tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-256836622024-03-18T20:09:24.184-04:00Freemasons For DummiesThe official blog site of author Christopher Hodapp, author of the best-selling book, Freemasons For Dummies. Keep up to date with Masonic news and commentary about the world of Freemasonry.Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.comBlogger3541125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-43584066370172191942024-03-18T17:04:00.000-04:002024-03-18T17:04:16.637-04:00Guthrie, Oklahoma Scottish Rite Spring Reunion April 5-7<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XEXAaQUhVCptn3OujnUfqhIsbsB4mYV7ZB29-eTAsP7ag8lK3rbi3aaBcx2i7UaKEcZbTSvuFWwxExacwWLf3cU9K2qgcHT85tfejlk6QSivQXLnYXaCdq2XdjmkvaduKtko5JXf8oed48FlSZV6AkRghjCxHMVOceEnMHjfFCR05NLbhzE/s1440/433766915_10212329664073169_9013639776299582455_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="1440" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XEXAaQUhVCptn3OujnUfqhIsbsB4mYV7ZB29-eTAsP7ag8lK3rbi3aaBcx2i7UaKEcZbTSvuFWwxExacwWLf3cU9K2qgcHT85tfejlk6QSivQXLnYXaCdq2XdjmkvaduKtko5JXf8oed48FlSZV6AkRghjCxHMVOceEnMHjfFCR05NLbhzE/w400-h264/433766915_10212329664073169_9013639776299582455_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />The <b><a href="http://www.guthriescottishrite.org" target="_blank">Guthrie, Oklahoma Valley of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - SJ</a></b> has one of the most magnificent Masonic buildings in the U.S., and they are understandably proud of their architectural treasure. But Guthrie also is renowned for its outstanding presentations of the complete AASR Southern Jurisdiction’s Pike-derived rituals of the 4th-32nd degrees.</span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZusDnkJkV5upXXszg1IHc47lK6V5YbDXtJ6v4yVcCufraf4q4SM39JSpvpZgptQYx7cT_ioh1lU9u5m3NxSYm28ky2O4_TSkhpd0GQB75xLt_M1NpiUCzgJAOMPjjdgHmeqmPmww84dCb-GNG4WZIk2UvdLzigNOXFpViWDMcWpKPF7JpEYw/s2048/427899359_819481576859821_6963033434435531687_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZusDnkJkV5upXXszg1IHc47lK6V5YbDXtJ6v4yVcCufraf4q4SM39JSpvpZgptQYx7cT_ioh1lU9u5m3NxSYm28ky2O4_TSkhpd0GQB75xLt_M1NpiUCzgJAOMPjjdgHmeqmPmww84dCb-GNG4WZIk2UvdLzigNOXFpViWDMcWpKPF7JpEYw/w400-h300/427899359_819481576859821_6963033434435531687_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo0WfGe6Ux843nupGg_RQaE6eGakZPrswetlzl2gZ1hHepwt5aH3s8JiUioY3mZZ9bQxb9iJ7jIjleLh1c0QhaoV6CvYkm0jUmhdcNvYLCDlZTxOVINQTCNgoVeNLxsLA9Qv9DCBsrJq_CKBcwLAsHbw8hAUWQalH7uqDLqNRt_YUKcMotm4/s604/1915400_189904793566_5846493_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="604" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo0WfGe6Ux843nupGg_RQaE6eGakZPrswetlzl2gZ1hHepwt5aH3s8JiUioY3mZZ9bQxb9iJ7jIjleLh1c0QhaoV6CvYkm0jUmhdcNvYLCDlZTxOVINQTCNgoVeNLxsLA9Qv9DCBsrJq_CKBcwLAsHbw8hAUWQalH7uqDLqNRt_YUKcMotm4/w400-h270/1915400_189904793566_5846493_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Their Spring 2024 Reunion will be held April 5-7th. Registration opens Friday at 7AM, and the opening ceremonies will begin at 8AM. (Click the schedule below to enlarge.)</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaG8ocLvAt0U2vceLsJfziBHKDRFq8lwPUNP4AUjk0kRQ-OzgQE2MRnssXxrLh9yd6F5aOmeYn3YN-kSnf0nybDwHz8LKPG3HcWJRbFgJtMQLzTiGMYWAb81WjCS_0EJCs8RMmUzDcHzjY1SdbrDNsbP7jRDCetDbid618oEEE2gEZuKHMHgQ/s3300/2024-Spring-Reunion-Schedule-2-7-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaG8ocLvAt0U2vceLsJfziBHKDRFq8lwPUNP4AUjk0kRQ-OzgQE2MRnssXxrLh9yd6F5aOmeYn3YN-kSnf0nybDwHz8LKPG3HcWJRbFgJtMQLzTiGMYWAb81WjCS_0EJCs8RMmUzDcHzjY1SdbrDNsbP7jRDCetDbid618oEEE2gEZuKHMHgQ/w309-h400/2024-Spring-Reunion-Schedule-2-7-24.png" width="309" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />If you’re an existing Scottish Rite member in either the NMJ or SJ, don’t miss the opportunity to experience these degrees as they were meant to be staged, in person, in this beautiful temple, and in full pageantry. If you’re not a member and you are a recognized Master Mason in Guthrie’s jurisdiction, <a href="http://www.guthriescottishrite.org" target="_blank">contact them directly and ask about membership</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGXOgkNuMUW8dYROt_wk0scevuz0ZqYs2do7gM5kb0Zqgjl8EXJrXBIRNrK6aYdhek28E1RV5wJ47Y9G9xgupQCGE3P3Q99u0MZbL-ANPo1JzJRcPdZk4ocPpeOyKIUNlMb1A-BBp_ZORHENrgNW2YehC3pYdQALzdoQsARf-oc__l9m_99k/s2048/408959523_824233833051262_4358456623110192813_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGXOgkNuMUW8dYROt_wk0scevuz0ZqYs2do7gM5kb0Zqgjl8EXJrXBIRNrK6aYdhek28E1RV5wJ47Y9G9xgupQCGE3P3Q99u0MZbL-ANPo1JzJRcPdZk4ocPpeOyKIUNlMb1A-BBp_ZORHENrgNW2YehC3pYdQALzdoQsARf-oc__l9m_99k/w300-h400/408959523_824233833051262_4358456623110192813_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-17826021256799081442024-03-16T14:59:00.004-04:002024-03-18T13:42:53.403-04:00One Score, Five Years and a Couple of Days Ago...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRV4fjQ2iEVjCo4dYoPpmjx8v45Q36wk1jxU_IzrNENQ-jtazq_5udQvyF-omamacNsOTJukSu_eWchuFt1uZTulDB6tDB3V2vLcI4hu2tCa7BPKq04xBxSj5nm5lT0eW-uHLQ5e481xxqrFG69Rnt4ECrD48AjYeaaJBqiSko1o3qZyCMp0/s4032/IMG_8478.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRV4fjQ2iEVjCo4dYoPpmjx8v45Q36wk1jxU_IzrNENQ-jtazq_5udQvyF-omamacNsOTJukSu_eWchuFt1uZTulDB6tDB3V2vLcI4hu2tCa7BPKq04xBxSj5nm5lT0eW-uHLQ5e481xxqrFG69Rnt4ECrD48AjYeaaJBqiSko1o3qZyCMp0/w400-h300/IMG_8478.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #f1c232;"><div style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Christopher Hodapp</span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">On Thursday night, Worshipful Brother Nathan Brindle and I were given our commemorative 25-year pins by the Master, officers and brethren of </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.brlodge.org" target="_blank">Broad Ripple Lodge 643</a></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> in Indianapolis. I guess the whole city was in on this event—just about the time we got pinned, the Civil Defense klaxon out in the lodge parking lot belted out a one-note fanfare for five solid minutes, followed by a half-hour of spectacular <i>Stürm und Drang</i>-like thunder and lightening. All that was missing was the accompaniment of </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Thus Sprach Zarathustra</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> on the Wurlitzer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlK3gNJ0GdRUW1wPaflYYnCEjsD2QDJh47PQXJwsU6Bni9Kug9Kt0wY9rT-R0IoaV5SudmT_7pj_C4JHuozDdgcqwbNLdADbKaNbAn8f55wnaO2z79oejrQyCnAz18LYUvEL7vW6Xm1syorYPOTKqVi4e3kBYLfe3ARRbG1KdEunIwiWhmqg/s866/431918885_731496922430381_802558873118769565_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlK3gNJ0GdRUW1wPaflYYnCEjsD2QDJh47PQXJwsU6Bni9Kug9Kt0wY9rT-R0IoaV5SudmT_7pj_C4JHuozDdgcqwbNLdADbKaNbAn8f55wnaO2z79oejrQyCnAz18LYUvEL7vW6Xm1syorYPOTKqVi4e3kBYLfe3ARRbG1KdEunIwiWhmqg/w300-h400/431918885_731496922430381_802558873118769565_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Why is it I can never find a comb when I need one?<br />Nathan, on the other hand, NEVER needs one.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So. One score, five years and a couple of days ago... </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a Saturday in 1999, and two days short of the 'Ides of March' when Nathan and I were passed to the degree of Fellow Craft, and raised as Master Masons at an 'All Degree Day' at <a href="https://calvinwprather.com/wp/" target="_blank"><b>Calvin W. Prather Lodge 717</b></a> on Haverstick Road in Indianapolis. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I remember the day. Vividly. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Just as every Freemason remembers his raising.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>(This is where the picture suddenly goes all spooky and wavy, accompanied by the sweeping strumming of a harp, heralding the coming of a flashback.)</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>• • •</i></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEtXBs_8uRlZRH0L5WnfsHn8tT2R-Dk8QDd39XW_LhCF64pjb7_YOYY_qICurzHiXI6bWtG9XS8GWZbUqnS0_03NE_VplzmPc-H0XxTj9Dycivo16GSQ33koAwow_FiOKeoYc/s1600/Version+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEtXBs_8uRlZRH0L5WnfsHn8tT2R-Dk8QDd39XW_LhCF64pjb7_YOYY_qICurzHiXI6bWtG9XS8GWZbUqnS0_03NE_VplzmPc-H0XxTj9Dycivo16GSQ33koAwow_FiOKeoYc/s400/Version+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The surprise cake at my 40th birthday party in 1998 was a bit premature - <br />my EA degree would come later that week. But friends were already in on it.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Forty is a huge bellwether as life boundaries go. For the first time in my life, I had just bought my first Chrysler (deemed the Official Automaker to the Elderly back in the 80s and 90s), and it had two sets of golf clubs in the trunk, which was spacious enough to conceal several bodies. I had just been prescribed my first high blood pressure pills and found a gray hair in sprouting in my beard. A Midlife Crisis was certain to happen at any second. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">And so I joined the Masons. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I later found out that 40 is almost <i>exactly</i> the average age at which most Masons have historically decided to join.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIOHm76GWRO83vXs0kvV2WiZw45J2H4yPWHV41u5ubtOaO8DB5vYCRx-oVHhcZMOU3uBdraIe6I12vzIwGNL8gceuTo1X4xhNRNU6bCSibjHNCaGL9lSjjvZYnipcy6CB3txs/s1600/Chris_Nathan.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIOHm76GWRO83vXs0kvV2WiZw45J2H4yPWHV41u5ubtOaO8DB5vYCRx-oVHhcZMOU3uBdraIe6I12vzIwGNL8gceuTo1X4xhNRNU6bCSibjHNCaGL9lSjjvZYnipcy6CB3txs/s320/Chris_Nathan.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Except for Nathan's balding pate, we looked enough </i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><i>alike in 1998 that Masons who couldn't remember </i></span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><i>which was which </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><i>just referred </i></span><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">to us interchangeably as Brindapp.</i></span></div></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I had originally contacted the <b><a href="https://www.indianafreemasons.com" target="_blank">Grand Lodge of Indiana</a></b> seeking membership through its website—one of only five US grand lodges that had such a newfangled thing at the time. The face behind the website answering these early Internet requests turned out to be RW Roger S. Vangorden, who would become Grand Master in 2002-03. He was also a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge 643 in Indianapolis. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>(The lodge's odd name comes from a wide hook-shaped bend in the nearby White River that encircles this northside Indianapolis village; hence, 'a broad ripple.' It started life as a weekend holiday area, with an amusement park and boating on the river, but soon became one of the city's first true suburbs in the early 20th century. Today, Broad Ripple Village is loaded with restaurants, shops and nightclubs, and the recent addition of hundreds of new apartments.)</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIe2mjMiYDHcBmW79vCvIh2nzSyf5XgX0pfuKhQD_Ri5pswh08eo8SskMmiRRrf2eN9ye_0EkfYPrDSLtcdmZLaAdqzNTbduSxGZD_k43g_Ft1m-E4v_3Ba4gndRST695AbCl78nmw5R_bf6TnqG4WKYgMjAQGyPPsO6OgohehyphenhyphenjTviox9N8/s400/lodgephoto.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="370" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIe2mjMiYDHcBmW79vCvIh2nzSyf5XgX0pfuKhQD_Ri5pswh08eo8SskMmiRRrf2eN9ye_0EkfYPrDSLtcdmZLaAdqzNTbduSxGZD_k43g_Ft1m-E4v_3Ba4gndRST695AbCl78nmw5R_bf6TnqG4WKYgMjAQGyPPsO6OgohehyphenhyphenjTviox9N8/w370-h400/lodgephoto.png" width="370" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Broad Ripple Lodge 643 in 1998.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Unbeknownst to us, Roger had a reason to point me and Nathan in Ripple's direction. Quite simply, Broad Ripple Lodge was a mess. They'd lost members and officers, current officers weren't doing their jobs properly (or at all), their 200 members were staying away in droves, their finances were a wreck, and the Grand Master was about to name a special deputy to investigate and find out "What in hell goes on at Broad Ripple??!!" They needed all the help they could get. So he sent us there. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">My initiation as an Entered Apprentice there came just three days after my birthday, and Nathan followed in January. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">For our Entered Apprentice degrees, Ripple had put out a distress call to other lodges for assistance in filling parts and giving the lectures. By the January meeting, there was a whole new slate of elected officers—many of them young and quite new to the fraternity—but the lodge still never could find enough of its own members to complete our FC and MM degrees. Meanwhile, the Grand Lodge special deputy delivered the news that the Grand Master was within an inch of yanking their charter from the wall. In the coming months, five of the lodge officers resigned, left town, or just disappeared. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Already by February, Nathan and I were getting nervous about Ripple's future. We began visiting nearby Calvin Prather Lodge 717 for their Saturday breakfasts and got to know their officers, just in case we needed to find a different lodge. They seemed popular, stable, and they were the home lodge of the Grand Master in 2000, Robert E. Hancock. We figured at least <i>THIS</i> lodge wouldn't lose its charter anytime soon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Then one Saturday morning, Prather's Past Master Cliff Lewis mentioned that GM Hancock was experimenting with the notion of "one day classes," wherein a group of initiates could experience the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees all together. He suggested we ask Broad Ripple to participate in that event so that at least we'd be able to finally complete our FC and MM degrees. He also mentioned that Broad Ripple's WB Donald C. Seeley was one of the finest ritualists in town when it came to the Worshipful Masters' parts. And so, that was our solution.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.calvinwprather.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Havwerstick-Road-768x504.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://www.calvinwprather.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Havwerstick-Road-768x504.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Former temple of Calvin Prather Lodge 717</i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a very long day for all involved, as Don insisted that his two Broad Ripple candidates (the two of us) would each have our MM work done individually, all the way through, and not as part of the large group of Prather's candidates—that was his pound of flesh, in return for conferring all of the degrees that day. He would sit in the East and go through the entire Master Mason degree separately for me, then for Nathan, and then all over again for a <i>third</i> time for the other candidates in a bunch. The Prather organizers grumpily agreed, because they didn't have anyone at the time nearly as proficient as Don to replace him. So Nathan and I became sort of one-day degree hybrids—we took the FC as a group, but our MM's separately.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwb4HkgFYBlxI5Cm4cHXr2YLQhM2kLR3Me4TOVb3eVPIz5KGTwjgqXCjuOQju0NabguymoiNDEIQyNHzWniBl22FX2yHREQYX_LqWDc4w1aQ1u-zOY0hAq26q3P0IYnVYCd5BC/s1600/IMG_3353.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwb4HkgFYBlxI5Cm4cHXr2YLQhM2kLR3Me4TOVb3eVPIz5KGTwjgqXCjuOQju0NabguymoiNDEIQyNHzWniBl22FX2yHREQYX_LqWDc4w1aQ1u-zOY0hAq26q3P0IYnVYCd5BC/s400/IMG_3353.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>I despise the term, but if one day classes make "McMasons," <br />then Nathan and I were special grill orders.</i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />A family friend of many years, Richard Finch, who hadn't been inside of a Masonic lodge for a very long time, made it a point to be there for me that day. It was amazing how many of my parents' friends turned out to be Freemasons, something I wasn't aware of until after I joined. So, too, were countless men I had admired as a child and a teenager. I would discover so many of them to be brethren decades after first encountering them. Most Masons will tell you the very same thing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">• • •</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpHlwiRpNvrqJ8ZGJv3lOcv7cIWXBfREddetkocCupG99RNmp0m95_LRuhdVuohmzaX9oAOKnT3JxXtdBBR6-KXKjRzDC8ZTlWH1_p65q0zLWQTadNL6Rz1oAdgXGe5olkL0j/s1600/IMG_3355.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpHlwiRpNvrqJ8ZGJv3lOcv7cIWXBfREddetkocCupG99RNmp0m95_LRuhdVuohmzaX9oAOKnT3JxXtdBBR6-KXKjRzDC8ZTlWH1_p65q0zLWQTadNL6Rz1oAdgXGe5olkL0j/w400-h300/IMG_3355.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Prather's old lodge building in the Nora area of Indianapolis (actually their third home) is gone today, but the lodge still thrives on the city's east side. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Gone, too, is James Lindsey, who had only been a Mason for a few months, but acted as the Senior Deacon for the day. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So is Dave Bosworth, who cooked breakfast and gave all of us candidates crash courses in Masonic education between the breaks. He was actually the Grand Lodge Special Deputy who investigated Broad Ripple Lodge, and we became good friends for the next few years until his death.</span><br /><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkKwTxveHrDND7wlIqJ6FL5wH0pbPJLm8plDDoubhmf2aBE1MZyr2K-YHYTM2sILv4ZBAYsVJHTuLglccTFDYtGVMV_IPgkaKFIbQN6ksEbJl6UpWGBjind_9K7vbjKezyHrp/s1600/Hancock.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkKwTxveHrDND7wlIqJ6FL5wH0pbPJLm8plDDoubhmf2aBE1MZyr2K-YHYTM2sILv4ZBAYsVJHTuLglccTFDYtGVMV_IPgkaKFIbQN6ksEbJl6UpWGBjind_9K7vbjKezyHrp/s1600/Hancock.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">PGM Bob Hancock</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So is the gregarious Grand Master Robert E. Hancock (photo), who was promoting this one-day class program at the time, along with a lot of other 'crazy ideas,' to the chagrin of many disgruntled Indiana Masons. Little things like permitting business meetings on the EA degree. Reasonable outreach to invite honorable, worthy men to join instead of just hoping they would ask someday. Encouraging more mutual cooperation with Prince Hall brethren. And once a lodge meeting was closed, reopening the Bible at all times to the passage, <i>"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." </i>He was right on so many things, yet the rank and file despised him for it at the time. Every single one of his proposals that year was voted down by the grand lodge membership. And then, ironically, so many of those very same practices came to fruition in our grand lodge, <i>after</i> he was gone. </span></div><div><i style="font-family: arial;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="font-family: arial;">"A prophet is without honor in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house..."</i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Gone, too, is WB David King, Prather's oldest living Past Master at the time. He had been the general contractor back in the 70s who had helped bring Prather's Nora building in for half of its estimated building cost. David gave the Middle Chamber lecture so movingly that day, so perfectly, and with such demonstrable understanding of the words of that long and complex ritual. I was astonished throughout the degree to hear it for the first time that afternoon. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I was even more shocked to discover afterwards that David had gone almost completely blind at that point in his life, yet he led us through those 'winding stairs' to the Middle Chamber because he had done it with so many Masons before us. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So is Ripple's then-Secretary Jerry Cowley, the ever cheerful, always optimistic, always outgoing promoter, defender and champion of Broad Ripple Lodge, who greeted every petitioner like a long-lost relative and was a constant fountain of suggestions to keep members coming back to lodge. Nothing ever phased him, and he was always the first to volunteer. Jerry made sure that the rest of us understood that we are all connected to each other, and to never stop inviting and welcoming every Mason we met, to remind ourselves and each other just what this fraternity is supposed to be about. When our lodge was teetering on closing, he always found a way to involve other lodges' members in our activities to shore us up until we could fix ourselves. And as we rebuilt, those very same visitors wound up enjoying our lodge even more than their own, often transferring to us, or becoming dual members. And that wouldn't have happened without Jerry.<br /><br />So is our then-Treasurer Irv Sacks, the wise old Jewish uncle I never had, and whose warm humor and counsel I valued to the very end. Irv had the unique ability to gently stop arguments, or to encourage brand new members to try new programs and solutions while slipping in just the right amount of advice and caution.<br /><br />So is Ripple's then-Senior Steward 'Big John' Gillis, whose sonorous, folksy voice the whole city of Indianapolis knew from his many years on radio stations WIBC and WNAP, often giving traffic reports from a helicopter high above the city. How shocked I was when it was him who appeared with his lavish mustache and lamb chop sideburns to "propound three important questions" to me!<br /><br />Past Master Don Seeley is gone, too. I really never believed that would happen—he will be King Solomon for all eternity in my mind's eyes and ears, and each time I experience the degrees, it's his voice I always hear. During the MM degree, when a particular aspect of our obligation is demonstrated and explained, Don would look into a candidate's eyes, then softly say, as he turned and gestured to every single Mason in the room, <i>"...and I will inform you, my Brother... That every. Single. Master. Mason... Is under a like obligation... To YOU." </i>With such simple inflections and mannerisms, suddenly the weight and import and meaning of the fraternity's core teachings all became so clear, so embodied in that one, simple message.<br /><br />And my old family friend Richard Finch is gone, too. He was maybe hardest of all, because Dick and his family have been part of <i>my</i> family for more than 50 years now. Because of our connection as Masonic brothers, I found myself standing in a remote southwest Pennsylvania churchyard five years ago, surrounded by members of his family and my own, beside a group of local Masons, <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2019/06/of-friends-and-stones-and-undiscovered.html" target="_blank">where we laid him to rest </a>beneath the silent clods of the valley.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8JSYLgDGm1UevCc_buR09OsUWeH9R-M4XFE26ET1na5Jx3qI6920Y1PAsRuChAj69XbpvV_Rnd9iZKanqEhf3S0tWKp4MiUm6bLy4pJT90uzYaMucpdIKapsd7o6sayPfKLk/s1600/unnamed-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8JSYLgDGm1UevCc_buR09OsUWeH9R-M4XFE26ET1na5Jx3qI6920Y1PAsRuChAj69XbpvV_Rnd9iZKanqEhf3S0tWKp4MiUm6bLy4pJT90uzYaMucpdIKapsd7o6sayPfKLk/w245-h320/unnamed-2.jpg" width="245" /></a>fully realize that this sounds to outsiders and to younger men like a long, maudlin dirge of the dead—a cut-rate Hamlet despairing over a whole bowling team of deceased Yoricks. It might sound to the uninitiated that Freemasonry is little more than a slow march to the graveyard. Or the tar pit. Or both. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">But it's quite the contrary. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Freemasonry teaches us to live and celebrate each day as if it were our very last one, to learn from, give to, and cherish each other, young and old. To build instead of tear down. To put aside whatever petty nonsense divides us as individuals, and instead unite to become something larger and better than ourselves. To learn from each other's differences and similarities, and to celebrate those differences, instead of recoiling from them, or branding each other as enemies. To leave the world a better place than we found it. Apart from houses of worship, there aren't a lot of institutions left in the world trying to keep that mission alive. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">• • •</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As for the rest of the story? After Broad Ripple continued to hemorrhage officers in 1999, Roger Vangorden would step in at the last second to be Worshipful Master in 2000. In case you're one of those Masons who sneers at 'One-Day McMasons' for being lazy underachievers, I was elected as Roger's Senior Warden, just over a year after my EA degree, and Nathan his Junior Warden. I became Master in 2001, just two years after my initiation, and Nathan followed the year after, during the first half of Roger's term as Grand Master. We were charter members when <b><a href="https://vitruvian.org" target="_blank">Lodge Vitruvian 767</a></b> opened Under Dispensation in 2001, becoming Indiana's first 'European observant-styled' lodge. Nathan served as Secretary for both lodges, and I'd become Vitruvian's third-serving Master in 2005. Grand Master Richard J. Elman recommended me to the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freemasons-Dummies-Christopher-Hodapp-dp-1119843421/dp/1119843421?&linkCode=sl1&tag=chrishodappsf-20" target="_blank"><i>For Dummies</i> people to write a book about the <b>Freemasons</b></a> in November of 2004, and I'd serve as Master of Vitruvian in 2005. Nathan would eventually serve as Secretary of at least seven Masonic organizations, and became an active officer in the Indianapolis Valley of the Scottish Rite. And we've done a couple of other things here and there since then. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And Broad Ripple Lodge? It would soon become one of the top lodges in the state when it came to activities, stability, proficiency, and creating lifelong friendships among its members. Less than five years after we almost lost our charter, the state's Grand Lecturer said at our Lodge of Instruction that he'd absolutely place Broad Ripple Lodge among the best he'd ever inspected, and enjoyed visiting more than any other. So maybe joining at its worst made us all stronger, more determined to get it right. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">That's because we had great role models to learn from. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The lodge room that day back at Prather in 1999 was packed with Masons of all ages. And lots of them went on to remain active and to become leaders in the fraternity in the coming years. But it was a function of the demographics of a fraternity of mature men who overwhelmingly did as I did, and didn't join until their 40s and later. Yes, there were plenty of young men that day, but the wise, older Past Masters who were running the show had more than twenty years of Masonic experience on me <i>then</i>. And it's a full quarter of a century later now. Prather's Past Master Cliff Lewis tells me he will soon receive his 50 year pin, yet he looks to me just as he did at that breakfast so long ago.