[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

It seems to me that Eru Iluvatar in no way fails anyone when he doesn't directly intervene to prevent suffering. He gave people all the tools they need to make their own decisions, of their own free wills, when he created them. What people -- any people, be they Ainu, Elf, Human, Dwarf, Hobbit, etc. -- choose to do with their lives is part of their own personal reason for being, to live their lives and not have them lived for them by others, even by Eru. Some people choose to do wrong of such immense proportions, they influence and limit the choices of others, but at some point or another, everyone has a choice, to do or not to do, to be or not to be. If Eru stepped in every single time to make sure there was a "happy" outcome, then what would be the point of free will in the first place?

This essay to me reads like a manifesto from some of the Christian Fundamentalists with whom I'm acquainted, ones who believe that you can just give up free will and then everything you do from that point on is, of course, the result of the dictates of God and therefore not your fault. The absurd egotism of this attitude strikes me every single time these people shove it in my face; after all, if God wouldn't take away a bitter choice from his own son in the garden of Gethsemane, why would he do it for people who just want to be quit of the responsibility of making their own decisions and living with the consequences? This writer likes the seemingly "external" morality of the Sil and such because it appears to remove the personal responsibility aspect and shove everything onto Eru's plate. But that isn't an accurate interpretation, since the entire saga of the Silmarillion is a tale of personal choices, personal morals, and a supreme being who rarely, at most, directly interferes in the free choices of his creations.

Agh, sorry, this is a very hot button topic for me. It's this kind of thinking and this sort of "morality" that has resulted in monstrous abuse being passed on from generation to generation in my family. My belief is otherwise. To quote a recent so-called children's movie, "Destiny is not the path given to us, but the path we choose." I believe it's right.

All my two cents, and very much IMHO.