Several generations ago, during on of the most turbulent of the desert wars in the Middle East, a spy was captured and sentenced to death by a general of the Persian army. The general, a man of intelligence and compassion, had adopted a strange and unusual custom in such cases. He permitted the condemned person to make a choice.
The Prisoner could either face the firing squad or pass through the Black Door.
As the moment of the execution drew near, the general ordered the spy to be brought before him for a short final interview. The primary purpose of which was to receive the answer of the doomed man to the query: "What shall it be - the firing squad or the Black Door?"
This was not an easy decision and the prisoner hesitated, but soon made it known that he much preferred the firing squad to the unknown horrors that might wait for him behind the ominous and mysterious door. Not long thereafter a volley of shots in the courtyard announced that the grim sentence had been fulfilled.
The general, staring at his bots, turned to his aide and said, "You see how it is with men; they will always prefer the know way of the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet I gave him his choice."
"What lies beyond the Black Door?" asked the aide.
"Freedom," replied the general, "and I've known only a few men brave enough to take it."
