Down the rabbit hole

By Dimitri

[For in a republic, who is “the Country”? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is “the Country”? Is it the newspaper? is it the pulpit? Is it the school superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in a thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t.

Who are the thousand–that is to say, who are “the Country”? In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide on way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country–hold up your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
– “Papers of the Adam Family”  ]

Do you recognize this quote? It has been featured in the Marvel franchise of “Captain America” (Civil war) in an albeit slightly changed setting.

CA transcript:

[“Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — “No, YOU move.”
― J. Michael Straczynski, Civil War: The Amazing Spider-Man ]

In and in itself the initial quote sounds as a patriotic cry. Slightly negativist yet it passes on messages which shouldn’t be forgotten by those walkers among the LHP:
– To remain firm in ones decision (no matter the cost and opposition)
– To take pride in the way which is being walked
– To be confident.

The path is solitary and hard when it is being properly walked. There are no safeguards nor nets to prevent oneself falling into rock-bottom (unless you’ve foreseen them YOURSELF).

Within this small piece of text “The country” can be substituted by “The LHP” or “Satanism”. The message will remain the same: there are no certainties or authority except your own duties and sense of responsibility. You are, as always, on your own. Your only compatriots are your confidence and the duty to uphold your own. This is what the second part of Straczynski’s quote implies. Nothing more and nothing less.