"[The Romans] were conquerors, and for that you only want brute force - nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others."
- Heart of Darkness, page 50, Joseph Conrad on the Roman invasion of Britannia.
Is military success a result of an accident that the other side is weaker? How would Mormon or Gidgiddoni respond?
7 comments:
That the Lord is mightier than the arm of man.
I have often heard the United States compared to the Roman Empire. From my study of history we seem to have more in common with Carthage than with Rome. The Roman's were a buch of thugs and when they took over they never left whereas we tend to destroy our enemy and then help them restore their country.
Russ,
I like your thought. What's scary is that Rome eventually defeated Carthage, though Hannibal should have taken Italy but for (Flavian?) luck.
I don't think that hard work, preparation, and having the Lord on your side through your righteousness is an accident.
It reminds me of another post I think you did about the group of people in the Book of Mormon who prayed about how thankful they were that they were so much more righteous than everyone else(can't recall their name off the top of my head). Seems like some sort of wierd reverse pride.
The Zoramites.
I find it interesting how much we sometimes sound like the Nephites in Heleman 8:6.
"And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us."
I would hope that condering the current financial crisis, no one in the US would be tempted to think that we arae immune from attack or decline.
Maybe this whole thing is a chance for the people to be humbled so they can repent. The crisis could be a good thing in the long run.
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