In Fiction, There Can Be Truth

Like any geek, I enjoy a good science fiction or fantasy story (yes, even as a Christian I still enjoy them--but that's another post).

Recently, I've been working my way through Terry Brooks' original Shannara trilogy, and something struck me. I'll get to that in a moment, a little background on Shannara is probably wise right about now.

Basically, the area the stories take place in is divided into four "lands." There's the Westland, where the Elves live; the Eastland, home of the Dwarves; the Southland, where Man (that is, humans) live; and the Northland, where the trouble comes from... Trolls, Gnomes, undead, demons... you get the idea.

In each of the three original Shannara novels, one of the three "good" lands faces danger. In Sword of Shannara (the first book), it's the Southland; in Elfstones of Shannara, the Elves of the Westland are endangered; and in Wishsong of Shannara, it's the Eastland and the Dwarves.

Here's the part that caught my eye: In the original Sword of Shannara, the evil forces march directly on the Southland. In the latter two books, there's every evidence that the evil won't stop at conquering the Westland or Eastland, but will continue on and attack each of the other lands. And, in each case, even in Sword, the people of the Southland would rather believe that the evil either isn't real or won't bother them.

Given that Sword of Shannara was published in 1977, with the other two following in 1983 and 1985, it seems that Brooks was prescient about the attitudes of people who are not right on the front lines of a war with evil.

Or maybe the Southland is just governed by Democrats.

A Marine Needs Prayer

There's a seriously wounded Marine who desperately needs prayers and support. See the link above (the title is the link) for details.

Eyewitness Report of American Soldiers Searching an Innocent Iraqi's Home

Hold on to your pants, folks... we now have an eyewitness report of just how American soldiers behave when searching an Iraqi home.

They were...

They were...

They were polite, friendly, and even posed for pictures.

There's three morals to this story.

1. Don't believe everything the leftymedia tells you about the brutality of our armed forces.
2. The home that was searched was in Baghdad, yet the homeowners felt secure and comfortable enough not only to enjoy a Friday night barbecuing, but to invite friends over.
3. If Iraqis will spend a Friday night barbecuing with friends, they can't be that different from Americans.

Hat Tip: Wizbang.

Losing All Respect for James Dobson

If the story linked above is true, I just lost all respect for Mr. Dobson and Focus on the Family.

I can understand his desire to promote his chosen candidate... in fact, I share it (though I'm not 100% certain which candidate I want to pick just yet). However, that doesn't give him the right to start rumors--especially untrue rumors, which this one appears to be--about other candidates.

Perhaps Mr. Dobson should meditate on James 1:26 for a while.

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