The Pendragon's Hall

I'm glad an "anonymous" reader is still convinced by liberal fairy-tales--they are charming stories with the added advantage that they do not require the reader to live in the real world. But the fairy tale she ought to be reading is "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis. In the end, Prince Rabadash (modeled on a Turkish sultan) is captured, making a dastardly sneak attack (one almost might say, an act of terrorism) on his peaceable northern neighbors. Confronted by Aslan, the prince is offered a choice: accept mercy and return to his homeland unscathed or feel the wrath of the Lion. Determined not to be bowed, the Prince calls Aslan a "demon." Aslan replies sadly, "The hour has struck," and forthwith the Prince is transformed into a donkey. The words Aslan spoke to the Prince echo strangely true in Zarqawi's case: "Forget your pride...what have you to be proud of? Forget your anger...who has done you wrong? Accept the mercy of these good kings." Zarqawi need not have taken up the insurgency in Iraq; he could have surrendered and been held, like Saddam Hussein, for trial (probably in better conditions than the one he died in) but his pride and his delusion led him to pay the ultimate price. One does not close "The Horse and His Boy" thinking that Aslan provoked Rabadash to attack and then judged him for it. People who think that Jesus is all fun and games may not recognize Him at the Second Coming...as one person put it: "On the cross Jesus cared for His enemies; but now His care will be for His friends."