<br /><br />My friend, WB Jeff Naylor once lamented, “When you're young, all you ever want to be is older. No one ever explains that the price you pay for that is in the numbers of people you lose who were important in your life.”<br /><br />And yet, with all of those friends and brothers who were there that day now gone, you would think this is some maudlin, weepy lament over the past. It's not. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Each of us is the sum total of our experiences and those who shaped our character.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Every single one of those men taught me important lessons about Masonry, and people, and life itself. Lessons I never would have learned in a hundred years on my own </span><i style="font-family: arial;">without</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> men like them, and countless others. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The central metaphor of Freemasonry is its very premise. Each one of us is capable of being a Temple to God, and we choose to make our ourselves worthy or not. But that Temple isn't built by us alone. It's built, stone by stone, with the help of all those around us, everyone we encounter. Especially Brother Masons, fellow craftsmen engaged in building, not tearing down.<br /><br />Joining the fraternity of Freemasonry has been the greatest life-changing experience of my 65 years on Earth, and I say that without exaggeration. In 25 years of membership, I have traveled all over the world and met and gotten to know quite literally thousands of men from every walk of life. Every sort of profession. Every economic level. Every race, color, nationality, education, personality, temperament, religion, and every other brand of classification humans beings cook up to categorize and file away strangers we normally don't know or would never otherwise associate with on a bet. Those tribal distinctions that we all arbitrarily use to ignore the people around us are meaningless when it comes to basic human coexistence. That's what being "on the level" is all about, which has been one of the primary principles of Freemasonry from its very beginning. <br /><br />That '<i>Undiscovered Country from whose bourn no traveler returns' </i>always seems just out of reach—as Hamlet said, it "puzzles the will." None of us need be in any hurry to actually get there. But such an amazing journey it has all been so far, with the greatest crowd of traveling companions it's ever been my privilege to know. As Cunard used to advertise its shipboard vacations, <i>"Getting there is half the fun!"</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHNSfLwPQPFhlJmEDKBFwlBqTuTHIbnKSGhlYixhPz7aZK9dfoiCePGOZVQby0a681gBed1Dnwd4uZGgAhDxhyphenhyphenSwNCXxIdVhN4cLT7B0431FtnlgAP-c7APrwC1XFVrgr9X0Ph7bbq_5gTgnTKvOYLHfmHMK06K1Mdci1S427LGRHYyy4sA8/s1100/Getting-there-is-half-the-fun.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1100" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHNSfLwPQPFhlJmEDKBFwlBqTuTHIbnKSGhlYixhPz7aZK9dfoiCePGOZVQby0a681gBed1Dnwd4uZGgAhDxhyphenhyphenSwNCXxIdVhN4cLT7B0431FtnlgAP-c7APrwC1XFVrgr9X0Ph7bbq_5gTgnTKvOYLHfmHMK06K1Mdci1S427LGRHYyy4sA8/w400-h283/Getting-there-is-half-the-fun.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I can't wait to see what comes next. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Check in with me in 2049, when I get my 50 year pin. I'll only be 90 by then. Perhaps I'll be less inclined to ramble. But don't bet on it.</span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-89535440885183959832024-03-10T22:00:00.010-04:002024-03-12T15:35:13.171-04:00My Deepest Apologies: Is Red or White Wine Best with a Plate of Crow?<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_B6mv2VL38w91I66i3A74zWWZMaIt-ai7bGWXGF0b0mSgpcJjF-n4q1PVcsBNxMl_ip9zoEbRIrJEiJhZ5N3Kxn8TibSn4yZqnRMu-128fHrGapj8nCckBKM4XMZtE3C153i2ST_eK837ZaKlK2KqOWXgEaGxvrCNaOkHglY3rdPWBBAZSA/s500/waiter-500x500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_B6mv2VL38w91I66i3A74zWWZMaIt-ai7bGWXGF0b0mSgpcJjF-n4q1PVcsBNxMl_ip9zoEbRIrJEiJhZ5N3Kxn8TibSn4yZqnRMu-128fHrGapj8nCckBKM4XMZtE3C153i2ST_eK837ZaKlK2KqOWXgEaGxvrCNaOkHglY3rdPWBBAZSA/w400-h400/waiter-500x500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What is the proper bit of cutlery you’re supposed to use when eating crow – a fork, or a crow bar?<br /><br />There are plenty of times when life would be better if we didn’t express our own badly informed opinions out loud. Well, every once in a while, I’m as guilty as the next guy of shooting off my big mouth, flapping my gums, or furiously pounding on the keys of my tripe-writer, before knowing all sides of an issue. <br /><br />The difference with me is that I’m NOT the next guy — I’m a Freemason with the unimaginably good fortune of having a website that lots of Masons and non-Masons look to for valuable, truthful news and information. And that’s why I need to apologize to all of you, and especially to the <a href="https://scottishritenmj.org">Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Northern Masonic Jurisdiction</a>; to Sovereign Grand Commander, Illus. Walter Wheeler, 33°, to the Actives of the Supreme Council, and to its membership as a whole.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />On Friday, the AASR-NMJ released a public statement concerning the conclusions of investigations regarding the actions of David Glattly, the former Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite-NMJ between 2016-2021. I posted a summary on Friday after its public release (see: <a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/glattly">Statement of Facts: David A. Glattly</a>; and <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/aasr-nmj-releases-results-of.html">AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly</a>). It turns out that the accusations leveled by a whistleblower at the NMJ's Lexington headquarters against Glattly turned out to have been true and backed up by verified evidence. <br /><br />Those of you who understand ecclesiastical Latin will know what I mean when I say <i>Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.</i> That’s my brief TLDR explanation for those frightened by long stories. <br /><br />Back in December, I was contacted by David Glattly, the former Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite-NMJ, who asked me to <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html">post a letter publicly</a> that explained his sudden resignation from his position in 2021. I agreed to do that at the time because the rumor mill had been churning for 18 months, and almost all of it seemed to be one-sided, painting Glattly as a profligate-spending office tyrant, firing staff left and right and replacing them with his overpaid buddies, while taking deep bows for programs he had nothing to do with. I felt at the time that he at least deserved to have his version of the story aired, especially since he had been in charge when the unforeseen disasters of the COVID years wreaked havoc on every social and business organization on Earth. <i>Maybe he should have been cut some slack if he did something wrong</i>, I thought. So, with nothing else to go on at that time, I posted the letter. And before the letter itself, I also posted a long preamble of my own (as is my usual habit of writing meandering masterpieces that end 20 or 30-thousand words later in another zip code). <br /><br />The AASR-NMJ at that time was still undergoing long and detailed independent audits of its finances, and both internal and outside investigations of the many accusations leveled against Glattly. Those initial allegations had been laid out by a whistleblower within the Supreme Council, and because those investigations were still underway, neither the Supreme Council nor the Sovereign Grand Commanders who followed Glattly could, would, or should have answered any questions publicly at the time. <br /><br />In the wake of that post and his letter going as viral as Masonic scuttlebutt ever goes, he was subsequently expelled from the Scottish Rite for airing the soiled sheets and private business of the Supreme Council. (No one has said so, but I suspect there was a strong sentiment around Lexington for giving me the order of the boot as well, for giving Glattly the chance to post his letter here.) Plenty of Masons (myself included) flew to the understandable conclusion that Glattly’s actions had been unfairly mis-conscrewed as wrongdoing, and that he had been muscled out by Masonic nepotism and the hurt feelings of former employees. That was the reason Glattly wanted me to get his side of the story out first — so that all of us would view his actions sympathetically long before the NMJ ever revealed their findings publicly — if they ever did. Frankly, no corporate attorney in his right mind would let their clients blurt out information that could affect or interfere with these kinds of deep-dive investigations, and the NMJ simply had to wait until they could release their final findings. <br /><br />That happened Friday.</span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><p class="p2" style="color: black; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Since confession is thought to be good for the soul, I will freely admit that I have a personal animus, borne of my own past experiences, concerning Masonic firings, expulsions and suspensions, along with opaque decisions that look, smell and feel like “star chamber” dealings. Very few brethren who ascend to positions of leadership in our fraternity misuse or misapply their superpowers, but it does happen every now and then. Rising generations of younger Masons these days have a generational dislike and distrust of institutions that are not transparent in their dealings with their own members and the outside world. That being said, I allowed my own biases to prevail in this matter, and that hasn’t served anyone well. After almost 20 years of writing thousands of articles here, I have never knowingly posted anything that was deliberately incorrect; and when I’ve posted something that DID turn out to be wrong, I quickly and quite openly have apologized and corrected the record, while emphatically shouldering all blame for errors. But in this case, it’s obvious that a man desiring public opinion to be firmly on his side before the truth was revealed sent me a letter apparently filled with falsehoods and deflections, and I went right for the topwater bait.<br /><br />Twenty-five years ago last November, I was standing in a darkened hallway, wearing an ill-fitting garment and a blindfold for the first time, while some guy next to me pounded on a door I couldn’t see for myself. The voice of another fellow on the other side of that door gave me the very first nugget of Masonic wisdom we all receive as Entered Apprentices: <i>“Wait with patience.”</i> Unfortunately, I just turned 65, and I occasionally suffer from memory lapses — I obviously forgot that lesson.<br /><br />I am not going to engage in selective deleting or rewriting the past to assuage my own guilty conscience — all of the original stories and links will remain in place. If you are now just so intrigued that you want to go back and sift through the old antique dirt just to satisfy your own inner gossip-mongering fishwife, these are the stories about this episode:</span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><span style="font-family: arial;">12/31/2023: <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">AASR NMJ Past Commander David Glattly Speaks Out</span></a><br /><br /></span></b></li><li><b><span style="font-family: arial;">2/15/2024: <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/02/past-sovereign-grand-commander-david.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Past Sovereign Grand Commander David Glattly 33° Expelled from the Scottish Rite NMJ</span></a><br /><br /></span></b></li><li><b><span style="font-family: arial;">2/16/2024: <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/02/past-sovereign-grand-commander-glattly.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Past Sovereign Grand Commander Glattly Responds To His Expulsion From NMJ</span></a><br /><br /></span></b></li><li><b><span style="font-family: arial;">3/08/2024: <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/aasr-nmj-releases-results-of.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly</span></a></span></b></li></ul></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;"><i>BUT.</i></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />I <i><b>HAVE</b></i> added updates and links to all of these old stories pointing to the Supreme Council’s investigation results, just to clearly show future readers that Glattly’s denials have turned out to be lopsided fiction. I hope this posting gets just as widely shared across the Interwebz as Glattly’s original story did.</span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgpn3O9Q83zEa-WiNR4YzkoqqNnCiPpamrpn6XFPDizNnveHBkDnaBcpJQh-Ap_8buSp5zXpPQOG8hegca_e8CYuxa5xFJmuzDLxcsIE02uGcMi3d3L6eEEcDrYp9tTm0RKbJqymVcYZw21G0pEsFl0utF7W2J1OLcB5v0laH9b7Ju9bEUUU/s531/eating-crow.gif" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgpn3O9Q83zEa-WiNR4YzkoqqNnCiPpamrpn6XFPDizNnveHBkDnaBcpJQh-Ap_8buSp5zXpPQOG8hegca_e8CYuxa5xFJmuzDLxcsIE02uGcMi3d3L6eEEcDrYp9tTm0RKbJqymVcYZw21G0pEsFl0utF7W2J1OLcB5v0laH9b7Ju9bEUUU/w339-h400/eating-crow.gif" width="339" /></a></p><p class="p2" style="color: black; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, I’ve gotta go – I’ve got a big, fat, stuffed pan of <i>Crow Almondine</i> sizzling in the oven. I’ll get back to you guys after I’m done eating the damned thing. <br /><br />I understand the beak and tail are the toughest to chew. </span></div><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-42341538656753328242024-03-09T01:32:00.004-05:002024-03-12T15:21:33.386-04:00AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXbw8xv_lYTYU21vGUDIz8fWZ0O3NB2B6Y62UtgGCXK-Sr_cFOuO0uLts5OK6tjeRXgJv19JnconUqGkqw092VfHh2pZ21UEG6X09Yw0eiTi3Zus2X3O6KcRn2JuEXkLTc54Q7D2X_njmhMnjPx6mRhK7a8syySziEak8ivy0Vd56gnitkTU/s1242/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-09%20at%201.10.13%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1242" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXbw8xv_lYTYU21vGUDIz8fWZ0O3NB2B6Y62UtgGCXK-Sr_cFOuO0uLts5OK6tjeRXgJv19JnconUqGkqw092VfHh2pZ21UEG6X09Yw0eiTi3Zus2X3O6KcRn2JuEXkLTc54Q7D2X_njmhMnjPx6mRhK7a8syySziEak8ivy0Vd56gnitkTU/w400-h276/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-09%20at%201.10.13%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/" target="_blank">The Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Northern Masonic Jurisdiction</a></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> (NMJ) has just issued a public "Statement of Facts" in the wake of their investigation and ultimate expulsion of Past Sovereign Grand Commander David Glattly last month. The statement was emailed to all members of the NMJ and has been </span><a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/supreme-council-news" style="font-family: arial;">posted on their public website HERE.</a></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the statement, Glattly was expelled from membership in the AASR-NMJ for "deliberate breach of fiduciary duty, violation of Supreme Council confidentiality, and endangerment of protected whistleblowers." It states that an overwhelming majority of the Supreme Council's 54 Active Members voted in favor of his expulsion.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />Glattly was compelled to resign as Supreme Grand Commander back in August 2021 after an internal whistleblower gave a letter to the Supreme Council outlining a list of allegations and complaints over his behavior after taking office in 2016. Those allegations included Masonic ballot fraud, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">favoritism in hiring and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">inappropriate employment practices, excessive spending and failure to stick to budget restrictions, and purportedly creating a "toxic workplace environment." Those allegations resulted in an internal investigation by the Active Members of the Supreme Council, as well as an independent, external forensic audit and investigation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The internal investigation concluded that all of the whistleblower's allegations turned out to be to true, and backed up by the facts.<br /><br />The allegation of ballot fraud concerned the election of the nominees to receive the 33rd degree in Cleveland, Ohio back in 2021. The alleged ballot fraud was confirmed by video evidence, along with direct testimony that at least four black cubes had been cast as negative votes, that no more black cubes were made available in the ballot box, thereby denying other members the ability to cast any more negative votes, and that Glattly had erroneously declared the ballot "clear" despite the four black cubes cast. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the statement, Attorney William J. Lovett of the firm Lovett O’Brien was commissioned by the Supreme Council to conduct an independent forensic investigation and audit concerning the whistleblower's allegations involving financial issues, hiring practices, workplace environment and other corporate governance misconduct. Lovett is both a former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department and an accountant. The one-year investigation has been concluded (at a not insubstantial expense) and the statement concludes that the allegations were all substantiated by the evidence.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />David Glattly's long letter in which he laid out his side of the story just before he was expelled was posted on this website back in December (see <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html"><b>AASR NMJ Past Commander David Glattly Speaks Out</b></a>). </span><span style="font-family: arial;">In February, a copy of a letter written to the Supreme Council by the whistleblower (REDACTED) that led to the subsequent investigations was leaked to the Reddit/Freemasonry subreddit. That story was updated on February 20th and the letter was amended to the end of Glattly's story in an effort to bring more transparency to this incident. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The AASR-NMJ did not issue statements at that time because the investigations were still underway. That's understandable, since no attorney in his right mind would advise a corporate client to shoot its collective mouth off about internal cases of corporate misconduct involving its officers – at least, not until the actual facts of the matter are fully known. Despite the long delay since Glattly's letter first appeared, the NMJ should be applauded for being forthcoming and transparent over this episode, now that it can be substantiated by facts.</span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i>Please see my apology on March 10th for taking any side whatsoever in this matter: </i></b></span></span><b style="font-family: Times;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-deepest-apologies-is-red-or-white.html"><i>My Deepest Apologies: Is Red or White Wine Best with a Plate of Crow?</i></a></span></b></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-82593200217829473962024-03-06T03:55:00.003-05:002024-03-08T03:05:41.831-05:00The Story of Ireland's 'Lady Freemason' Coming To Television<div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhinWpFQfXDheQVbE-qNM0a6gOCNiRd6al3yGtUuFROYzPC34SlR4eIN73HBRbHMNQVJxPmapuzbc4OjZVGMiKKOKBSL3vQjpDffw81XSuqiPReQ-S7UV1h8OKuh0vGIXhif_ezuBnYHUesMUWLMeKarXo6-GHQ23clNkjvGQu_1xeAYRJclr8/s700/9101634_orig-3237492439.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="571" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhinWpFQfXDheQVbE-qNM0a6gOCNiRd6al3yGtUuFROYzPC34SlR4eIN73HBRbHMNQVJxPmapuzbc4OjZVGMiKKOKBSL3vQjpDffw81XSuqiPReQ-S7UV1h8OKuh0vGIXhif_ezuBnYHUesMUWLMeKarXo6-GHQ23clNkjvGQu_1xeAYRJclr8/w326-h400/9101634_orig-3237492439.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: start;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;">Elizabeth St Leger Aldworth, Ireland's Lady Freemason</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div>by Christopher Hodapp</div></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;">The famous tale of Ireland's first 'Lady Freemason,' Elizabeth St Leger Aldworth, was dramatized in print three years ago </span><span style="font-family: arial;">by Irish-American author Kathleen Aldworth Foster</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Her novel, <a href="https://amzn.to/3uRU9FF" target="_blank"><b><i>Doneraile Court: The Story of The Lady Freemason</i></b>,</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">was framed as an historical romance/mystery with some Masonic intrigue thrown in</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Now, an Irish production company has announced that Foster's novel will soon be made into a television series.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYyO0GwtQjmmgnRlxLhFd_e4JhdQhLJd8A-zmyuraqNWoGLFeXIwWWIc3Ws-19ks-x_-1oyMWvc0SRoLG3cBirM8DZd3P0C_4cNYhXVC3IOHTiLM-ejyDxdL78yJloNj8xSaWQPO7Og-aA-wmvF0UlwDVdE9VUmZ3jJOZ4zCeyBltvMv2VkM/s474/th-2212871328.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYyO0GwtQjmmgnRlxLhFd_e4JhdQhLJd8A-zmyuraqNWoGLFeXIwWWIc3Ws-19ks-x_-1oyMWvc0SRoLG3cBirM8DZd3P0C_4cNYhXVC3IOHTiLM-ejyDxdL78yJloNj8xSaWQPO7Og-aA-wmvF0UlwDVdE9VUmZ3jJOZ4zCeyBltvMv2VkM/w400-h266/th-2212871328.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Doneraile Court today (photo: Tuatha)</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The story of young Elizabeth's initiation into her father's Masonic lodge has been written about for almost three centuries, and it's been a part of the fabric of the <b><a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=st+leger+grand+lodge+ireland&t=osx" target="_blank">Grand Lodge of Ireland's</a></b> history from its beginnings in 1725. Her father, Arthur St Leger, the first Viscount Doneraile, would eventually become Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1740. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">But Elizabeth's tale predates the grand lodge and takes place back between 1710 and 1712. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">At the time, a lodge met regularly in </span><a href="https://doneraileestate.ie" style="font-family: arial;">Doneraile Court</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, the stately home of the St. Legers (the house still stands today and is open to the public for tours). The meeting that night was presided over by her father, Lord Doneraile, and her brother — the 3rd Viscount, father of the 4th Viscount, Grand Master — was also present.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Young Elizabeth was an avid reader, and the home's library was an extensive one. It also happened to be the room next door to the large salon where the Masonic lodge held its meetings. At the time of the story, some interior renovations to the house were being made, and a former passage doorway between the two rooms was being blocked in with bricks in preparation of being plastered over and painted.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCQKpD5YuK1DNuZEEpPtOMeCDSaWWPPFBEyl9fEGpcRRFbBdWbVOe_I25cqN5HzXwJfDCgDnDRZ1yDOvHNjw81ULeGpWfD8LXm1vNRQvkfBy7OGWpgMUkSvmarpPqet6jj00s1WugAuqZTf5brPkyvMQd9O4MuDS0NNY7iZywiWwk0jxrXjU/s792/3158376_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="792" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCQKpD5YuK1DNuZEEpPtOMeCDSaWWPPFBEyl9fEGpcRRFbBdWbVOe_I25cqN5HzXwJfDCgDnDRZ1yDOvHNjw81ULeGpWfD8LXm1vNRQvkfBy7OGWpgMUkSvmarpPqet6jj00s1WugAuqZTf5brPkyvMQd9O4MuDS0NNY7iZywiWwk0jxrXjU/w400-h261/3158376_orig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;"><i>A floorplan of the house showing the library, the lodge room, </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;"><i>and the blocked passage between them. </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">From a paper by Edward Conder </i><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">for Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076</i></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Lodge members had been arriving all afternoon. Everyone assembled in the lodge room, the doors were closed, and the family butler was stationed outside as Tyler. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Elizabeth had been in the library that afternoon, but she had dozed off once the sun went down outside. The sounds of the lodge meeting opening in the room next door awakened her.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> Once she realized what she was hearing, curiosity overcame the young woman, and she crept over to where the workmen had temporarily stacked bricks over the old doorway in order to hear what was being said. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">From a book based on her memoirs published in 1811, comes the account of what happened next:</span></div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><blockquote><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The sound of voices in the next room restored her to consciousness and from her position behind the loosely placed bricks of the dividing wall she easily realised that something unusual was taking place in the next room. The light shining through the unfilled spaces in the temporary wall attracted her attention and, prompted by a not unnatural curiosity, Miss St. Leger appears to have removed one or more of the loose bricks, and thus was easily enabled to watch the proceedings of the Lodge.<br /><br />For some time her interest in what was transpiring was sufficiently powerful to hold her spell-bound; the quietness of her mind remained undisturbed for a considerable period and it was not until she realised the solemnity of the responsibilities undertaken by the candidate that she understood the terrible consequences of her action. <br /><br />The wish to hide her secret by making good her retreat took full possession of her thoughts, for it must be fully understood that although she was perfectly aware that her father's Lodge was held at the house, she had no idea on entering the library that on that evening a meeting was about to be held in the adjoining room. Her only means of exit was through the Lodge Room and we can well understand what must have been the feeling of the young girl when she realised that the only way to escape was through the very room where the concluding part of the Second Degree was being given. The door being at the far end of the room, she had sufficient resolution to attempt her escape that way. With light and trembling step, and almost suspended breath, she glided along, unobserved by the Lodge, laid her hand on the handle and, softly opening the door, before her stood her father's butler, the grim and faithful Tyler, with drawn sword in his hand, guarding the entrance. Her shriek alarmed the Lodge and the Brethren, having carried the young girl back into the library, learned what had occurred. </span></blockquote></b></span></i><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The Freemasons at the time took Masonic secrecy VERY seriously, and the members were horrified that their meeting had been gate-crashed by this nosey girl — or, at least they sure </span><i style="font-family: arial;">SOUNDED</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> like they were taking it seriously. A discussion immediately ensued as to what sort of fate awaited poor Elizabeth. Even </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Lord Doneraile</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> pronounced that they had just two choices left to them: either Elizabeth would have to be - regretfully - executed, lest she blab their secrets to the profane world; or they would just have to break down and initiate her into the lodge, thereby requiring her to properly take the obligations of the degrees in order and ensuring her silence. The vote was taken, the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">ayes</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> prevailed, and Elizabeth was immediately initiated as an Entered Apprentice, and passed to be a Fellow of the Craft (there were only the two degrees at this time — the Master Mason degree wouldn't come along in England until the late 1720s, and it took a bit for it to spread to other jurisdictions).