ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS Which R U?

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:49 pm

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ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER, Ph.D.,author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so

because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy

things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that

may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,

even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth

dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the

United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive

creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the

murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate

is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans

are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent

crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record

rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which

means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one

in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are

committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably

less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation:

We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still

remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people

who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme

provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the

pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow

into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue

shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and

someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For

now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves

feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there

who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil

men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget

that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in

denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to

protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive

citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy

for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But

what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow

citizens?

What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking

the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the

universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep,

wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes

them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the

world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire

extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids'

schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police

officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely

to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the

sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone

coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the

path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the

wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is

that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep

dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished

and removed.

The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative

democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that

there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them

where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our

airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much

rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to

hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough

high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not

have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had

nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT

teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel

those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs

feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded

hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt

differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how

many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a

sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a

funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the

breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a

righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous

battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move

to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep

pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After

the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America

said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said,

"Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I

could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a

warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there.

You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but

he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able

to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the

population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals

convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious,

predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast

majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped

walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like

big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able

to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be

genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most

people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans

are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was

honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the

man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an

operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other

three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone

and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to

the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a

transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business

people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves,

ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible

evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of

police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real

sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves.

They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be

whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay,

but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your

loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If

you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt

you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want

to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious

and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive

in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church.? They are

well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt

holsters tucked into the small of their backs.? Anytime you go to some form of

religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer

in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your

place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the

break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other

cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I

asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at

a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally

deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen

people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day

if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do

was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the

eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself

after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer

was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and

would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for

"heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective,

or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids'

school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can

happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often

their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog

quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with

yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there

helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically

destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is

counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and

horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth

when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't

train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy.

Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you

are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at

your moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11

book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to

terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an

insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it

isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more

unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in

small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some

level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of

his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you

step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that

the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime.

Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you

walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to

yourself...

"Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no

dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees,

a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on

the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the

other.

Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America

took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps

toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started

taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that

continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved

ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:18 pm

Good piece-----------thanks

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:58 am

I guess I'm a sheepdog, then. I prefer describing myself as a lioness, though.

I am woman. Hear me roar! :p

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:53 am

Very simplistic way of looking at humanity. Pretty useless analogy really.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:10 am

gmc wrote: Very simplistic way of looking at humanity. Pretty useless analogy really.
Oh, I agree. The whole piece was whacked, -silly, in fact.

Better pack a pistol next time I go to church. Dunno when some wacko wolf is gonna come in and pounce.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:54 am

gmc wrote: Very simplistic way of looking at humanity. Pretty useless analogy really.
BAAAAAAA

devist8me · Post by **devist8me** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:59 am

Awesome read. Thanks for posting.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:07 am

Beth wrote: Oh, I agree. The whole piece was whacked, -silly, in fact.

Better pack a pistol next time I go to church. Dunno when some wacko wolf is gonna come in and pounce.

You mean "Pounce" like this?

What happened at the church: On 1999-SEP-15, Larry Gene Ashbrook, walked into the Wedgwood Baptist Church in southwest Fort Worth TX. An evening youth rally and concert was in progress. It was intended to be a follow-up event for students who had taken part in the See You at the Pole public school prayer event that morning. About 150 young people from throughout the Fort Worth area were in attendance. A Christian rock group was playing.

Ashbrook was carrying two guns. He opened fire with one, killing 6 and wounding 8 persons. He then set off a pipe bomb. Some media accounts state that the bottom fell off the bomb and it did not detonate. Actually, the pipe did explode, but the shrapnel landed harmlessly in the balcony. Hearing the approaching police sirens, he sat down in a pew and killed himself. One of the wounded victims, a teenager, later died in hospital. The victims were: Kristi Beckel, 14; Shawn Brown, 23; Sydney Browning, 36; Joseph Ennis, 14; Cassandra Griffin, 14; Susan 'Kim' Jones, 23; and Justin Ray, 17. Justin Laird was one of the wounded; he was permanently paralyzed below the waist by the killer.

