Galen answers the posts about Reality (l

[Mitchell, Paul T]

More from Galen of Bristol -- you've been warned.

>Hi Galen. Aquilanne here.

<snip>

> Case in point. We once knew an individual who refused to swear fealty
> because he perceived it as being in conflict with his duty of   
maintaining
> military confidentiality. He basically said that if he swore fealty to   
the
> crown and the king asked him to divulge secret military information   
that he
> would be stuck in the middle of conflicting interests. Now tell me that
> there isn't just a twitch of a need for reality check here?

You've described someone with an inadequate understanding of fealty.  If
you're in a position to swear fealty, but you're concerned about a   
potential
conflict, you simply mention as part of the oath that there's an   
exception,
and you state what that is.  It's a completely period practice, widely   
used
in fealty oaths as early as  the 12th century.

I never did that because it never occurred to me that an SCA king would   
ask
for any of the classified information I had access to; if it had happened   
I would
probably have told him that his request was a violation of his   
responsibilities
as my liege.

I knew a fellow in the army who, when he took his oath of enlistment,   
refused
to say "so help me God".  He asked the administering officer "what if you   
don't
believe in God?" and was told, "then swear by something you believe in."   
 So
my friend, a knight of another kingdom, swore his oath of enlistment into   
the
U.S. Army on his belt and chain.  Later, his morale low, far from home,   
things
not working out as he expected, he confided in me that he was considering   

desertion. "But", I pointed out, "you swore your oath of enlistment on   
your belt
and chain."  This brought him up short.  His sense of honor was such that   

deserting would require him to resign his knighthood, which he was not   
willing
to do.  His "real-life" oath, sworn by something he really believed in,   
really had
an influence on his "real-life" actions.  Because he had subscribed to an   
ideal
taught to him in the SCA.

> We've also been
> privy to cases where one individual had it in for another individual in   
some
> area or another of SCA politics, and ended up doing some rather nasty   
things
> to each other mundanely (y'know, marriages, jobs, etc.) The game we   
play,
> seriously ideal as it may be, *does* attract some folks who, for lack   
of a
> better or more polite way of saying it, can tend to be   
reality-challenged.

This seems to me to be another case where someone thought to himself
"that's a bad person" based on his SCA conduct.  If he's a bad person,
why limit your actions to foil him to the SCA  (not that I endorse that   
sort
of vendetta in any context, but if it could be OK either mundanely or in   
the
SCA, why not both)?  If he's a good person in the SCA, might you not be
more likely to trust him in a non-SCA context?

You seem to be using this term "reality-challenged", to mean "someone
who doesn't differentiate between SCA and non-SCA activities the way
I do."  "Reality-challenged", it seems to me, better describes a person's   

attempt to rigidly separate SCA activity from other activity, and claim
that neither should influence the other.

If Mother Teresa joined the SCA, and if her persona was a gossiping,
back-biting bitch, should she still be widely considered a candidate
for sainthood?  If a peer and noble of the SCA committed a non-SCA-
related murder, would we still wish to honor him as a peer and noble?
(The answer to this, for some, is unfortunately yes, I know because this
one actually happened.)

Maybe I feel this way because I grew up reading comic books...  I
always knew that Clark Kent was no less a hero than Superman, even
though he didn't wear the suit.  He still stopped the occasional bullet,
albeit secretly, and he had all the same virtues as Superman.  Likewise,
although I wear different clothes and use a different name, Galen is no
better or worse a man than Paul is; neither is a role, both are me.  How
good a hero could Superman be if Clark not only dated Lois, but cheated
on her with other women, and occasionally got drunk and smashed up
a bar, then went out to spend an evening committing random acts of
vandalism?

Or, how good a knight could Galen really be if I was a big-league scumbag
mundanely, and was only pretending to be chivalrous knight at SCA
events?

Then, Tegan wrote:

> I am usually just a quiet eavedropper to these posting but to this one   
I
> feel I must reply. One of my first introductions to the SCA was while I   
was
> in the military,I will not devulge the time or place so as not to   
embarress
> anyone but I was a private in an MP company when one of our sargeants
> attempted suicide. When she came out of the hospitol and was put on   
light
> duty our First Sargent asked me to quietly keep an eye on her for a   
while.
> She confided to me that she had begun to feel that her identity or   
persona in
> the SCA was the only one she had left and the only one she wanted   
anymore.
> Now I think this is an extreme example of what Bors refered to but she   
had
> truly lost her grip on what I would term reality.
> Now don't get me wrong, I do not believe that the SCA in any way caused
> her to attempt suicide,  But  it is a lovely place to hide when the   
REAL
> world gets to rough.