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Foster's novelized version embroiders the story with some local spookiness, gypsies, witchcraft, and, of course, some dreamy romantic passages between Elizabeth and a dashing young lodge member named Richard Aldworth. In reality, Elizabeth did indeed participate in the lodge for many years, marching with her lodge brethren in public ceremonies and parades while proudly wearing her Masonic apron. Just five months after the incident at the lodge, Elizabeth really did marry Richard Aldworth.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKkPmIDYOujkJ-ejOEbxc38YGQtqxGkBnua6r70c64PFmz67i6KesXXCtTfRKPkfVhP_E4mntmWxRhw4R8IQ1viveUHSDz77WXeCg347z1NSwTAxVA2wxycAdsoF6vl8suqkmPDdjXH_wWHv81jVPPbn6iNsBF2Kp8_VWECGc0pR5jRJHnTw/s441/8603639.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="441" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKkPmIDYOujkJ-ejOEbxc38YGQtqxGkBnua6r70c64PFmz67i6KesXXCtTfRKPkfVhP_E4mntmWxRhw4R8IQ1viveUHSDz77WXeCg347z1NSwTAxVA2wxycAdsoF6vl8suqkmPDdjXH_wWHv81jVPPbn6iNsBF2Kp8_VWECGc0pR5jRJHnTw/w400-h314/8603639.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Plaque erected at St. Finbarre's Cathedral by the Freemasons of Cork. </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">From the Irish Masonic History website.</span></i></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to her obituary published in the <i>Leinster Journal </i>upon her death in 1780, Elizabeth was ‘The only woman in the world who had the honour of being made a Freemason', and today</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> the Grand Lodge of Ireland proudly displays her painting in their Dublin headquarters. She's still referred to as "Ireland's ONLY Female Freemason," which isn't exactly true, since there are female Masonic lodges and mixed-gender Co-Masons at work in that country. But she </span><i style="font-family: arial;">IS</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> historically the only recognized female member of the Grand Lodge of Ireland's otherwise all-male fraternity.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Now comes the announcement that Kathleen Foster's novel will soon become a limited TV series produced by <b><a href="https://greatislandproductions.com" target="_blank">Great Island Productions</a></b>, which is based in Cork. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">From the </span><a href="https://www.irishstar.com/culture/nostalgia/female-freemason-elizabeth-stleger-aldworth-32272498" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Irish Star</i><b> </b>website,<b> "Ireland's only female Freemason was a 'courageous woman' who blazed a trail" </b>by Martha Brennan:</a></div><div><blockquote style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.corkindependent.com/2023/03/23/great-friends-launch-television-company/" target="_blank">Mark Kenny, CEO of Great Island Productions</a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">, said: "This is not just another story we're bringing to life. This is a captivating narrative about a trailblazing Irish woman that’s a thriller, mystery, and love story set against the backdrop of Doneraile Court in </span><a href="https://www.irishstar.com/all-about/co-cork">County Cork</a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"Great Island's CFO Jim Robinson added: “Our partnership with Kathleen underscores our shared passion for engaging storytelling and historical intrigue. As plans unfold for adapting The Story of The Lady Freemason into a TV series, audiences can look forward to experiencing a unique blend of drama and history that also addresses issues of gender and inequality still relatable today.”</span></blockquote><p style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No information yet as to what network, station or service will actually air the series, biu it's still early in the development phase. </span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For more about the real story of Elizabeth St Leger Aldworth, have a look at the <b><a href="http://www.irishmasonichistory.com/elizabeth-aldworth-st-leger-the-lady-freemason.html" target="_blank">Irish Masonic History website HERE. </a></b></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And for more about Kathleen Foster's novel and how this New Jersey author became fascinated by Elizabeth;s story, have a look at this <a href="https://www.irishstar.com/culture/nostalgia/how-irish-american-journalist-uncovered-30144872" target="_blank">article on the <b>Irish Star website HERE.</b></a></span></p></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-83599589658353989212024-02-23T22:00:00.019-05:002024-03-09T04:30:44.740-05:00Intruder Fatally Shot After Breaking Into a St. Louis Masonic Hall<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_1Yo4Ne16G08IipIo3aJu3TQBQ59xpwpnfOeHQEwAqgJG6sAmgrdVzPr6GDABixCq6ECSsfXbpxHHouRuKhtGnTMLmofpg19nukP8XE2T8KAPLVKZy_8J_gulLrTPqwaNXvw85eO6aGrYqXD7FB9Wj64xAhr30w0O3LnbbhPo5_7E7EDLDA/s604/1913799_143222588950_2113091_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="604" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_1Yo4Ne16G08IipIo3aJu3TQBQ59xpwpnfOeHQEwAqgJG6sAmgrdVzPr6GDABixCq6ECSsfXbpxHHouRuKhtGnTMLmofpg19nukP8XE2T8KAPLVKZy_8J_gulLrTPqwaNXvw85eO6aGrYqXD7FB9Wj64xAhr30w0O3LnbbhPo5_7E7EDLDA/w400-h311/1913799_143222588950_2113091_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small; text-align: right;">by Christopher Hodapp</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">An intruder was shot and killed in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning after breaking into a St. Louis-area Masonic lodge building. Police pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. The lodge's resident called police as soon as the suspect was shot, and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">is cooperating with investigators. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As of Friday evening, the dead man, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">believed to be in his mid-40s,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">still has not been publicly identified. </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/break-in-suspect-shot-killed-westminster-place-central-west-end/63-9168751e-8172-498d-9b9d-1ba55db49448" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7RG_5XYJ5yRPRrLpcphUcaHNKg-YQ-3CBAjSkEfb24XUxq1-sOePdQMHXBBoSFlVKKYOyH8gd66xV-Pffzuj4otABleFy7_VcGi7ISOeflY-TKBtl-JYZG2onfnBN5iMv4xInJKQP0iQ7dK33hmpx3pbIxm9R027rFIBuVazilBzUtX0SDg/s556/120439804_10157873858908951_7144988338040625107_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="556" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7RG_5XYJ5yRPRrLpcphUcaHNKg-YQ-3CBAjSkEfb24XUxq1-sOePdQMHXBBoSFlVKKYOyH8gd66xV-Pffzuj4otABleFy7_VcGi7ISOeflY-TKBtl-JYZG2onfnBN5iMv4xInJKQP0iQ7dK33hmpx3pbIxm9R027rFIBuVazilBzUtX0SDg/w173-h173/120439804_10157873858908951_7144988338040625107_n.jpg" width="173" /></a><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/break-in-suspect-shot-killed-westminster-place-central-west-end/63-9168751e-8172-498d-9b9d-1ba55db49448" target="_blank">According to local NBC affiliate KSDK-5</a>, <span style="font-family: arial;">the suspect broke into the hall of <b><a href="https://tuscan360.com" target="_blank">Tuscan Lodge No. 360</a></b> </span><span style="text-align: center;">at 5015 Westminster Place – in the city's Central West End – shortly before 4 a.m., setting off the building's alarm system. The lodge is unusual in that it has a private apartment inside on the third floor, originally built for the hall's caretaker. Awakened by the alarm, the apartment's resident armed himself and began conducting a search of the building. He confronted the intruder on the second floor and subsequently shot him.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">According to the news account, the apartment's resident is a Mason and a member of the lodge. Police are not releasing his name publicly, and for a very good reason. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Over the last two years, Masonic halls all over the world have seen increases in break-ins, vandalism, robberies, arson fires and other attacks, and anti-Masonic zealots have attacked individual brethren in increasing numbers. </span><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/07/texas-mason-slain-by-anti-masonic.html" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">A Texas Mason was shot and killed last year by an anti-Mason</a><span style="text-align: center;"> who posted a video of himself shooting the Brother in the lodge parking lot. So, it's not a bit surprising that the lodge's resident would arm himself before searching the building.</span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to its website, about 160 Masons belong to Tuscan Lodge. Past members include four Missouri governors, two St. Louis mayors, and three U.S. senators. Former President Harry S. Truman was a frequent visitor.<br /><br />The Homicide Division of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police are conducting the ongoing investigation. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Police Sergeant Charles Wall was quoted in the press as saying,</span><i style="font-family: arial;"> "No matter what the facts in this investigation will be presented to the Circuit Attorney, whether or not they ultimately decide to issue any charges, that's in their purview." </i><span style="font-family: arial;">The Channel 5 news report interviewed a local law professor on camera, talking about Missouri's "Castle Doctrine" laws:</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i></i><i><blockquote>"The Castle Doctrine protects homeowners from intruders if someone breaks into (their) home and (they) have a reasonable fear that (they) are going to get hurt, (they) can use lethal force. Whether the burglar is armed or not it doesn't matter. If someone's in (their) house and it's dark, (they) are going to be scared."<br /><br />He said Missouri has one of the most expansive Castle Doctrines in the country.<br /><br />"In some states, you have to have a fear of being seriously injured or killed -- not in Missouri -- just fear of any injury and that seems to be the case here," Walker said. </blockquote></i></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Police have not said whether the burglar was armed or not. But any time a person shoots and kills an intruder inside their home, there's always a chance that an overzealous prosecutor will attempt to turn the victim of the break-in into the bad guy for defending his 'castle' and his own life. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><b>Consequently, ALL Freemasons are strongly discouraged by the Grand Master of Missouri from discussing or commenting about the case on social media. The Brother in question doesn't need a bunch of keyboard warriors mouthing off about the incident online while police are still investigating. </b></span><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">However, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">anyone with <i>real firsthand information</i> about the case is urged to call the Homicide Division directly at 314-444-5371. Anyone with a tip who wants to remain anonymous and is interested in a reward can contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="font-family: Times;"><i><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevpxstdK7ICZJPzbdm2hmYxXhj7D9IDx9wamsccBcn6SBhRH-Th26uKy0iCwGDsRUNugPMbPXxJfXMxDxnkAe3cMQg3EbzHajsr7HRfbn-se6KZVdth9RlDfxy2mpYJwS_1ViC7G60cBakiSv5bTXzIBbCCongUguKKvPHMLFO8FHR9FGluU/s200/8874325_fbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevpxstdK7ICZJPzbdm2hmYxXhj7D9IDx9wamsccBcn6SBhRH-Th26uKy0iCwGDsRUNugPMbPXxJfXMxDxnkAe3cMQg3EbzHajsr7HRfbn-se6KZVdth9RlDfxy2mpYJwS_1ViC7G60cBakiSv5bTXzIBbCCongUguKKvPHMLFO8FHR9FGluU/s1600/8874325_fbs.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />(UPDATE 2/24/2024: Police have subsequently identified the deceased intruder as Geanard Howard, 48, of St. Louis. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/police-identify-st-louis-break-in-suspect-killed-in-shooting/ar-BB1iPgp8" target="_blank">See HERE.</a> Photo from his Facebook page.)</span></i></b></span></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-78533891629404057952024-02-17T11:39:00.344-05:002024-02-19T14:21:40.449-05:002024 Conference of Grand Master Masons of North America Opens in Seattle<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWic-i0hG3xdN4JhETWS2yf83YujLT9qjcdGUlyq2i102acYJwwLwVy5iH1IHyptveJUzWslQ04MH6pMgV_2A09B31o3CcgvwfE8A3zi16E22OvHCrIRFH1V2MaLi-JAGxx4c00RGfSCFTF5eyRq07iAsHCu5qNveHQV1WjjmzIZpqT_OmwdA/s375/5eada7a224f9844bbcca5c51fc1f6319.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWic-i0hG3xdN4JhETWS2yf83YujLT9qjcdGUlyq2i102acYJwwLwVy5iH1IHyptveJUzWslQ04MH6pMgV_2A09B31o3CcgvwfE8A3zi16E22OvHCrIRFH1V2MaLi-JAGxx4c00RGfSCFTF5eyRq07iAsHCu5qNveHQV1WjjmzIZpqT_OmwdA/w354-h354/5eada7a224f9844bbcca5c51fc1f6319.jpg" width="354" /></a></div><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The<b><a href="https://www.cogmna.info" target="_blank"> Conference of Grand Master Masons of North America</a></b> (more affectionately known as COGMNA) officially kicks off its annual meeting in Seattle, Washington today. It's an opportunity for regular, recognized grand masters in our end of the Masonic world to meet each other and learn from each others' successes, failures, programs, catastrophes, and more.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Conference is being held at the Seattle Westin Hotel and will continue through Wednesday.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Membership in the Conference currently consists of the 52 state or "mainstream" grand lodges of the United States of America, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">10 Provinces of Canada;</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> the State of York, Mexico; and the American-Canadian Grand Lodge of Germany, representing some 2 million Freemasons in North America. It's the largest such confederation of regular Masons in the world.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you're new to the fraternity, you may not have heard of this gathering, but it's not really designed for the edification of rank and file Masons. Grand masters, deputy grands and grand </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">secretaries</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> all have responsibilities and situational issues that can really only be understood and intelligently discussed with other grands and past grands. In addition, COGMNA is also where programs from other jurisdictions get talked about, and often spread throughout the Masonic world. And I'd be less than candid if I didn't mention that it's also where fads occasionally get started in Masonry. One-day classes, CHIPS programs, bikes-for-books projects, the adoption of grand lodge computer services like Grandview and Amity, the founding of the Masonic Service Association, even the beginnings of Prince Hall recognition and the national support to build and maintain the George Washington National Masonic Memorial – they all came out of presentations made at COGMNAs of the past. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One of the highlights of the Conference each year is the report of the <b><a href="https://masonicrecognition.org" target="_blank">Commission for Information on Recognition</a></b>. The Commission is charged with investigating questions of regularity between grand lodges and issuing their own findings in a summary. Individual grand lodges often receive requests for recognition from different grand lodges all over the world. More often than not, it's difficult for every single grand lodge to have the resources or ability to investigate the history, practices and regularity of faraway jurisdictions, especially if they don't provide sufficient background documentation in English to make a judgement. It's also quite common for there to have been a schism in a foreign country that results in rival grand lodges, both claiming proper regular origin. The Commission has no enforcement powers, it doesn't settle disputes, and it doesn't tell your grand lodge who they can or can't recognize as regular. They merely investigate and make a determination as to the regularity of a grand lodge in question (or the lack of regularity, as the case may be). But most grand lodges in the Conference respect their findings.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You'll find the Commission's previous annual reports since 2004 online <a href="https://masonicrecognition.org/reports-of-the-commission/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Masonic Grand Secretaries have their own unique sets of problems, concerns, solutions and success stories, so they hold<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-conference-of-grand-secretaries-in-north-america-tickets-731861977877" target="_blank"> their own conference-within-a-conference at COG</a>MNA – i</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">n case you're wondering why your state's grand lodge office seems so empty next week. Everybody's in Seattle.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(And in case you were thinking of asking, grand masters of the </span><a href="https://www.conferenceofgrandmasterspha.org/" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank"><b>Most Worshipful Prince Hall Affiliated (PHA)</b> grand lodges have their own <b>Conference of Grand Masters</b></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> that's been held each year since 1909.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Just to trumpet our Indiana team's presence, our longtime grand secretary, MW Richard Elman, PGM (2004-05) has been the president of the <b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-conference-of-grand-secretaries-in-north-america-tickets-731861977877" target="_blank">Conference of Grand Secretaries</a></b> for many, many years. Our current grand master, MW Gary Brinley will also be speaking at one of the sessions. And MW Roger VanGorden PGM (2002-003) is heavily involved with the Masonic Renewal Committee and will be giving their presentation on Sunday afternoon. (Last year, Roger was also named as the Scottish Rite NMJ's "Active" Deputy representing Indiana on the Supreme Council.) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And just to round out the list of influential Indiana grand masters in leadership positions within their various Conferences, MW Eugene Anderson, Jr., Past Grand Master of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana, is the president this year of the <b><a href="https://www.conferenceofgrandmasterspha.org/_files/ugd/0ff04a_65b0c5a9e3c44b02bb6713cbc0d84dcf.pdf" target="_blank">Conference of Prince Hall Grand Masters</a></b>, which will be held May 15-19 in Charlotte, North Carolina.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-60478813624049239882024-02-16T17:00:00.012-05:002024-03-11T00:50:52.382-04:00Past Sovereign Grand Commander Glattly Responds To His Expulsion From NMJ<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TFGJkNvzy5bVwwcv_ZR2ZPuq8UCR5GN1HZ4z9mSvhaj2DcZWXYylkXwqnBf8VPgdCLW3TwyRyEBaLrxd2vL2QqSTBwTqNLZsy7Yr0tJB8r3wOLBAv9-Z7vzvLxDuYkiN7-QZRJio1IDUgwfVPP_jdcVp5IfAdwpF8SXo67z3oXzP-5hCV6Y/s934/428386579_7246526998766369_8870466627907228895_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="934" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TFGJkNvzy5bVwwcv_ZR2ZPuq8UCR5GN1HZ4z9mSvhaj2DcZWXYylkXwqnBf8VPgdCLW3TwyRyEBaLrxd2vL2QqSTBwTqNLZsy7Yr0tJB8r3wOLBAv9-Z7vzvLxDuYkiN7-QZRJio1IDUgwfVPP_jdcVp5IfAdwpF8SXo67z3oXzP-5hCV6Y/w400-h240/428386579_7246526998766369_8870466627907228895_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;">by Christopher Hodapp</span></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div style="font-family: Times;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE: SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024, 8:00PM:</u><b> <i>Several weeks after this story first appeared here on February 15th, the AASR-NMJ Supreme Council publicly released the findings of an independent financial audit, multiple independent investigations of the allegations made against David Glattly which led to his resignation back in 2022. The results of all of these inquiries refute Glattly's version of events that he posted here at the end of December, and corroborate the accusations against him made by the internal whistleblower in the Lexington office.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><i><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b>Please see: </b></span></i></div><div><b>3/8/2024:</b><i> </i><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/aasr-nmj-releases-results-of.html" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><b>AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly</b></span></a></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i>Also, please see my apology on March 10th for taking any side whatsoever in this matter: </i></b></span></span><b style="font-family: Times;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-deepest-apologies-is-red-or-white.html"><i>My Deepest Apologies: Is Red or White Wine Best with a Plate of Crow?</i></a></span></b></div></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b><hr /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>This afternoon, David Glattly, Past Sovereign Grand Commander of the <b>Scottish Rite NMJ</b>, posted a message on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dave.glattly/posts/pfbid02jEzsckD9tQ3DTd8sPWyU7udBYNVbpdviG7QGkzWpDBMjBZaosGZp72szAXiHeQXwl" target="_blank">his Facebook page</a>, reacting to the news yesterday that he'd been <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/02/past-sovereign-grand-commander-david.html" target="_blank">expelled from the Scottish Rite NMJ</a>.<br /><br />It reads:</span><blockquote><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Hi All!</i></b></span><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />Last night I was informed of my expulsion as a member of the Scottish Rite NMJ. I was informed second hand from a few friends that received the email. I did not receive anything directly from Supreme Council. Imagine, 60 thousand members received my expulsion notice before me. That’s rather embarrassing. Perhaps that’s how the leadership wanted it.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />I understand that this was precipitated by repercussion for my letter <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html" target="_blank">that was sent through the Freemasonry for Dummies blog</a>. That letter was my truthful version of what happened behind the scenes with the two year inquisition that plagued Monica and I.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />A few weeks ago, I submitted my resignation as an Active Member of the Supreme Council, as I no longer had any interest in participating with the Supreme Council. So this expulsion has really no affect on my Supreme Council status. It does however, affect my membership in my beloved home valley, where I have many friends and fond memories. This part is hurtful.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />I became an Active Member of the Supreme Council 21 years ago and had the pleasure of serving as the chairman or a member of many committees and projects throughout that time. I truly enjoyed my nine years of service as the Deputy for New Jersey. As the Sovereign Grand Commander for four years, we built a very successful team that brought the NMJ to new heights. I’m very proud of this.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />Scottish Rite is an excellent organization with strong values and significant core values. I encourage members to be active in your local valleys and enjoy the activities, as that is where the fun is. You may find as you rise in the ranks, the fun goes away and you may become disillusioned.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />As for me, I’m fine. I hope that my path crosses paths with many friends over the coming years, both within and without the Masonic Fraternity.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br />Thank you all for your messages of concern and support! Cheers!</i></b></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i></i></b></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-51537148035689172802024-02-15T22:37:00.005-05:002024-03-11T00:45:21.350-04:00Past Sovereign Grand Commander David Glattly 33° Expelled from the Scottish Rite NMJ<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9aPi5Y4hEp98UMgtYQosVsrhFJwt6UklKfBKidDAlknaswQFxcJOuEm9-OURUuHs4vGYlQmj9YZRDKZlQiNwFsDHz-5lmhDWc7RQG1klf0fMVkEoJ1oG9ikrEWLMFvNXN_iNQl2pHOakUGYm2-Shgqjc1ieP0RygQXIEQAwCS3tZX3KOZjk/s1049/426570747_393707173383891_477901874538575951_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="1049" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9aPi5Y4hEp98UMgtYQosVsrhFJwt6UklKfBKidDAlknaswQFxcJOuEm9-OURUuHs4vGYlQmj9YZRDKZlQiNwFsDHz-5lmhDWc7RQG1klf0fMVkEoJ1oG9ikrEWLMFvNXN_iNQl2pHOakUGYm2-Shgqjc1ieP0RygQXIEQAwCS3tZX3KOZjk/w400-h206/426570747_393707173383891_477901874538575951_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">by Christopher L. Hodapp</span></div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE: SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024, 8:00PM:</u><b> <i>Several weeks after this story first appeared here on February 15th, the AASR-NMJ Supreme Council publicly released the findings of an independent financial audit, plus multiple independent investigations of the allegations made against David Glattly which led to his resignation back in 2022. The results of all of these inquiries refute Glattly's version of events that he posted here at the end of December, and corroborate the accusations against him made by the internal whistleblower in the Lexington office.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div><i><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b>Please see: </b></span><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/aasr-nmj-releases-results-of.html" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><b>AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly</b></span></a></i></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i>Also, please see my apology on March 10th for taking any side whatsoever in this matter: </i></b></span></span><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-deepest-apologies-is-red-or-white.html"><i>My Deepest Apologies: Is Red or White Wine Best with a Plate of Crow?</i></a></span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small; font-style: italic;">
