Religion and Chivalry

There has been an ongoing discussion in one of my circles of association about whether it is possible, or perhaps a better word would be 'reasonable', for an atheist to embrace chivalry.

Now, I have never made any apologies for the fact that I am a born-again Christian. Any view I have of the world is invariably going to be tinted by the lenses of that faith. And so it is with Chivalry. I see the chivalrous lifestyle as an outward expression of an internal belief.

But is a faith in Jesus Christ necessary in order to be chivalrous? Absolutely not. Anyone of any faith, or no faith at all, can treat people with that same level of respect (and regrettably, in some cases greater levels) and even share my views of right and wrong. But to me it makes a lot more sense to have that faith in God. To me, He is the reason we should treat others with respect and courtesy. To me, He is the reason there is right and wrong to begin with.

Does that mean I am perfect? Please. But what it does mean is that I have a 'true North' upon which to base the decisions I make. There's no way that can be a bad thing. For my non-believing friends who have chosen to take a similar Pilgrimage, my biggest worry is this; what is their 'true North'?

First step

I've been kicking this whole blog thing around for a while. I finally decided to give it a shot. What you're going to find here won't follow any particular theme (probably). Some of it will be political rants. Some of it will be religious stuff. I'm probably going to irritate some people. Let me say right out the gate that I do not mean to. Part of living a life of chivalry means being courteous to others. That, however, does NOT mean enabling people to continue to do stupid and self destructive things, nor will I stand on the sideline and watch anyone else be victimized. Like someone once said of Batman, 'lawful good' does not always mean 'lawful nice'.

What I hope to do here is plant the seed of honour and integrity in people, and change the world around us all through two simple, if somewhat archaic, things. Accountability and personal responsibility.

Cheers if you keep up with this!