LotR -- Book 3 - Chapter 03 - The Uruk-Hai

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Since it seems that all other things about this chapter fade into the background of this discussion, I have come to chip in my single share of Citybank stocks (which won't be worth 2 cents unless another Great Depression comes *knocks on wood*)

Nothing is evil from the beginning, yes, but after their moment of conception, the Orcs were conditioned for evil purposes. Their mindsets regarding the outside world were controlled (the two Orcs' conversation in The Land of Shadow reminds me too much of media suppression in totalitarian countries).

Of course, those who venture (or live) out in the outside world could be helped by their "enemies", but:

Of course, to have Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo and all those on the 'good' side who we are rooting for suddenly have a crisis of conscience in the middle of battle would turn this into a wholly different type of tale. (Lalwendë)

Plus there's this tidbit from our real-world history. Did the Crusaders bother preaching Christianity to the Saracens they attacked? Do the Muslim fundamentalists of today try to convert instead those they blow up? No. Perhaps this Orcs against the Eruhíni thing is another vile echo of Morgoth's theme: the "good guys" do not even pause to consider the possibility that these enemies can be redeemed--their sufficiently muddled origins and their not-exactly-pretty looks don't help.

So, perhaps they could be redeemed, but Arda is marred oh-so much by Morgoth that nobody even wants to try. How could Eru allow this? I don't know. For that matter, how could God allow suffering in this world? Where does He put people who die before they ever hear of the Gospel? There are much things we do not know in this world, and in Middle-earth. Take Bombadil, for example. Doesn't he ever run out of words to fit in to that silly tune of his???