Witnesses have stated that the shooter was angrily spouting anti-Baptist rhetoric during the rampage.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the

break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other

cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I

asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at

a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally

deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen

people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day

if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do

was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the

eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself

after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer

was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and

would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for

"heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective,

or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids'

school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can

happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:21 am

yes. perhaps a silly simplistic view, but you have to admit it is true. You have the doers/defenders and the talkers/hiders in society.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:36 am

I see. So, a remote and random incident makes that a person should carry a weapon with them at all times. Hmmm. To be honest, I think the officer that you cited has post tramatic stress disorder and from paranoia.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:58 am

Beth wrote: I see. So, a remote and random incident makes that a person should carry a weapon with them at all times. Hmmm. To be honest, I think the officer that you cited has post tramatic stress disorder and from paranoia.It is not as remote as you think. I don't think he is saying everyone should carry but it would be best if a few qualified people were carrying protection for ALL......

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:07 pm

It is remote. These mass shootings are isolated incidents. I'm more likely to be murdered by my husband or a pissed off neighbor than I am to be shot at in a church or at a school.

I understand the doc is well qualified and all, but some of his analogy is faulty and over simplified.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:40 pm

Beth wrote: I understand the doc is well qualified and all, but some of his analogy is faulty and over simplified.Eleanor Roosevelt (My Days)

A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think.

Charles Mingus

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

Hans Hofmann

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

John Morley, 19th-century British statesman

Simplicity of character is no hindrance to the subtlety of intellect.

E. F. Schumacker

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of geniusÃ¢â‚¬â€and a lot of courageÃ¢â‚¬â€to move in the opposite direction.

Albert Einstein

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Ann Morrow Lindbergh (Gift from the Sea)

I have learned by some experience, by many examples, and by the writings of countless others before me, also occupied in the search, that certain environments, certain modes of life, certain rules of conduct are more conducive to inner and outer harmony than others. There are, in fact, certain roads that one may follow. Simplification of life is one of them.

Shall I find more.............?

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 1:02 pm

Simplification is good in some things, but in the essay I don't agree. The topic is a very complex issue. It is over simplified basically making it a piece for dummies. It also escalates the risks we take in life. We are more likely to meet our doom via a car crash than from some shootem' up. The author seems to play on fear rather than taking a logical approach to the actual risk factors.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 2:11 pm

Beth wrote: It is remote. These mass shootings are isolated incidents. I'm more likely to be murdered by my husband or a pissed off neighbor than I am to be shot at in a church or at a school.

Should you take a gun to church?

Let me put that another way: Should it be legal for you to take a gun to church?

A group of people had gathered to worship, with some kind of apocalyptic church, in a rented conference room at a motel. Up in Wisconsin.

CBS News | Church, Police Probe 7 Murders | March 14, 2005 17:00:03

And right in the middle of things in walked a member of the congregation. He had a gun and a death wish and he just started shooting people. The minister and his family, random worshippers, everyone in sight.

When he emptied his gun he stood there, dumped the clip, slid in another one, and started shooting again.

He saved the last one for himself.

By then there were seven innocent people mortally wounded and several others hurting. People were running and screaming, there was blood all over the place, people were under the pews, sobbing and shouting into their cell phones.

ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s what happened.

And in the wake of that, the question demands to be asked: Should it be legal to take a gun into a church?

Some argue that they have no place there, that houses of worship are sanctuaries and retreats. Which, in fact, they are. That is one of the reasons we gather to worship, to feel the strength and goodness of one anotherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s spirits, to feel the peace of communal belief and fellowship.

Houses of worship are innately houses of peace.

So why would anyone want to bring an implement of destruction there? What possible place is that for an instrument designed to kill?

In most states now, law-abiding citizens can get permits to carry concealed handguns. In many of those states, however, there are restrictions on where those guns can be carried. Courthouses are typically out, as are schools and government buildings. And in some states, churches.

And other states want to join the club. They want to ban guns in churches.

And Saturday must be a factor in those considerations. But not the only factor.

There is also the issue of rights. If the state were to tell pistol permit holders that they could not carry their guns to church with them, would anyoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s rights be infringed?

For example, would adding the phrase Ã¢â‚¬Å“except in churchÃ¢â‚¬Â to Ã¢â‚¬Å“the right to keep and bear armsÃ¢â‚¬Â be a violation of anyoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s rights? And taking away from churches the prerogative of deciding on their private property whether or not to allow guns, does that step on their toes?

