Hello and Welcome to Chivalry Now

Hello and Welcome to our open forum.  I hope all who come here find this forum helpful in your own personal quest, that you find fellowship here with like minded people. I look forward to sharing ideas concepts and meaningful discussions.


Introduction

My name is Jeff Barnes  Council Knight of Chivalry-Now and serve as of the Forum Administrators,  and I live in NW Alabama married with children x4.  Currently I am 59 yo and I am a Paramedic of 23 years and have been in EMS for around 30 years, both as a paid and volunteer service.  I have also served in the US Coast Guard.

Chivalry/Knights and Personal codes of honor have always held a special spot in my life.  Grew up watching and reading about The Lone Ranger, Robin Hood, and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and so many more.  

I came to Chivalry-Now back in 2007.  I found the CN survey and decided to fill it out and send it in.  Imagine my surprise when a few weeks later I got a reply from Sir Dean.  I had requested information from other "online/off line Communities/Orders concerning Chivalry and had never received a reply.  While Chivalry-Now is NOT an Order it is a community of life minded individuals for a common goal of bringing an updated Code of Chivalry to our trouble modern times.

Sir Dean asked me to partake in the discussions on the old forum before it was lost beyond our control to recover.  I progressed to Companion and after following the Path to Knighthood  and more than one soul searching private discussions, received the Accolade of Knight of Chivalry-Now from Sir Dean and offered a seat on the Council.

So enough about me let's here about you.

I will similarly charge right in.
I am Clifford Brunetti, 51, father of 4, Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration in Accounting, Knight of Chivalry-Now, and Council Member.
My occupations are varied, but here goes; I have a small accounting firm that allows me quite a bit of time flexibility that I use for administration of Cotswolds Cottages - rental homes of which I am the Landlord/Owner. I enjoy substituting at my local military academies since I am academically bent and a veteran. I have been teaching Japanese traditional Jujutsu (hand-to-hand) for 23 years and am a Menkyo Shihan (licensed master). I teach the Defensor Team at my local military academy, which is self-defense using the values of Chivalry-Now; I want the kids to be able to protect themselves and others with confidence, honor, and valor.

I'm Dean Jacques, one of the two founders of this fellowship.

Many years ago, while working for the State of Connecticut Department of Social Services, I found that the welfare programs that I helped administer, while important, did nothing to prevent the social problems that they hoped to remedy. Interviewing hundreds of clients over the years, I listened to the context of their personal views and philosophies. It occurred to me that our culture no longer provided the lessons that we need to eliminate many of the problems from which our society suffers.

This did not just apply to the poor. We see an inexplicable dysfunction in national politics as well. And in the business world, where greed has conveniently replaced the Golden Rule. Many religious leaders showed themselves to be phony profiteers. Political ideologies were being used by media propagandists to plunge the population in a constant conflict of wedge issues, without regard for the good of the nation.

The answers to these problems are not foreign to us. They could be found in the basic aspects of our culture to which we still give lip-service, but no longer find the inspiration that we should. I came to believe that a code of ethics was missing in our present day culture.

After attending a presentation of the musical Camelot, the idea of chivalry stuck in my mind. I looked into it further, and found a well-developed code of ethics that still stirred the heart, and only needed to be updated. After years of study, I took the teachings of medieval chivalry and carefully distilled them into the 12 Trusts.

I uploaded a small website called Chivalry-Now. Some months later, I was contacted by Steven Forgette (4th Degree Knight of Columbus), and we communicated for quite some time, exchanging ideas on chivalry. I have never met a person more dedicated to chivalry and knighthood than Steven, and doubt I ever will. The website grew and attracted new people. A young man started an Open Forum for us, and a fellowship formed and grew.

Chivalry-Now continued to develop. It eventually recognized a timeline of concepts that contributed to the evolution of Western culture, including ideas about freedom, truth, equality and the value of reason and conscience -- and others as well. We realized that CN was actually the latest expression of this timeline, and that our mission was to return what was lost in order to repair our broken culture. Like Thomas Paine before us, we realized that the concepts we are promoting are not just Western, but universal.

