideology being taught to their children.

Meanwhile a leaked FBI memo reveals intentions to investigate American Catholic churches to find what are called “radical Traditional Catholics” for being pro-life. Conservatives cannot afford to take a passive position on these issues. There can be no neutral.

Our conservative voice that has traditionally cried out to steer the ship has sunken to a whisper. “Conservative” events now seem like an endless circus act of grifters coming together to celebrate nothing, offering shallow speeches with vague references to “preserving freedom.”

The American right needs a revival of ideological vision to inspire young people into seeing the beauty of universal truth in our foundational values again.

In Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories,” he uses an analogy of a smudged window to describe a person’s view of universal truth. Man, by nature, can occasionally take the beauty of faith, family, and duty for granted. His view of beauty can become blurred, his window smudged.

Tolkien argues that fantasy stories can be a strong tool for removing the smudge from your window to bring back into view the light and majesty of truth.

The American right can learn from the failure of the Faithful men of Numenor who were unable to turn the tide of subversion that plagued their country and stop Sauron from encouraging their countrymen to abandon their faith and cultural traditions.

The American left’s abject moral relativism promotes a deconstruction of truth, and conservative voices must have a loud and unwavering rebuke. Americans need a revitalization of faith, family, and service to community again.

Individuals must stand in the gap and say no to the Saurons of the world who would force their new moralities upon you and your family. If we stand firm in preserving our beliefs and holding true to objective morality, we can define a path forward for the Conservative movement.