And is there an issue beyond the legal right to control private property and the Constitutional right to carry a gun? Is there something beyond that at play?

The answer is, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.Ã¢â‚¬Â

There is the natural law right to self-defense.

Last SaturdayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s carnage is a reminder of the capriciousness and unpredictability of evil. A reminder of the fact that danger can confront us at any time and in any place.

The obvious lesson is that if it can threaten us anywhere, we should be able to defend ourselves anywhere. Even in church.

SaturdayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s murderer was able to calmly shoot whomever he chose because no one in that worship service had the means to fight back. No one could fight fire with fire. When itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a contest between a gun and a hymnal, the hymnal always loses.

SaturdayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s murder is a stark reminder of what happens when people are defenseless. Who knows how many lives could have been saved if, when the bad guy came in and started shooting, one or more worshippers had been able to return fire. If the gunman had himself been put in jeopardy it is unlikely that he would have been able to do a fraction of the damage he did.

If you have the choice between being a sitting duck and a fighting lion, take the lion every time.

But some lawmakers want to take that away from people. They want to make churches places where self-defense is banned.

Which seems foolish at any time, but particularly in these times. With mosques being blown up routinely in the skirmishes of Muslim insurgents in Iraq, thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s no reason to believe that a Christian or Jewish house of worship in America would be spared becoming a terrorist target.

A church would be big, easy and defenseless.

From Muslim terrorists and American criminals.

So the answer is clear. The state has no business banning guns in churches. The state has no business turning houses of worship into sitting ducks.

Because when you disarm a place you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make it a sanctuary. You make it a target.

- by Bob Lonsberry Ã‚Â© 2005

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 2:24 pm

I'm a Sheep Dog for sure

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:00 pm

Still, it is an isolated incident- the church shooting. The church has every right to disallow firearms from being carried into the premises. Just as I have every right to forbid someone to enter my property carrying a firearm.

When I was a girl, a man blew up the back of a Winn Dixie in the Tampa area. I went to school with one of the survivors. The girl was badly burnt, had grafts, had lots of surgery, and wore a clear plastic shield over her face. Should I arm myself when entering a grocery store or wear a fire protective suit?

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:26 pm

Beth wrote: Should I arm myself when entering a grocery store or wear a fire protective suit?
You know that is what is so great here in the Land of Milk and Honey.........

You have the choice to do either. I would never fault you on your choice, unless it effects me or my family.

You make yours and I make mine. The Government. does not need to tell the churches that their members can not carry protection....BUT....If the churches say they do not allow weapons, then that is their right...........

It would probably SHOCK you how many people you interact every day with that are legally carrying.

One day you just might be glad they were and I bet 99 to 1 that you will never hope they weren't.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:54 am

I know if the legally carrying walk into a store with a weapon, the store can have a person expelled. Most of the stores around here do not allow firearms to be carried into the premises, except by officers or security. I know my granny packs a pistol with her, carries it everywhere, even in places she shouldn't. I also know the dangers of firearms. I know that possessing a firearm can cause more harm than good in many cases. i also know that there are other ways to defend oneself besides carrying a firearm.

A random shooter could pic me off before I am even aware enough to pull out my firearm. I also know that statistically I am in more danger from those around me than I am from any random shooter.

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:55 am

BTS wrote: But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police

officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely

to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire,.

Not to go too far off topic, but this is actually a myth. There was much, much more violence in schools in the 70's and 80's but not nearly as much covereage of it on the news. Check the statistics.

Many people today think that teenagers are much more aggressive and violent than their peers of the past. I work with them and that is flat out untrue. They are more responsible, fair, informed, and civic-minded than my generation ever was. They just get a bad rap in the press.

Oh...and I'm a sheepdog. I take care of the flock.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:49 am

Jives wrote:

Many people today think that teenagers are much more aggressive and violent than their peers of the past. I work with them and that is flat out untrue. They are more responsible, fair, informed, and civic-minded than my generation ever was. They just get a bad rap in the press.

Oh...and I'm a sheepdog. I take care of the flock.Wow, Jives! I was so uplifted to read this. So often you hear what is wrong with today's youth, but I love knowing that a teacher has such a respectful opinion of today's youth. i can tell that you really care about your students from your posts.