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Supreme Council </b><span style="font-family: arial;">of the </span><a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"><b>Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite NMJ</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> has announced on its website this evening that </span><a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/supreme-council-news" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">it has voted to expel Past Sovereign Grand Commander David A. Glattly, 33°</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> from its rolls. </span><i style="font-family: arial;">(Click the image below to enlarge.)</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" id="id_cbde_8b92_e4ea_1213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1J5O6vlw2nP8eqIOg4QmT9raMkrBhDpQS" style="font-family: Times; height: auto; width: 204px;" title="" tooltip="" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">No reasons for his expulsion were stated in the post or the letter, but it comes about a month after Glattly’s long and detailed letter was<a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html" target="_blank"> published on this site</a> at his request, explaining his side of events that led to his abrupt resignation from the SGC position in 2022.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvPgtu2bI9ADfAP0YhIlWYXDYLxF5Spu0agxWA8H__j28_lHd1DZddZQS8IGRsWU_GpIAx7MlIgVaije1hNrTkwH6YmNrqAlmcXdji-wfu9dQ4biLTSgH-eS2wtRJrEQeZlgZ_schWq1D8bB1OwXJEOh4OLXHMczNGnpBzbH9ml-DqxBbgAg/s328/David-Glat1.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="198" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvPgtu2bI9ADfAP0YhIlWYXDYLxF5Spu0agxWA8H__j28_lHd1DZddZQS8IGRsWU_GpIAx7MlIgVaije1hNrTkwH6YmNrqAlmcXdji-wfu9dQ4biLTSgH-eS2wtRJrEQeZlgZ_schWq1D8bB1OwXJEOh4OLXHMczNGnpBzbH9ml-DqxBbgAg/w121-h200/David-Glat1.jpeg" width="121" /></a></div>For those who are confused by Masonic bureaucracy, appendant bodies, or jurisprudence details, it should be understood that David is a member and former Grand Marshall from the <b><a href="https://newjerseygrandlodge.org/" target="_blank">Grand Lodge of New Jersey,</a></b> and he remains a member of the fraternity – he's only been expelled by the Scottish Rite NMJ.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>See the original post HERE: <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/12/aasr-nmj-past-commander-david-glattly.html" target="_blank"><b>AASR NMJ Past Commander David Glattly Speaks Out</b></a></i></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;">NOTE 2/16/24,11:00AM: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said David Glattly was a Past Grand Master of New Jersey. He is a former Grand Marshall. My apologies for the error.</i></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-30516362554540378402024-02-13T09:08:00.011-05:002024-02-13T18:16:02.379-05:00Masonic Week 2024: John Bizzack Named 112th Blue Friar<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErZso_EReMa7FxvaIoNqSurP6zCOtulB6hZdnIKgxi9fj0czMbXTJ1djm511V-klcCPOkOUTWSI18AYjBOfyPorRiQ92WwhlgHe-htsKQxTDM80JkOAgu48xc90UI9T4_0hKBG47BnsogDWQtuYpuViK-PVNekplFc8if7QLSGrXPd4810R0/s2322/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-13%20at%2011.29.31%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="2322" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErZso_EReMa7FxvaIoNqSurP6zCOtulB6hZdnIKgxi9fj0czMbXTJ1djm511V-klcCPOkOUTWSI18AYjBOfyPorRiQ92WwhlgHe-htsKQxTDM80JkOAgu48xc90UI9T4_0hKBG47BnsogDWQtuYpuViK-PVNekplFc8if7QLSGrXPd4810R0/w413-h132/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-13%20at%2011.29.31%20AM.png" width="413" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;">WB John W. Bizzack, Past Master of Kentucky's historic <b><a href="https://lexingtonlodge1.org" target="_blank">Lexington Lodge No. 1</a></b> and one of the driving forces behind the <b><a href="https://rubiconmasonicsociety.com" target="_blank">Rubicon Masonic Society</a></b>, was named as the 112th member of the <a href="https://mwsite.org/sites/sbf/"><b>Society of Blue Friars</b></a> at Masonic Week in Arlington, Virginia last Friday.<br /><br />The Blue Friars were founded in 1932 for the express purpose of recognizing outstanding Masonic authors throughout the world. It is arguably the smallest of Masonic organizations, and possibly the oddest, since it has no ritual and few rules. Traditionally, the Society convenes a Consistory each year during <a href="http://www.amdusa.org/MasonicWeek/">Masonic Week</a> in the Washington, D.C. vicinity to induct a new Friar, and its gatherings are open to all Master Masons. Each year's Consistory is a highlight of Masonic Week, and a new friar may be announced at the discretion of the Grand Abbott. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv08bTcos0VkgydpUf2XK-OEaUzJBAiJ7QooD20sEpYz3JBv8JTXHJPcw1pbRIuRy4lvc5VZe-95wwF6N4f-uN1cOAigOcT5NyKnoJQzYgnQ_r5LcU3akC4vc6x-JR2lpEjbSukS-y51ire48_12-oATalYmF0_oYrQaddhSt54_paDWuHNs4/s850/80004995_10221841082641253_4032558100023083008_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="602" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv08bTcos0VkgydpUf2XK-OEaUzJBAiJ7QooD20sEpYz3JBv8JTXHJPcw1pbRIuRy4lvc5VZe-95wwF6N4f-uN1cOAigOcT5NyKnoJQzYgnQ_r5LcU3akC4vc6x-JR2lpEjbSukS-y51ire48_12-oATalYmF0_oYrQaddhSt54_paDWuHNs4/w142-h200/80004995_10221841082641253_4032558100023083008_n.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>Friar Bizzack is the author of numerous books, including </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://www.macoy.com/Masonic-Bible-Masonic-Books/Masonic-Books-In-the-East/Island-Freemasonry-by-John-Bizzack.aspx" target="_blank">Island Freemasonry</a></i></b><span style="font-family: arial;">, an examination of the influential role that Masonic lodges played in civilizing the frontier during America's early westward expansion, and how modern observant-styled lodges can play much the same part today by holding members to <i>higher</i> standards and educating new generations in civility, self-improvement, self-governance and tolerance. A thread that winds throughout all of John's works is that<i> in fewness there is strength</i>. A smaller fraternity will ultimately be a better one, and the huge membership numbers of the past ultimately damaged Masonry's core mission in North America. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Some of Friar Bizzack's o</span><span style="font-family: arial;">ther works include </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><b>Taking Issue, Sins of Our Masonic Fathers</b></i><span style="font-family: arial;">, and </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><i>Bending Granite</i></b><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Normally, the new friar is expected to present an original research paper at the Consistory. Unfortunately, John was unable to attend due to upcoming surgery, but his paper on the subject of measuring the success of Freemasonry was read by Friar Adam Kendall.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Grand Abbott Arturo DeHoyos has named <i>Philalethes Magazine</i> editor Shawn Eyer as the new Deputy Grand Abbott for the Blue Friars, since former Deputy Abbott Mark Tabbert moved away from the Washington D.C. area last year and took up residence in Iowa. Mark has returned to his midwestern roots, and living a more leisurely life out here in the states that begin with 'I', where the greatest dilemmas we face are over what to wear to the weekly Corn God sacrifices...</span></div></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>NOTE: This story originally credited Shawn Eyer as reading Friar Bizzack's paper. In fact, it was Friar Adam Kendall who did the honors. Apologies for the error.</i></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-13235496726303819902024-02-12T06:16:00.002-05:002024-02-13T07:35:03.585-05:002024 Intl. Conference on Freemasonry: March 30th at UC/Berkeley<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeSLmn8CPE5EOeHrc6BtWwPrOSvLet5O1rhZ60s5gLCFv42O5bRXNQ4JilRuVkFmaRpIsmmI-E9vztABD4DK-U3Ky2k-6T1s4rsxE4JQb9Li7B6HucITYl7VydIdQOjTVRGsOjmQ-hYV-YkvTZ-UKrnA3q3NgNfqwWyPXlpmrzX1uPbucQB0/s2560/Intl-Conf-24-cvent_v3-1850x650x2-scaled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="2560" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeSLmn8CPE5EOeHrc6BtWwPrOSvLet5O1rhZ60s5gLCFv42O5bRXNQ4JilRuVkFmaRpIsmmI-E9vztABD4DK-U3Ky2k-6T1s4rsxE4JQb9Li7B6HucITYl7VydIdQOjTVRGsOjmQ-hYV-YkvTZ-UKrnA3q3NgNfqwWyPXlpmrzX1uPbucQB0/w459-h162/Intl-Conf-24-cvent_v3-1850x650x2-scaled.jpg" width="459" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b><u><a href="https://freemason.org/berkeley/" target="_blank">2024 International Conference on Freemasonry</a></u></b> will be held March 30th on the campus of the <b>University of California at Berkeley</b>. This will be the 12th annual academic conference sponsored by the <b><a href="https://freemason.org" target="_blank">Grand Lodge F&AM of California</a></b>, and the theme this year will be "Rites In America."</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemason.org/berkeley/" target="_blank">From the event's website</a>:</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>“Rites in America” examines the almost countless forms and iterations of Masonry that have sprung up on this side of the Pacific, often in the particular context of immigrant communities or other, larger social movements.<br /> </i></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Says event organizer Susan Sommers, a professor of history at St. Vincent College, “Freemasonry is one of the oldest and most successful fraternal, initiatory societies in the Western world. Despite its reputation for secrecy, it is well known and well documented.” As different Masonic and quasi-Masonic groups formed in the Americas, they often built on Masonry’s ritual framework while adding their own features. “Why reinvent wheels when you can simply change the hubcaps?” she says. “Over the centuries, especially since around 1750, Freemasons have added, edited, and invented orders, rites, and rituals with something close to wild abandon, all the while claiming that the landmarks are immutable, and have been since Adam.”</i></b></span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Speakers will include:</span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b></b></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>• Jonathan Awtrey - </b><i>Visiting Assistant Professor, Fairfield University</i><br /><b>“Moses Michael Hays and Freemasonry in British North America”</b><br /><br /><b>• Jesse David Chariton </b>- <i>Ph.D Candidate, Department of History, Iowa State University</i><br /><b>“German Americans and Masonic Baptism in the Antebellum United States”</b><br /><br /><b>• Robert A. Gross</b> - <i>Professor of Early American History Emeritus, University of Connecticut</i><br /><b>“Canceled and Back! How a Lodge Overcame Anti-Masonry and Regained a Place in Public Life</b>”<br /><br />• <b>Alexander Towey</b> - <i>Lecturer, History Department, California State University, San Marcos</i><br /><b>“Ebb & Flow: Freemasonry’s Rise, Decline, and Renaissance in American Society”</b><br /><br /><b>• Dr. María Eugenia Vázquez Semadeni</b> - <i>Historian, author, and expert on Mexican Freemasonry, Mexican political history, and Hispanic-American parliamentarianism; co-author, with Margaret Jacob, of <a href="https://new.peterlang.com/book/isbn/9781433198410">Freemasonry and Civil Society: Europe and the Americas</a>.</i></span><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">“Mexicanizing Freemasonry: The National Mexican Rite ”</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">• S. Brent Morris -</span> </b><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Former managing editor of the </span><a href="https://scottishrite.org/media-publications/scottish-rite-journal/the-scottish-rite-journal/" style="font-family: georgia;">Scottish Rite Journal</a><span style="font-family: georgia;">, the world’s largest circulation Masonic magazine, and founding editor of <b>Heredom</b>, the transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society. </span></i><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>“Robert Benjamin Folger and the oldest English-language version of the Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cite Sainte—aka the Rectified Scottish Rite.”</b></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b></b></span><div><span face="Avenir55, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(37, 33, 34); color: #252122; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The conference is open to the public. Admission is $30, optional lunch is $20. <b><a href="https://freemason.org/berkeley/" target="_blank">To register, visit the website HERE</a></b>.</span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-1255318338942989012024-02-05T06:40:00.000-05:002024-02-05T06:40:00.029-05:00Have you ever wanted to be a lodge Organist?<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/fP9dEo_d2V4?si=uAS5JXxl1TfSBrss" width="480"></iframe></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Does your lodge have a pipe organ sitting in the corner or up on the balcony that's collecting dust because no one knows how to play it? We've got six original pipe organs in all of the ceremonial rooms at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064753448469" target="_blank"><b>Indiana Freemasons Hall/Indianapolis Masonic Temple</b>,</a> installed in 1909 when the Temple was originally built. They all work – we have a Brother who visits every couple of years from Florida who loves maintaining and restoring these complex instruments. But in my 25 years of membership, I think I've heard one played a grand total of three times. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Likewise, in my Mother lodge, <a href="https://brlodge.org" target="_blank"><b>Broad Ripple 643</b></a>, we still had an official organist for the first three months I was a Mason, but he was quite elderly and sadly passed away less than a year after I joined. Our Eastern Star Chapter had an organist, but they left our building in the early 2000s, and so it fell completely silent. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, if you ever had the unfulfilled desire to learn to play the organ in your lodge or church, but didn't know where to start, here's a suggestion. Over on <b>Redditt's Freemasonry</b> board today, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/freemasonry/comments/1aitqmx/does_your_lodge_have_an_organ_that_sits_unused_in/" target="_blank">Redditer 'Frosty the Sasquatch' from Alberta posted a link</a> to a Youtube video by Jonathan Scott who has created an instructional program called <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4" target="_blank">"The Sometimes Organist,"</a></b> designed to encourage anyone with a background in playing the piano, or even a self-taught novice, to get started playing these amazing instruments.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The course teaches you to play 18 simplified arrangements of some of the most common, classic organ pieces used in churches during worship services, weddings, and other occasions:</span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=0s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:00:00</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> INTRODUCTION <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=360s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:06:00</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> George Frideric Handel - Thine be the Glory
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=574s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:09:34</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> JS Bach - Adagio BWV 1020
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=900s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:15:00</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Frederic Chopin - Prelude in E Minor
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=1172s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:19:32</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Antonin Dvorak - Largo Theme (from New World Symphony)
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=1512s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:25:12</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Henry Purcell - Trumpet Tune in D Major
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=1691s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:28:11</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> César Franck - Poco Lento
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=1886s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:31:26</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Richard Wagner - Bridal Chorus
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=2080s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:34:40</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Adagio Theme (Clarinet Concerto)
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=2228s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:37:08</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Romanza Theme (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik)
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=2387s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:39:47</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Antonio Vivaldi - Largo (Winter - The Four Seasons)
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=2584s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:43:04</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> George Frideric Handel - Eternal Source of Light Divine
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=2980s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:49:40</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Arcangelo Corelli - Adagio
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=3139s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:52:19</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Frederic Chopin - Prelude in C Minor
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=3306s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:55:06</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Henry Purcell - Trumpet Tune in C Major
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=3484s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">0:58:04</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Gabriel Fauré - Après un rêve
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=3789s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">1:03:09</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Antonio Vivaldi/Bach - Larghetto BWV 972
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=3980s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">1:06:20</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Felix Mendelssohn - Wedding March
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" force-new-state="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4&t=4180s" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="">1:09:40</a><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); caret-color: rgb(15, 15, 15); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> George Frideric Handel - March from Scipio</span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Give the video above a click, or you can see on YouTube at: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9dEo_d2V4</a></span></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-7016889947579598122024-02-04T08:00:00.003-05:002024-02-04T16:50:38.162-05:00Ohio's Goose & Gridiron Lodge 1717 Meeting April 27th<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxBhuzTesB08jKWuPxrhWv_a49aaSd4ctnCHG99XmdjYTh7aSIMBe8h15PE8ZyHktHS1OMt14MutvG6Ezt2NpNdi_wFN1dwHWWOkgWHkO5s5EgRoE83u7qASSwdLTOCOv0Hw7TOZ8D1h5EhTYt4rPdVIdsArfvz0l5MeAbnwsBwigDqHVRCs/s542/GG_booth-2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="542" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxBhuzTesB08jKWuPxrhWv_a49aaSd4ctnCHG99XmdjYTh7aSIMBe8h15PE8ZyHktHS1OMt14MutvG6Ezt2NpNdi_wFN1dwHWWOkgWHkO5s5EgRoE83u7qASSwdLTOCOv0Hw7TOZ8D1h5EhTYt4rPdVIdsArfvz0l5MeAbnwsBwigDqHVRCs/w400-h285/GG_booth-2.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ohio's unique <a href="https://gooseandgridiron.wildapricot.org" target="_blank"><b>Goose and Gridiron Lodge 1717</b></a> will host their next meeting on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at the breathtaking <b><a href="https://www.daytonmasoniccenter.org" target="_blank">Dayton Masonic Center.</a></b> Lodge will open at noon and the brethren will retire afterwards downstairs to hold their excellent Festive Board. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwMffgubmDa33twVgn-SKQaV2y8zFvFqOvUAvAtF6fHaVe3cpkwRQGiMoRQxujKdaEpfFy9ialItenvAusMcAnD7V3VhC8Ny2oMM92688E2WWCTK5chRV1N9KQnzhSZU-itDHWgn4ddfPGmp1DWSgM7Echp0tDjhOiaU2u282PzrAeemziPY/s4032/IMG_7657.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwMffgubmDa33twVgn-SKQaV2y8zFvFqOvUAvAtF6fHaVe3cpkwRQGiMoRQxujKdaEpfFy9ialItenvAusMcAnD7V3VhC8Ny2oMM92688E2WWCTK5chRV1N9KQnzhSZU-itDHWgn4ddfPGmp1DWSgM7Echp0tDjhOiaU2u282PzrAeemziPY/w400-h300/IMG_7657.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-xEWvMRRx2zExFpHVKhxYptd5srFt3_eq6YToPMV7Kw5mkF6aQUVXjMrrzshGwxZiamwEuHfmHv0kBDZiSY61iXVlQMAkGQXPZyxoLlcPUI8UWl1Ykk71rgZGgaWPYcDbtJYuIFu_JZSELddkJXYrhLZwVWjfl7ogO-9DtwmXgYd6LsCRJo/s4032/IMG_7647.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-xEWvMRRx2zExFpHVKhxYptd5srFt3_eq6YToPMV7Kw5mkF6aQUVXjMrrzshGwxZiamwEuHfmHv0kBDZiSY61iXVlQMAkGQXPZyxoLlcPUI8UWl1Ykk71rgZGgaWPYcDbtJYuIFu_JZSELddkJXYrhLZwVWjfl7ogO-9DtwmXgYd6LsCRJo/w400-h300/IMG_7647.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What makes "The Goose" unique, you ask? Unless someone pipes up and corrects my oftimes-fallacious memory, I <i>believe</i> they are the only regular Masonic lodge currently at work in the United States that is permitted by the Grand Lodge of Ohio to use England's Emulation Ritual instead of the typical American Preston-Webb work. </span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QpzxWpj_UM6hdpfFX4y8YirMr5QwheomSLZtlcLgjGG07FSsmQ8IYZ-Njou3ex7m50Uhy4FJOgZhqp755H7ALkpky0BErLmyMf2TqRRkV7K9jTl3nchtyyK2Z6iyatYB1cjWJ34XjgQw9gzgf7-LM3PsrzCutRNHvp1AS8hcznt8kF6d4n8/s4032/IMG_7648.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QpzxWpj_UM6hdpfFX4y8YirMr5QwheomSLZtlcLgjGG07FSsmQ8IYZ-Njou3ex7m50Uhy4FJOgZhqp755H7ALkpky0BErLmyMf2TqRRkV7K9jTl3nchtyyK2Z6iyatYB1cjWJ34XjgQw9gzgf7-LM3PsrzCutRNHvp1AS8hcznt8kF6d4n8/w154-h206/IMG_7648.jpg" width="154" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">The lodge will be installing its officers that day using the Emulation ceremony, as well. If you've never had the opportunity to visit an English lodge, or a Canadian one that uses Emulation, Ohio may be a quicker trip for you.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Because of the very special nature of the lodge, they try to travel around the state of Ohio throughout the year so members and guests don't always have to make a 5-hour round-trip drive to attend every time. </span></div><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: arial;">In addition, they try to provide some extras before the meeting day for early arrivals. On Thursday, they will have a long field trip to Detroit, Michigan to visit the <b><a href="https://www.themasonic.com" target="_blank">Detroit Masonic Center</a> </b>(largest Masonic building in the world); on Friday, there will be a tour of the <b><a href="https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil" target="_blank">National US Air Force Museum</a></b> at Wright Patterson AFB just outside of Dayton. And there will be an informal "meet and greet" dinner for members, guests, spouses and partners on Friday night.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6VOsZzG_ycCN4lNYnkUKARM2UQxIZQp8VqMl6EF9Alk-EbpXFgYHjDFEgzIEcDMCkWBe3hz8a2DjQn1wcQgnmuu-2K968bNUdl7QdEA7bBsD_jetnTF3gNdZbZPJqyKPTHbS9OYTa3YQntvFDu2NYrjd4FXs76j8UXiMUeznRkFLzWTXKb0/s4032/IMG_2396.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6VOsZzG_ycCN4lNYnkUKARM2UQxIZQp8VqMl6EF9Alk-EbpXFgYHjDFEgzIEcDMCkWBe3hz8a2DjQn1wcQgnmuu-2K968bNUdl7QdEA7bBsD_jetnTF3gNdZbZPJqyKPTHbS9OYTa3YQntvFDu2NYrjd4FXs76j8UXiMUeznRkFLzWTXKb0/w400-h300/IMG_2396.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>WM Daniel Mossop and a certain "Anonymous" Dummy visitor</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I got the opportunity to visit Goose and Gridiron last October. When I spoke at the lodge, the Brethren quite generously made me an Honorary Member, and I was deeply honored. If you've never traveled and seen a different – but perfectly regular – ritual besides your own grand lodge's accepted work, make your way to Dayton that weekend! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">If you intend to attend the meeting and Festive Board, </span><a href="https://gooseandgridiron.wildapricot.org/event-5568149" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"><b>CLICK HERE to register</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. Registration deadline is April 17th. </span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-5160554298607332872024-02-03T14:25:00.000-05:002024-02-03T14:25:04.908-05:00Grand Master of Peru and CMI President Suspended For Five Years<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0iqz3eECxVpuavzgXa61N0d3scmmAi7CJ6fMHXw7I88tHI033oujyrhnDz2w3BnFhhAibjKsGQ-EfPw5gRO9_m91s2a2jFlMdsevDoz7BGt95PZZcoLv4CDzbGaMlIu5mLYly-c2mhDbvbK-s7vMOlvPM5gG0hPW2lWTFOg2Mjo_7PsPG-4/s1032/getting-kicked-out-clipart-2822347266.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1032" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0iqz3eECxVpuavzgXa61N0d3scmmAi7CJ6fMHXw7I88tHI033oujyrhnDz2w3BnFhhAibjKsGQ-EfPw5gRO9_m91s2a2jFlMdsevDoz7BGt95PZZcoLv4CDzbGaMlIu5mLYly-c2mhDbvbK-s7vMOlvPM5gG0hPW2lWTFOg2Mjo_7PsPG-4/w400-h271/getting-kicked-out-clipart-2822347266.png" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="page" title="Page 1">
