[mormegil]

I just revisted this old thread and I think two questions need to be answered in order to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

1. Do orcs have a will of their own? This is highly debated and certainly not conclusive. If they do, they could choose for themselves how to behave and what their morality base is. If they do not, they are simple tools of Morgoth and Sauron and cannot be held accountable for their actions.

2. Is there an ultimate morality? Obviously, this is a huge can of worms and I do not know if Tolkien had any official word on this. Does Eru have an established morality that all inherently know, such as killing in cold blood is wrong. Obviously there are other crimes I could cite but this is one of the most extreme examples which would be pertinent for our topic at hand.

If the orcs have a will and there is an ultimate morality that they violate then obviously they are evil. If there is no ultimate morality in LOTR then their culpability is questionable not completely expunged however.

It seems that orcs did have a will of their own based on the discussion but that is my opinion.

In regards to killing an orc on sight or the slaughter of them it's a tough question; one which we are probably not looking at through the perspective of those in Middle-earth. We look at it through our own lens and it seems horrendous to kill somebody on sight based on their species. Think of it this way however, if during the middle ages you were traveling a dangerous path notorious for robbery and murder and a band of men who were clearly criminal crossed your paths, what would you do. Would you politely wait for them to make the first move or would you take the first shot, hoping to give yourself and advantage? It is to be remembered that orcs were at constant war with elves and men. I'm sorry to get off on a bit of a tangent.