Chivalry in Today’s Society

Honor.  A word used as infrequently today as hieroglyphics. In the Middle Ages, knights lived their lives by their honor codes.  They fought (mostly) honorably, with the victor allowing the loser to live and serve the victor.  Knights generally only killed their opponents in war, not over petty disputes.  Women were treated respectfully, not as objects to be fawned over and fondled.  Modern society lacks many who uphold these views.

Shootings, either on the street corner or by drive-bys or other methods, are prevalent.  Pulling a trigger to kill or maim someone requires no skill or honor — especially when shooting someone in the back.  Settling disputes with duels gave the two parties a chance to reach an agreement or allow someone to surrender.  No harm needed to come to either party.  Swordfighting provided a more even fight because similar weapons and knowledge of the rules allowed people to make a decision before offending someone because they knew it would be settled with a duel.  In today’s society, it is impossible to know if you have offended someone and how they could react.

Women today are seen as sexual objects, a way to have a good time.  Almost gone are the days when women were seen as thinking, feeling companians who had their own wants and life.  In the Middle Ages, women were treated with a lot of respect, almost to the point where knights treated them as queens.  The idea of courtly love meant that knights would love the lady they pledged their allegiance to from a distance.  Physical contact was a rarity, unlike the many one night stands and flings of today’s society.  Many males today are as respectful to women as grave robbers are to sacred burial grounds.  They focus on their sexual wants, calling them needs, and think nothing about the feelings of the women they are with.  Women should be treated with respect, as they wish to be treated; not as slaves to anti-feminist pigs who wish to exploit them anyway they can.

Another way our society has degraded is thievery.  Not a day goes by that the news doesn’t report someone robbing a bank or a convenience store.  But the most thievery that happens often goes unreported.  With computers and the internet, hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital media is stolen or shared among thousands of people.  While this scenario is impossible during the Middle Ages, the thief would have been either executed or possibly jailed or banished from the kingdom.  In the United States, most states no longer have the Death penalty, instead imprisoning or fining the convicted thief.

Life changes as society ages.  What was once static and unmoving now changes rapidly, with people, laws, and actions changing at an amazing pace.  Within one hundred years, there may be even more changes.  Perhaps the ideals of the Middle Ages will make a comeback.  Or perhaps society will degrade into a state of chaos and anarchy.  That remains to be seen.