Sheep, Wolves
and Sheepdogs
By
Charles Grennel
Publisher’s
Note... The following letter was e-mailed to me by Roland Wetzel the publisher
of The Republican which is a bi-monthly
conservative newspaper headquartered in St. Charles, MO. The photos in this article were not part of the
letter. Bottom line, I believe it contains a powerful and extremely relevant message
for every one – Christian and non-Christian alike. I recommend that those of
you who read it pass it along to your friends, neighbors, family members and
anyone else you can think of. After you read it, decide for yourself if you’re
a sheep, wolf or sheepdog. I pray that the majority of you are sheepdogs. For
more information regarding The Republican
call (636) 946-0873 or e-mail Roland at rwetzel6@charter.net.
To
All from Roland
The
following letter was written by Charles Grennel and
his comrades who are veterans of the Global War on Terror. Grennel is an Army Reservist who spent two years in Iraq
and was a principal in putting together the first Iraq elections in January of
2005. It was written to Jill Edwards, a student at the University of
Washington who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington. Ms. Edwards and other students (and
faculty) do not think those who serve in the U.S. armed services are good role
models.
The Letter
To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)
Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs
Miss Edwards, I read of your student
activity regarding the proposed memorial to Col. Greg Boyington,
USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive a bellyful
of angry e-mails from conservative folks like myself.
You may be too young to appreciate fully the
sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders
you and your 
fellow
students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naiveté.
It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There’s no dishonor in being
a sheep as long as you know and accept what you are.
William J. Bennett, in a lecture to the
United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 said: Most of the people in our
society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only
hurt one another by accident. 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.
Then there are the wolves 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 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 un-chartered path. Someone
who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and
walk out unscathed.
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? 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.
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.
“There is no safety for honest men except by
believing all possible evil of evil men.” - Edmund Burke. “Only the dead have
seen the end of war.” – Plato.
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.
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. It’s ok to be a sheep, but do not kick
the sheep dog. Indeed, the sheep dog may just run a little harder, strive
to protect a little better and be fully prepared to pay an ultimate price in
battle and spirit with the sheep moving from baa to thanks.
We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond
our lot. We just need a small pat on the head, a smile and a thank you to
fill the emotional tank which is drained protecting the sheep. And when
our number is called by The Almighty, and day retreats into night, a small
prayer before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks for letting you
continue to be a sheep. And be grateful for the thousands, millions
of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.
