We're going to be interviewing a member of the Knights Templar and Opus Dei, and want to hear from you what kinds of questions we should ask him! Please post your questions in this thread, and we'll select several for the interview.

While the Da Vinci Code has been most public in its accusations of both groups, you do not have to limit your questions to just Dan Brown's claims. If you have any questions about either organization, ask away

EDIT: He has been knighted by the Catholic Church, but it's appearing it wasn't as a Knight Templar. I'll have more information and correction on this issue soon.

[edit on 5/17/06/17 by junglejake]

My question.

Why would a member of the Knights Templar and Opus Dei wish to be interviewed in the first place, if it is to enlighten people to your cause, why choose ATS and not a more credible organization? Are you not worried that being connected publicly to a site like this, you are opening yourself up to further ridicule and may tarnish your respectability and social standing?

How do you feel about people like Ben Acheson who seemingly make a mockery of the Templars, by promising 'inside information' yet delivering very little?

I can answer that Because he's my grandfather and I asked him to

Thank your grandfather for me JJ

My question:

What are your personal thoughts on DaVinci and how do you feel Opus Dei was portrayed? Where was Brown accurate, and where did he flaw?

Thank you!

Hey JJ,

I am a little confused and hopefully you and your grandfather can clear it up in the interview but I guess I have one truncated question conerning the relation between the knights templar and Opus Dei.

Are you (or your grandfather) saying that he is a member of both THe Knights Templar and Opus Dei or that the Knights Templar and Opus Dei are one and the same.

In regards to the KT is this a modern day sort of take on the Templar philosophy or are you saying that this organization he belongs to is a direct descendent of the Jaque De Molay Knights.

If he is saying that Opus Dei and KT are related I would be very interested in hearing how and when these to organizations emerged.

Wrapping a secret society within another has been done before, but again if he is saying that the Knights Templar and Opus Dei are related that would be new to me so would like to hear that expanded on.

I'm sure I'll have more questions.

Spiderj

He's a member of both; they're two different groups, I believe. Related to that, I think a good question would be to ask how he got into each group.

I do know that, by church law, he is permitted to ride a horse into any Catholic Church. He and Henry Hyde were talking about doing that during the impeachment of Clinton just to get some different questions from the reporters and to have a good time.

Thanks for clearing that up JJ.

Please do ask about his affiliation with the KNights templar and specifically what this group does or is...again sort of going back to my question about clarifying wether this is the old school Knights templar or if they are a newer organization (possibly church related?) calling themselves Knights Templar.

Thanks,

Spiderj

not a question, but:

great addition to the "ATS interview" section of the ATS universe...

w0w...

i can only imagine what traffic this person will bring in

I'm really sorry... I can't help it anymore.






(bad overlord bad)

I'd be interested in how strong he feels his templar organization's claim to being 'the real' templars is.

Also, odd that a catholic is a templar no? The original organization got kicked out of the church.

JJ,

Are you sure he isn't a member of SMOM (Sovereign Military order of Malta) which is a fully functioning Catholic service order?

Wikipedia article on SMOM

If so, it might help members to better frame their questions, if they understood the significance of your grandfather's (presumeablly Catholic affiliations).


Questions:

1. How does he understand "mortification of the flesh?" As a member of these organization?

2. Would he be willing to discuss his own experience as regards such mortification. Some introduction to that concept may be in order for ATS members who are not familiar with such practicies. Wikipedia: "Cilice"

3. How much overlap is there between the two organizations?

4. What are the relations like between OD, SMOM, and the Vatican?

5. Has he ever visited the Vatican headquarters of either organization?

6. Does his Templar organization have any particular regimens or disciplines of peity enjoined upon its members, or is it more accurate to think of it as a "servce organization?"

7. How has he found fellow catholics to be positively or negatively disposed toward his associations?

8. Is he active in a local parish where other members also belong to these two organizations, or is he the only one in his local church?

9. How has his membership affected his personal faith?

10. How do the aims of these two bodies converge?



Any of those helpful?

.

Good question...Everything I've looked at since reading your post on the Knights Templar seems to indicate they no longer exist. I'll give him a call tonight and find out if my memory completely krumped out on me. I'll find out for sure and correct myself if it turns out I'm wrong.

Thanks for the catch, and of course those questions were useful!

I thought Knights Templar this day and age was related to Freemasonry. I believe one of the degrees conferred is Knights Templar. Therein lies the difficulty: so many groups with name overlap, you're not sure what's being referred to.

I thought Knights of Malta was the Catholic organization.

I can't keep my knights straight, much less my daze.

Ok, I have two questions that should be acceptable.

What year did your G papa get his EA, and how long was it until he reached Commandery?

I have never heard of a legitimate Cahtolic Knighthood, but apparently it does exist.

www.chivalricorders.org...

I am dying to know exactly which order your grandfather holds knighthood in and what it took to get it. I will wait for you to confirm this information prior to submitting my questions.

What a treat. I am looking forward to the interview.

JJ, this is great. Thanks!

I hope this hasnt been asked. Once a member, is it difficult to get out of the membership? Some claim that they make it hard for you to get away, (as it were) from them.

Thank YOu

junglejake -

You have been an ATS member since 2003. The DaVinci Code has been on the shelf, so to speak, for about as long.

Do you not think your timing is somewhat suspicious? You have had three years to pull this rabbit out of your hat yet you wait until two days before the major premiere of a film dealing with organizations of which you claim your grandfather is a member.

I am not buying it.

I would like to know ,in a vow of poverty why they need to earn a wage and not freely give their time to the underprivileged?
Why did Opus Dei build the largest library in South America when the restrictions on the types of volumes allowed have kept the shelves rather bare?
Why aren't the numeries allowed to associate with their assistants?
Why is this form of class distinction allowed to be perpetuated in an institution that is supposedly for the betterment of the spirituality of humans?
Why do they align themselves with the elite and wealthy more so than the commoner?
Why do they condition children to have a concience that cannot act autonomously but only in the form set down by Opus Dei?
Can any or all of these questions be answered utilising the doctrination of Opus Dei and not religous generalities or is the real information of segregation and mind conditioning only available to a select few?

Thanks, JJ, this is great.
Q. If ther are secrets to be revealed, when will they be, and what will determine the timing?
Thanks,
Irish

There's nothing I want you to buy. The timing should be suspicious because the reason I thought of this was because of all the Opus Dei threads that have been popping up on ATS as a result of the release of the Da Vinci Code. I figured this was something that needed to be addressed, and I have access to a resource many others here do not.

Sopwith, all of those questions, with the exception of the last, are very good questions! The reason I don't like the last one is because if you're looking for the documentation and rules by which Opus Dei lives, you can find it at opusdei.org... . The purpose of this interview is to talk to an actual member of the organization (in long standing, I believe, though I could be wrong), not to review the doctrine they put out. The other problem I have with the last question is that in the very question, you essentially say that if he doesn't answer the way you'd like him to or with the answer you expect, then he's just not willing to share the segregation and mind conditioning you expect is present in the society.

Relentless, I just tried calling and there's no answer. If I can't get ahold of him tonight, I'll stop by there tomorrow on my way home from work (drive right by).