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OT Someone wants to rehabilitate the Templars.

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theget

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May 21, 2012, 2:27:09 AM5/21/12
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Evidently the bad press the Templars have been getting, because of
Breivik, has annoyed someone who thinks they deserve better.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-anti-breivik-templar-quest-for-the-true-cross-publishes-this-week-2012-05-21

I just want to say that people have accused me of being absorbed by
things that are irrelevant to the modern world, like how Dred Scott
worked out, or if the 14th amendment is really a good idea, or what
corruption of the blood means, or which version of Magna Carta holds
the most hope for our future happiness.

So I really enjoy a good read about how the reputation of the Knights
have suffered because of Breivik's misconceptions about the order.

I'm sure the remaining Knights can ride off to battle, or wherever it
is they ride off to today, reassured that the rest of us won't be
condemning them for Breivik's actions.

"Do your duty, come what may."

Martin Edwards

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May 22, 2012, 2:42:42 AM5/22/12
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The piece is unexceptionable. The Templars were a bunch of illiterate
thugs (they were actually forbidden to study) but racism had not been
invented. They have no lineal descendants. All kinds of cranks claim
them, but this is simply made up. In the same way the Masons have no
relationship with medieval guilds. At the earliest they date from the
seventeenth century. Their rituals are invented mumbo-jumbo. One of
their higher orders prays to a being called Jah Bul On. On was not a
deity but a place, the short lived capital of the pharaoh Akhenaten,
known in Greece as Heliopolis. In case you think I am claiming arcane
knowledge, I got all of this from books, some of which are still
available, chiefly Stephen Knight: The Brotherhood.

--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman

David Johnston

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May 22, 2012, 3:12:56 AM5/22/12
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On 5/22/2012 12:42 AM, Martin Edwards wrote:
> On 21/05/2012 07:27, theget wrote:
>> Evidently the bad press the Templars have been getting, because of
>> Breivik, has annoyed someone who thinks they deserve better.
>>
>> http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-anti-breivik-templar-quest-for-the-true-cross-publishes-this-week-2012-05-21
>>
>>
>> I just want to say that people have accused me of being absorbed by
>> things that are irrelevant to the modern world, like how Dred Scott
>> worked out, or if the 14th amendment is really a good idea, or what
>> corruption of the blood means, or which version of Magna Carta holds
>> the most hope for our future happiness.
>>
>> So I really enjoy a good read about how the reputation of the Knights
>> have suffered because of Breivik's misconceptions about the order.
>>
>> I'm sure the remaining Knights can ride off to battle, or wherever it
>> is they ride off to today, reassured that the rest of us won't be
>> condemning them for Breivik's actions.
>>
>> "Do your duty, come what may."
>
> The piece is unexceptionable. The Templars were a bunch of illiterate
> thugs (they were actually forbidden to study) but racism had not been
> invented.

Racism...had not been invented? Do you have any idea what the Greeks
thought of the Macedonians and Persians? Racism most certainly had been
invented. And given that the Templars had become the biggest bankers in
Europe by the time they were suppressed, "illiterate thug" is probably
not an accurate characterization.

Martin Edwards

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May 23, 2012, 2:42:36 AM5/23/12
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On 22/05/2012 08:12, David Johnston wrote:
>
> Racism...had not been invented? Do you have any idea what the Greeks
> thought of the Macedonians and Persians? Racism most certainly had been
> invented. And given that the Templars had become the biggest bankers in
> Europe by the time they were suppressed, "illiterate thug" is probably
> not an accurate characterization.

The bankers were probably a select group from the best families.
Biological racism had not been invented. Herodotus mentions quite
casually that a lot of peoples had black skins and curly hair.

theget

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May 24, 2012, 8:32:57 AM5/24/12
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On May 23, 2:42 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:


> Biological racism had not been invented.

Do you mean as a philosophy or as a practice?

Martin Edwards

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May 25, 2012, 2:53:20 AM5/25/12
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It could hardly exist as a practice if it did not exist as a philosophy.

theget

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May 25, 2012, 2:14:28 PM5/25/12
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On May 25, 2:53 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 24/05/2012 13:32, theget wrote:> On May 23, 2:42 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>  wrote:
>
> >> Biological racism had not been invented.
>
> > Do you mean as a philosophy or as a practice?
>
> It could hardly exist as a practice if it did not exist as a philosophy.

Not so. After all, by way of analogy, there are things that are de
facto and not de jure.

Martin Edwards

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May 26, 2012, 2:21:13 AM5/26/12
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I'm not certain that this is an an analogy.
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