I believe we are far advanced down and past the destruction of the republic. Only in very limited ways can we still be considered one and even in those ways, we are not a healthy, functioning republic. I think, in other words, we have already lost the republic and it is too late to do anything about it.

However, I am also aware that I know almost nothing about the sub-terranean realities either of the natural or the supernatural forces at work in our age. My senses and my reasoning tell me to despair. The hand of the Lord, however, is not shortened and He is still able to save. Who knows, maybe Frodo and Sam are, even now, on their way to Mordor to throw the ring of power into Mount Doom.

Just remember that if they are, then Merry and Pippen will come back home and scour the shire. For me, I don’t know if the scouring precedes or follows the fall of Mordor, but I stand for the Shire. If the simple hobbit is free to farm, the world is a good place. If he is driven out by Sauron’s lackeys or Saruman’s tongue, none of us can remain free.

Andrew Kern, Why We Couldn’t Keep it (I) | Circe Institute