Post by taylorsman on Jul 16, 2006 7:33:02 GMT
I got this from another Forum, "Freemason Pride" Although it has many references to Freemasonry in the USA, e.g. the Shriners etc, some of it strikes a chord this side of the Pond. I re-post it here with no further comment for readers to reflect upon.
BTW the Author is Bro. Chad Vender Ven
Bro. Chad Vander Ven, 32nd Degree M.P.S.
Kalamazoo-Anchor Lodge ..22 F & AM
* Junior Deacon Pro Temp, Lodge Education Officer
Valley of Grand Rapids (MI) A.A.S.R. (Northern Jurisdiction, USA)
* Knights of St. Andrew
Philalethes Society
******************************************************
"Once Gentlemen, once being a Mason meant something to folks. It spoke to your character, your ability to be trusted, relied upon, and respected by people, and if they knew you were a Mason, they knew instantly the kind of fellow you really are. However, that is not the case anymore, and here's a bit why...
1. The 1965 - 1975 Era: During this time, young men, the children of the 'Baby Boom' didn't join Masonry because it was seen as out-dated, archaic, and not in step with sweeping social reform movement. Mainstream still didn't recognize PHA, and so it was considered racist and not in keeping with the Civil Rights Movement. Masonry is all-male, so the Feminists called it a '...bastion of rich, white, elitist males'. Many considered PHA to be out of context, not doing much of anything to put their supposed clout behind improving life for blacks in American ghettoes. Many young black men felt that the Masons should be out front, like the NAACP and others, fighting poverty, despair, and social injustice. The strong provision in Masonry against formally taking any part in American politics on any side seemed like cowardice to many, and so, they didn't knock. This decade caused dramatic decrease in members, and saw many lodges being forced to abandon their massive and historic downtown lodges, and move to smaller, less ornate and less conspicuous locations. The anti-establishment ideals of the era meant that joining an all-male, segregated fraternity that would not step out and take sides on any political issue (Vietnam, Watergate, Civil Rights, Etc.) was just not an option for many young men, white or black, ages 18 - 30!
2. The Masonic reaction to this decline was poorly considered and ill-conceived. Masons tried to transform themselves into more of a charitable institution. Since the end of WWII, Masons in America had downplayed the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of Masonry, in favor of social and charitable activities. Many lodges began holding festive boards as much or more than regular communications. Masons tried to demystify the Craft to appeal to what they considered were the "...no-nonsense, tough-minded former GIs" who were streaming home from Europe and the Pacific, fresh from a victory over evil. Back home these men wanted the camaraderie, the sense of doing something noble and good, and the close bonds of brotherhood they'd forged on the beaches at Normandy and Saipan. Silly costumes, fancy lectures, and spooky symbolism seemed a little too Saturday Matinee B-Movie to them. But a strong handshake, a steak fry, and a donation to the Shriner's Children Hospitals seemed just the thing! So Masonry found that the character, though not the numbers changed to meet the times.
Then during the late 60s and 70s, Masonry began to hide again, to shy from its place as the penultimate fraternity of mankind and to shun the glory and the strength of itself. Masons of the 20s and 30s saw that their sons wanted a social club with charity bent in the late 40s and 50s, and now those Masons saw their sons wanted no part of the fraternity whatsoever. They changed to be less formal, less ritualistic and more accomodating, they damned near became the Elks!
3. The Masonic ignorance of itself: How many Masons know that the American Civil War ended with a Master Mason's Grip between Lee and Grant at Appomattox? or that the first man on the moon was a Mason? or that all but three US Presidents to date have been, to one degree or another, involved with Masonry? How many guys in your lodge are aware that prior to 1875, Masonry accounts for over 89% of all charity in the US, esp. social welfare, education subsidies, public service funding, and poverty relief? Do your brothers know that the modern countries of Switzerland, Italy, France, the US, and others are directly due to the central role of the Knights Templar/Masons? Or that Achilles of the Trojan War, the Myrmidion commander and perhaps the greatest fighter of all time, was a Mason (It's documented in Homer's Illiad!!!)
