excerpts I like:
...It also touches on the most important themes of Western civilization—freedom, faith, and what it means to be a hero......The moral key to The Lord of the Rings is the refusal of ruthlessness and the immutability of the moral law. The Ring is a mighty weapon of war—but profoundly tinged with evil. The Ring may not be used, even against the Dark Lord himself, lest its user be corrupted and become what he hates. Some means are so evil that no end can justify them. Some laws are so sacred that we must willingly die rather than violate them. We may never target the innocent in order to weaken the guilty. These lessons, which Tolkien drew from the Christian, heroic sagas of the North, should linger in our minds and restrain our passions—especially in time of war...
Misapplied patriotism sometimes tempts us to compromise our highest principles because of tough choices. But we mus'nt. Principles are made for times of tough choices and tests. To guide us when choices are harder to make.
Now, what about that does Boromir not get?
Whew... will need some pints after all that thinking!
Sometimes we need to have compassion and understanding when these characters are revealed as frail and flawed (just like people in real life) Most posters (this is only my take) have two thoughts. The characters either aren't flawed at all or too flawed...
But to me, Tolkien did a good job of presenting his characters with strength and weaknesses and he stayed true to those strengths and weaknesses, which is what makes the story riveting.
If after reading the chapter The Council of Elrond you didn't believe that Boromir would try to gain the ring for Gondor's defense then you weren't paying attention. (Not you HOTD -- that's a rhetorical you). The fact that he did, was wonderful. Then... just in life (with some people) understanding came... with understanding came changes.