Post by therondunn on Dec 17, 2007 21:11:59 GMT
There is a small, tiny, but vocal subset of Freemasons today, which are often referred to as the Flying Monkeys. They are fundamentalist Freemasons, do or die men who seem to believe if you do not toe their line in the sand, their version of freemasonry, you are not a Freemason, and are willing to tell anyone whether they are or are not a mason, according to their o wn personal definition, and worse, are willing to defame and attack any man who does not meet their personal (and narrow) definition.
To them (the flying monkeys) Freemasonry is a force that topples governments, replaces religion, unties ALL men under one leader - Freemasonry herself.
They are, in large part, well meaning men, who intend good. The problem is, as the sixteenth century idiom goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Good intentions are not enough when their ego driven opinions become more important than true freemasonry.
To say they are vocal is to understate them. On the internet, they try to take over masonic forums through intimidation, bullying, name calling and other behaviors more akin to anti-masonic tin foil hat brigade members than members of the worlds most excellent group of men. Unfortunately, they cannot even see how unmasonic they are appearing.
I have written before that we should be guarding the west gate more assiduously, and these behaviors are simply proof of that argument. These Flying Monkeys live in a echo chamber, feeding on their own thoughts as if the echo is proof they are right. Fortunately, real masons, men of good will, remain the main force of the craft.
Some of these men even take it upon themselves to determine what is and what is not masonic, what rules and regulation and obligations they will and will not obey, claiming that anything and everything emanating from a Grand Lodge is de facto wrong. Worse, they take it upon themselves to criticize any brother that dares to support their grand lodge, its actions and constitution. as if obeying your obligation to be a good man and true.
There are even some who feel they can, take public political positions as masons on candidates and issues, actions totally anathema to true freemasonry. Acting as masons, they endorse this or that candidate, then argue what they are doing is being true to our early brothers. In true fact, our early brethren acted as individuals, not as masons, fighting for what they thought was mete, fit and proper. Real masons, men who have listened to what they are taught in lodge know that as masons, we do not take political positions, but do so rather as free men.
It is true that many masons were active in the formation of the United States, from the nine who signed the Declaration of Independence, the nine who signed the Articles of Confederation to the 13 who signed the Constitution of the United States, and teh 17 who were presidents of the United States. All that being true, none of them did that AS MASONS. They did it as free men. It is incumbent on all good citizens to act as their conscience dictates, but it is not true masonry to, acting under the color OF Freemasonry, promote this or that cause.
The good news is true masonry eschews these actions. True masons are tolerant, and do not force their opinions on others, do not browbeat, do not bully, do not violate their obligations in the name of their own ego driven agendas. Fundamentalists of all stripes are always willing to set their own opinion against that of tradition, rules, conventions and, in many cases, of honor... after all, then ends justify the means, and for some of them, freemasonry must remain "pure".
Whatever that means.
It is awesome that men like Bill McElligott, Giovanni Lombardo, Errol Hinton, Manny Blanco, George Geanoulis, John Cover Spear and thousands more who prove that Freemasonry is and can remain the awesome fraternity that it has always been. These are men that live within the bounds of their passions, observing their obligations punctiliously. They do not covet nor envy, but act always as honorable men. These are some of my personal heroes, true masons all.
To them (the flying monkeys) Freemasonry is a force that topples governments, replaces religion, unties ALL men under one leader - Freemasonry herself.
They are, in large part, well meaning men, who intend good. The problem is, as the sixteenth century idiom goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Good intentions are not enough when their ego driven opinions become more important than true freemasonry.
To say they are vocal is to understate them. On the internet, they try to take over masonic forums through intimidation, bullying, name calling and other behaviors more akin to anti-masonic tin foil hat brigade members than members of the worlds most excellent group of men. Unfortunately, they cannot even see how unmasonic they are appearing.
I have written before that we should be guarding the west gate more assiduously, and these behaviors are simply proof of that argument. These Flying Monkeys live in a echo chamber, feeding on their own thoughts as if the echo is proof they are right. Fortunately, real masons, men of good will, remain the main force of the craft.
Some of these men even take it upon themselves to determine what is and what is not masonic, what rules and regulation and obligations they will and will not obey, claiming that anything and everything emanating from a Grand Lodge is de facto wrong. Worse, they take it upon themselves to criticize any brother that dares to support their grand lodge, its actions and constitution. as if obeying your obligation to be a good man and true.
There are even some who feel they can, take public political positions as masons on candidates and issues, actions totally anathema to true freemasonry. Acting as masons, they endorse this or that candidate, then argue what they are doing is being true to our early brothers. In true fact, our early brethren acted as individuals, not as masons, fighting for what they thought was mete, fit and proper. Real masons, men who have listened to what they are taught in lodge know that as masons, we do not take political positions, but do so rather as free men.
It is true that many masons were active in the formation of the United States, from the nine who signed the Declaration of Independence, the nine who signed the Articles of Confederation to the 13 who signed the Constitution of the United States, and teh 17 who were presidents of the United States. All that being true, none of them did that AS MASONS. They did it as free men. It is incumbent on all good citizens to act as their conscience dictates, but it is not true masonry to, acting under the color OF Freemasonry, promote this or that cause.
The good news is true masonry eschews these actions. True masons are tolerant, and do not force their opinions on others, do not browbeat, do not bully, do not violate their obligations in the name of their own ego driven agendas. Fundamentalists of all stripes are always willing to set their own opinion against that of tradition, rules, conventions and, in many cases, of honor... after all, then ends justify the means, and for some of them, freemasonry must remain "pure".
Whatever that means.
It is awesome that men like Bill McElligott, Giovanni Lombardo, Errol Hinton, Manny Blanco, George Geanoulis, John Cover Spear and thousands more who prove that Freemasonry is and can remain the awesome fraternity that it has always been. These are men that live within the bounds of their passions, observing their obligations punctiliously. They do not covet nor envy, but act always as honorable men. These are some of my personal heroes, true masons all.