[davem]

Originally Posted by Raynor

I would call the power to do good one of the deceits that the ring filled the mind of others.

It depends what you mean by 'good'. The Ring enables one to make real one's fantasies. Hence Sam's idea of 'good' is to turn Mordor into a garden, & taht's what he would have done. Galadriel would have made M-e into Lorien. The 'evil' aspect of this 'good' would be that it would be forced on all the inhabitants - whether they wanted it or not. Its a bit like a war between those who believe that democracy is the highest good & those who believe that fundamentalist Islam is the Highest good. Both sides may be right - for themselves. But of they use force to impose that 'good' on others who do not want it it is 'evil'. In that case democracy forced on others who want an Islamist theocracy is 'evil' - its not that democracy is evil in itself (any more than a M-e turned Lorien would be evil in itself) its the imposition of a regime on those who do not want it that is evil. That's why Galadriel's M-e turned Lorien would be evil.

Behaving like Sauron, becoming another Dark Lord, is not about making the whole of M-e into Mordor - Galadriel clearly states that she would not be like Sauron if she took the Ring - she would be as bad - but in a different way - not 'dark' but beautiful & terrible. Sauron inspires hate & fear, while 'all shall love (Galadriel) & despair'.

I disagree with that idea and reasoning, at least because Sauron and Melkor became nihilistic; I know of no reference that they strived for a Lorien-like M-E.

No. Tolkien is clear. Morgoth certainly was a nihilist, & sought the absolute destruction of all things. Sauron, on the other hand, was a totalitarian. He did not want to destroy the world, but to gain absolute control over it. Of course Sauron would not desire a 'Lorien-like M-e. He desired a Mordor like M-e. Saruman desired an Isengard-like M-e (hence what happened in the Shire, Galadriel a Lorien-like M-e, Sam a M-e (by extention) made into a great garden & Faramir a M-e which was like Gondor of old. And if they took the Ring that's exactly what they would produce (to the extent of their innate power), & in that they would be as bad as Sauron. Its too simplistic to think that everyone who took the Ring would become nothing but a Sauron clone, building Dark Towers & employing Ringwraiths. Of course, in their own way they would be as bad, or worse, but they wouldn't be the same.