tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post9079592841683171097..comments2024-03-26T12:05:58.591-04:00Comments on Freemasons For Dummies: Lawsuit: GL of Florida Discovered To Be Incorporated As "Whites Only" Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-69458122051093954252016-12-15T20:55:42.495-05:002016-12-15T20:55:42.495-05:00There would be no reason to dissolve the corporati...There would be no reason to dissolve the corporation to accomplish this. Externally, any laws that allowed Articles of Incorporation to be filed specifying "white only", would have been superceded by subsequent legislation and court decisions that prohibited such things. Internally, an amendment to Article of Incorporation and any references in By Laws should be sufficient. This is no different essentially from many Homeowners Associations who used to exist around the country that were incorporated with such provisions. The passage of legislation banning such practices superceded any provisions in their original Articles, rendering such things null and void.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01878265986361441403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-60912078770728609462016-04-12T22:38:02.617-04:002016-04-12T22:38:02.617-04:00It saddens me to hear you generalize all southern ... It saddens me to hear you generalize all southern lodges. I cannot speak for any other jurisdiction aside from Ohio: here we do not have a problem with race and we have a friendly relationship with our Prince Hall brethren - there are Caucasian brothers in Prince Hall lodges and Non-Caucasain brothers in regular lodges. We do not address homosexuality directly in our code, but we feel that our obligations would stop us from taking action against someone because of their sexuality - there are some very active and very well known homosexuals who are members. My Scottish Rite Valley has a very large number of People who practice Judaism. In that same valley, there are Muslims, Dieists, and Christians. I have difficulty understanding how other jurisdictions have the concerns that you have mentioned - I guess "your mileage my vary" but that isn't the freemasonry I know.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12086148488996202727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-36778713198612640802016-04-04T13:14:10.532-04:002016-04-04T13:14:10.532-04:00I'm no attorney, but I too found it peculiar t...I'm no attorney, but I too found it peculiar that there is no provision for amending the articles of incorporation beyond dissolving the whole thing and starting from scratch.Christopher Hodapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-78859071809539495522016-04-04T12:52:25.859-04:002016-04-04T12:52:25.859-04:00I'm confused by the statement that they would ...I'm confused by the statement that they would need to dissolve the corporation to change the law. The Michigan Legislature has amended the act incorporating the Grand Lodge of Michigan and we are trying to get it amended again. Rich Pratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04770229428982764096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-48037465820571121442016-04-04T08:54:16.867-04:002016-04-04T08:54:16.867-04:00That was a GM's ruling on religion, and it was...That was a GM's ruling on religion, and it was over ruled by the Craft at the very next GL session. Furthermore, this part of our Articles of Incorporation was amended by an edict in 1993..It is mentioned in the above article just barely as the press always do. Now think about this. What does this have to do with this mans suspension from our Fraternity..Answer is nothing...It was done out of shear spite to try and force GL to reinstated him. He was given a letter of good standing for the purpose of petitioning a lodge and all lodges rejected him , I'm sure, because of the baggage that comes with him. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00099632271009045013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-82803336922961408672016-04-02T22:43:27.705-04:002016-04-02T22:43:27.705-04:00Both Tennessee and Florida have the grand lodges t...Both Tennessee and Florida have the grand lodges threatening brethren about speaking their views, and snooping the internet for proof. Bro. Paul Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06435030965629467739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-71704394565435200942016-04-02T22:41:39.105-04:002016-04-02T22:41:39.105-04:00I would encourage the Masonic brethren to continue...I would encourage the Masonic brethren to continue their support of each other and remain of good cheer. Sooner or later the present storms we are facing will past and the Craft will be the better for it.<br /><br />This is primarily a leadership problem at the Grand Lodge level. All fraternal organizations have them at some time but we expect, with good reason, for Freemasonry to have fewer of them. I was a proud member (now proud supporter) of AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis) during the eighties and nineties when AMORC was going through a huge lawsuit (in 1990) involving the leadership. The lawsuit helped cause membership and leadership losses, but today, AMORC is thriving as the world's largest body of Rosicrucian students and the American branch of the organization headquarted in San Jose, California, currently has a female Grand Master who has been doing an <br />excellent job at her duties.<br /><br />It's time for ALL the Regular Masonic Grand Masters to do the same.😀Thomas Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16496528868148315705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-45063988972735375682016-04-02T21:30:09.627-04:002016-04-02T21:30:09.627-04:00At least in the Grand Jurisdiction of Florida, the...At least in the Grand Jurisdiction of Florida, the Digest of Masonic Law IS the Law. If a behavior, action, etc. is prohibited in the Digest, it IS prohibited, and any Mason violating such provision (racism, discrimination, etc) can be subject to charges. However, definitely not good press for the Grand Lodge of Florida.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407813874065166730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-29342829947172903602016-04-02T14:53:11.659-04:002016-04-02T14:53:11.659-04:00This is an older brother with fifty years of servi...This is an older brother with fifty years of service to the fraternity who edited a local newsletter and like others was aware of problems in the grand lodge. After being tossed out for expressing an opinion, he has spent eight years asking to be reinstated and finally has resorted to law. <br /><br />To have been aware of the whites only clause but letting the decades go by without changing it, citing financial reasons, is in keeping with the refusal to change the exclusion of Jews from grand bodies, recognition of African dictators as grand masters, continued recognition of racist and gay bashing grand lodges - just more evidence of how we must clean house. if you read this brother's horror story, you realize how low, how slimy, some grand lodges have become.Bro. Paul Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06435030965629467739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-76154200607122804462016-04-02T14:30:28.182-04:002016-04-02T14:30:28.182-04:00Brother Jeffrey, you are right. These problems ar...Brother Jeffrey, you are right. These problems arise out of arrogance -- we dont have to worry about a white men only clause that should have been changed years ago , we dont have to ever answer for racism - somehow we are exempt. The coming trial in November will have the press section packed. And it could have and should have been avoided by the grand lodge doing the decent thing. Remember, this is the grand lodge that won headlines as it tried to toss men out for having religious views rather similar to those of Emerson,Thoreau, and other great American thinkers,Bro. Paul Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06435030965629467739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-16513990898797981232016-04-02T10:56:38.118-04:002016-04-02T10:56:38.118-04:00The real enemy is not the disgruntled or former Br...The real enemy is not the disgruntled or former Brethren, it's the ignorant and the arrogant among us. Jeffrey Blaisdellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13880610881465011754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-27111243873270002012016-04-02T04:29:20.351-04:002016-04-02T04:29:20.351-04:00The fraternity does not need to concern itself wit...The fraternity does not need to concern itself with anti-Mason's, the real enemy is disgruntled brethren and former brethren.Hiramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07658592851418516542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-34997255687662276562016-04-02T02:28:46.504-04:002016-04-02T02:28:46.504-04:00We should not be surprised that although they have...We should not be surprised that although they have been aware of the white men only clause for many years, they haver not done anything about it.<br /><br />There are so many accounts of the miserable way African Americans are treated by the southern lodges that even an ostrich would have realized how racist masonry in the southern states is, and how the blue lodge discrimination has enabled the York and Scottish rites to cleverly pretend to be multi racial-- "too bad you can't join a regular lodge so you could join us''.<br /><br />So here we are again, certified as anti gay racists and anti semites, over and over, and the grand masters do nothing.Bro. Paul Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06435030965629467739noreply@blogger.com