This might just be me being a n00b... but the first time around, reading Lord of the Rings, I had no clue as to Gandalf's semi-divinity. I really don't think Tolkien ever intended us to see Wizards as transcendental beings in FotR, TTT, or RotK.
I agree with
Son of Numenor (to a point) that when you look at the situation knowing Gandalf's position via the Silmarillion and what it has to say, there are some aspects that feel like Arjuna going out into battle instructed by Lord Krishna... but then I don't remember an avatara of Eru (perhaps Orome?) ever waltzing up to Gandalf and saying "Get on with the battle, you've got a destiny." Either Tolkien intentionally left that out, because he didn't feel a need to have use see someone instructing Gandalf, or there was no instruction whatsoever. I didn't read it in the Silm, or in RotK.
Ahem. Anyway, to make a short story long, if I hadn't read the Silmarillion, I would never have guessed that the Wizards were anything more than... well... wizards. I did several very close readings of LotR and until I started Silm, I never knew that Tolkien intended any sort of transcendental beings to enter on the scene.
Therefore, I put the blame for Gandalf's decision about Faramir solely on the political, personal, and social level that this thread started off with.
If you're bored, just read this part. Personally, I have to ask myself where Eowyn would have been if Faramir hadn't been in the Houses of Healing to convince her that life was worth living again. It's a moot point, because she would never re-enter the scene as a key player... but all the same. Maybe that's what Gandalf had in mind!