The fellowship continued to grow. People who joined the Forum who really expressed an understanding of CN were invited to become Companions. Those who seemed ready to commit themselves were invited to partake in our Path to Knighthood Program. Those who completed its requirements became recognized as Knights of our Council.

The International Fellowship of Chivalry-Now now serves as a catalyst for thought that appeals to the cultural conscience of all people. We are non-sectarian, non-partisan, and welcome people of any race, religion, or ethnicity. Our hope is to unite people according to shared values derived from Nature's Law, rather than divide them according to unnatural ideologies.

As for myself, I am now retired from social services and dedicated to promoting CN from my mostly online writing. My understanding of chivalry is augmented by a lifetime of martial art study and practice. My interests include philosophy, religion, history, the Age of Enlightenment, Existentialism, nature, and writing. I am happily married and live quite modestly in a quaint New England village.

The success of CN will be determined by those who work for it today (consider this an invitation) and those who follow in the next generation.

As one of the founders of this fellowship of equals, I look forward to knowing you all. Thank you for your interest.

Dean, KCN

Hello my name is Adrienne, I've registered on this forum before and I"m glad this forum is up again. I live in Maryland and I like blogging, writing, history, surfing the internet and embracing more of my Christian faith. I've always been interested about the values of chivalry and the true meanings behind the it, rather than just the romanticized versions many others perceive it which is what drew me to this website and forum and looking forward to partaking in the discussions on this forum again. Thank you once again.

Adrienne! How nice to see you here again.

We have a tough job ahead of us getting this forum running like it used to. Technology has changed and other forms of social media are now in vogue. None of them offer the kind of discussion and fellowship we had before, so we are giving this new forum a chance.

Welcome back!

Dean, KCN

Hello to all of you!

It is an honor to be among you.

I am Michael William Stahnke. I was questing for the values that Chivalry-Now stands for and found Chivalry-Now a few years ago on the internet: I met the Quest Companions and read the books, learned, studied and was inspired. My life was changed and I began the Quest...

I worked in a Library and am now looking for another job... I am thinking about eventually taking up a great challenge, like trying to become a Police Officer, but that may never happen... However, I do my best to live by the values of Chivalry and to be a Knight, inspired by the Knights I have had the honor of getting to know and am always inspired by.

I am doing my best to become a Knight and am currently part of an association that I heard of through the American Church in Paris that gives food to the homeless...

I look forward to sharing messages with all of you and being inspired as I always am thanks to this New Camelot!

Kind Regards,

Michael William Stahnke

Thank you for introducing yourself here, Michael. I hope we can resuscitate our fellowship through participation on the forum.

We look forward to your input.

Dean, KCN

Thought I should say hi. I have had a pretty long run with CN, and maybe some of the old hands may remember GrtWhtShark from the old board. I feel its more honest to be here as myself, no mask. I want to say hi to any and all new comers. Take the time to read what's really being said here and see how it makes you feel. Do some research on your own. Consider it an investment in becoming the person you always wanted to be.

Hi Butch.

How strange to meet again in a similar fashion to our first meeting.

Dean, KCN

Brother, this is just one more proof that there is no coincidence. I think that as a companion and Knight of CN, I probably said many foolish things. I clearly needed to learn and experience more of life and how chivalry enhances it on both a personal and greater level.

I am here again to both learn and to teach. I also want to help return this site and forum to what it was mean to be. If there is anything I can do, brother, you have but to ask.

Butch, KCN

Getting people to join and participate would do wonders.

It's my understanding that other social media, like Facebook, has replaced forums like this as the media of choice. It's really too bad. We had such incredible in-depth discussions back then. And now, for whatever reason, it is lost! Participation had dwindled before it disappeared, however.

I am now re-thinking the fellowship concept. As a group, we were too separated to accomplish anything substantial, and did not fit the civic group mold.

I'm starting to wonder if we can gear CN to the individual instead, the Knight Errant to not only lives the 12 Trusts, but gets the word out about them as well.

It hasn't come together yet, but who knows?

