"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him, foul and corrupt are they who have taken his gift and turned it against his children. They shall be named Maleficar, accursed ones. They shall fine no rest in this world. Or beyond."
From this, the Chantry and Templars draw their justification for imprisoning mages and killing anyone. But this is the only "commandment" that the templars half follow.
1. Templar powers are magic too. It may be artifically endowed, but the power to dispel magic is magic nonetheless.
2. Being a mage doesn't automatically make a person evil.
3. The Templars use their artificial magic to bully and persecute mages in a fashion that the above commandment in no way entails. Be imprisoned or die is not in the Chant of Light. Using the threat of their abilities to intimidate most mages into submission.
4. The Maker in no way selected or entitled these men and women in the Templars to do this. They elected themselves, and proclaim it to be the will of The Maker.
5. Templars condemn the use of blood magic as heresy. Yet use it themselves to keep mages collared.(Phylacteries)
By this logic, the Templars have taken the gift of magic and turned it into a weapon to persecute innocent people. They, by their own religion's terms, are Maleficar themselves. As the commandment refers to abusing power, and has no mention of blood magic in the verse.
Reason Two
"All men are the Work of our Maker's Hands, From the lowest slaves to the highest kings. Those who bring harm without provocation to the least of his children are hated and accursed by the Maker."
I believe a couple of my above examples/references explain this as well.
1. A person could be the best person or sweetest child you ever know. A person who never hurt anyone and lived their lives nicely. But one day, by sheer accident, they do the smallest thing to show signs of magical power. And the Templars will rush in and take this person against his or her will and drag them off to the nearest Circle Tower.
2. Chantry law says that a mage who has passed the Harrowing cannot be made Tranquil. As the Harrowing is considered a test of trust; if you pass, you can be trusted. But the Templars often abuse the rite of tranquility on mages who had fled/tried to flee, spoken against their oppression, or anybody they were just a little wary of, even without proof. One could argue that these are isolated incidents--single or small groups of Templars who defy the rules but do not represent their faction as a whole. But when these incidents happen and come to light, there is no punishment at all for them. Like Ser Alrik, who tranquilized female mages so he could rape them. His justice had to come at the hands of a vigilante(Hawke). That said, the Templar Order, by definition, are supposed to protect mages from others, as well as protect others from mages. But they fail to do this, and are simply persecuting them over an accident of birth.
3. Most mages have never committed a crime in their lives. Partly due to their confinement, but most mages seem content to study their craft and would just like to have basic human rights. Go to a market and buy nice clothes, have a decent meal, have a little privacy, get married, have children, see their families. But when something goes wrong somewhere, the Templars crack down on all those who were uninvolved. When their own doctrine says not to.
So having magic, is not an offense or provocation. Yet the Templars see it as enough to make a person a 3rd class citizen.
Reason Three
"Those who bear false witness and work to deceive others, know this: there is but one truth. All things are known to our Maker and he shall judge their lies."
This reason relates almost solely to Lambert and his actions in Dragon Age: Asunder. Lord-Seeker Lambert Van Reeves is the leader of the Seekers and Templars and the second most powerful person in the Chantry aside from the Divine herself. The position he is in dictates that he should be an example for his lessers, so that they might do their jobs more valiantly. As is expected of any leader.
1. When the possibility of a cure for tranquiltiy came up. Lambert's first order to Evangeline was to murder Rhys, Wynne, Adrian, and Pharamond and cover up any trace of it. And there would have been a lie in place to justify why they did it.
2. When the First Enchanters were allowed to have a Conclave for the first time in over a year, with the permission of the Divine I might add, Lambert's response was to falsely accuse them of treason and arrest them, the ensuing battle causing the deaths of several innocent mages. The thing was, the only reason the Templars were allowed to keep mages under surveillance was because the Circle of Magi originally allowed it. There was nothing preventing them from splitting up when they decided to. Lambert's actions were clearly corrupt.
So yeah, the "leader" of the orders was the one committing treason, and laying false witness on others to support his agenda.
Reason Four
"All things in this world are finite. What one man gains, another has lost. Those who steal from their brothers and sisters do harm to their lifelihood and to the peace of mind. Our Maker sees this with a heavy heart."
I believe the entire concept of the Templars and Circle goes to this.
1. By imprisoning mages, Templars are robbing them of otherwise normal existences.
2. If a mage gives birth, the Templars steal their children and they usually never see them again.
3. On top of their persecution and condemnation of magic, the Chantry and Templars make a lot of money off of the goods mages produce. Enchanted weapons and armor, potions, and whatnot. It's almost like one of their biggest reasons is free labor to produce what makes them a lot of coin. Money that would rightfully belong to the mage who crafted said items.
In Closing
The point of this topic doesn't necessarily contribute to the "which side is right and which is wrong" arguments. Because both sides have good and bad.
The point is that the Templars and their leadership are completely hypocritical in the way they operate.
If they want to act for the sake of public safety or because of their own prejudices, or fears, that's one thing. They're wrong for hiding behind religion to strengthen their own agenda. Since barely anything they do is even dictated by that religion. To enforce their interpretation of one commandment, they're constantly breaking three others. And that's not really how religion should work.
By this definition, the Chantry, Templars, Meredith, etc, and Lambert would be heretics in the eyes of the Maker. People who pervert his laws and teachings for their own use.
Thank you for your time.
Note: This is a topic for peaceful discussion. Not a place for Pro-Mage and Pro-Templar groups to start a war over. It's an observation into the character of Templar order.
Modifié par The Grey Nayr, 02 octobre 2012 - 03:08 .
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