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<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Eulogio Mario Carreras Vásquez, Grand Master of the <a href="https://www.glperu.org.pe/"><b>Gran Logia AA:. LL:. & MM:. del Peru (Grand Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Peru)</b></a>, has just been suspended from the fraternity by his own grand lodge for a five year sentence after conviction of charges brought against him. The nature of those charges has not, as yet, been revealed outside of their Justice Committee.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The booting of an occasional grand master here and there is not an entirely shocking revelation, but it adds a bit of timeliness to the other big story this week: Until his suspension, the 73-year-old Vásquez was also the President of the </span><a href="https://www.cmi1947.org/?lang=en" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Confederación Masónica Interamericana</b>,</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> or CMI (the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Inter-American Masonic Confederation</i><span style="font-family: arial;">), a cooperative association of regular Masonic grand lodges primarily in Central and South America. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Grand Lodge of Peru is on the list of thirteen grand lodges which just lost amity with the Grand Lodge of Florida regarding a dispute over the legitimacy of the Grand Orient of Paraguay and its membership in CMI. (See <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/01/florida-masons-withdraw-amity-with-ten.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> and <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/01/florida-vs-paraguay-masonic-regularity.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.)</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqavKF0uiS_Dje88F1EqZEJSUjHAwW_b6alr6AGMYl5LsXxo5IQEsd9_UXrOw0bHYw7Pn20hGmaagVQ4KIfk4Pf-roh64eKl3A3N9SXgjeHES_rvAYtqpJ2M5mTdMMRJhbr_Y5g77Oeci-BfyvEUSVIiJzS05w2qnVf9AQIcRHrBjuMc7Hj1w/s1200/Vasquez2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqavKF0uiS_Dje88F1EqZEJSUjHAwW_b6alr6AGMYl5LsXxo5IQEsd9_UXrOw0bHYw7Pn20hGmaagVQ4KIfk4Pf-roh64eKl3A3N9SXgjeHES_rvAYtqpJ2M5mTdMMRJhbr_Y5g77Oeci-BfyvEUSVIiJzS05w2qnVf9AQIcRHrBjuMc7Hj1w/w300-h400/Vasquez2.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eulogio Mario Carreras Vásquez, now-former Grand Master <br />of the Grand Lodge of Peru (Photo: GL of Peru website)</span><br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A declaration was issued on January 30th by his successor, MW Luis Antonio Tipacti Peña, the former Deputy Grand Master, without any details as to the nature of his violation of Masonic law. It only says, the <i>"ruling by the Special Court was in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 of the Code of Justice and Masonic Procedure," and that the judgement was over a "complaint presented by the RW Jose luis Echevarria Fano against MW Eulogio Mario Carreras Vásquez, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Peru."</i> (Click the documents below to enlarge.)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0it9bkz3raFasxVG7pKs6Puaz66jjgF6AuR61UGQcgweDMX-4WFaAAJcsF1EAvscUf3f0DMwEhtgZ1SRHmpBGSkhYvWTe-1I9X1y4gVf-XpH7oLZEJVnEVbA_nUG9wQd17h5qhZEMK8DjGN_knvq-pBhz_Q3H_jcJGKYV3Oeg73TU_LcMrEg/s3508/DECRETO%20141%3F533%3FGLP%20SEPTIMA%20GRAN%20ASAMBLEA%20ORDINARIA%20SENTENCIA%20MARIO%20CARRERAS%20VASQUEZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0it9bkz3raFasxVG7pKs6Puaz66jjgF6AuR61UGQcgweDMX-4WFaAAJcsF1EAvscUf3f0DMwEhtgZ1SRHmpBGSkhYvWTe-1I9X1y4gVf-XpH7oLZEJVnEVbA_nUG9wQd17h5qhZEMK8DjGN_knvq-pBhz_Q3H_jcJGKYV3Oeg73TU_LcMrEg/s320/DECRETO%20141%3F533%3FGLP%20SEPTIMA%20GRAN%20ASAMBLEA%20ORDINARIA%20SENTENCIA%20MARIO%20CARRERAS%20VASQUEZ.jpg" width="226" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqFEVRgEfjSAkWlr1jlCcmui9fZqXiaQ8hYyvHV6FwxslUnIx0-EdL1gdHdWHiPuZUr-mtzfUfm-A-pr-dtenAkjy3fMkk4vzMG0FNeEIfZTIb09JCbnMonOnS9EgwRHVKQ-I9W8VKh5yQt_oM0u9iQtAEiAk5f4qYPh-oAKQmCVGGbO3sFM/s3508/DECRETO%20141%3F533%3FGLP%20SEPTIMA%20GRAN%20ASAMBLEA%20ORDINARIA%20SENTENCIA%20MARIO%20CARRERAS%20VASQUEZ2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqFEVRgEfjSAkWlr1jlCcmui9fZqXiaQ8hYyvHV6FwxslUnIx0-EdL1gdHdWHiPuZUr-mtzfUfm-A-pr-dtenAkjy3fMkk4vzMG0FNeEIfZTIb09JCbnMonOnS9EgwRHVKQ-I9W8VKh5yQt_oM0u9iQtAEiAk5f4qYPh-oAKQmCVGGbO3sFM/s320/DECRETO%20141%3F533%3FGLP%20SEPTIMA%20GRAN%20ASAMBLEA%20ORDINARIA%20SENTENCIA%20MARIO%20CARRERAS%20VASQUEZ2.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No word as yet as to who will succeed him as President of CMI.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div></div></div><div><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-39992794117604637362024-02-02T23:11:00.003-05:002024-02-04T13:12:30.029-05:00Grand Orient of Italy Wins Court Battle Against Italian Senate Over Mussolini's Confiscation of Their HQ<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfum79qQJyYF5Ej4eAYH1Us5L8Yw_nu4J-gDQSXQ4BCL2B2wLikw7SSqKcDl_EuIYVUfQJJyX5cIoTyVyeTwVX9FclvdlmQV1rpkx__wuGndfKcxdQRxjiIIHnt99wQmDhhN0mmGhBriJxP2PW9F401iwRPM0Z0flUu7gHQH4deNUjyIhhAts/s1920/S_Eustachio_-_palazzo_Giustiniani_1150644.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfum79qQJyYF5Ej4eAYH1Us5L8Yw_nu4J-gDQSXQ4BCL2B2wLikw7SSqKcDl_EuIYVUfQJJyX5cIoTyVyeTwVX9FclvdlmQV1rpkx__wuGndfKcxdQRxjiIIHnt99wQmDhhN0mmGhBriJxP2PW9F401iwRPM0Z0flUu7gHQH4deNUjyIhhAts/w400-h300/S_Eustachio_-_palazzo_Giustiniani_1150644.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Wikipedia Commons</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;">by Christopher Hodapp</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b><a href="https://www.grandeoriente.it/" target="_blank">Grande Oriente d'Italia</a></b> (<a href="https://www.grandeoriente.it/" target="_blank"><b>Grand Orient of Italy</b>)</a> has prevailed in an Italian Supreme Court ruling against the government that restores ownership of their former headquarters. The historic Palazzo Giustiniani was illegally seized in 1925 by dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist government ,and was never returned to the Masons after the end of World War II. Since that time, the magnificent 16th century palazzo with its beautiful interior frescos has housed the offices of the Senate of the Republic, and is the residence of the President of the Senate.<br /><br />The landmark decision was handed down on January 26th, and recognizes the fact that the fascist state confiscated the Masons' historic property without any due process, recompense or restitution whatsoever. The verdict comes just one year short of the 100-year anniversary of the building's seizure.<br /><br />From the close of World War I until the Allied victories against the Axis dictatorships that ended World War II, Freemasonry in Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Franco's Spain was suppressed and declared to be a so-called "secret society." Countless European Masons were persecuted, arrested, and even executed for no other crime than being a Freemason. The Palazzo Giustiniani was seized from the Grand Orient Masons by the Mussolini regime for use by the Italian Senate, and Freemasonry in Italy was banned outright by 1926. After war broke out across Europe, Masonic halls all over Axis-occupied territories were confiscated, along with regalia, furniture, artwork, and especially grand lodge membership files. <a href="Masonic Museum Is A Snapshot of Spain's Anti-Masonic Past" target="_blank">Masonic buildings were frequently turned into anti-Masonic propaganda displays and museums</a>, luridly staged with the creepiest of props (skeletons were a big hit with the public) to perpetuate the unfounded allegations that the fraternity practiced Satanic worship, blasphemies, plotted revolutions, and other creepy, nefarious intrigues.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b><blockquote>NOTE: To clarify: the <a href="http://www.grandeoriente.it/en">Grand Orient of Italy</a> is the largest obedience in that country, and it is the body that the overwhelming majority of U.S. grand lodges recognize. The Grand Lodge of Italy is the second largest group, a mixed body that admits both men and women, and is not deemed regular by the overwhelming majority of the Masonic world. But in a rarity, the United Grand Lodge of England—from whom many U.S. grand lodges seek clarity and guidance—recognizes the much smaller and newer <a href="http://www.glri.it/en/">Regular Grand Lodge of Italy</a>. The U.S. did not uniformly follow UGLE's action, and continues not to do so.</blockquote></b></span></i>After the war ended, and Freemasonry returned, the Grand Orient was permitted to move its headquarters back into the palazzo, but it continued to principally be occupied by the Senate offices. By 1981, the Masons again moved out – voluntarily this time – into a smaller building.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">From my albeit imperfect understanding of the whole situation, it certainly sounds like the Grand Orient Masons are now the Senate's new absentee landlords.<br /><br />From a letter circulated this week by the <b><a href="https://www-grandeoriente-it.translate.goog/chi-siamo/gran-maestro-e-giunta/stefano-bisi/" target="_blank">Grande Oriente d'Italia's Grand Master Stefano Bisi</a>:</b></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaBij7FOAbOycBPloTB46ix9hkyOkbpOhLCZSqd6MscoFnK2f4iL0HQJ6YjsqxUDJO8SQJXRfqS0ynGnb_aN2QeW7pPmL67cULD_bq69hEXeNyvtQ9cOyP0C-wjm0ME3YnwU1aw6LkeCYdkPmdXPGXdUg86vGmONGFcKhETX9ZqoPIW88pGyY"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaBij7FOAbOycBPloTB46ix9hkyOkbpOhLCZSqd6MscoFnK2f4iL0HQJ6YjsqxUDJO8SQJXRfqS0ynGnb_aN2QeW7pPmL67cULD_bq69hEXeNyvtQ9cOyP0C-wjm0ME3YnwU1aw6LkeCYdkPmdXPGXdUg86vGmONGFcKhETX9ZqoPIW88pGyY=w253-h358" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><blockquote><br />"Fascist paramilitary squads violently occupied the building on 5 November 1925, as the Court itself recalled. And immediately afterwards the fascist state acquired the building, through a settlement agreement, against which appeals were already presented in various judicial offices at the time, asserting its right of pre-emption on an asset of artistic value, without however first declaring the nullity of the contract stipulated by the GOI in 1911 for the purchase of the building itself.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>"This was a condition, the Court said, prejudicial for the state to be able to exercise its right of pre- emption and acquire the property. Consequently, the regime illegally took possession of the property in violation of the 1909 law on artistic assets.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>On these legal bases, the United Sections of the Supreme Court of Cassation sent the case back to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court, remitting to it the assessment regarding the legitimacy of the acquisition procedure of Palazzo Giustiniani.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>The Grand Orient expressed satisfaction with the court's decision and confirmed that the judicial initiative is aimed exclusively at restoring the truth of the facts to history in the full conviction that it represents the foundation of the essence of the democratic state to which the Grand Orient of Italy is proud to belong.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>A victory for the Grand Master Stefano Bisi, his council and the staff of lawyers of the GOI. A very important step forward in the controversy which adds to other historic goals scored in these last years by the Italian Masonic institution.</blockquote></i></b></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Located close to Rome's Pantheon, the beginnings of this Roman palace were originally built as a religious residence in the mid-1500s on the Via della Dogana Vecchia. But in 1590, it was acquired by a Genoese prince named Giuseppe Giustiniani. Over time, Giustiniani's descendants bought up surrounding buildings, eventually connecting them together until it comprised the entire city block. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Great big palazzos can look mighty empty unless they get filled up with statuary, paintings, murals and other <i>tchotchkes</i>, which is just what the Giustiniani's set about doing. The artwork collection was reputed to be comprised of more than 1,600 pieces, including paintings by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance period, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and even 1st century AD statuary excavated from the remains of <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVJepGWdMlM" target="_blank">Emperor Nero's infamous Baths</a></b>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Many additions and modifications were done to the palace over the centuries. Most of the ancient statuary and the most valuable art pieces were sold off over the 1700 and 1800s, and by 1826, the last of the Giustiniani family died out. The building was then acquired by the Grazoli family, and for a while it was rented out as the diplomatic residence of the Tzarist Russian Ambassador to Italy. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The massive palazzo was finally leased to the Freemasons of the Grand Orient of Italy in 1898 for 11,000 <i>lire</i> a year. Three years after that, the Grand Orient purchased the historic building outright for use as its headquarters, and converted several of the largest rooms into magnificent lodge meeting halls.</span><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GFEKb3qI_6797OsrrmnxoFmJ19O-znhmwXE-WGen0DjSeOjEgLBnJK7KAu0e1j99KmG_mWqMp2ceGkAnKiYiMxroeHXmKBqtKKYljNQ-AbsNmyr9VTEC07fNd3bB4X5puUHlJIvvwU-KvyeXZyB2SN3Ip0OrjFGSwlvXIdWyhZOwvy_lUjo/s1200/hd_crop_dd081fd4840e1389862ae1ea5b113d8b_65bd1c46b505b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="896" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GFEKb3qI_6797OsrrmnxoFmJ19O-znhmwXE-WGen0DjSeOjEgLBnJK7KAu0e1j99KmG_mWqMp2ceGkAnKiYiMxroeHXmKBqtKKYljNQ-AbsNmyr9VTEC07fNd3bB4X5puUHlJIvvwU-KvyeXZyB2SN3Ip0OrjFGSwlvXIdWyhZOwvy_lUjo/w299-h400/hd_crop_dd081fd4840e1389862ae1ea5b113d8b_65bd1c46b505b.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The ceiling of one gallery is decorated with images of King Solomon.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvto5fWknoHU85sm1LhfOxCUSJhohCyXRjS049zM0_V5UaEm-8Sm7wDMvSZhRLIiiwdf8ei_1eRB3JzJuKsbvjB7e5RLaDK6U6l97dcUqTciYsgAf18cqzcGWPCyVOlFgLh7GLzeJTY5wJPY5APh6fkzDTT5RpzvdTLgmIX8qdMPgoPRhyxjI/s2048/hd_4bb3a174ac8bb931b138c8b7af643d82_65bd1cd77d7f3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvto5fWknoHU85sm1LhfOxCUSJhohCyXRjS049zM0_V5UaEm-8Sm7wDMvSZhRLIiiwdf8ei_1eRB3JzJuKsbvjB7e5RLaDK6U6l97dcUqTciYsgAf18cqzcGWPCyVOlFgLh7GLzeJTY5wJPY5APh6fkzDTT5RpzvdTLgmIX8qdMPgoPRhyxjI/w400-h266/hd_4bb3a174ac8bb931b138c8b7af643d82_65bd1cd77d7f3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The same gallery today, stripped of its Masonic furnishings</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPWDM3hKkR0SFt1vc0NYW_SU-ReKGUQwNoaRU3xDBgygM0_WNeoYpR-NY2o9l0eJ2xWf8p3-dgpUdSek9Z3vLfWS4zMQI2sYEHDXa_H5qMFSQu0kTsXwcIRm8WICO0F-nuTWGAPIqqt1qY4GKKlX10WtqqhXrDSARuxwQeD_SM7pg6sssAfw/s1446/solomon1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1446" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPWDM3hKkR0SFt1vc0NYW_SU-ReKGUQwNoaRU3xDBgygM0_WNeoYpR-NY2o9l0eJ2xWf8p3-dgpUdSek9Z3vLfWS4zMQI2sYEHDXa_H5qMFSQu0kTsXwcIRm8WICO0F-nuTWGAPIqqt1qY4GKKlX10WtqqhXrDSARuxwQeD_SM7pg6sssAfw/w400-h272/solomon1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALgaAQj0UtvS59nNzw7ptZ6LK4dT5pIs-0pDurX1o4EZHLO6blpcn4DKSjIsc5Ei35aQsLuZcGGL6epA3X77iHElz-OilETT0DejV0uZrj3NX0hYwRzwgUQlg-nGHDSHGxS6pk0HffHdU21p1RvwyLjfxixcDUgUOjPWrcGQsKkwBMae8nzk/s828/Solomon2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="828" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALgaAQj0UtvS59nNzw7ptZ6LK4dT5pIs-0pDurX1o4EZHLO6blpcn4DKSjIsc5Ei35aQsLuZcGGL6epA3X77iHElz-OilETT0DejV0uZrj3NX0hYwRzwgUQlg-nGHDSHGxS6pk0HffHdU21p1RvwyLjfxixcDUgUOjPWrcGQsKkwBMae8nzk/w400-h281/Solomon2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Solomon looking over the plans for the Temple, in the background.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYTwWv_0UM1Bh0kYOSXd6hTXf9Xk9xdIbXnDFp0k3q_ug1f0GeRE6z66FrvDLiC6B9uhF8xFCG2g7pepmy19AwMfXk6-S14ICllWElWG37l0eXlIdBJeOo36HgqUPEWmTs9PI56zTZyHpls8ybAue0djXyUDlUH03MaRiBZXuyFkN2znwSJA/s3348/Solomon10-transformed.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="3348" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYTwWv_0UM1Bh0kYOSXd6hTXf9Xk9xdIbXnDFp0k3q_ug1f0GeRE6z66FrvDLiC6B9uhF8xFCG2g7pepmy19AwMfXk6-S14ICllWElWG37l0eXlIdBJeOo36HgqUPEWmTs9PI56zTZyHpls8ybAue0djXyUDlUH03MaRiBZXuyFkN2znwSJA/w400-h264/Solomon10-transformed.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>"Solomon's Judgement," the famous instance of two women claiming to be mothers of <br />the same newborn child. Solomon calls their bluff, and threatens to cut the child in half, <br />causing the liar to confess her fraudulent claim.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The opportunity to acquire the building outright was spearheaded in 1901 by the Grand Master (and Mayor of Rome at the time, by the way) Ernesto Nathan – the 7-story, 405-room palace was sold to the Grand Orient for 1,055,000 </span><i style="font-family: arial;">lire</i><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Accounting for inflation since 1901 and the conversion rate between the Italian </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Lira</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> and the U.S. Dollar, that original 1,055,000 <i>lire</i> purchase price calculates out to about US$11 billion today. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's with a B. Give or take. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The Senate set aside space in the Palazzo for the Masons' return after WWII, but about 40 years later even that reduced area became too much room for the GOI to deal with. In 1981, the notorious P2 (Propaganda Due) scandal became an international crime headline-grabber. The complex plot involved a former Grand Orient Masonic lodge being operated without a charter by its expelled Worshipful Master, Licio Gelli, with a thousand secret members as a front for organized crime, government corruption, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">killings, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">terrorist attacks, bombings, and even the theft of a substantial sum of cash from the Vatican's own bank accounts. Even today, the P2 lodge is often described as having been a "shadow government," made up of evildoing Masons in high-ranking military and government positions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Even though the P2 lodge was operating illegally and the Grand Orient expelled and denounced all those involved, the European press rarely took care to explain the reality of the situation or make clear that thousands of rank and file Masons had nothing to do with Gelli's crimes. To this day, Freemasons all across Europe are frequently outed by the press and denounced as criminals primarily because the P2 scandal was so notorious. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The reputation of the fraternity worldwide was sullied by the press coverage of the whole affair, even though the actual participants had nothing to do with Freemasonry.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In 1985 the Grand Orient moved its headquarters down the road into a much more modest (but still not-exactly scruffy) home – the Villa Medici del Vascello in Rome (photo below), purchased at that time from Princess Elvina Pallavicini. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgUuP4M_McnmorQcr-3maZ9jpsTdN5alJqgUhfsal4n1q3OSLSOQkDkRfT1Btu4OjWCBZVRpG32PK12uR9sk6LeSxm2TtgvjMxDQeQmkeE_Ygdo_vYW9DTCL23FmMwtef0Kp7U1wqTTMaFonXttLdeu7TFv696BLBnuDoZJqSEEwU5UskZAs/s1861/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-02%20at%202.33.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="1861" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgUuP4M_McnmorQcr-3maZ9jpsTdN5alJqgUhfsal4n1q3OSLSOQkDkRfT1Btu4OjWCBZVRpG32PK12uR9sk6LeSxm2TtgvjMxDQeQmkeE_Ygdo_vYW9DTCL23FmMwtef0Kp7U1wqTTMaFonXttLdeu7TFv696BLBnuDoZJqSEEwU5UskZAs/w400-h279/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-02%20at%202.33.01%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Current home of the Grand Oriente d'Italia, in the former Villa Medici del Vascello. <br />Photo from the GOI website.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">A departure agreement made in 1991 with the Senate was supposed to provide a large area at the Palazzo for an Italian Museum of Freemasonry – which never materialized. <a href="https://ricerca-repubblica-it.translate.goog/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1985/07/13/cambia-casa-il-grande-oriente.html">According to a 1985 article in La Repubblica,</a> four floors of the Palazzo remained partially decorated with imagery of the Masonic fraternity. </span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">NOTE: My own mastery of Italian is limited to </span><i style="font-family: arial;">"Ciao!" and "Pronto!"</i><span style="font-family: arial;">, asking waiters for my dinner check to be handed over to the wealthier-looking guy at the next table, and shouting down the hall for an extra roll of <i>carta igienica</i>. Consequently, my deciphering details from Italian articles can't be trusted. But below is my probably-terrible English translation – aided by Google Translate:</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></b></div><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><blockquote><i>"[T]he Sancta Sanctorum remains, that is, the main temple of the Grand Orient and five other smaller temples. It is here that at least once a week, at the behest of the grand master, Armando Corona, what the Freemasons call their "ritual work" takes place. Here is the "hall of [winding] steps", here are the Workshops, "sacred spaces above and outside the world", with the entrance located to the west, the blue-vaulted roof dotted with constellations with the signs of the zenith and of the nadir, and the black and white checkered floor to recall that of Solomon's Temple. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>"The Grand Master's throne is surmounted by a canopy of blue fabric with gold fringes. On the eastern wall stand the initials of the phrase: "To the glory of the great architect of the universe". The statues of Hercules, Venus and Minerva next to the three flame lamps and the three love knots symbolize strength, beauty and wisdom. Wisdom, for the Grand Master Armando Corona, was to give victory to the Senate, which for years and years had been claiming the four floors of Palazzo Giustiniani occupied by the Grand Orient. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>"However, I set one condition," says Corona. "Given that our name derives from the Giustiniani Palace, it is right and indispensable that in this palace the Grand Orient preserves at least one "ubi consistam" – some rooms – in order to symbolically justify its denomination". According to the compromise, three floors for a total of approximately three thousand square meters will be sold to the Senate and - in exchange for a symbolic rent with no deadlines - the first floor will instead be kept for the Grand Orient, where Corona intends to set up a permanent exhibition of the history of Freemasonry and in which the main temple will be maintained for its esoteric rites..."</i></blockquote></span></b><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's true that governments generally have more money than either Elon Musk </span><i style="font-family: arial;">or</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> God (in that order), but something tells me that the Italian Senate has no intention of offering to buy their longtime digs back from the Masons for US$11 billion.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"> From <i>Il Tempo</i>: <b><a href="https://www.grandeoriente.it/palazzo-giustiniani-uno-spiraglio-per-il-museo-della-massoneria-il-tempo/" target="_blank">"Giustiniani Palace. A glimmer of light for the Freemasonry museum/Il Tempo"</a></b> reported by Riccardo Mazzoni:</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><b><blockquote>After a century of battles, the Freemasons managed to reopen the case of Palazzo Giustiniani, the historic seat of the Grand Orient of Italy expropriated by the fascist regime. The Supreme Court of Cassation has in fact annulled the ruling of the Council of State which had established the jurisdiction of the ordinary judge on the issue, and the TAR will therefore have to judge. </blockquote><blockquote>The Grand Orient of Italy had denounced the lack of the preliminary condition of the legitimate exercise of the power of the Italian State, i.e. the failure to declare the nullity of the deed of sale drawn up way back in 1911 in favor of Urbs (real estate company of the Grand Orient of Italy), with the consequence that, since the ownership deed in the company remained in force, the pre-emption decree issued by the government could not constitute a transfer deed in favor of the latter, an argument fully accepted by the Supreme Court. </blockquote><blockquote>The Grand Orient of Italy reiterated that the judicial initiative is aimed exclusively at restoring the truth of the facts to history, "in the full conviction that historical truth represents the foundation of the essence of the democratic state". </blockquote><blockquote>"The united sections of the Court of Cassation, Grand Master Stefano," Bisi told Tempo, "agreed with us: we denounced and argued that the fascist regime could not legitimately exercise the right of pre-emption on Palazzo Giustiniani because the purchase deed had not been declared null and void in our favor. Now I hope that the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa will summon us to find an agreement to hand over at least those 140 square meters to make the museum of Italian Freemasonry as foreseen by the agreement signed in 1991 by President Giovanni Spadolini and the Grand Orient of Italy."</blockquote><blockquote>The judicial process was restarted by the will of the current council at the end of July 2020: thanks to painstaking work done in the archives of the Grand Orient of Italy, fundamental documents were recovered thanks to which an appeal was presented to the TAR of Lazio on 29 July 2020 against the Senate «for the investigation and declaration of the abusive occupation of Palazzo Giustiniani, the historic seat of Freemasonry which was acquired by force of public property, with a sham transaction which forced the Grand Orient to recognize the legitimacy of the expropriation". But for this renunciation the fascist state promised compensation, and this was the basis that opened the way to the appeal. The one faced by the Freemasonry of Palazzo Giustiniani was an authentic judicial ordeal, starting from the sentence of '53 of the Court of Appeal of Rome which declared the action for annulment due to the defect of consent causing violence to be extinguished "by statute of limitations", because the The action "should have been carried out within five years of the events", i.e. in the period in which fascism exercised its maximum violence. A paradoxical motivation, therefore. The Lazio Regional Administrative Court's ruling in December 2021, confirmed by the Council of State, then constituted yet another mockery, sending the dispute back to the jurisdiction of the ordinary judge. Now the Court of Cassation has brought justice, and the hope is that the final word will be put to an end to an affair which certainly does no credit to the republican state, which for decades has in fact legitimized an abuse of power perpetrated by the fascist regime with violence. Alongside judicial truth, therefore, there is also a political and institutional question of great importance: the repudiation of a false right acquired through a crime against humanity, which was in effect the persecution of the Freemasons culminating in the hunt merciless on the night of San Bartolomeo. "It cannot be tolerated," Bisi stated on several occasions, "that an undue claim by a State like Italy, which is the homeland of Democracy, Justice and Freedom, could be based on this crime." © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Pdazzo Giustiniani It was the historic headquarters of the Grand Orient of Italy (LaPresse)</blockquote></b></span></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-55671568006031980772024-01-30T10:00:00.060-05:002024-02-02T10:54:49.610-05:00Florida vs. Paraguay: Masonic Regularity, Recognition, Muddles and Mayhem<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEn_3iZKAqU7ETXskPLBQPUxtB903_R4G4cerQ479OrZZU6ha3j-JSpvPPGPhvDDC90vjD9qthpBPwvqzyK2WNpqb4CTlCkinxiUZRF7fUmlo_Ul9DvwShIN4RKw8SGZTQXUBEUNA2oOjAOfZ4DTxGV6FGKa1mMKeZyNf3YCEYOlQoheHxhQ/s1218/REGULARITY%20RAPIDS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1106" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEn_3iZKAqU7ETXskPLBQPUxtB903_R4G4cerQ479OrZZU6ha3j-JSpvPPGPhvDDC90vjD9qthpBPwvqzyK2WNpqb4CTlCkinxiUZRF7fUmlo_Ul9DvwShIN4RKw8SGZTQXUBEUNA2oOjAOfZ4DTxGV6FGKa1mMKeZyNf3YCEYOlQoheHxhQ/w364-h400/REGULARITY%20RAPIDS.jpg" width="364" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pw7MlmR8FQMENGk58mYWbnekLcjlIp_g9iNTbHe8BMAIo6OVq9p0sjE0X2qHB9p4O3M3dHjUyG602V6ITXFxcnIYeUSLxofu5k1glb7MpUlfUhakZn4UBznwi_gtxd4aOFutCY8hEv_HDJOl9S_g3JKJebv_vHXzZ93GUvzJ18FnKT42SAU/s289/Dummies%20Button%20TechnicalStuff.