I found this courtesy of lgf. The whole article is great–read it here.
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
[. . .]The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
[. . .]Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
Hmmm. I know I’ve heard that phrase “I want to make a difference” before. Or was it “I just want to do something!”? This theory would explain things for me, though. Every now and then, not even enough times for me to count on the fingers of one hand, I have been in a situation in which my essential nature was roused. How to explain it? I guess I feel like I must have inherited a touch of Viking berzerker blood or something, because when, that very few times in the past, someone was attacking part of “my” group, my friends or my family, or even people in my school who couldn’t defend themselves, I got to the point where I was literally seeing red. Like a red haze that obscured my vision . . . and I knew that if I didn’t hold myself back, I would hurt someone. I think it was having what this author calls my “sheepdog” instincts tapped. It wasn’t a desire to hurt someone, nor a desire to inflict pain, simply a switch turned on my nature when one more act of violence on “my flock” would have made me have to attack the wolf in order to protect mine.
I probably sound like a scary violent person–but I’m not! I’ve never acted on those instincts, because I’ve never had to. But I know they’re there, well under the surface in ordinary circumstances but ready to bubble to the surface if I need to defend the people who are entrusted to me. Perhaps this is why my reaction to 9/11 was that focused anger that translated into deliberate action–taking steps to join the military, on this day five years ago. I’m glad I did it, even when the military sometimes seems more trouble than it’s worth!
Posted by Kjirstin 