Dean, KCN

Dear Knights,

I have returned here and will come back here regularly now.

It is great to be among you!

I like facebook but I believe like you that the forum is crucial and a wonderful place.

I have great memories from the previous forum and hope that the new forum will become like it again.

Arete!

Michael Stahnke

Dear Knights,

I just want to add: I do my best to live as a true Knight and I have been trying to get the word out about us as well.

I have started with people close to me: I have talked about our Fellowship with friends and my family and I have given my father the book Chivalry Now: The Code of Male Ethics.

I will keep spreading the word and do my best to lead by example for others to be inspired.

Arete!

Michael Stahnke

Well done, Michael. Doing what you can to get the word out is all that anyone can ask. You can't make someone change, but you can provide support and information and let them make up their own mind. Again, well done!

Butch KCN

Michael. in many ways the future of CN depends on you doing just what you say. Don't let anyone stop you.

Dean

Dear Knights,

Thank you! Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me and I will continue to do my best for the International Fellowship of Chivalry Now.

Arete!

Michael Stahnke

Everything depends upon each of us.

Dean, KCN

Dear Knights,

I found Chivalry-Now about four years ago and it changed my life.

I remember reading the articles on the website, the books Chivalry Now: The Code of Male Ethics and the Deeper Quest and becoming a member of the forum. It was a unique moment in my life.

I met Knights and learned a lot from them. I was and still am always inspired by Chivalry-Now. I have dedicated my life to the Quest.

I believe that if as many people join Chivalry-Now as posssible the world will be a much better place.

The values that Chivalry Now stands for can make our modern situation better and create a world of heroic Knights and Lady Knights, helping each other, working together for a New Camelot.

Arete!

Michael Stahnke

Your words are very encouraging, Michael. Keep up the good work.

Dean, KCN

Hello Gentlemen.
Just introducing myself.
The username is about Desert Storm and a stint in Saudia Arabia. For our purposes here, feel free to just call me sergeant Smiddy...

I've been fully retired fro the USAF since age 22 (in 1992) due to an injury in line-of-duty.

Yesterday I was just looking around on the web for books about the old codes of chivalry and ran across this site.
I'm a 46 year old married man with 2 adult children, a Catholic, a (newer) Knight of Columbus, and have lived by my own stringent code of conduct as long as I can recall, that code being:
God
Wife
Kids
Duty
Honor
Country

Even though it's listed next to last, the entire code is about personal honor/integrity, and because of that, those are my personally defined priorities to maintain honor in general, which is paramount in my world.

That's all I can think of for an introduction.
I am tickled to have found this site, especially the forum, and will be keeping an eye on things here while determining just how much or how little I wish to participate.

May God be with you all.
"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching...."

Nice to meet you, Sergeant Smiddy, and welcome to our forum.

Are you familiar with our website? www.chivalrynow.net

Dean, KCN

Good to meet you. I hope to see you participating.

Butch KCN

Nice to meet you, it is great to have you with us!

Michael Stahnke

Dear Knights and Honourable Members of CN;
I'm Percivale. I was born and raised in Turkey. I'm 18 years old. I'm a Social Sciences student soon to be graduated. I have First Dan Degree at Kickboxing. Even though I'm atheist I have respect to all religions and I enjoy reading all religious books, articles etc. I speak fluent Turkish, intermediate English, intermediate French and intermediate German. You can correct me anytime you want. Since English is not my main language I might make lots of mistakes.

I've always had an interest in Middle Ages and that brought another interest in chivalry. My family raised me with "manners maketh man" saying and I thought chivalry had this manners. I read a lot about King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table and I chose the name "Percivale (Percival, Parzival...)" for my internet persona. Always wanting to be a part of Chivalric fellowship I saw your 12 trusts and it sent shivers down my spine. And now I want to join your fellowship.

Percivale of Wales

Welcome Percivale! So  nice to meet you here.

Your English is quite good. I would not have suspected it was not your primary language. French and German too? Very impressive.

Please introduce yourself on our group Facebook page as well.

[url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/chivalrynow/]

Thank you.

Dean, KCN