To throw out a metaphor (which I'm a big fan of) consider Eru as the parents in the equation, the Valar as the eldest siblings, Elves in the middle, and Men as the slightly spoiled bratty youngest sibling (Note: I don't think all youngest siblings are brats).
Now if you're the eldest sibling, and you notice the brat is beating the door to the room you and your middle sibling are in and trying to beat you all up, if you're smart you're not going to simply go over and beat the twerp over the head because then you'll be in trouble. No, what you do is make sure that you look like the victim here. Viola! Problem solved without you getting in trouble, and possibly making you look like a model child.
