The Chantry as it is currently ?I can't say I am terribly fond of it.I consider myself a devout Andrastian but I think that the Chantry has completely misinterpreted some of Andraste's teachings.It is not a bad organization,all things considered but when I look at how they view magic...I can't help but feel that if Andraste saw what they were doing,she would be horrified.The line ''Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him." was never meant to be used as an excuse to oppress mages.What is that line even supposed to mean ?
It's pure nonsense.It doesn't say that mages should be be denied titles and lands.It doesn't say mages should be made tranquil should the Chantry find them inconvenient.It doesn't say mages should imprisoned and forgotten until they are needed for an exalted march or a blight.And worst of all it does not say that magic is a curse.Believing magic is a curse...I don't think someone could have misinterpreted Andraste's teachings more if they tried.Every single time magic is mentioned in the Chant of Light it is called a gift which is exactly what it is.The greatest gift the Maker gave to his children.
I can understand why the Chantry views magic they way it does.It was founded after the collapse of the Tevinter Imperium whose Magisters used their power to commit terrible atrocities.The common people were terrified of what magic could do and when people are afraid they act irrationally.With Andraste dead people were left to interpret her teachings however they wished and this lead to them making a terrible mistake.It made the believe magic is something terrible.Something to be feared and reviled instead of something to be celebrated.
To truly understand what Andraste meant one must look at the Chant of Light in it's entirety so they could understand the context of what is perhaps it's most famous and controversial line.''Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him.'' means nothing by itself.This excerpt is perhaps my favorite part of the Chant of Light
There was no word
For heaven or for earth, for sea or sky.
All that existed was silence.
Then the Voice of the Maker rang out,
The first Word,
And His Word became all that might be:
Dream and idea, hope and fear,
Endless possibilities.
And from it made his firstborn.
And he said to them:
In My image I forge you,
To you I give dominion
Over all that exists.
By your will
May all things be done.
Then in the center of heaven
He called forth
A city with towers of gold,
streets with music for cobblestones,
And banners which flew without wind.
There, He dwelled, waiting
To see the wonders
His children would create.
The children of the Maker gathered
Before his golden throne
And sang hymns of praise unending.
But their songs
Were the songs of the cobblestones.
They shone with the golden light
Reflected from the Maker's throne.
They held forth the banners
That flew on their own.
And the Voice of the Maker shook the Fade
Saying: In My image I have wrought
My firstborn. You have been given dominion
Over all that exists. By your will
All things are done.
Yet you do nothing.
The realm I have given you
Is formless, ever-changing.
And He knew he had wrought amiss.
So the Maker turned from his firstborn
And took from the Fade
A measure of its living flesh
And placed it apart from the Spirits, and spoke to it, saying:
Here, I decree
Opposition in all things:
For earth, sky
For winter, summer
For darkness, Light.
By My Will alone is Balance sundered
And the world given new life.
And no longer was it formless, ever-changing,
But held fast, immutable,
With Words for heaven and for earth, sea and sky.
At last did the Maker
From the living world
Make men. Immutable, as the substance of the earth,
With souls made of dream and idea, hope and fear,
Endless possibilities.
Then the Maker said:
To you, my second-born, I grant this gift:
In your heart shall burn
An unquenchable flame
All-consuming, and never satisfied.
From the Fade I crafted you,
And to the Fade you shall return
Each night in dreams
That you may always remember me.
And then the Maker sealed the gates
Of the Golden City
And there, He dwelled, waiting
To see the wonders
His children would create.
It explains the Maker's motivation for creating both the fade and the real world.His first children were the spirits who lived in the fade.When he made them,he gave them the power to alter reality as they pleased.When all they did was admire the golden city he saw the mistake he had made.The fade is a realm of concepts and ideas which does not posses the laws of physics as we know them or indeed any laws at all.It is the will of it's inhabitants that decides how the fade will behave but because nothing but the golden city existed at the time they had nothing else to base their creations on.They knew not of pride and desire.They knew not of hope of love and of joy.They could not envision mountains or rivers because these concepts did not exist until the maker decided to create them.
The spirits could have never made any of these things.Not because they lacked the power to do so but because they could not even begin to imagine them.Just try to imagine a new color and you will realize how difficult it is.That is why the Maker decided to make the real world and the species that inhabit it.He believed that they with their emotions and their drive would look upon the world he had made and seek to emulate him,to surpass him,to create something truly new and beautiful.
That is also why mankind was given magic.The spirits of the fade were given the ability to do with their realm as they wished and it amounted to nothing.The same thing would have happened in a world that was truly immutable.His secondborn would have failed just as the spirits did but where the spirits failed due a lack of creativity,the mortals would have failed due to a lack of power.Mages exist as a compromise between the two extremes.Their gift is meant to be used for the betterment of mankind and for the betterment of the world itself.That is why the Chant of Light condemns it's misuse and why referring to it as a curse is wrong.That's what I believe at least.
As for the circles ?Yes,they are necessary if only to teach mages how to use their gift properly.They should be free to leave once their studies are done however.They should be given vacations so they could visit their families (albeit with supervision) and their families should be allowed to visit them.They should also be better prepared for the harrowing.Throwing them in blind is stupid.I think being born a mage should not mean one losses all their tittles and lands.Mages should have the same rights as all other citizens.I believe that mages should be allowed to govern themselves so that the magic they could learn is not limited to abilities templars could counter.A shapeshifter could just turn into a bird and fly out of the tower which is why that particular skillset is not taught.There are many other methods one could use to make it impossible for the templars to do anything which are forbidden.It greatly limits knowledge.Other mages would be able to counter all these advancements with adequate protections.That is all.Sorry for the wall of text 
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