When I speak about the evils surrounding our elections, I’m of | Jarrin Jackson
When I speak about the evils surrounding our elections, I’m often struck by the parallels provided by Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.”
The wielder of the one ring of power gives its owner “dominion” over all free people.
I think of the rigged election infrastructure the same way. The Dominion machines are aptly named. But there are other names that carry out enslavement.
In Lord of the Rings, you had two types of heroes.
You had mighty men of the West, like Boromir, given a task to retrieve the great ring so it could be used against evil.
In the arrogance and pride of men, they believed they could withstand the ring’s corrupting influence and defeat a greater evil.
Then you had — at first glance — the weaker hero, little hobbits and an old wise graybeard, that intuitively understood that the only way to truly defeat evil was to cast evil’s greatest weapon in the fire.
These different heroes created a fellowship. But with Boromir having a divergent interest, he ultimately betrayed the ring bearer and fellowship. He thought his motives were pure and that the hobbit’s plan would be the death of them all. He saw the natural consequences of war and power.
Boromir reminds me of the patriot that operates without Christ. We have mighty patriots in our ranks. These patriots appreciate the utility of a Judeo-Christian nation, and the stability it provides. To them, Christ, the church, or “Christian values,” however, is a means to an end. And to be fair, that end is usually noble.
The defeat of communism, Marxism, and restoration of their country, all virtuous pursuits. Thus, it is not unusual to see patriots with a high code of honor—without a saving faith in Jesus—partner with Christ followers… until conflict emerges.
But when uncertainty abounds, heavenly counsel appears foolish, and truth is often sacrificed for “the greater good.” Boromir became the very evil that he fought, until he saw his folly, sacrificed his life and repented.
The danger of the non-Christian patriot is that they do not think the machines are a problem, so much as they think the wrong people are in control of them.
That in their benevolence, they would make sure no one would use them inappropriately. But that is a matter to deal with “after we win.”
You can always spot this type of patriot by the amount of attention they give to the rigged election machines, and nefarious software.
Usually, they are silent on the issue altogether, or only pay lip service when in the company of those they know find the machines’ existence critical.
Their usual refrain is “there are lots of different ways our elections are interfered with. I’m just focusing on [ballot harvesting, voter ID, cleaning up voter rolls]. Yet, not all ways that destroy our elections are created equal. Far from it. None of these front-end fixes can be achieved under the current electronic system.
The hobbits remind me of those who have placed their faith in Christ. They are not mighty enough of their own accord, and are used to being caught in the balance of the schemes of the mighty. They are usually overlooked.
Yet, usually, Christians are often also patriots. The distinction, however, is that a Christian’s fealty is to Christ and the truth, before it is concerned with vanquishing communism and restoring America. To them, Christ is not a means to an end. He is the End. He is the Alpha and Omega. And Christ conquered all evil at the cross on Calvary. To them, Christ is the only true and lasting way to gut the evils of Marxism and communism from a nation.
Christians, however, often buy into the false religion of today, that does not require them to go and carry out the great commission: to preach the gospel and make disciples.
This means invading all aspects of the culture and presenting an account of God’s ways, not waiting behind shuttered doors until Christ returns.
The end of the Lord of the Rings is instructive.
It was the meek and lowly that vanquished evil through a series of providential encounters.