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="213" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pw7MlmR8FQMENGk58mYWbnekLcjlIp_g9iNTbHe8BMAIo6OVq9p0sjE0X2qHB9p4O3M3dHjUyG602V6ITXFxcnIYeUSLxofu5k1glb7MpUlfUhakZn4UBznwi_gtxd4aOFutCY8hEv_HDJOl9S_g3JKJebv_vHXzZ93GUvzJ18FnKT42SAU/w57-h78/Dummies%20Button%20TechnicalStuff.jpg" width="57" /></a></div></span></i></span></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ever wonder what "regular, recognized" means when it comes to the many grand lodges of Masons all over the world, and just who decides such things? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I'll warn you here at the outset: this is one of those Masonic stories that will make your eyes glaze over. It has little or nothing to do with most everyday Masons all over the world, and it's rooted in Freemasonry's three-century-old methods and policies that grew out of 18th century European government and religious diplomatic traditions. This story will be like reading all the supporting documents and commentary of the International High Seas Biodiversity Treaty negotiations, without nearly as many punchlines. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Requirements of Regularity and Recognition</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The majority of regular grand lodges extend or withdraw relations with foreign jurisdictions based on a set of conditions: </span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">that their constituent lodges admit men only; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">that their lodges work in view of a volume of sacred law and under the auspices of the Grand Architect of the Universe; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">that discussion of religion and politics are prohibited in their lodge meetings;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">that the grand lodge has legitimately and provably descended <i>in some way</i> from the earliest of grand lodges in England or Scotland; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">that the grand lodge is considered completely sovereign over its members and territory, sharing it only by treaty with other regular grand lodges (such as in state grand lodges that coexist with Prince Hall Affiliated grand lodges in the U.S.; or when English, Scottish and Irish lodges are still at work in what were once the far-flung colonial outposts of the British Empire in Asia, Africa or the Middle East). This is referred to as "exclusive territorial jurisdiction."</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">To that end, <a href="https://www.cogmna.info/">the <b>Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America</b>'s</a> (COGMMNA) <a href="https://masonicrecognition.org"><b>Commission on Recognition</b></a> meets every February to investigate Masonic regularity of various grand lodges around the world, or to decipher various controversies of regularity and recognition, in order to issue a report that attempts to determine these sometimes very complicated matters of who's legit and who isn't.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But – <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The COGMMNA Commission on Recognition <i>does</i> not - and <i>CANNOT</i> - force anybody’s grand lodge to recognize, “de-recognize” or just ignore another jurisdiction when it comes to permitting its members to visit foreign lodges. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">That decision is completely up to every individual grand lodge or grand orient on its own. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">But l</span><span style="font-family: arial;">et’s not pretend there isn’t such a thing as Masonic peer pressure.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">A diplomatic problem can arise when a grand lodge (or a group of them) decides to depart from the majority of opinions within its Masonic region and recognize what the others regard as “the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">wrong</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> grand lodge.” </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Which brings me casually moseying around the barnyard over to Florida.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><h2><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Florida and the CMI</span></h2></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Grand Lodge of Florida’s</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> announcement last week that it was withdrawing Masonic relations from 11 different grand lodges is rooted in a disagreement with a large federation of Masonic jurisdictions known as the </span><a href="https://www.cmi1947.org/?lang=en" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Confederación Masónica Interamericana</b>,</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> or CMI (the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Inter-American Masonic Confederation</i><span style="font-family: arial;">). In fact, those 11 are only the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">latest</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> ones Florida has cut off – the total is 13 because they had already severed relations with grand lodges in Argentina and Uruguay a couple of months before. (Click the letters below to enlarge.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpmt9U8R8YX3KIVP5VRMXPTOUDl7a4CXtVwbFwnoGIlnkn4cM4aoAUgfUDyJDDFo8y38kTRuLdx-Yfqd-jFi35X1g38uFNVY4w2xZMfeOwAMU-2HoVMxEBijfiRWwTJ2lxj66pP2uQghkPwuuMKz4ykrT3l49jLTzVp7nFQGL7TkvxUHbllw/s3300/3-Argentina-Withdraw-Recognition-Form-for-Dual-Members-to-resign-membership.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpmt9U8R8YX3KIVP5VRMXPTOUDl7a4CXtVwbFwnoGIlnkn4cM4aoAUgfUDyJDDFo8y38kTRuLdx-Yfqd-jFi35X1g38uFNVY4w2xZMfeOwAMU-2HoVMxEBijfiRWwTJ2lxj66pP2uQghkPwuuMKz4ykrT3l49jLTzVp7nFQGL7TkvxUHbllw/w154-h200/3-Argentina-Withdraw-Recognition-Form-for-Dual-Members-to-resign-membership.jpg" width="154" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zAO9y5dNVRVKF2ZfvR-yU_a4NjzVHaQ6HOjmAveQhHCY7N1BkAOxqbQL2bFpp5k6cblaYsWHH7dVQ4ZtNd7YebHut5vNzSnIOQIWUN3b6A9Ym-BkP75PHcnXrSfvJetr-b8Ry1cJr5qug18I_jNhjAupsylP5tiAWhTnid1CZWKWjlX5J2o/s3300/Letter-Withdrawing-Recognition-from-Uruguay-and-Form-to-Resign-Membership.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zAO9y5dNVRVKF2ZfvR-yU_a4NjzVHaQ6HOjmAveQhHCY7N1BkAOxqbQL2bFpp5k6cblaYsWHH7dVQ4ZtNd7YebHut5vNzSnIOQIWUN3b6A9Ym-BkP75PHcnXrSfvJetr-b8Ry1cJr5qug18I_jNhjAupsylP5tiAWhTnid1CZWKWjlX5J2o/w154-h200/Letter-Withdrawing-Recognition-from-Uruguay-and-Form-to-Resign-Membership.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The CMI is a cooperative association made up of 94 participating grand lodges, and was established back in 1947. CMI acts in a similar way as COGMMNA, with its membership generally comprising grand lodges and grand orients deemed to be Masonically “regular” by the vast majority of the Masons in the world. CMI's concentration is mostly in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, but there are a handful of CMI-member grand lodges outside of those regions, like the Grand Lodges of </span><b>New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, </b><span style="font-family: arial;">plus </span><b>Spain, Portugal</b><span style="font-family: arial;">, the </span><b>Grand Orient of Italy</b><span style="font-family: arial;">, and France's </span><b>Grande Loge Nationale Française</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> (you can see the list of </span><a href="https://www.cmi1947.org/zones-and-members/?lang=en">CMI’s 94 members HERE</a><span style="font-family: arial;">). </span></div></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Two Paraguay Grand Lodges Walk Into A Bar...</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Bear in mind that there are many conflicting (mostly unrecognized and often irregular) grand lodges <i>also</i> at work in the Central and South America which are <i>NOT</i> members of the CMI, and this is the part of the story when Paraguay suddenly bursts into the bar and Florida says, <i>“Order me another frozen banana daiquiri while I go handle this.” </i><br /><br />It seems that this whole sticky pickle began after the Grand Lodge of Florida recognized a different Masonic grand lodge in the country of Paraguay than either CMI or a growing number of mainstream, regular grand lodges around the world do. Florida </span><span style="font-family: arial;">maintains amity with the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">older</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> Gran Logia Simbólica del Paraguay, while </span><span style="font-family: arial;">CMI members mostly recognize the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">newer</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://granlogia.org.py">Gran Logia Simbólica del Paraguay</a>,</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> which was established in 2006 after a schism occurred in Paraguayan Masonry. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlNEYfJybeo1gwSPFu2LSXa-wwIPeB_SGPQJfxIEQRycenhECG9zYVVSm96Oj6Ezoapszn-5CHYOkbwgD91u-jbcWOhYzFPVbDr38jcdVTanvcyiv0XnmgyAEqxHrSWmxaUOHTS0WpFqT3ac9-_kMtzMgaKXL9i7AC6Qlc64s6BU4yY7NU3A/s176/channels4_profile.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="176" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlNEYfJybeo1gwSPFu2LSXa-wwIPeB_SGPQJfxIEQRycenhECG9zYVVSm96Oj6Ezoapszn-5CHYOkbwgD91u-jbcWOhYzFPVbDr38jcdVTanvcyiv0XnmgyAEqxHrSWmxaUOHTS0WpFqT3ac9-_kMtzMgaKXL9i7AC6Qlc64s6BU4yY7NU3A/w232-h232/channels4_profile.jpeg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Seal/logo of the "newer" Symbolic GL of Paraguay <br />features the date of 1869<br /><br /></b></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately for those of us who have a tough time keeping them straight, <i><u>both grand lodges have exactly the same name</u></i>, and both are headquartered in the city of Asunción. This fight first started back in 2006, and it's been a big problem for Paraguay Masons ever since. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The newer grand lodge had as its founding Grand Master, MW Bro Euclides Acevedo, and this is how many articles and reports often distinguish between the two groups – by simply mentioning </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Acevedo's</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> name. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Its seal features the date of 1869.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygRg_J4GDj29CPmcnMY-R5GdjI_LP3svtTrB6eMP3Bo_eNs76OohGR6jmzie0MxNYZjNiPVAof5-pSkQGsOebUgZcFYR7Nk2kk_HgQeeXb_-PNB-jBBAH04Yb2tfM5HhDN8AgIRUar0g21VP-94A9Cs1dUEdri09w6I-hrMzZKYJYXH88OlI/s680/2017-09-04.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="680" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygRg_J4GDj29CPmcnMY-R5GdjI_LP3svtTrB6eMP3Bo_eNs76OohGR6jmzie0MxNYZjNiPVAof5-pSkQGsOebUgZcFYR7Nk2kk_HgQeeXb_-PNB-jBBAH04Yb2tfM5HhDN8AgIRUar0g21VP-94A9Cs1dUEdri09w6I-hrMzZKYJYXH88OlI/w400-h225/2017-09-04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Photo:Gerardo Malvetti</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The address of this grand lodge is Avda. de la Victoria, No. 690 esq Lopez Moreira, Asunción (photo above). </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQO8toBnDBOcncqMazxrckDpGDbsfgKUytMGt87u6HCPXFYY2ZBKrAXr96hPOSyfAIqrWzJRTAeKZetHRJW0LS-atN4rZzQ1KqB5K7Jax0V5jiD1qhGDCSoWGS1ewU5ZTl_jjffwZl6zFlkefQU7ZIin-VcTuk9uJumX1NO9P3sZVBzNi3j-s/s942/grand%20lodge%20of%20Paraguay%20Masonic%20symbolic,%20gran%20logia.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="942" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQO8toBnDBOcncqMazxrckDpGDbsfgKUytMGt87u6HCPXFYY2ZBKrAXr96hPOSyfAIqrWzJRTAeKZetHRJW0LS-atN4rZzQ1KqB5K7Jax0V5jiD1qhGDCSoWGS1ewU5ZTl_jjffwZl6zFlkefQU7ZIin-VcTuk9uJumX1NO9P3sZVBzNi3j-s/w400-h250/grand%20lodge%20of%20Paraguay%20Masonic%20symbolic,%20gran%20logia.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><b>Seal of the "older" Symbolic Grand Lodge of Paraguay<br />features the date of 1895</b></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://granlogiasimbolicadelparaguay.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The "older" <b>Gran Logia Simbólica del Paraguay</b></a><b> </b>features the date of 1895 on its seal. Go figure. I'm also told that the older organization is sometimes referred to as the "centennial" grand lodge, as it celebrated the 100th anniversary of its 1923 <i>RE</i>founding in 2023. Image below is their headquarters on Palma Street in Ascunción.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4bCOZU7WyAW-dQcqsAVCPKCG8jH9fgM3WEBB1B50eAQ0BWqZN1l7mRvngJ3w-erdOdVKUc264WYgnJj7lRhO5NtGPRzcajuDMx-jcVRJjQj7Ow8GBy8CUzOATxsmsQc9woaM4R57pQ0FZ2ezb3TW_rQtYB8BW4zKutQwEpfNS0olEmIKao4/s693/5MP6NRLFQBDS7ND3GGETAZL33M.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="693" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4bCOZU7WyAW-dQcqsAVCPKCG8jH9fgM3WEBB1B50eAQ0BWqZN1l7mRvngJ3w-erdOdVKUc264WYgnJj7lRhO5NtGPRzcajuDMx-jcVRJjQj7Ow8GBy8CUzOATxsmsQc9woaM4R57pQ0FZ2ezb3TW_rQtYB8BW4zKutQwEpfNS0olEmIKao4/w400-h286/5MP6NRLFQBDS7ND3GGETAZL33M.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><i>Home of the older "Centennial" Grand Lodge. </i></span><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">Photo: Gustavo Machado </i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This mess has also been a thorny issue for the COGMMNA's Commission on Recognition for almost 20 years. And woe betide outsiders who attempt to make heads or tails of the whole mess.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>CMI Tries To Make Order From Chaos</b></span></h2><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqV3t9tyL_uA5Vx-Hk-TxImAUXnAGIqmfftm3gLxYIAdflkiZZOfdtcDzg54cRKRdMIkKUCXWqGskzpHfyWVC0i07L2EgN_PS9CYubc0t1zE_FuJP2hlz1tFB7ank3_s83KPxdEnsG8hvsUcbFT76esCypJkTfXiyWmzmI2mRAMeaaXSg8vo/s250/logo-cmiBW.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqV3t9tyL_uA5Vx-Hk-TxImAUXnAGIqmfftm3gLxYIAdflkiZZOfdtcDzg54cRKRdMIkKUCXWqGskzpHfyWVC0i07L2EgN_PS9CYubc0t1zE_FuJP2hlz1tFB7ank3_s83KPxdEnsG8hvsUcbFT76esCypJkTfXiyWmzmI2mRAMeaaXSg8vo/s1600/logo-cmiBW.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The </span><a href="https://www.cmi1947.org/?lang=en" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Confederación Masónica Interamericana</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> is a big organization, and it’s divided into several regional zones. CMI’s Zone 6 (which largely covers South America, plus Spain and Portugal) issued a declaration that the "newer" Symbolic Grand Lodge of Paraguay (whose current Grand Master is José Miguel Fernandez Zacur) is the one true “regular” one, and "urged" (not demanded or ordered, but "urged") all of the jurisdictions within their conference to agree with them. But Florida disagreed with with CMI's declaration that the "newer" was the legitimately regular one to be recognized. </span><i style="font-family: arial;">(Click the Spanish-language documents below to enlarge)</i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQ4MmQ3CHA61gJ4ekuR1a40dphOE4EUiynlRrh9YaSnU36kobGaiWpCxPWjTaQW_RrnM89teqTek4aUfdi4wVVWfjVarYt4oCSj9ksx50YHMUPDtJnGznYeEtP-S1_T1mDAeOoavPHnrvGj3ZfZ2byQz61XTu-2kCIdOe0TmSBAqicZiLjFo/s3300/Declaracion%20VI%20Zona%20CMI%2017_10_23p2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQ4MmQ3CHA61gJ4ekuR1a40dphOE4EUiynlRrh9YaSnU36kobGaiWpCxPWjTaQW_RrnM89teqTek4aUfdi4wVVWfjVarYt4oCSj9ksx50YHMUPDtJnGznYeEtP-S1_T1mDAeOoavPHnrvGj3ZfZ2byQz61XTu-2kCIdOe0TmSBAqicZiLjFo/w154-h200/Declaracion%20VI%20Zona%20CMI%2017_10_23p2.jpg" width="154" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvriDHuEXKVL_8k01JK7NW8hg8BVBrWi73aAYWUg-JJuBPF3IOatgxzLrLYuIcO8BdBvD_HUEbDeklMXhGPuFhJhzFpsjHPj1RGTuV15VATyA7yvIBhYaOUGdDkNwM58gshYjWkzQoq5X9FMXUomHtzU5CkZUoA3PEAGop5P0x8UJp6isn14/s3300/Declaracion%20VI%20Zona%20CMI%2017_10_23p1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvriDHuEXKVL_8k01JK7NW8hg8BVBrWi73aAYWUg-JJuBPF3IOatgxzLrLYuIcO8BdBvD_HUEbDeklMXhGPuFhJhzFpsjHPj1RGTuV15VATyA7yvIBhYaOUGdDkNwM58gshYjWkzQoq5X9FMXUomHtzU5CkZUoA3PEAGop5P0x8UJp6isn14/w154-h200/Declaracion%20VI%20Zona%20CMI%2017_10_23p1.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Florida isn't even a member of the Confederation, so why they chose to meddle in CMI's business is anyone's guess. But Florida has declared that any grand lodge signing the CMI's Zone 6 agreement to abide by its conclusion was allowing an outside organization to impose rules and shove them around. That smelled like violation of Masonic sovereignty to Florida: <i>ergo</i>, those grand lodges are obviously NOT sovereign if they let some outside group of buttinskys tell them who to recognize or not recognize; <i>ergo</i>, if said grand lodges AREN’T sovereign anymore, that means THEY obviously AREN’T regular anymore; <i>ergo</i>, Florida issued a demand that all the CMI signatories with whom they were in amity explain their wimpy, weak-sister genuflecting to Florida’s satisfaction, or face the loss of Masonic relations between them. And <i>that’s</i> what resulted in the current list of 13 grand lodges from whom Florida has now withdrawn relations over this issue (the eleven named last week, plus Argentina and Uruguay).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxn3NxZgulEsuwwbS28RCt8Fkh_so5A0Pf26JkFmVhQjfD9yjqcZimvR_pZ5Zu_kSqZtOykAlc5StOgUa9Icw5wNR0ceAcKbj22P3lBCQftmcSplmeLGYey23a_VXlYDDUMljyZrOp97G9DRqG2CYxTuT25hAjDADlIkXe_GQW3GhzRFbv_Fo/s658/FLAPOSTCARD.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="658" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxn3NxZgulEsuwwbS28RCt8Fkh_so5A0Pf26JkFmVhQjfD9yjqcZimvR_pZ5Zu_kSqZtOykAlc5StOgUa9Icw5wNR0ceAcKbj22P3lBCQftmcSplmeLGYey23a_VXlYDDUMljyZrOp97G9DRqG2CYxTuT25hAjDADlIkXe_GQW3GhzRFbv_Fo/w242-h154/FLAPOSTCARD.jpg" width="242" /></a>It might be a perfectly legitimate line of logical thinking Florida followed, but as we all know, grand lodges and grand masters have the power to do things that they shouldn’t necessarily exercise when it comes to the practicality of Masonry's altruistic notions of harmony among brethren. Unleashing lightening bolts from their terrible swift swords ofttimes wind up causing more harm than good among the rank and file brethren, along with creating very bad publicity for what is supposed to be an organization dedicated to worldwide brotherhood and improvement of the human condition. Florida hasn't just cut off visitations between their own members and Masons from the now-shunned grand lodges when they visit the Sunshine State; they are also demanding that any Florida Masons who hold joint memberships in any of the shunned jurisdictions must resign from one or the other.<br /><br />Florida’s Past Grand Master from 2012, RW Jorge Aladro, seems to be at the center of this situation, and it should come as no surprise that he also pops up as this year’s chairman of the COGMMNA’s Commission on Recognition, which convenes in February – likely why Florida’s deadline for responses to its ultimatum was timed for late January. He’s also the chairman of Florida’s committee on foreign fraternal relations. (Aladro may be best remembered by the Masonic community as the grand master who passed edicts during 2012 forbidding Wiccans and pagans from Masonic membership in Florida lodges, and essentially declaring that all Florida Masons must be monotheistic.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWmmbhHJCVxtBwpBcgsgujPRXG6T3tYL0D5jU5sxSDUvUpg3fpWnSpIbtpLcw3wZWHHBUzPc8f1_AuccHmxNtIHP0lWSUAaq_QmMmxGJKoOd6qib51rcTWdrWCCl_G10I2JOdSRIEMM5Bs1FJOLkAl5YB4GKLoLZ8sH2FIZZ0NHIsF8muphY/s1739/Paraguay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1739" data-original-width="1611" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWmmbhHJCVxtBwpBcgsgujPRXG6T3tYL0D5jU5sxSDUvUpg3fpWnSpIbtpLcw3wZWHHBUzPc8f1_AuccHmxNtIHP0lWSUAaq_QmMmxGJKoOd6qib51rcTWdrWCCl_G10I2JOdSRIEMM5Bs1FJOLkAl5YB4GKLoLZ8sH2FIZZ0NHIsF8muphY/w185-h200/Paraguay.jpg" width="185" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>What in hell goes on in Paraguay?</b></span></h2></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in 2005 or so, the Supreme Council of the AASR in Paraguay created an internal uproar when it expelled the sitting Grand Master of Paraguay, which kicked in a rule within the Grand Lodge that expulsion from one Masonic body meant expulsion from all. Effectively, the Supreme Council's action forced the removal of the Grand Master from his elected office, which looked and smelled to the Masonic world like the appendant body was really in charge of a subservient and compliant grand lodge.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me quote the COGMMNA's Commission on Recognition's report from 2008:</span></div><div><span style="color: #060809; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>A split has developed in the Grand Lodge of Paraguay. A group of dissidents have now proclaimed themselves to be the Grand Lodge Symbolic of Paraguay. After a questionable investigation, the Interamerican Masonic Confederation has declared this group headed by Mendoza Unzain to be legitimate. This was an unusual act since the by-laws of the CMI prohibits the interference in the internal affairs of a Grand Lodge. This ruling is being contested by the existing [older] Grand Lodge of Paraguay, but they have not allowed [us] to see the report of the investigation, or to offer a response. Nemecio Lichi was legally elected to be the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Paraguay, and the Commission is of the opinion that this Grand Lodge is still the only Grand Lodge in Paraguay that meets the standards for recognition.</i></span></b></div></blockquote><div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But by 2013, the United Grand Lodge of England had recognized the "newer" </span><a href="https://granlogia.org.py" style="font-family: arial;">Gran Logia Simbólica del Paraguay</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> , which also had the support of many CMI members. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">By 2014, the COGMMNA Commission on Recognition's report came to the conclusion that the <i>newer</i> body was now the "only Grand Lodge in Paraguay that meets the standards for recognition."</span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2016, the Commission reiterated its conclusion that the newer GL was considered to be the regular one. Because the two groups have exactly the same name, the Commission reported specifically that "The current Grand Master of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Paraguay [in 2022] is M∴W∴ Bro. Edgar Sanchez Caballero. The address of that grand lodge is: Gran Logia Simbolica Del Paraguay Avda. de la Victoria No 690 esq Lopez Moreira Asuncion - Paraguay." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(BTW, their most recently elected Grand Master who will serve 2022-2026 is now MW José Miguel Fernández Zacur.)</span></p><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="https://masonicrecognition.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/2018-commission-report.pdf" target="_blank">Commission on Recognition's report from 2018</a> enlarged upon the origin story of the newer Paraguayan grand lodge a bit, but threw their hands up over the mess, recommending a treaty or some other solution to jointly share the territory, whether they got along with each other or not:</span></div></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>In 2005, the Grand Master of Paraguay was suspended by an appendant body [Paraguay's Supreme Council of the AASR]. Pursuant to treaty, this lead to his suspension from symbolic or craft Masonry. In 2006, there was a schism in Paraguayan Masonry. For a number of years, attempts were made to reconcile the two grand lodges. In 2014, when such efforts repeatedly failed, this Commission found that the <u>newer</u> grand Lodge met the standards for recognition. This was, in part, because the prior Grand Lodge did not demonstrate sovereignty, as an appendant body functionally controlled the craft. The Commission has now been presented evidence that in 2017, a new treaty was entered into with the appendant body, preserving the sovereignty of the craft. While both grand lodges appear to be practicing regular Freemasonry, before the Commission makes further recommendations, we encourage both parties to discuss a treaty to share the jurisdiction regardless of whether they formally recognize one another Masonically. </i></span></b></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div>
