Lessons from a Dark Elf

Granted most of my readership is probably not reading the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden. However, I came across a very interesting quote from the fictional hero of the Forgotten Realms:

“I would never pretend to understand another people well enough to demand that they change their traditions, yet how foolish it seems to me to hold fast and unyieldingly to those mores and ways without regard for any changes that have taken place in the world about us.” – From the Crystal Shard, Book IV

Drizzt was an enigma to his people. He was born a dark elf, living among an evil people where backstabbing and child sacrifice were common place. The dark elves or Drow lived far below the surface in the deeper parts of the earth. All his life he was taught hatred and self-interest, but he felt compelled to distrust the harsh teachings of his peers. Instead, he fled and eventually found himself among the “surface dwellers”. There he found the same harshness when others tried to kill him simply because he was a Drow.
The quote above is in reference to barbarians who lived among the plains of Icewind Dale. Despite centuries of civilization, trade, and growth, the barbarians still wonder as nomadic tribes and their only desire is to wipe out the other races. Drizzt was hoping to find something more than the dark past he left behind and stumbled upon a mixture of love and selfishness.
I think the quote is applicable to the Church today. We sometimes get so wrapped up in our culture that we become barbaric. We trample over any one or idea that we deem “unbiblical” without really having a case for doing so.
Well, enough of the geeky talk.