tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post7415610667745620604..comments2024-03-26T12:05:58.591-04:00Comments on Freemasons For Dummies: GL of Scotland Shuts Down Its Social MediaChristopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-29273378511594716142024-01-10T11:56:39.520-05:002024-01-10T11:56:39.520-05:00We need to keep olp updated so we can actually dow...We need to keep olp updated so we can actually download the app on our phones and use that instead of public social media Branden Putnamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-86411594478813814312024-01-10T11:55:42.971-05:002024-01-10T11:55:42.971-05:00We need to use olp more and update it so I can dow...We need to use olp more and update it so I can download it on my phone Branden Putnamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-4934991508928134592019-10-03T03:32:49.779-04:002019-10-03T03:32:49.779-04:00Brother Hodapp:
Hasnt this "shut-down" ...Brother Hodapp:<br /><br />Hasnt this "shut-down" been reversed since mid-September?GeorgeOfTampahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11748462279356837403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-83309680691162939962019-09-16T18:14:29.472-04:002019-09-16T18:14:29.472-04:00Agreed. I had the exact same experience in that co...Agreed. I had the exact same experience in that country. And if you read anti-Masonic comments that dominate the newspaper websites when even benign Masonic articles appear in the UK, it's appalling what some noiseboxes in the public say about the fraternity. It can definitely be a problem for some Masons in foreign countries to be identified as members.Christopher Hodapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-84552745630028348282019-09-16T18:07:58.074-04:002019-09-16T18:07:58.074-04:00Over on Facebook there has been an eruption decryi...Over on Facebook there has been an eruption decrying the GL of Scotland's "censorship," demanding that their members need to have an online opportunity to be "given a voice." <br /><br />I'd argue that (having been a major recipient of GL justice over early email controversies myself) "giving those gents a voice" means teaching the members of the fraternity just HOW to do that. Social media is NOT giving them a voice - it's a lazy way to give ANYONE an instantaneous way to shout out what fleetingly passed by their brain pan without filtering it through any common sense.<br /><br />This was designed from the start to be a small, intimate, PERSONAL fraternity between Brothers who get to know each other. Impersonal social media is destructive to all of society, and we are seeing that happen daily. <br /><br />All Masons DO have a voice, in lodge, by getting to know our GL officers and GMs, by cultivating personal relationships in the fraternity over time, by going to district and statewide meetings, by hanging out with the grand secretary, by visiting other lodges, etc. We move slowly. "Modern Men" (whatever that means) don't deal with that ANYWHERE else these days, by and large. And if we change the fraternity to react to instantaneous random thoughts blurted out among Masons who are strangers, instead of calm, reasoned behavior and direct conversation and reasoning, we really will be dead in another decade.<br /><br />I think part of what our own members don't realize is a very old concept - we no longer feel comfortable with preaching what we practice. Society declared "preachiness' to be stuffy, hypocritical, "mean" <i>(Oh, my sides!)</i>, even insulting now. But Freemasonry was always designed to deliberately teach older, better, more mature, more gentlemanly behavior. It's a snapshot of 18th and 19th century morality and virtue. And we either uphold that and pass it along, or we give it up and become something very different. And if we become something THAT different, what's the point?Christopher Hodapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-25788147661525356222019-09-16T18:04:37.511-04:002019-09-16T18:04:37.511-04:00They were in particular irked by Masons wanting to...They were in particular irked by Masons wanting to bring their arguments onto the GL pages and discussions, and by those who were airing internal discussions and issues that should remain private. Plus, each GL decides what is and is not considered "secret." Most believe that "private" falls under that same definition. That's a long, long way from reducing anyone to "a vegetative state" online. Since when did discretion become a sin? <br /><br />Look at it differently. Regard the Masons in your lodge and the deliberate, delicate trust that implies as almost analogous to family. Would you really want your cousin who saw you get plastered at Thanksgiving, or overheard you screaming at the dog, or berating your wife for tossing your favorite shirt, or cursing a blue streak over your neighbor's choice of house paint color... plastering it all over your Facebook page? How about if he peeked in your window Friday night and caught you poking around the porn sites, and decided to tout your personal kink online? Wildly imperfect examples to be sure, but still apropos. Privacy is not dead, at least in our fraternity, even if it is everywhere else. And Freemasonry is deliberately old fashioned when it comes to that.Christopher Hodapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-63209969585167558082019-09-16T17:59:14.138-04:002019-09-16T17:59:14.138-04:00In some jurisdictions some members do not want to ...In some jurisdictions some members do not want to be identified as members. Years ago I was reprimanded by a French professor for mentioning him as a brother by name in an article. He felt that it wasn't the business of students or colleagues and would hamstring his teaching. Since then I have been more careful.Bro. Paul Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06435030965629467739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-48629138313954681632019-09-16T17:01:22.377-04:002019-09-16T17:01:22.377-04:00The FB pages that cater to UGLE Freemasons are gen...The FB pages that cater to UGLE Freemasons are generally fairly well self-policed, with the Met GL page being owned by the Met Grand Secretary (for example). There are occasionally some annoying posts, or someone writes something that someone else thinks is part of what we were taught at our initiations to be cautious about.<br /><br />GL of Scotland will have to have someone curate their pages, with some not available for general posting (the informational ones) and some hidden ones for the Brethren--they'll have to be moderated.<br /><br />Over the years (I've owned many email bounce lists over the past 25 years) I've discovered that the nicest, most mild-mannered people somehow often become gibbering idiots and trolls when they get behind a keyboard. If you ever chance to meet them in person, you find they are perfectly lovely people.<br /><br />W.Bro Chris Hansen<br />Secretary, Goliath Lodge #5595 UGLEChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06534842755063770798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-80743971301830834622019-09-16T15:44:04.409-04:002019-09-16T15:44:04.409-04:00Never forgetting though, that even private FB page...Never forgetting though, that even private FB pages can be read by FB employees, so even on those pages brethren should be circumspect on what they publish!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08120233568148205181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-16928530211466389172019-09-16T15:36:28.701-04:002019-09-16T15:36:28.701-04:00My wife and I have had those very conversations ab...My wife and I have had those very conversations about posting on social media with our kids. People seem to think that only thier nearest and dearest friends will see them. Unfortunately, it's not just the younger generations that don't seem to think before they post.Tim Hinesnoreply@blogger.com