It could as easily been a church group that was the only thing your   
sergeant
thought worthwhile.  When most of a person's life goes to hell, naturally
they focus on the rewarding parts.  For some it's a church group, for   
others
it's AA or some other support group, for some it's their family, for some   
it's
a hobby, or a job, and for some it is their friends in the SCA.  When a   
person
has only one good thing in his life, though, that one thing becomes   
something
to build on.  You can draw from that experience the lessons that you need
to apply to other facets of your life.  Your friend was a lot better off   
with
SCA friends than she would have been if she'd been sitting home watching
TV or listening to Nirvana CDs.

I'd much rather go to an SCA event than go to work.  Hiding in the SCA   
from
the real world?  Who would prefer their job to an SCA event?  Haven't you
seen the bumper sticker that says "The worst day fishing beats the best
day at work"?

> I don't know how many times I have heard women
> reject men as a possible mate because he was "not a heavy fighter, not   
a
> light fighter ect.." Yes I have heard this. Some criteria for choosing   
a life
> partner.  For those of us who have our prioritys straight (I hope I do)   
then the
> SCA is a magical place to be, but sometimes I really do fear for those   
who
> seem to be lost in the game.

Lots of people judge others by the most shallow of standards.   
 Appearance.
Clothes.  Voice.  Way of speaking or moving.  Go into any country-western
dance club ("honky-tonk" is the term) and you'll meet women who wouldn't
waste their time on a man who's not a "cowboy".  Try asking one what she
means by that word.  It probably has more to do with clothes and taste in
music and entertainment than involvement with cattle or horses.

Now let me say something to Baroness Kat, here, in reply to your post,
in which you mention how similar SCA and mundane politics are.  That
fact really shouldn't surprise you; it's just people being people.  SCA
members remain people.  The advantage in the SCA is that we're still
idealistic enough that it still stings when someone points out your
unchivalrous act and calls it unchivalrous.  Try accusing your   
congressman
of being dishonorable.  Take my congressman... please!  He did stuff
(which you don't want to hear on this list) that never would be tolerated
from an SCA officer, and would be cause for removal from office at least.
But if I take a misstep as Central Regional Seneschal, and you point it
out and call it dishonorable, I'd almost surely either correct it or   
resign
in shame, or both.  In the SCA, that sometimes works.  Never, elsewhere.

And Kara McCloud says...

> Ok.. okay.. okay... what the heck is going on here people... What are   
you
> talking about having to swear Fealty to the King??? You don't have to   
do
> anything!  The SCA is there for learning and enjoyment...  for having   
fun
> and making friends.  Sure, the money and time spent  are both very   
real..
> but come on... the King and Queen are  not REAL Kings and Queens...   
they
> are people portraying a King and Queen.  This is the USA... we have a
> president now...  Sheesh! (grin)

If you want to be a knight, or the baroness of a barony, then fealty
is part of the price.  Or, to hear Alexander tell it, to be Count Finn
Kelly's apprentice.  Or my squire.  If you don't want those things,
then you're right, you don't have to swear fealty.  But of course our
Kings and Queens are real.  And they have real power, too.  Read
_Corpora_ and kingdom law to see what real power they have.  Can
they execute you?  No, but neither can the President.  They are officers
of our club, and their titles are "king" and "queen", and they are real
people, really officers of a real club.  And that carries with it certain   

prerogatives, and many of us enjoy extending to them especial treatment.

And HRH Kein (whom I refer to as "HRH my former squire Kein") wrote:

>  You wrote:
>>  .. the King and Queen are  not REAL Kings and Queens...
>
> But they are real people. In our first reign I would explain to people
> that I went out every weekend and pretended that I was King. That
> doesn't sound like much fun except that 2000 other people pretend that
> I'm King also. That makes it fun for all of us.

Except when you go to Pennsic, where nearly 10,000 people will
pretend you're a king.

I like to say that when I was Prince of Drachenwald, I ruled more of
Europe than Hitler, Napoleon, or any Roman emperor, with subjects
in East & West Germany, Italy, England, Sweden, and Iceland.  Now,
that's a joke; I didn't rule Europe, I ruled Drachenwald.  I was really
the Prince of Drachenwald.  And Drachenwald was chartered not
only by SCA Inc., but also by US Army Europe, and "Prince" was
one of the officers of the organization.  And that was me.  I was
given time off from duty to attend my Investiture, and the Coronet
Tourney I presided over was covered by an Army publication.  Later,
I made the cover of the the Air Force's Electronic Security Command
newsletter (world-wide circulation to ESC units), _The Spokesman_,
in armor, with a very nice feature article about the SCA.  Not real?
Yes, Virginia, there is an SCA, and it is very much an important part
of thousands of real lives.

 - Galen of Bristol
pmitchel at flash.net (home)
Paul.T.Mitchell at lmco.com (work)
http://www.flash.net/~pmitchel/galen.htm
anyone know what Sir Jord painted on his shield?