Few Masons know their history and the role Masonry has played in human history, fewer still know the intricate, subtle, and esoteric meaning behind their rites and practices in Lodge. They go through the motions with little understanding of what it is they truly are doing. Do they know that lodge meetings should feature lectures by the brothers about such things, or discussions of current events, philosophical ideals, the arts and sciences, and issues of moral and general interest? Did you know that? Did you know that during lodge just 150 years ago, physicians would bring cadavers and would guide the brothers through dissections of the human body and its organs? Or that they would debut original compositions and play music recitals? Or that they would read papers, poems, and essays on various topics? Masons today are ignorant of what Masonry is and should be.
Ask yourselves, why was Masonry persecuted by the Church of Rome and its Inquisition? Why could a good Catholic not join the Order until 1962? Why do the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod, anyway), Christian Reformed Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention still have provisions against it today? What caused Adolph Hitler's Nazi Party to make their first official act when they came to power, to be outlawing masonry and declaring Masons treasonous and illegal? Why did Saddam, Stalin, Castro, Mao, the Ayatollah, and Kim Jong Il all do the same? What makes Masonry so insidious and dangerous to authoritarians?
Is it because we meet once a month to pay the bills, discuss the next golf outing, and then break to tell bad jokes over luke-warm pizza? Is it because we spend so little time really being Masons that we have to remember which sign and token go with which degree? Maybe it is because we still have lodges who deny that Jefferson, Lincoln, and Reagan were members, even though their names are listed on various registries and records from their eras? No.
It is because we have always, since time immemorial, been a place for the free and lively discourse on the topics of the day. A haven to free-thinking and ideological exploration. A forum for new innovations, ideas, and theories. A lodge meeting is a sharing of knowledge, a communion of men to discuss, debate, consider, and refine new ideas. A Mason is man of reason, devoted to learning and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and understanding. He is a man who is versed in the arts and sciences, able to talk about music and math with same fervor. He is man who maintains his personal demeanor to show a healthy, intellectual, and respectful character. A Mason is the enemy of oppression, the anathema of ignorance and superstition, the rival to deception and false belief, and the defender of the weak and the poor. He is a modern knight, devoted to righting the wrongful injustices of this world, willing to die to extinguish the fire of the book burning, to deny the tyrant, to strike down evil. He is dangerous because wherever he lives and breathes, Nazism should be terrified to rear its ugly head. In whatever country a lodge should operate, there should not be a tyrant in power. Wherever a Mason has been there should be no starvation, no needless suffering, no oppression, no injustice, no fear in his wake. "
BTW the Author is Bro. Chad Vender Ven
Bro. Chad Vander Ven, 32nd Degree M.P.S.
Kalamazoo-Anchor Lodge ..22 F & AM
* Junior Deacon Pro Temp, Lodge Education Officer
Valley of Grand Rapids (MI) A.A.S.R. (Northern Jurisdiction, USA)
* Knights of St. Andrew
Philalethes Society
******************************************************
"Once Gentlemen, once being a Mason meant something to folks. It spoke to your character, your ability to be trusted, relied upon, and respected by people, and if they knew you were a Mason, they knew instantly the kind of fellow you really are. However, that is not the case anymore, and here's a bit why...
1. The 1965 - 1975 Era: During this time, young men, the children of the 'Baby Boom' didn't join Masonry because it was seen as out-dated, archaic, and not in step with sweeping social reform movement. Mainstream still didn't recognize PHA, and so it was considered racist and not in keeping with the Civil Rights Movement. Masonry is all-male, so the Feminists called it a '...bastion of rich, white, elitist males'. Many considered PHA to be out of context, not doing much of anything to put their supposed clout behind improving life for blacks in American ghettoes. Many young black men felt that the Masons should be out front, like the NAACP and others, fighting poverty, despair, and social injustice. The strong provision in Masonry against formally taking any part in American politics on any side seemed like cowardice to many, and so, they didn't knock. This decade caused dramatic decrease in members, and saw many lodges being forced to abandon their massive and historic downtown lodges, and move to smaller, less ornate and less conspicuous locations. The anti-establishment ideals of the era meant that joining an all-male, segregated fraternity that would not step out and take sides on any political issue (Vietnam, Watergate, Civil Rights, Etc.) was just not an option for many young men, white or black, ages 18 - 30!
