The Owl Who Was God: A Lesson In Blind Following

Once upon a starless midnight there was an old owl who sat on the branch of an oak tree. Two ground moles tried to slip quietly by, unnoticed. "You!" said the owl.
"Who?" they quavered, in fear and astonishment, for they could not believe it was possible for anyone to see them in that thick darkness.
"You two!" said the owl.
The moles hurried away and told the other creatures of the field and forest that the owl was the greatest and wisest of all animals because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question. "I'll see about that," said a secretary bird, and called on the owl one night when it was again very dark.

"How many claws am I holding up?" said the secretary bird.
"Two," said the owl, and that was right.
"Can you give me another expression for 'that is to say' or 'namely'?" asked the secretary bird.
"To wit," said the owl.
"Why does a lover call on his love?" asked the secretary bird.
"To woo," said the owl.
The secretary bird hastened back to the other creatures and reported that the owl was indeed the greatest and wisest animal in the world because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question.
"Can he see in the daytime, too?" asked a red fox. "Yes," echoed a dormouse and a French poodle.
"Can he see in the daytime, too?" All of the other creatures laughed loudly at this silly question, and they set upon the red fox and his friends and drove them out of the region. Then they sent a message to the owl and asked him to be their leader.

When the owl appeared among the animals it was high noon and the sun was shining brightly. He walked very slowly, which gave him an appearance of great dignity, and he peered about him with large staring eyes, which gave him an air of termendous importance.
"He's God!" screamed a Plymouth Rock hen. And the others took up the cry "He's God!" So they followed him wherever he went, and when he began to bump into things, they bumped into things too. Finally he came to a concrete highway and he started up the middle of it, and all the other creatures followed him. Presently, a hawk, who was acting as an outrider, observed a truck coming toward them at fifty miles an hour, and he reported to the secretary bird, and the secretary bird reported to the owl.

"There is danger ahead," said the secretary bird.
"To wit?" said the owl. The secretary bird asked him, "Aren't you afraid?"
"Who?" said the owl calmly, for he could not see the truck.
"He's God!" cried all the creatures again, and they were still crying "He's God!" when the truck hit them and ran them down. Some of the animals were merely injured, but most of them, including the owl, were killed... story by James Thurber

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When I was still in my teenage age, I read from the 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene, that you can fool most of the people most of the time. If you read the story quite well, you will see that it mirrors humanity quite well. The animals represent a large population of the people who would rather follow someone blindly than make decisions of their own. And the owI represent some cocky foolish leaders who because of his confidence will make many to follow them blindly.

Now I'm going to take the story one by one and share with you my thoughts. First the animals lack a great deal of confidence. Fine, the owl could see in the night and just because of that one ability, they decided to put all their trust into the hands of the bird. Just because the bird could see in the night, they picked him as their leader without looking any longer to see if the bird truly deserve to lead them.

The red fox presented a very simple but strong argument. 'If the owl can see in the night, can he see in the day time'? Here note, the reaction of the masses. Instead of them to consider the argument presented, they decided to attack the individual and even abolish them from the clan. This foolish act in humanity is the reason I stopped all doctrinal or religious arguments with people. Even at instance when a certain leader is wrong, his followers are always blind to it and instead will decide to play blind loyalty - especially when religion is involved.

The owl truly knows he was not capable of leading the animals because he cannot see in the day, which is the best time the rest of the other animals are active but he won't admit it. Most people are ashamed to admit their weakness, they think others will laugh at them and often times these weaknesses is what will destroy them and their blind followers. The owl was afraid he might lose all his respect if he admits that he can't do something as simple as seeing in the daytime, the other animals will begin to take him for granted.

So this story is a lesson to both leaders and followers. I'm not going to draw any conclusion for anyone, but I'll allow you to read through the article and draw out your own lessons both as a leader and as a follower.