(continued from last post)

B.) Jihad and counter-Jihad...the founding of the Prieure d'Sion and
the Knights Templar

Whipped into a fervor by Muhammad, his followers embarked on a
Jihad to forcibly convert all the world to the faith of Islam. The
Mujahedeen, or holy warriors, were sent all over to conquer. In their
wake, the remaining pagan traditions of the Near East, as well as the
old mystery religions that survived the onslaught of Christianity, and
the great mystery religions of Essene Judaism and Zoroastrianism were
decimated. The sacred sites of Judaism and Christianity in Palestine
were taken over by Islam; and as a supreme affront to Jews in
particular an ornate mosque, the Dome of the Rock, aka the Mosque of
Omar, was built on Mount Moriah, the holiest site of Judaism, the site
of the Great Temple.

However, as it was mentioned earlier, the Crusades were less an
attempt to "save the Holy Sepulchre from the infidel" than they were an
attempt to place a Merovingian on the throne of Jerusalem. To
accomplish this, two major knightly orders were established. First
among these was (and remains) the Prieure d'Sion. The fighting wing of
the Prieure was the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple
of Solomon, which has come down to us as the Knights Templar.

The first Crusades were incredibly successful. Led by Godfroi de
Boullion, Comte de Razes, a descendant of the Plantard branch of the
Merovingian House, the Templars placed Godfroi's brother Baudoin I on
the throne. But less than a century later, Jerusalem was back in the
hands of the Caliphs. Back on the continent, the "Cutting of the Elm" on
the field of Gisors marked the split between the Prieure and the Knights
Templar.

Those attached to the Prieure retreated back to France to nurture the
dream of Merovingian ascendance over the entire world, and those
attached to the Knights Templar stayed in Acre, in the Western Galil,
the final outpost of European Christiandom in Israel. The Templars hung
on for 200 years more, before the Pope dissolved the order and sent
King Phillipe Le Bel of France to execute its leaders and capture its
fabled treasure for the Papal coffers.

During the final 200 years of the Templars, rumors began to fly
about Templar involvement with paganism, Islamic mysticism of the
Ismaili sect, homoeroticism, and even devil worship. It is doubtful
that the rumors, which come down to us from history in the forced
confessions of Jacques de Molay and other Templars, had much foundation
in reality. Why would one spit on and trample underfoot a cross if a
red Cross Patee was the symbol of your order?