Where did I get the idea for this blog?
Of all places the deciding moment for this idea was a reply to a post on Cold Steel Knives Facebook page. Before that it has been a string of events pivoting at the 2011 NRA Show and annual Meeting in Pittsburgh PA. I say pivoting because I can go farther back and say it could well have begun in the Summer of 1996 when I began studies at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, a few short weeks after graduating from the Virginia Military institute.
What do all of these events have to do with each other. Well, as you read "The code" you'll probably understand that there is a certain type of person who is attracted to such a place as VMI. In my case, I was attracted to the place at a college fair when I read about the school's Honor Code. After four years, I graduated from VMI, with a degree in History, minors in English and Psychology, and a Reserve forces duty commission in the US Army. My goal was to serve God and country as a Chaplain in the Army, in pursuit of which I had gained acceptance to a Seminary in my denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA. Going from a four year military college, unknowingly to a liberal theological seminary was quite a culture shock for me and I quickly learned that the values I absorbed as a kid in a Christian home, a conservative Presbyterian church, and Catholic Schools, and had codified under VMI's discipline and Honor Code were not going to make me a popular guy in a progressive and particularly feminist heavy, theological school.
Between the ending of my brief and inglorious military career (due to a medical issue that, had I lied or omitted reporting, would never have been an issue) and immersion in a progressive religious culture that said guys like me were the problem rather than any part of the solution to the problems, of the world, I began to believe there was something wrong with me.
While I somehow managed to survive seminary and graduate, and even become ordained in a denomination that continually reminded me that resistance to a progressive agenda was futile and I could at best hope to be "tolerated" as long as I kept my archaic and recalcitrant values to myself, the underlying message in those circles was there was not a place where self described "gentlemen" fit in.
Fast forward to the eleventh year of my career as a pastor and a trip to the NRA convention. Those whose understanding of "gun nuts" is informed only by the media would expect a very different scene than the one I saw in Pittsburgh. I saw a gathering over the two days I was there, of over 71,000 of the most courteous mass gathering of people I have even been around, similar to even what I had seen at massive gatherings of "Promise Keepers" and the first experience in years of a place where I genuinely fit in. As a result of that gathering I became reacquainted to an all but abandoned love of shooting sports that I had neglected for the last 10 years. I also began exploring blogs and Facebook pages and other sources of information related to this hobby and other outdoor, and defensive pursuits. (Remember that value from "The code" that the gentleman "is the descendant of the knight, the crusader the defender of the defenseless etc.")
Anyway the next set of connections runs pretty fast. I recently discovered a show on the Discovery Channel that feeds my interest in these things, "Sons of Guns", and after becoming a fan on Facebook saw a video of a past episode where one of the guys attempted to build a Katana Machete I commented on the Cold Steel Page that I knew that they produced a similar item which led to a string of comments including a brief conversation about what a great show "Sons of Guns" is and how important it is that "we" that is the community of like minded people exhibiting what Cold Steel calls the "warrior mindset", encourage one another in our better pursuits of those values. Specifically, after agreeing that the Owner of Red Jacket, the subject of "Sons of Guns", should be respected for his accomplishments, I said,
"If those of us with like mindsets don't stand together and encourage each other our kind will become even more marginalized by "society". I get annoyed by blogs where the participants call anyone who hasn't done what they've done "....bags" etc. or use the word "sucks" until it has no meaning. Encourage, teach, and enjoy what is good."
Indeed I have a pet peeve about the word "Sucks" being used for anything that isn't the author's favorite and conversations that resort to name-calling rather than encouraging a mutually shared interest. Before I had time to complete the post and hit "enter" another poster wrote calling the very person we were talking about a vulgar four letter term for female anatomy.
This was where I was inspired. Is it possible to create a forum for men who pursue a gentlemanly lifestyle to share their ideas and encourage one another in their pursuit of honor? Time will tell.
Be whatever you resolve to be.
Mark
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