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An Inconvenient Truth About Freemasonry.
Before I tell you the Inconvenient Truth About Freemasonry, let me first tell you that I confess that I am a Born Again, Fundamentalist, Freemason.
Now before you have a cardiac arrest, or a stroke, let me explain what a Born Again, Fundamentalist, Freemason is. I used to be a very [for want of a better word] liberal Mason. I am now a very Conservative or Traditionalist, Freemason. Therefore, I am Born Again. By Fundamentalist, I mean that I believe that no one has a right to be a Freemason.
I believe those who want to be Freemasons must be good and true men, free born and of a mature and discreet age and sound judgment, no bondsmen, no women, no immoral or scandalous men, only men of good report.
I believe that a man who wants to be a Freemason must believe in the existence of God, and take his Obligation on Volume of The Sacred Law of his choice and that he owes a duty to that God and to his fellow man no matter what their creed, color, or religion.
I believe that a Freemason is obliged to obey the moral and civil law.
I believe that a man's religion or mode of worship should not exclude him from the Order of Freemasonry, provided he also believes in the existence of a Supreme Being, and that Supreme Being will punish vice and reward virtue.
I believe that a Freemason is bound never to act against the dictates of his conscience.
I believe that Freemasonry is the center of union between honest men and the happy means of conciliating friendship amongst those who must otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.
I believe a Freemason’s Lodge is the temple of peace, harmony, and brotherly love; nothing is allowed to enter this Lodge which has the remotest tendency to disturb the quietude of its pursuits.
I believe all preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit only, therefore no Brother should be passed chair to chair, whether it is in a Lodge or a Grand Lodge, just because he knows the right people or has held the previous office for one year, no Grand Master, Master or Warden is chosen by seniority, but only for his merit.
I believe that there is nothing wrong with Freemasonry, as laid down for our instruction in our Ancient Charges.
I am a Born Again Fundamentalist, Freemason.
Now having got that out of the way let us proceed to the Inconvenient Truth About Freemasonry, in the English Speaking world, which is your father’s Freemasonry is in its death throws, it is lying on the floor in front of us writhing in pain, grasping its last breath, waiting for someone to put it out of its misery.
While I could spend hours telling you about the decline in North American Freemasonry, or what has caused this decline I would be just wasting your time. You all know about the loss of membership, the lack of new members, the lack of Masonic Knowledge or Education of our members, and even the lack of leadership in our beloved Craft. Also, from a perusal of Grand Lodge Proceedings of various jurisdictions, there is a disturbing thread that appears to weave its way through many of them. There is a higher incidence of Masonic trials than that which may be considered normal for an institution professing to be so selective in accepting petitions. In many cases, the type of activity, which give rise to the trial, is such that the integrity of the Masonic structure may be at stake. Murder, rape, child molestation, armed robbery, wife beating, fraud and forgery are no longer uncommon charges giving rise to Masonic trials. There are too many members and not enough Masons. We have let every Tom, Dick and Harry into our gentle craft; we have not guarded the west gate. And somewhere along the way we let the Ritualists take over our Lodges. The performance of the Ritual became more important then what the Ritual teaches.
However, the other Inconvenient Truth About Freemasonry, which is our Forefathers Freemasonry, is alive and well and growing. In most cases they are growing at a rate of at a rate of 10 percent a year. And candidates are lining up to get in.
I am talking about Traditional Freemasonry.
First we must agree that Freemasonry is not for everyone. I become disturbed from time to time when I see the eroding of quality in leadership at the level of a Grand Lodge. Yet, I am well aware that a Grand Lodge can only reflect the quality of its constituent Lodges. If there is poor quality in the Lodge, poor quality at Grand Lodge level cannot be avoided. It is inescapable--quality in Lodges cannot be improved without proper scrutiny of the rude material brought to our Lodge doors. We need make no apology to anyone who would offer himself for membership. The accepted candidate will prize his membership more highly if he is aware that all his Lodge brothers have passed the quality test as he has done. An accepted candidate will have a low regard for his membership if he has not been investigated to reveal serious flaws he knows he possesses. He will assume all his Lodge brothers have equally serious character flaws. Let us do proper investigations, complete with police checks and credit checks. Let us look at my Grand Lodge the Gran Logia de Costa Rica:
• When you apply, you provide a color picture of yourself, curriculum vitae, a written Police Report, and a written credit report.
• The GL then make up a notice containing your picture etc, which is then placed in every Lodge Building in the Country for ONE YEAR.
• If this form is taken down and given to the Master of a Lodge with an explanation, the process stops.
• If the form is not removed an investigation committee is formed.
This committee will take up to a year.
Therefore the time from when you apply to when you get your EA is 2 years. There is at least a year between degrees. Here it is what the ritual teaches, not the performance of the ritual that counts.
Secondly, lodges should be kept small, [no larger than 65 members] the dues structure should such that the Lodge is self-sustaining. For example, the cost of join should be $1000.00 and yearly dues of $300.00 - $400.00 a dollar a day. Now before you say that this means that a good man who has not the financial resources cannot be made a Mason, or that those elderly Brethren on fixed incomes would have to drop out. Let me make it perfectly clear, that any good man who should be a Mason, but cannot afford it, or any Brother that cannot pay the dues, their dues are then paid by their Brethren. After all is this not one of our Tenets [Relief] and in these Lodges it is practiced.
Thirdly, Brethren should be expected to attend Lodge. If you are going to be absent, you should have written the Secretary or at least phoned him and told him why you are missing the meeting. Most Traditional Style Lodges average 85 - 90% attendance at every meeting. This far cry from a Lodge that has 500 members and some nights there are not enough bodies to even open the Lodge.
The Festive Board is an integral part of this Freemasonry; here fellowship that was started in the Lodge Room has a chance to grow and to prosper. The sense of community is once again fostered. And yes in most Traditional Grand Lodges liquor is allowed, but never to excess. Once again the Ancient Charges which state. "You may enjoy yourself with innocent mirth, treating one another according to ability, but avoid excess, or forcing any brother to eat or drink beyond his inclination," give us direction on how Masons should act and can be found in the Section entitled "Behaviour After The Lodge Is Over and The Brethren Not Gone."
My Brethren we have forgotten just how basic our fraternity is. Maybe it is time we once again read those Ancient Charges. Maybe it is time we stopped trying to improve Freemasonry, stop trying to find quick fixes and got back to our roots.
Brethren I have closed every talk I have given in the last 15 years this way and tonight will not be any different.
I would like all of you to stand--now I would like you to turn to the Brother beside you and grasp his hand with the Grip of a Mason.
Now I want you to ask yourself how many Masons would you trust with your life savings, your home, your family's well being, and even your life, on that Grip.
If you are honest, the answers will be "not many" or "very few" or even "I can count on one hand the number that I would trust." Why even some of you, will say to yourself "not one."
Well my Brethren, it never used to be like this. What a shame that Freemasonry has sunk so low. It is up to each and every one of you to bring our Gentle Craft back to its former glory.
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