2. The Masonic reaction to this decline was poorly considered and ill-conceived. Masons tried to transform themselves into more of a charitable institution. Since the end of WWII, Masons in America had downplayed the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of Masonry, in favor of social and charitable activities. Many lodges began holding festive boards as much or more than regular communications. Masons tried to demystify the Craft to appeal to what they considered were the "...no-nonsense, tough-minded former GIs" who were streaming home from Europe and the Pacific, fresh from a victory over evil. Back home these men wanted the camaraderie, the sense of doing something noble and good, and the close bonds of brotherhood they'd forged on the beaches at Normandy and Saipan. Silly costumes, fancy lectures, and spooky symbolism seemed a little too Saturday Matinee B-Movie to them. But a strong handshake, a steak fry, and a donation to the Shriner's Children Hospitals seemed just the thing! So Masonry found that the character, though not the numbers changed to meet the times.
Then during the late 60s and 70s, Masonry began to hide again, to shy from its place as the penultimate fraternity of mankind and to shun the glory and the strength of itself. Masons of the 20s and 30s saw that their sons wanted a social club with charity bent in the late 40s and 50s, and now those Masons saw their sons wanted no part of the fraternity whatsoever. They changed to be less formal, less ritualistic and more accomodating, they damned near became the Elks!
3. The Masonic ignorance of itself: How many Masons know that the American Civil War ended with a Master Mason's Grip between Lee and Grant at Appomattox? or that the first man on the moon was a Mason? or that all but three US Presidents to date have been, to one degree or another, involved with Masonry? How many guys in your lodge are aware that prior to 1875, Masonry accounts for over 89% of all charity in the US, esp. social welfare, education subsidies, public service funding, and poverty relief? Do your brothers know that the modern countries of Switzerland, Italy, France, the US, and others are directly due to the central role of the Knights Templar/Masons? Or that Achilles of the Trojan War, the Myrmidion commander and perhaps the greatest fighter of all time, was a Mason (It's documented in Homer's Illiad!!!)
Few Masons know their history and the role Masonry has played in human history, fewer still know the intricate, subtle, and esoteric meaning behind their rites and practices in Lodge. They go through the motions with little understanding of what it is they truly are doing. Do they know that lodge meetings should feature lectures by the brothers about such things, or discussions of current events, philosophical ideals, the arts and sciences, and issues of moral and general interest? Did you know that? Did you know that during lodge just 150 years ago, physicians would bring cadavers and would guide the brothers through dissections of the human body and its organs? Or that they would debut original compositions and play music recitals? Or that they would read papers, poems, and essays on various topics? Masons today are ignorant of what Masonry is and should be.
Ask yourselves, why was Masonry persecuted by the Church of Rome and its Inquisition? Why could a good Catholic not join the Order until 1962? Why do the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod, anyway), Christian Reformed Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention still have provisions against it today? What caused Adolph Hitler's Nazi Party to make their first official act when they came to power, to be outlawing masonry and declaring Masons treasonous and illegal? Why did Saddam, Stalin, Castro, Mao, the Ayatollah, and Kim Jong Il all do the same? What makes Masonry so insidious and dangerous to authoritarians?
Is it because we meet once a month to pay the bills, discuss the next golf outing, and then break to tell bad jokes over luke-warm pizza? Is it because we spend so little time really being Masons that we have to remember which sign and token go with which degree? Maybe it is because we still have lodges who deny that Jefferson, Lincoln, and Reagan were members, even though their names are listed on various registries and records from their eras? No.
It is because we have always, since time immemorial, been a place for the free and lively discourse on the topics of the day. A haven to free-thinking and ideological exploration. A forum for new innovations, ideas, and theories. A lodge meeting is a sharing of knowledge, a communion of men to discuss, debate, consider, and refine new ideas. A Mason is man of reason, devoted to learning and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and understanding. He is a man who is versed in the arts and sciences, able to talk about music and math with same fervor. He is man who maintains his personal demeanor to show a healthy, intellectual, and respectful character. A Mason is the enemy of oppression, the anathema of ignorance and superstition, the rival to deception and false belief, and the defender of the weak and the poor. He is a modern knight, devoted to righting the wrongful injustices of this world, willing to die to extinguish the fire of the book burning, to deny the tyrant, to strike down evil. He is dangerous because wherever he lives and breathes, Nazism should be terrified to rear its ugly head. In whatever country a lodge should operate, there should not be a tyrant in power. Wherever a Mason has been there should be no starvation, no needless suffering, no oppression, no injustice, no fear in his wake. "