Duty, Honour and Loyalty

By The Black Order

(The following text is taken from the TBO primer "The Black Order Neophyte")

The Code of Conduct should always correspond to a personal view of life and ideals. The ideals of The Black Order is easily summed up in the three words: Duty , Honour and Loyalty, these three are exemplified in the words “Meine Ehre heißt Treue” – “My honour is known by my loyalty.” This code is enough and serves as a guide in all walks of life as the  principles of personal honour, loyalty and duty to one's Folk and Kin, are fundamental to our lives and without these principles, an individual lives a profane and atheistic life.

To further examine the concepts:

Honour:

Honour is basically the natural instinct for nobility made conscious and this is done through a Code of Honour. Some things are fair, and some other things are unfair. A person of noble character - someone with an inborn sense of fairness - knows or feels what is fair and what is unfair. Honour thus determines personal behaviour, and the high standards of personal behaviour which honour demands are set out by a Code of Honour. Most fundamental of all, an honourable person is prepared to die - if necessary by their own hand - rather than be dishonoured. If someone is not prepared to do this, or does not do this for the sake of their own honour, then they are not living in an honourable way. Honour is thus a hard, and simple, standard to live by, and those who are honourable thus possess a strong personal character and a purity of purpose. They are better, more noble, and evolved individuals because of this.

Loyalty:

Loyalty, like honour, is simple to understand, and simple in practice. Loyalty is being true to a person or cause you have sworn to be loyal to. True loyalty means taking an oath of loyalty, an oath of allegiance, and never breaking that oath. An oath of loyalty can only be ended in two ways: by the death, and by mutual agreement between you and the one given loyalty.

Thus, true loyalty, like honour, sets a high personal standard, and requires personal discipline. Fundamentally, loyalty means Comradeship - true loyalty means being a Comrade to those you have sworn to be loyal to, and never letting those Comrades down. True loyalty means aiding and assisting those Comrades even when it is personally difficult to do so - or even if it might mean one's own death. True loyalty often means placing one own self - one's own opinions for instance - second, after the person to whom you have pledged your loyalty.

Duty:

Duty is the obligation an individual has to do what is necessary and honourable. Thus, there is a duty to be loyal to those given loyalty. There is a duty to strive to live in an honourable way. For a member of The Black Order, there is also the duty to promote the fundamental aims of the Order, the duty to strive to act in accord with Nature's will by preserving, defending and evolving one's own folk, and the duty to strive for personal excellence.

Neglect of one's duty is a dishonourable act, and the sign of a weak personal character.