by John Young
Members of European Americans United are all members, of various ranks, of The Order of The Sacred Chain. What is the sacred chain being referenced?
The sacred chain has three parts, each of which builds upon and reinforces the others.
First is the physical chain of inheritance from past to future: it is the genetic line of our people, and the relationships between husbands, wives, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This chain is the raw physical material that makes us possible, and the relationships that sustain and nurture us. Being part of this chain is not merely about making babies, which some cannot do due to infertility or other causes, but also about supporting and sustaining the relationships and environments that make this possible. In prior times, for example, the “old maiden aunt” may not have had children herself, but she helped her nephews and nieces in various ways and thus contributed to the chain. Knights of the Sacred Chain support the two-parent European-American family, as well as interconnections with extended family at every level. Everyone is part of this chain, whether married or single, childless or fecund. We all play a role in its support.
Second is the chain of ideals. There exists an archetype, or multiple archetypes, within us that presents a vision of what we can and ought to be, the idealized form of who we are both as individuals, and as a People. This includes virtues and values, and you can see these in heroic tales from mythology, Arthurian legends, the stories of brave warriors who have won purple hearts, people who have revolutionized our understanding of the world and more. Seldom can we as individuals fully achieve these things, but they constitute the goals and provide the directions for our compass. These ideals have stood the test of time, and we transmit them through religion, folklore, the examples that we set for others, and the stories of our own lives and those we find inspiring. Knights of the Sacred Chain, following our Statement of Ethics, take action to realize the Ideals of our Folk.
Finally is the chain of ideas. Ideas are our way of understanding the world, ordering our decisions in the face of imperfect knowledge and creating an environment that is as optimal as possible for the continuation of the chain. Our ideas help us to distinguish which of our ideals must be prioritized when they come into conflict, how to ascertain what is real, and how to achieve the objectives that we must in order to secure our chain. Our Folk have a long history of religious, natural and secular philosophy encompassing the fine thought ranging from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Cicero, Aquinas and Nietzsche. Though many core ideas have stood for thousands of years, others must be modified in the face of a better understanding of the inner workings of Nature. The Knights of the Sacred Chain maintain and curate our intellectual heritage, carefully growing and pruning them so that they lead to the best path for the continuation of our chain from past to future.
Each link in the chain is thus composed of our genetic line with its relationships, the ideals to which we aspire, and the ideas that guide our decisions. Together, these layers mutually support each other. This is the chain of which our members are a part, and which constitutes our sacred trust. The continuation of the sacred chain is such that we always aspire to be at its center, rather than at its end, and our goal is to make sure that no matter how much strain is placed upon it or however much it may be buffeted, that chain remains unbroken from our heroic past to an inspiring future.