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<div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As a result, I believe just over a dozen U.S. grand lodges recognize ANY grand lodge of Masons in Paraguay at all. The rest are sitting back and waiting for some sanity to prevail. But Florida is, to my knowledge, the ONLY one sticking with the older organization. Meanwhile, the newer Symbolic Grand Lodge has posted a packet of online documents that demonstrate the worldwide support they have continued to receive over the years. <a href="https://granlogia.org.py/assets/glsp-recognition.pdf" target="_blank"><i><b>They can be seen HERE.</b></i></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, the really ironic bit of unintentional pratfall comedy here is that the schism with the original Symbolic Grand Lodge of Paraguay began 20 years ago over the accusation that an outside group (Paraguay's Supreme Council of the AASR) was calling the shots for them – proof that they were no longer a sovereign grand lodge that governed itself. And now, Florida has split from these thirteen GLs in CMI because Florida questions <i>their</i> sovereignty by agreeing to CMI's definition of regularity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To finally wrap this up, below is the official English-language response to Florida issued on Saturday by Paraguay from 2022-26 Grand Master Zacur. (Click to enlarge)</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhch8Z1hk7hqfV5MsbeBVtr8YdqV1ExU_-0SC_DIxgvPe97Lxr0YQzWgcRt9xbMq2bp6ydVA5U85sjRJ4BDnVAg0C95KOFoQLuh0Mug2mlN6ROUJETx1GEG0L9KU6z0SqfadppW9gzxPJy8NRUUqFrXrZEsnCYHYpj2hTmBcHe6q7QkGDHaiZE/s3507/Pronouncement_of_the_SGLP%5B1%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3507" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhch8Z1hk7hqfV5MsbeBVtr8YdqV1ExU_-0SC_DIxgvPe97Lxr0YQzWgcRt9xbMq2bp6ydVA5U85sjRJ4BDnVAg0C95KOFoQLuh0Mug2mlN6ROUJETx1GEG0L9KU6z0SqfadppW9gzxPJy8NRUUqFrXrZEsnCYHYpj2hTmBcHe6q7QkGDHaiZE/w141-h200/Pronouncement_of_the_SGLP%5B1%5D.jpg" width="141" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y3O8MD_hG7c-ZEdUdGiIwJM9fFxqLUs4WpxgllR7AT4bHZEsAiEfZPG4Az-OxfVsiOpZFsUv6oStjV3rSWngh-BUkNZYBAMAA9DU5M1inxDIW_IeG85fBGsKJTpIz3qFC63PZ3iv5Zx6K4lzL0sy7zPAgXfioBjlkGrtPO8c4rSSb3PKaaQ/s3507/Pronouncement_of_the_SGLP%5B2%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3507" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y3O8MD_hG7c-ZEdUdGiIwJM9fFxqLUs4WpxgllR7AT4bHZEsAiEfZPG4Az-OxfVsiOpZFsUv6oStjV3rSWngh-BUkNZYBAMAA9DU5M1inxDIW_IeG85fBGsKJTpIz3qFC63PZ3iv5Zx6K4lzL0sy7zPAgXfioBjlkGrtPO8c4rSSb3PKaaQ/w141-h200/Pronouncement_of_the_SGLP%5B2%5D.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">This episode is the sort of thing your own grand lodge's Foreign Fraternal Relations Committee has to peer into every year, and their report is usually buried deep in the proceedings of your annual meeting – just in case some grand master gets it in his head to appoint you to that committee...</span></div><p><br /></p></div></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-49972480756769552512024-01-27T00:53:00.084-05:002024-01-31T00:29:17.943-05:00Florida Withdraws Amity With Eleven Foreign Grand Lodges<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUkjyVaOWN4AOLHpLwks0n3EjAai0HpDt69y2NMKcULX9Xzd2VygGp_ABUrGHVbrYggulgBZDfM_FFKy22JkM1yLmvuoUbsd0ymzEnPTCaMAw5Bx-CFPwKooscBHviHknk9q11d5QvDRg_I8QztArmUIe8pTS3zbwyTS0Oylpy4gor2Lw1f8/s463/logo-live-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="105" data-original-width="463" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUkjyVaOWN4AOLHpLwks0n3EjAai0HpDt69y2NMKcULX9Xzd2VygGp_ABUrGHVbrYggulgBZDfM_FFKy22JkM1yLmvuoUbsd0ymzEnPTCaMAw5Bx-CFPwKooscBHviHknk9q11d5QvDRg_I8QztArmUIe8pTS3zbwyTS0Oylpy4gor2Lw1f8/w400-h91/logo-live-1.png" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><i><b>UPDATED 1/30/2024 10:00AM: Following the original posting of this story on January 27th, I received documentation that the actual number of grand lodges being shunned by the GL of Florida is now up to 13, since they also severed relations with the grand lodges of Argentina and Uruguay two months ago for the same reasons. I will post a more detailed explanation of this whole mess shortly.</b></i></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">On Friday, Grand Secretary Richard E. Lynn, PGM of the <b><a href="https://www.grandlodgefl.com" target="_blank">Grand Lodge of F&AM of Florida</a> </b>issued a letter declaring the immediate withdrawal of relations with the following foreign Masonic grand lodges:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>La Gran Logia de Bolivia, </li><li>La Gran Logia de Chile, A.L. y A.M., </li><li>La Gran Logia de Costa Rica, F. A. y A, </li><li>La Gran Logia de la Republica Dommicana, </li><li>La Grande Loge Nationale Française, </li><li>La Gran Logia de Guatemala, A.L. y A.M, America Central. </li><li>La Gran Logia de Honduras, A.L. y A.M., </li><li>Soberana Gran Login de Nicaragua, </li><li>La Gran Logia de Panamá, </li><li>Gran Logia de los A. L. y A.M., de la Republica del Perü, </li><li>La Grande Loja Legal de Portugal</li></ul>There are no details as to the specifics of the decision, other than to say, </span><div><span><blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>"... because they presume to impose on a Grand Lodge who they can recognize, something that would violate our sovereignty. </i> </b></span></blockquote><blockquote><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b>"Therefore, no Lodge in Florida may visit nor allow visitors or petitioners for affiliation or dual membership from any Lodge Chartered by the Grand Lodges listed above. If you have a Dual Member, he will have to sign a letter of resignation from the Grand Lodge in question if he wishes to remain a member in Florida or vice versa."</b></span></i></blockquote><p style="font-family: arial;">That's a mighty wide swath of grand lodges with which to suddenly cut off relations in one broad swoop. Is there anyone who can shed some light on this announcement?<i> (Click image below to enlarge)</i></p></span><div><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4od32oscr7RV_azWTmFQYhLtQzjj2B7pcaCGpNW7v-zDbgv-qDINNlCW3J26O_WIqUX8mMYIY7wUhi4VXncrzmcv0c8u6FFQsR0L4RPRMphnljrXKh5WP_X_P_eG1AM-FACUhTAoQjaKq0wE-8R1C7v1pmWPDgxkHCq8X_ikAH46g878Cxn4/s1046/IMG_8201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="807" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4od32oscr7RV_azWTmFQYhLtQzjj2B7pcaCGpNW7v-zDbgv-qDINNlCW3J26O_WIqUX8mMYIY7wUhi4VXncrzmcv0c8u6FFQsR0L4RPRMphnljrXKh5WP_X_P_eG1AM-FACUhTAoQjaKq0wE-8R1C7v1pmWPDgxkHCq8X_ikAH46g878Cxn4/w309-h400/IMG_8201.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-34836994072423443972024-01-22T04:49:00.006-05:002024-01-27T19:21:38.686-05:00R.I.P. Illus. Thurman Pace<div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" id="id_7aeb_71a9_7092_2e96"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTMxabzNCurF_l0bswPFrNKe3EQotnZRqQoHL0rl6uVsFZ_4zjQ3ELcONLwFosWsnRdNS4C8rCz-DaifG1iarTHwJA1eQunS9KsKYhpQexj_QMQu8fmt6bQI1IQWCe9TR3uHwdOwrHLis4FylZydUgPo6UkFxyo22AftAZB8TmLCPlyKNv7uQ/s632/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-22%20at%204.46.08%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="632" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTMxabzNCurF_l0bswPFrNKe3EQotnZRqQoHL0rl6uVsFZ_4zjQ3ELcONLwFosWsnRdNS4C8rCz-DaifG1iarTHwJA1eQunS9KsKYhpQexj_QMQu8fmt6bQI1IQWCe9TR3uHwdOwrHLis4FylZydUgPo6UkFxyo22AftAZB8TmLCPlyKNv7uQ/w400-h324/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-22%20at%204.46.08%20AM.png" width="400" id="id_1319_3cfb_4359_f366" style="width: 400px; height: auto;"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Image by Chris Sands from his Facebook page.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br><div style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">by Christopher Hodapp</div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>NOTE: This story will be updated as details become available.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Word came to me very late Sunday night that Illus. Brother Thurman Cleveland Pace, Jr. 33° and PGM of New Jersey has just passed to the Celestial Lodge. He was just two days short of his 100th birthday, but even at such an advanced age, Thurman was an indefatigable, active Freemason who traveled extensively all his life. Longtime attendees at Masonic Week events knew Thurman by sight, even if they had never officially met him. For over 65 years, he gave so much to individual Masons and the fraternity at large, as a mentor and shining example for us all to emulate. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The list of his offices, awards and achievements will be astonishingly long as it gets circulated in the coming days.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53_r4Be58uq4kN39-G4Y6kdPmc9pMTseKBSlteJyR3m9XWbzqTfgCNwEyWLIwi2-8EPYuLiM8aWCfdQlrGmpZVxu-x8B16KDEDXjRmEFUnvc7WtwEA0HHgUzzJlbev_lp8wOH8CkBBALqvwpqh5WLxZs21muTpeiCzrsqcceTprn2kXko47E/s1062/417485979_10230295183342059_597512552489527957_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="840" height="583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53_r4Be58uq4kN39-G4Y6kdPmc9pMTseKBSlteJyR3m9XWbzqTfgCNwEyWLIwi2-8EPYuLiM8aWCfdQlrGmpZVxu-x8B16KDEDXjRmEFUnvc7WtwEA0HHgUzzJlbev_lp8wOH8CkBBALqvwpqh5WLxZs21muTpeiCzrsqcceTprn2kXko47E/w461-h583/417485979_10230295183342059_597512552489527957_n.jpg" width="461" id="id_7684_685e_3166_cb9c" style="width: 461px; height: auto;"></a></div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There is so much that can be said of Thurman, but for the moment, I'll take the liberty of passing someone else's words along. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The following message was posted Sunday by </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02dZiV6waL9N8CC8ePTRMZNptAvDRW6oVpFaBuDAvagLD7j8uFUuvg4zBPfYPFwnQRl&id=100063576515319" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">WB Moises Gomez on his <b>Facebook page</b></a><span style="font-family: arial;">:</span><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" id="id_b365_bc28_8f81_fdbb"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21C5i1CVmKLm6YtaOrM3mgxEVo_cFEuk7jegerz9KHR8YFYp5sx9h0oC9KaUxPwCKWQ0Pzul66jBRoyc4epLSqSCTKcp8peOaTtRjKpuCdVnob187ARyTKmnDv04JewQkTlRKeMyyGC8KVJsNG1U6yTdnuH_DWvGU9CU7smz8bKwfdl82hEM/s1566/421326814_848640317265178_1601231511925286110_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1284" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21C5i1CVmKLm6YtaOrM3mgxEVo_cFEuk7jegerz9KHR8YFYp5sx9h0oC9KaUxPwCKWQ0Pzul66jBRoyc4epLSqSCTKcp8peOaTtRjKpuCdVnob187ARyTKmnDv04JewQkTlRKeMyyGC8KVJsNG1U6yTdnuH_DWvGU9CU7smz8bKwfdl82hEM/w328-h400/421326814_848640317265178_1601231511925286110_n.jpg" width="328" id="id_31d0_dd47_2c1a_5495" style="width: 328px; height: auto;"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>RW Thurman Pace and WB Moises Gomez. Photo by Moises Gomez</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>I’m very deeply saddened by the loss of my mentor, friend and dear brother R.W. & III Thurman C. Pace, Jr who passed away last night just shy of his 100th birthday this coming Tuesday. For 17 years we have been paired up traveling everywhere together. The last few years because of his health and age he was restricted to just his mother lodge close by. Thurman has touched so many people and his accomplishments are legendary. Even during his service in the U.S. Army during WWII his actions and dedication were incredible. His personal life and love of family was his strength being married to his Betty for 74 years. He was referred by all of his family as Pop Pop. In the Masonic community his level of dedication, commitment and love is unsurpassed and his achievements (way to many to mention) are incredible to believe, that someone could accomplish so much in one life time.</i></span></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>However his greatest attribute and contribution was being able to give back and open so many doors for so many of us, and not just here in NJ but around the world. He would always advise me to give back and always assist another brother achieve their goals. I remember him saying to me once there will be a time where you find a yourself back where you started coming around full circle. It’s at this moment in time where you can do the most good for others. After so many accomplishments in life he found himself back at his mother lodge Atlas Pythagoras Lodge No. 10 on the level completing his circle of life. This was most gratifying for him and as he would say I have come back home, and now dedicated himself and pouring all of his energy into aiding and mentoring others, so that one day they could also come full circle and do the same for others.<br> I will miss driving the thousands of miles together as we did, all the Masonic venues we visited together, and especially the countless hours spent in his den at his home in Westfield having many a Masonic conversation. </i></span></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>To you Thurman I say thank you for all that you did not just for others, your family, your nation, but for me as well. For your kind advice, your friendship, and your brotherly love. I won’t say goodbye, but till we meet again!<br></i></span></b><p><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;"><i>May you rest in eternal peace my dear brother.</i></span></b></p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFD6DHRU83GnS0VvdMcXP1Z1JfCOh_Nmf25l5L7sTpQiEq-lb8zennBnmASP1t0T9g7LSsjxPHobLruh8pzOVzoDd-e7hnb2MB3Jao2XRYJ-spJQZyOz_ZOilwJ3ak8XRs8E5Ku1xX0xhnr2JpHfP5pFBLggEdVAugKtIaIsSiB5qXuT1RWM/s1379/355614138_6485693648155893_6858209643596535322_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1080" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFD6DHRU83GnS0VvdMcXP1Z1JfCOh_Nmf25l5L7sTpQiEq-lb8zennBnmASP1t0T9g7LSsjxPHobLruh8pzOVzoDd-e7hnb2MB3Jao2XRYJ-spJQZyOz_ZOilwJ3ak8XRs8E5Ku1xX0xhnr2JpHfP5pFBLggEdVAugKtIaIsSiB5qXuT1RWM/w356-h454/355614138_6485693648155893_6858209643596535322_n.jpg" width="356" id="id_43f1_6402_c744_c6cb" style="width: 356px; height: auto;"></a></div><br><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I will post an updated message here when I have more details and announcements of any Masonic funeral service that may take place.</span></p><div><div><i style="font-family: arial;">His column is broken, and his brethren mourn.</i></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br>Requiescat in pace, my friend and Brother.</span><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-90293702243131283862024-01-20T23:08:00.086-05:002024-01-22T19:47:52.255-05:00Masons of Texas Turn Out in Force For Annual Meeting<div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_F9xK5B7RTGV6byH-XzElp8VKGAwA_8cWlneaxeTqInu6Y5bdO9fQyTRpoDkEr61UoZXZO5H8Gs5d2m2VwS2_-KqwYw7uIhdef0TrKyn1jjv_RUeNoyDY4SazrEsw2h3k3DCoCM8IUSUJCXk8bNjbDu1kOlktEHneGqSmxG26lVTVjul-eQ/s2048/IMG_8134.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="2048" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_F9xK5B7RTGV6byH-XzElp8VKGAwA_8cWlneaxeTqInu6Y5bdO9fQyTRpoDkEr61UoZXZO5H8Gs5d2m2VwS2_-KqwYw7uIhdef0TrKyn1jjv_RUeNoyDY4SazrEsw2h3k3DCoCM8IUSUJCXk8bNjbDu1kOlktEHneGqSmxG26lVTVjul-eQ/w433-h252/IMG_8134.jpg" width="433" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo: Don Comedy</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;">Note: This story was updated Monday, January 22nd at 1:00 AM to reflect corrections passed along to me by Texas brethren. Corrections include: a revised list of grand officers who were reelected to the Grand Officer's lineup and retained from last year; addition of GM Chapman's photo; more detail added to summarize what led up to these events over the weekend. Errors in the previous version of this story were mine alone. My apologies to all, and my thanks for those who offered corrections. CH</span></i></b><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Revolutions are normally noisy and bloody things, but the Masons of Texas managed to stage their revolt in a remarkably calm and measured manner. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://grandlodgeoftexas.org/home" target="_blank">The Grand Lodge of Texas AF&AM</a></b> held its annual communication in Waco over the last three days, culminating in their grand officer elections this afternoon. Attendees eligible to vote – collectively known in Texas as the "Grand West" – numbered more than 3,400 rumored to be their biggest assembly so far in this century. After all the controversies taking place in Texas over the past year, it’s not surprising that events unfolded the way they did. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87CHE5fZkQXftzbINhR5uVtdGyuKA5SXTzS7Upmj4N8_4HzN57FReipdqzUEYmB84tPDZFaAeXWNq3PIgUEBq8yI84WUi3GorL3G8m10fN-0Ms8UXdrUubWbIoRhyC_KMh9wwQx5uR2y6J4bmBPbA95Fk2DsOABDW4KfqhyphenhyphenipmpmJ3InCN5M/s2048/IMG_8131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87CHE5fZkQXftzbINhR5uVtdGyuKA5SXTzS7Upmj4N8_4HzN57FReipdqzUEYmB84tPDZFaAeXWNq3PIgUEBq8yI84WUi3GorL3G8m10fN-0Ms8UXdrUubWbIoRhyC_KMh9wwQx5uR2y6J4bmBPbA95Fk2DsOABDW4KfqhyphenhyphenipmpmJ3InCN5M/w400-h300/IMG_8131.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Voting members approved a resolution permitting the consumption of alcoholic beverages in a Masonic building after a lodge meeting. In a normal year that would be seen as an almost cataclysmic event, but it was a mere footnote to the drama of choosing whose vision will lead Texas Freemasonry into the future.</span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In a major upheaval and repudiation to "the Old Guard" of grand lodge officers, last year's Deputy Grand Master H. Bart Henderson was passed over for advancement by voters in favor of electing MW Tommy F. Chapman, Past Grand Master from 2018, whose name was placed into nomination from the floor. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIUMmJAdai5tJjEPpR20rmOv3eAptkxj_L0ZVt-nxMpCMwt3eTaAq4vKFXM3aHBVIeLflayI2-PzvJPu77NvEI-JffTlUBGC4K7YZerEseYq10lHqOvmPpopOGZHugvfrx_WU1nxxYoF_DptBmt-1gYkghUAXA71I0cOSDitBwDUBrY6P9EA/s1000/IMG_8150.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIUMmJAdai5tJjEPpR20rmOv3eAptkxj_L0ZVt-nxMpCMwt3eTaAq4vKFXM3aHBVIeLflayI2-PzvJPu77NvEI-JffTlUBGC4K7YZerEseYq10lHqOvmPpopOGZHugvfrx_WU1nxxYoF_DptBmt-1gYkghUAXA71I0cOSDitBwDUBrY6P9EA/w400-h400/IMG_8150.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The new officers of the Grand Lodge of Texas for 2024 are:<br /><br /></span><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Grand Master: Past Grand Master Tommy Frank Chapman<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Deputy Grand Master: Raborn Reader<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Grand Senior Warden: Jim Rumsey<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Grand Junior Warden: Justin Duty<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Grand Treasurer: Rick Townsend<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Grand Secretary: Brad Billings </span></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Officers remaining and advancing from last year's line were: Raborn Reader (last year’s GSW), James Rumsey (last year's GJW), and Grand Treasurer Townsend. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: x-small;"><i>[NOTE: A previous version of this story said there had been a major shakeup in the Grand Lodge Trustees, as well. I've since been informed that these six elected grand officers actually make up the Trustees in Texas, which is quite different from many U.S. jurisdictions in which the Trustees are a completely separate group of brethren, that sometimes may include the current grand master. Apologies for my misunderstanding.]</i></span></b></span></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />At the heart of this year's tensions were previous attempts by PGM G. Clay Smith's administration to isolate, suspend or otherwise blunt the popularity of 2023 Grand Master Brad Billings and other brethren who were seen to be his allies and supporters in order to prevent a major change in the leadership's direction of the Grand Lodge. Even before Billings left office last January, clashes arose between him and what Jim Tresner used to refer to as Masonry's "mossback turtles" who disapproved of his younger, brasher style. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/01/members-to-grand-master-eyes-of-texas.html" target="_blank">An attempt had been made last January to prevent James Rumsey from being installed as Grand Junior Warden</a> after his election and immediately <i>after</i> the installation of the new Grand Master, but mere moments <i>before</i> Rumsey's installation as GJW. The installation was halted and charges were read out against him by the GM, but the assembled brethren made such an uproar over the obvious ploy to scuttle Rumsey that the charges were deferred to a later time. Rumsey was <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2023/01/james-rumsey-texas-grand-junior-warden.html" target="_blank">subsequently suspended</a> by Grand Master Smith the week after the annual meeting. The Grand Secretary at that time, Justin Duty, was also seen to be allied with PGM Billings last year, and GM Smith suspended him last month after Grand Trustees had voted against his making such a move. The political machinations and the misuse of the Grand Lodge rules became repugnant to the rank and file Masons in the state (along with countless Masons outside of Texas who watched events unfold via social media posts), which is what led to this weekend's proceedings.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJ0gNEQnn1QBp96PDzrCoTgsggxQ63M3PZkz1CzZctH_wMGPFmEdlinU2LpASyLHVoO9CJVPT7zb9Ie7w_gaEPP5DArdvwcksSHdV4xi_1FQooFbE6bnD7iZHNgEKjiLTpSFjB1yR3S-c1qnKOozu00C0-MZVbkne-58yg_2elNUr93tYWPI/s2048/IMG_8144.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJ0gNEQnn1QBp96PDzrCoTgsggxQ63M3PZkz1CzZctH_wMGPFmEdlinU2LpASyLHVoO9CJVPT7zb9Ie7w_gaEPP5DArdvwcksSHdV4xi_1FQooFbE6bnD7iZHNgEKjiLTpSFjB1yR3S-c1qnKOozu00C0-MZVbkne-58yg_2elNUr93tYWPI/w300-h400/IMG_8144.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />This year, the voting brethren had their say all weekend long. A resolution was adopted forbidding the grand officer elections from taking place until the completion of all other business in order to prevent last minute shenanigans once the bored crowd left town (something that is extremely commonplace during previous long sessions in years past).<br /><br />In a brief moment of online embarrassment, the internal Grandview website of the Grand Lodge of Texas was updated Saturday morning with 'the new Grand Lodge officers for 2024' showing Bart Henderson as GM, along with the slate of officers who had been expected to advance normally through the line. But as the election began to unfold, it was hastily removed. (That page fortunately never went onto the public website.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JJKFAt1nSJ-FM_9J4ub5gTcNvIG9bFf-qQghnZET5S1nAI1f_ns1VDZ4kPHdxLey5NSVWplsQq-AmSlMRPHl0TOqSr-Y1v0dZbhyphenhyphenhjrvAePZ9Z394huHp-3icF_TOti0S_XPdh4SfMbPYBpqWgC0o-zsqG_N7Re_7tuZ5lViDsngfhmnvxU/s1387/IMG_8132.jpg" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JJKFAt1nSJ-FM_9J4ub5gTcNvIG9bFf-qQghnZET5S1nAI1f_ns1VDZ4kPHdxLey5NSVWplsQq-AmSlMRPHl0TOqSr-Y1v0dZbhyphenhyphenhjrvAePZ9Z394huHp-3icF_TOti0S_XPdh4SfMbPYBpqWgC0o-zsqG_N7Re_7tuZ5lViDsngfhmnvxU/s320/IMG_8132.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Similarly, the Grand Lodge booth in Waco selling "H.B. Henderson 2024 GM" commemorative coins, belt buckles, pins and more was immediately shuttered when elections concluded, making those items truly rare and unusual collectors' items.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In his acceptance message, GM Chapman addressed the subject of appointed District Deputy Grand Masters, committee members and others by inviting them to remain in those positions for his administration if they wished to continue serving the grand Lodge. Otherwise, they could turn in their officer aprons and a new appointment would be selected. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">On Friday, a resolution (Resolution 10/24) was passed that had a huge effect on the activities and elections that followed. It immediately moved that all charges against anyone making themselves available for a grand office be openly tried under jurisdiction of Grand Lodge, and not behind closed doors in a subordinate lodge. It specified that all charges had to be handled by the Grand Lodge prior to the upcoming elections. This was why the order of business was such an important issue this year. Despite the Grand East's attempts to force the elections to take place earlier in the session, the Grand West insisted on the completion of all business (including the disposition of this resolution) </span><i style="font-family: arial;">before</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> the elections were to be held. Passing the resolution made it effective immediately, which led to an immediate trial for RW Brad Billings on Saturday morning where they would have to explain everything to the Grand West. In a major development, negotiations went on between Billings and the Grand Lodge in which he dropped his defamation lawsuit against the GL in return for the dropping of all charges brought against him. By Saturday morning all parties had settled all charges, and Billings was permitted to run for grand Secretary - a position he subsequently won.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In other action, the Grand West also shot down a resolution to permit "one day classes" and the power to create a "Mason at sight" by grand masters. Other resolutions that passed:</span><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Approved the printing and display of lodge minutes an hour before opening a meeting for inspection by members for correction, and dropping requirement of the actual reading of the minutes;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A special session of the Grand Lodge may be called by 50 or more lodges (this is a constitutional change that must hold over until 2025 meeting for final vote);</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Lodges may sponsor and permit the Boy Scouts to meet in their buildings;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Restoration of the charter of Austin Lodge 12.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben Franklin was famously asked by a lady outside of the committee meeting in which the U.S. Constituution was drafted, "Well Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" His classic response was, "A Republic, if you can keep it." Texas Masons seem to have taken that job of keeping their republic over a monarchy quite seriously this week.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos: My apologies for some missing photo credits. These were grabbed from various Facebook posts and text messages I was following all weekend, and I was unable to notate the sources at the time. Tough to do while driving. If I've used one of your images, let me know and I'll either credit you or take it down.</i></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-37729461365270816442024-01-16T13:38:00.000-05:002024-01-16T13:38:55.315-05:00Midwest Conference on Masonic Education May 3-5, 2024 in Minnesota<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx36D44AmHRpSrB6b-E606kexN9S8JgfNYbqTXz0RgBAXCfhiSXhFQ_zhLLI79s22VQBInFF5rDryR7iHSTlPv_jQ3uagm7Y47BoUb0XTDsMyv31muG1XPXcO7QekP6MlZx3QYb8YT32TJpZlmPxbO69DUyMzcJaYBr3-ap0Nmq2Kv7YWD8xA/s1796/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-16%20at%2011.53.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1148" data-original-width="1796" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx36D44AmHRpSrB6b-E606kexN9S8JgfNYbqTXz0RgBAXCfhiSXhFQ_zhLLI79s22VQBInFF5rDryR7iHSTlPv_jQ3uagm7Y47BoUb0XTDsMyv31muG1XPXcO7QekP6MlZx3QYb8YT32TJpZlmPxbO69DUyMzcJaYBr3-ap0Nmq2Kv7YWD8xA/w400-h256/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-16%20at%2011.53.04%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This year's <a href="http://www.mcme1949.org" target="_blank"><b>Midwest Conference on Masonic Education</b></a> will be held May 3-5, 2024 in Bloomington, Minnesota in and around the Masonic Heritage Center on the campus of the Minnesota Masonic Home.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Grand lodges all over the world have long realized the crying need to impart Masonic knowledge to our members. It seems that <i>everybody</i> knows that they're supposed to be providing "Masonic education" to Freemasons. But just how to you get knowledgable Masons who know (or understand) Masonic ritual, history, customs, laws, and all the other intellectual and cultural heritage we possess in our institution the proper tools and training to convert their knowledge and expertise into digestible lessons and into the brains of eager students? The best ritualists and historians don't always make the best teachers. Well, this year's conference will help provide some tools and methods to do just that.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Keynote speaker for this annual event will be <a href="http://www.topgunbio.com" target="_blank">Dave Baranek</a>, former Aerial Combat instructor at the U.S. Navy's "Top Gun" Fighter Weapons School at Pensacola. His talk will center on "educating the educators," based on his 20 years of experience of teaching young pilots how to master the complex intricacies and develop the instincts needed for flying F-14 Tomcat planes. You can't get more different subjects than teaching Freemasonry and F-14s, but the methods of educating a widely disparate group of students in arcane subject matter are essentially alike. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In addition to Baranek's keynote, other speakers and topics will include:</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Terry Tilton, PGM - "Masonic Education – Our Challenges and Opportunities"</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">WBs Eric John Erfourth and Daniel Sherry - "MWB Ben Franklin’s Educational methodology and attitudes towards Adult education"</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">WB Brad Phelps - "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Masons"</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Scott Wolter – "Templars, Masons & North America"</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also speaking will be: Nick Settich, Brad Phelps, Markus Müller and Reed Endersbe</span></li></ul>The event hotel will be the nearby Marriott in Minnetonka, Minnesota.<br /><br />For a schedule of speakers, events, vendors and how to register, visit the conference website at <a href="http://www.mcme1949.org">www.mcme1949.org</a></span><i><b><blockquote><br /><u><span style="color: #f1c232;">ABOUT THE CONFERENCE (from their website)</span></u></blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: #f1c232;">The Midwest Conference on Masonic Education was formed in 1949 at a gathering of interested Masons from Illinois (including Alphonse Cerza) and Iowa. The outcome was to continue getting together by establishing its first Annual Meeting which was held in December 1950 in Cedar Rapids IA. The organization is comprised of a loose and ever-changing collection of Masonic educators from Grand Lodge jurisdictions located in north central States and the Canadian Province of Manitoba. </span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: #f1c232;">Member jurisdictions: <a href="https://ilmason.org/">Illinois</a>, <a href="https://www.indianafreemasons.com/">Indiana</a>, <a href="https://grandlodgeofiowa.org/">Iowa</a>, <a href="https://michiganmasons.org/">Michigan</a>, <a href="https://mnfreemasons.org/">Minnesota</a>, <a href="https://momason.org/">Missouri</a>, <a href="https://glne.org/">Nebraska</a>, <a href="https://www.freemason.com/">Ohio</a>, <a href="https://ndmasons.com/">North Dakota</a>, <a href="https://sdgrandlodge.org/">South Dakota</a>, Manitoba. </span><span style="color: #f1c232;">Other participants frequently include chairs of Masonic Education as well as Grand Lodge officers. </span></blockquote></b></i><b><i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><blockquote><u>What We Are Abou</u>t<br /><br />The aim of the Conference is to promote Masonic Education, in part by providing a forum for educators to gather, freely discuss Masonic issues, socialize, and learn from sharing experiences while building beneficial relationships.<br /><br /><br />In addition, the Conference initiates special projects such as collecting data on educational practices across all North American jurisdictions, as well as encouraging Masonic research and writing by individual educators.<br /><br /><u>How We Function</u><br /><br />The Conference meets once a year, usually in late April or early May, in one of the member jurisdictions. Responsibility for conducting the Annual Meeting rotates each year, eventually being hosted by all member jurisdictions before repeating.<br /><br />A typical program schedule includes presentations by well-known Masonic speakers, experiential as well as scholarly participant presentations, roundtable discussions, and jurisdiction reports. Sufficient time is also arranged to provide informal chats among attendees. For more than a half century, our participants have expressed the view that our Conference is well worth the time, effort and cost in order to gain the many benefits from attending and participating. </blockquote></span></i></b><br /><br />Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-71620930389672391272024-01-04T12:22:00.036-05:002024-01-05T12:44:39.999-05:00Texas PGM BIllings Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Grand Lodge and 5 Officers<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2AAWpIZqgUehbNYx64BziAwA6-Hlf8TyGauWFxhzO5qCiwdyZ0Ika62_7NW8bUInkeb44wXCpCPaQgLIHfyj9ZuDizwVBe4u5ep72XyncUKlSmPPPojprC8Qh5ygGOrptnFalweiqTKgkd_m_L-gYHPDqgzUx7BBqohzM70bminRxdiyPGE/s764/95b38fec-GAVEL-courts-lawsuit-ruling-judge_1568150016615_7649489_ver1.0_640_360.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="764" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2AAWpIZqgUehbNYx64BziAwA6-Hlf8TyGauWFxhzO5qCiwdyZ0Ika62_7NW8bUInkeb44wXCpCPaQgLIHfyj9ZuDizwVBe4u5ep72XyncUKlSmPPPojprC8Qh5ygGOrptnFalweiqTKgkd_m_L-gYHPDqgzUx7BBqohzM70bminRxdiyPGE/w400-h226/95b38fec-GAVEL-courts-lawsuit-ruling-judge_1568150016615_7649489_ver1.0_640_360.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>(A brief post from the road as we pass through Gallup, New Mexico...)</i></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As the clock ticks down to the GL of Texas annual meeting later this month, a new broadside has been shot across the bow of the Grand Lodge. Texas' Immediate PGM Brad Billings has just filed a $250,000 lawsuit in civil court for defamation of character, naming the Grand Lodge and five officers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.kwtx.com/2024/01/03/former-grand-master-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-grand-lodge-texas-five-officers/" target="_blank">From the KWTX-TV website</a></b>:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><i><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></i></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Bradley Scott Billings is seeking up to $250,000 in his lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Waco’s 170th State District Court, against the Grand Lodge of Texas, Timothy P. Simmons, Lance Lawrence Kennedy, George Clay Smith, Howard Bart Henderson and Russell Clay Brown.<br /></span></span></b></i><i><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Billings, who served as grand master from January 2022 to January 2023, alleges that the manner in which theft charges were initiated against him within the lodge has denied him due process, are false and defamatory and could hurt his chances to be elected grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Texas at its annual meeting this month.</span></span></b></i></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><i></i><i><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /><br />[snip]</span></span></b></i></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">Billings alleges in his lawsuit that he met “great resistance” from lodge members during his tenure as grand master.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">“As the highest officer of the Grand Lodge of Texas who was elected by an overwhelming majority as the leader of an organization of 60,000 Texas men, the plaintiff undertook efforts to energize his constituents, raise money for the various charities supported by the Grand Lodge, and to modernize the operations and practices of the Grand Lodge,” according to the lawsuit.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">A masonic trial was set for Jan. 6, 2024, with Brown being appointed “trial master” by Smith, the current grand master. Kennedy was appointed “prosecutor,” the lawsuit states.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">Billings alleges in the suit that the charges do not meet the “certainty requirements” under Texas law and don’t sufficiently provide him notice of the allegations against him.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">“Specifically, it does not notify such required information as from whom he is supposed to have stolen money, the amount of money stolen, and how the money was supposed to be appropriated,” the lawsuit alleges.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">The defendants denied discovery matters to Billings, overruled his objections to procedural errors and ruled that Billings’ masonic counsel was disqualified from representing him, according to the suit.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">They also denied his request to postpone the “trial,” Billings alleges.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">Besides damaging his reputation and possibly costing him election as grand secretary, Billings also alleges the “allegations and potential conviction” make him ineligible for holding office and may cost him his membership as a Texas mason.</span></i></b></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="text | article-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: georgia;">“The plaintiff is at risk of being found guilty of theft in violation of Texas law by a non-court body that does not have jurisdiction under Texas law to make such findings,” the suit claims. “The plaintiff has the risk of all the potential ramifications of being found guilty of a crime of moral turpitude and even possibly of a felony offense by a non-court body that is violating all constitutional and statutory rights that the plaintiff enjoys under Texas law.”</span></i></b></p></div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When the reporter tried contacting the grand lodge or Billings' attorney, no one would comment, so nobody's sayin' nuthin... </span></p>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-70982632773094870522023-12-31T23:55:00.017-05:002024-03-11T00:46:44.775-04:00AASR NMJ Past Commander David Glattly Speaks Out<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qAQh9m_QBQLUTT6sFlb5kj3vpGYUKWZYrDwqwfjpj0RvxLWEoULEc3MeOQ2hgsP2IOY3ZWtIP3ChEvNhGZ-MVFgFeUTC6wp0n0hY6-hS8p_NAenUEeZ22pmjTyS1hqV-robC46eimhMyt72R3hbJyCSjY2SVy303wsWNQ_PCVOujmsb4NvI/s457/David-Glat.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="457" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qAQh9m_QBQLUTT6sFlb5kj3vpGYUKWZYrDwqwfjpj0RvxLWEoULEc3MeOQ2hgsP2IOY3ZWtIP3ChEvNhGZ-MVFgFeUTC6wp0n0hY6-hS8p_NAenUEeZ22pmjTyS1hqV-robC46eimhMyt72R3hbJyCSjY2SVy303wsWNQ_PCVOujmsb4NvI/w400-h350/David-Glat.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE: SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024, 8:00PM:</u><b> <i>Several weeks after this story first appeared here on February 15th, the AASR-NMJ Supreme Council publicly released the findings of an independent financial audit, multiple independent investigations of the allegations made against David Glattly which led to his resignation back in 2022. The results of all of these inquiries refute Glattly's version of events that he posted here at the end of December, and corroborate the accusations against him made by the internal whistleblower in the Lexington office.</i></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><i><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b>Please see: </b></span></i></div><div><b>3/8/2024:</b><i> </i><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/aasr-nmj-releases-results-of.html" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><b>AASR-NMJ Releases Results of Investigations Over Former SGC David A. Glattly</b></span></a></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"><b><i>Also, please see my apology on March 10th for taking any side whatsoever in this matter: </i></b></span></span><b style="font-family: Times;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-deepest-apologies-is-red-or-white.html"><i>My Deepest Apologies: Is Red or White Wine Best with a Plate of Crow?</i></a></span></b></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b><hr /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><b style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span><u>UPDATED 2/20/2024, 4:00AM</u> to include a leaked copy of the letter written by a whistleblower referred to in Glattly's statement:</span></b><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"> </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">When Illus. David Glattly 33° was elected as Sovereign Grand Commander of the </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/" target="_blank">Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction </a></b><span style="font-family: arial;">back in 2017, it was expected that he would serve what has traditionally been a long term of office. He succeeded Illus. John McNaughton in the position, who had just kicked off what was to be "a new path" for the NMJ. That path began with an extensive demographic survey of American men to discover the public's awareness of Freemasonry, and that led to the creation of a unique advertising campaign to stir new interest in the entire Masonic fraternity.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Commander Glattly's first year in office introduced the </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://beafreemason.org" target="_blank"><b><i>"Not just a man. A Mason"</i></b> ad </a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://beafreemason.org" target="_blank">campaign</a>, and it has since been widely adopted by numerous grand lodge jurisdictions throughout North America, as well as by individual local lodges. Under his leadership, the NMJ assembled its own in-house video production unit, and in 2020 when the COVID pandemic suddenly shut down most large, public gatherings of any kind (like lodge or AASR Valley meetings and degree work), the NMJ went to work shooting high-quality video versions several of the Rite's degrees.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A new wave of excitement and enthusiasm swept across the AASR-NMJ. T</span><span style="font-family: arial;">he advertising campaign succeeded at increasing membership at both the grand lodge and the AASR levels, while the <a href="https://scottishritenmj.org/hauts-grades-academy" target="_blank"><b>Hautes Grades education program</b></a> and the Rite's increased book publishing initiatives were all helping to retain – and even <i>increase</i> – membership for the first time in decades. The online streaming program, <b>"Thursdays at the Rite"</b>, and the presentation of some degrees on video during online reunions kept members engaged throughout the COVID shutdowns. The NMJ's social media presence was extremely active all through the COVID mess, and the Glattlys were excited to start traveling again once restrictions were dropped.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But suddenly, at the August 2021 semi-annual meeting of the NMJ in Cleveland, Ohio, something surprising happened. After just four years in office, SGC David Glattly, suddenly and without warning, <a href="https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2021/08/illus-peter-j-samilec-elected-as-new.html" target="_blank">announced his retirement.</a> (His </span><span style="font-family: arial;">brief </span><a href="https://issuu.com/thenorthernlight-magazine/docs/nmj_tnl_nov21_hires_vf2/s/13842765" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">farewell message</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> was reprinted in the </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><b>Northern Light </b></i><span style="font-family: arial;">magazine.) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK8GXXpYFjspZHMwpz2Rl7eaue_87FR5U-sRk8bDuS2URLDcglRdhzIr0RZYq2mvvFmEgFJi0MnZR0pv5CX45dsu2HjN4PjEfpgsGe3PZMSpbEtwicHrVKuhk1M5MhfInrWgsBTNYScmEZKXkOF1_-Mh0DE3G7FszjSx32ZugL6eavzIXJPA/s668/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-15%20at%2010.19.25%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="498" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK8GXXpYFjspZHMwpz2Rl7eaue_87FR5U-sRk8bDuS2URLDcglRdhzIr0RZYq2mvvFmEgFJi0MnZR0pv5CX45dsu2HjN4PjEfpgsGe3PZMSpbEtwicHrVKuhk1M5MhfInrWgsBTNYScmEZKXkOF1_-Mh0DE3G7FszjSx32ZugL6eavzIXJPA/w208-h278/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-15%20at%2010.19.25%20PM.png" width="208" /></a></div>In his message, he explained that he and his wife Monica had both been hit with medical issues that would be problematic for his many duties and extensive travel schedule for the Rite. They decided they needed "a slower pace in life." </span><span style="font-family: arial;">He was succeeded in office by Illus. Pete Samiec 33°, who was, in turn, succeeded in August 2023 at the NMJ's meeting in Louisville by Illus. Walter F. Wheeler </span><span style="font-family: arial;">33°. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, the Glattlys retired to Florida, years before they had anticipated doing so. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Monica Glattly tragically <a href="https://cremationservicesofpolk.com/tribute/details/13335/Monica-Glattly/obituary.html" target="_blank">passed away last fall</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So what happened? Why did SGC Glattly suddenly leave office in 2022 with very little explanation, apart from his farewell message?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The short answer is that David was driven out of the office, despite his dedicated and visionary leadership and the successes it brought to the Rite. After two years of silence, he finally felt he needed to explain his version of what went on, unbeknownst to the membership and the Masonic world. The result is a ten-page document explaining his side of the story and his view of what <i>really</i> happened behind the scenes. It shouldn't be surprising that the accusations made and actions taken by several of the NMJ's trustees may very well have taken a serious toll on Monica's emotions and health and contributed to her premature death.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Glattly originally drafted his letter to be read at last August’s Supreme Council meeting in Louisville, but decided to hold it back until that meeting ended. He forwarded it to me several weeks ago, but our annual California RV excursion kept me busy and distracted, resulting in my tardiness in posting it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Freemasonry, like so many volunteer groups, must rely on men who are either saints, or martyrs, or both — preferably both. The final lines of David's message are some of the saddest words I've ever encountered when it comes to Freemasonry, or ANY organization or company that requires extreme dedication and enormous amounts of time:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><i><b>"Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care."</b></i></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I wish this phrase appeared in every Masonic officer installation ceremony just to remind our own leadership of just who keeps this fraternity alive from year to year, through thick and thin, in sickness and in health. So often we push men to the breaking point, and we throw them away at our own peril.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Click the pages below to enlarge them.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRG5NsxFzzPmrsYDYl2DgxYwHQpzx5guas8ra_SJnxsXJVvlPk0K_VCQ9Eic-CeWzPTDccuk-DB1GPZASAKUflkC1spxGkBR_P-OyJC60RKYT3xfm_pQL6NSckVmaiLoOWm09ACf6XsRxjTwGvqkbGKA46TUkTHvNUCLwaFXAmbDjoOXyIZjw/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRG5NsxFzzPmrsYDYl2DgxYwHQpzx5guas8ra_SJnxsXJVvlPk0K_VCQ9Eic-CeWzPTDccuk-DB1GPZASAKUflkC1spxGkBR_P-OyJC60RKYT3xfm_pQL6NSckVmaiLoOWm09ACf6XsRxjTwGvqkbGKA46TUkTHvNUCLwaFXAmbDjoOXyIZjw/w496-h640/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED1.jpg" width="496" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuYmaHOaeR0ampjGNElBkrVyd8hi15LfS5mdSnaYANbIMnsAdBoTmOJH7Agx2fvZ4UqmX6r4ttIlpuysl1-Q5e9e48FP33y6H5uhpol_vavolK0wJFL0WZEtFTYDvwwAdtiZMrOmKe36CfFqHZ1HWyEtVI3j-XgBouYmfCmFzFsRLO5RulHk/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuYmaHOaeR0ampjGNElBkrVyd8hi15LfS5mdSnaYANbIMnsAdBoTmOJH7Agx2fvZ4UqmX6r4ttIlpuysl1-Q5e9e48FP33y6H5uhpol_vavolK0wJFL0WZEtFTYDvwwAdtiZMrOmKe36CfFqHZ1HWyEtVI3j-XgBouYmfCmFzFsRLO5RulHk/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED2.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQV_D15_MwiqqLnD3Z0z-SMdWQXYkiufE-_RbT75Ntl32_SuIddNh5CDdDYGMbqUP-vj2iWWucxgWJhyl0YfJZYDiOYXqvBhzluExrO57ZC233XBkOwNcCsaHn_OMpJDT0ruQkROJfH7Z5X2_ue-uzp0Nb086gP6useD_unf7eVQRuFBMW9c/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQV_D15_MwiqqLnD3Z0z-SMdWQXYkiufE-_RbT75Ntl32_SuIddNh5CDdDYGMbqUP-vj2iWWucxgWJhyl0YfJZYDiOYXqvBhzluExrO57ZC233XBkOwNcCsaHn_OMpJDT0ruQkROJfH7Z5X2_ue-uzp0Nb086gP6useD_unf7eVQRuFBMW9c/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED3.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 3</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGOYmtxAOLerjRetBwIUq_I-g_T46ql7mF_c2rTzPxhMQaOAoiMXg0zYmB_E3XgoikrzmdqZfOxV3QxrI4mxzAKIaV3fjuKywzVNFB3bOrULlrNYWXL6S9hODxvY1g5ysFrwuHpNbqI7XramCfDU3byTPAnPu5wJg65iMWMm5ZWph86dDreE/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGOYmtxAOLerjRetBwIUq_I-g_T46ql7mF_c2rTzPxhMQaOAoiMXg0zYmB_E3XgoikrzmdqZfOxV3QxrI4mxzAKIaV3fjuKywzVNFB3bOrULlrNYWXL6S9hODxvY1g5ysFrwuHpNbqI7XramCfDU3byTPAnPu5wJg65iMWMm5ZWph86dDreE/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED4.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 4<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKF0GTjzmytnWtNxL-BR3Ou_952jSnC09hj5g79HzYtz0MiS2VIrzP-074gJ_0bjrbgVFnTdG_4tzlaO9v5ZytVUTENApWYaewzP8_wgzO26cKsRg1q3WCaQzOTsdoAcnB7pOwDMlGg4du-tqYd8j-VUtpMvQnu4Aj4MJ4E9ECg-ifkSexV0/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKF0GTjzmytnWtNxL-BR3Ou_952jSnC09hj5g79HzYtz0MiS2VIrzP-074gJ_0bjrbgVFnTdG_4tzlaO9v5ZytVUTENApWYaewzP8_wgzO26cKsRg1q3WCaQzOTsdoAcnB7pOwDMlGg4du-tqYd8j-VUtpMvQnu4Aj4MJ4E9ECg-ifkSexV0/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED5.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 5</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZdm3TdlAmVeDigOqZCS4Ib2P08J7lEZDPIlZ-UxSGrYy9KRZ5wU75OEsUuRWJA8sv0fc2Gw5qD4k_alppR7w6wMlbzNfhLZLD00nsA8OxXEJC61xuemz825hZmGAzDD1OeWAIA7RYQuTTM_6AIBbLxisa-q-eOD8UONdacAo5gQiS_UR_DI/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZdm3TdlAmVeDigOqZCS4Ib2P08J7lEZDPIlZ-UxSGrYy9KRZ5wU75OEsUuRWJA8sv0fc2Gw5qD4k_alppR7w6wMlbzNfhLZLD00nsA8OxXEJC61xuemz825hZmGAzDD1OeWAIA7RYQuTTM_6AIBbLxisa-q-eOD8UONdacAo5gQiS_UR_DI/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED6.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 6</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2HuTpCCWMV6FGwuJ_rOEFXAO2u9x7iSIlWvAqUrEfqQ7Ch9-TBbC-wYlCZfnabmHH6DpzT7E2scu4-6jXnLsbhAcA7WxRamc3efs3_xlKumJ5NuSl6l7IUvzxy04-k81EpewxAp_yPCy4hFJHEESiquG4W442omNjvrxtVvDyUFP4bWzhfA/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2HuTpCCWMV6FGwuJ_rOEFXAO2u9x7iSIlWvAqUrEfqQ7Ch9-TBbC-wYlCZfnabmHH6DpzT7E2scu4-6jXnLsbhAcA7WxRamc3efs3_xlKumJ5NuSl6l7IUvzxy04-k81EpewxAp_yPCy4hFJHEESiquG4W442omNjvrxtVvDyUFP4bWzhfA/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED7.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 7</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNkR1lfGOEeUDnk4Feff9VJaK4I1vAqwJtQuVRsrrLua-OGxbk7eRo8uO5Sb3ZVf6l8MxmRWiEhNXnhx__JfOd2BmqGfMhCai2OMFnfs83bQtRiY54k1UHGz1NLoFI9wP45sioxf8bLAJyJFDElS9rXRxYPI0FaKn1LZ44APa4H7MLOYeetA/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNkR1lfGOEeUDnk4Feff9VJaK4I1vAqwJtQuVRsrrLua-OGxbk7eRo8uO5Sb3ZVf6l8MxmRWiEhNXnhx__JfOd2BmqGfMhCai2OMFnfs83bQtRiY54k1UHGz1NLoFI9wP45sioxf8bLAJyJFDElS9rXRxYPI0FaKn1LZ44APa4H7MLOYeetA/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED8.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 8</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9H1WiBreP3TnkoU7bTzMvZz57-Cy2U6MaQOnKYmmdJLe355Usgc5Scub3htzj8qhkbHVxB17uzP4dzlPCRJWA02UKkibcU2esyX4EWuuFWLWKXpZs5nCbUZpsqWgQNUwehOucOwYxcdcGHQXtVcrINEEyNjNHIWrouYfgZiDXP2klV_pqFpY/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9H1WiBreP3TnkoU7bTzMvZz57-Cy2U6MaQOnKYmmdJLe355Usgc5Scub3htzj8qhkbHVxB17uzP4dzlPCRJWA02UKkibcU2esyX4EWuuFWLWKXpZs5nCbUZpsqWgQNUwehOucOwYxcdcGHQXtVcrINEEyNjNHIWrouYfgZiDXP2klV_pqFpY/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED9.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 9</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufwMp3-i0IqRwIMSyuTDm0cAYcn8ohKRFFe7MkfsF9xNLwIyHn-SC054FJi1Mn136vKk5XKZR0B-vriYqHUWEOMc_pXQ2GyYp8OPAtEm9XQO-Fm4tI9GOice3iHnIfbbBsldHG8iyjVOUcjLc4Y5tVtKBgEnHnyOslHwZ3hbIHZfvJhCuTP0/s1641/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED10.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1641" data-original-width="1272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufwMp3-i0IqRwIMSyuTDm0cAYcn8ohKRFFe7MkfsF9xNLwIyHn-SC054FJi1Mn136vKk5XKZR0B-vriYqHUWEOMc_pXQ2GyYp8OPAtEm9XQO-Fm4tI9GOice3iHnIfbbBsldHG8iyjVOUcjLc4Y5tVtKBgEnHnyOslHwZ3hbIHZfvJhCuTP0/w155-h200/Past%20SGC%20Statemwnt%20MODIFIED10.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Page 10</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: red;">UPDATED 2/20/2024, 4:00AM:</span></b> A very wise friend and Brother has always said to me, "It's a mighty thin pancake that doesn't have two sides." The AASR-NMJ has not made any of their documentation public, but David Glattly in his message refers to a letter of accusations against him written by a whistleblower and sent to the Supreme Council. In the interest of fairness, I attach the "other side of the pancake": below is a copy of that initial internal letter, which was publicly leaked last week on the <b>Freemasonry Subreddit</b> of the Reddit boards <i>(Click images to enlarge)</i>:</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY9w9a4biTeLSsJdJjtBzoZajO9W9_by6R1RCiGDWfdJasvdVwzYn-5gbUbRGTGcTomfeoZDOSpg-DXZ4miI11i7d1_E-kBa6IWzjJ7_Iup8rxG8jfokdVZnQVhaJBtErgN4V2VGPdBxIm4X74mZ62tH_cT-wHVXyTyTNLbKdBvopjGs5WRBw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY9w9a4biTeLSsJdJjtBzoZajO9W9_by6R1RCiGDWfdJasvdVwzYn-5gbUbRGTGcTomfeoZDOSpg-DXZ4miI11i7d1_E-kBa6IWzjJ7_Iup8rxG8jfokdVZnQVhaJBtErgN4V2VGPdBxIm4X74mZ62tH_cT-wHVXyTyTNLbKdBvopjGs5WRBw=w407-h524" width="407" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Page 1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs_2nFcoQalcjWr_DniyNvvhVEwGW_EBc6CvqHis9FD_Odpw-M1wEa4yosURPcv4PNrkB7EfqhgK3drAVv8t5wFBAnJxwGhBxDJw0UipmuFE3151O4F9C6eIpPmVQ9TKtVMPFbL_cEL0IQaT4cJhFVXFr_IyOSwCiNFrNlxyqjtglV_f9TMUY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs_2nFcoQalcjWr_DniyNvvhVEwGW_EBc6CvqHis9FD_Odpw-M1wEa4yosURPcv4PNrkB7EfqhgK3drAVv8t5wFBAnJxwGhBxDJw0UipmuFE3151O4F9C6eIpPmVQ9TKtVMPFbL_cEL0IQaT4cJhFVXFr_IyOSwCiNFrNlxyqjtglV_f9TMUY" width="186" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Page 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTiHpggCjRJQNt7r09y1WR4sM0lGRDNaOpSIP4mCmR246ViXkZ1_9dA_QrfHKl2j-ltdinbN25aDf9LhglWWdzfXWl7EXmVz7VT5jmjFNQzXtMGn1lruVNLCPee4L2UvtBYa41gKhrAjphdHF5g9PjvEFEzyekjMnSxmDY6_ONN5KE_JrcmqI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTiHpggCjRJQNt7r09y1WR4sM0lGRDNaOpSIP4mCmR246ViXkZ1_9dA_QrfHKl2j-ltdinbN25aDf9LhglWWdzfXWl7EXmVz7VT5jmjFNQzXtMGn1lruVNLCPee4L2UvtBYa41gKhrAjphdHF5g9PjvEFEzyekjMnSxmDY6_ONN5KE_JrcmqI" width="186" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Page 3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1m5gQcn2-72cezJDQpDzfcW8decjtELQinCrUKoWhyphenhyphenchyphenhyphenDkX_7149FPrurYoYDq1MaBCgFBoMGPIk68whV7sYjfEJbOhnMhOSs9YooFsB0KbGQko4HMMwYXjYwHWdBb3O0losgqlffpNdf3Bi0e4dGMqoY4-I9_g_jYYCJlGTnaRyEiZCdAc/s3300/Hecht_Letter_Glattly4_redact.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1m5gQcn2-72cezJDQpDzfcW8decjtELQinCrUKoWhyphenhyphenchyphenhyphenDkX_7149FPrurYoYDq1MaBCgFBoMGPIk68whV7sYjfEJbOhnMhOSs9YooFsB0KbGQko4HMMwYXjYwHWdBb3O0losgqlffpNdf3Bi0e4dGMqoY4-I9_g_jYYCJlGTnaRyEiZCdAc/w154-h200/Hecht_Letter_Glattly4_redact.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-81962479343422049932023-12-16T03:53:00.003-05:002023-12-16T03:57:28.378-05:00Family Of Murdered Texas Mason Suing Lodge For Negligence<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht06ciZyF3EYZjsptPB-4p3WUvPmpE2qHRCA9W6CU3CKsGHRNzjR4DkPsVB7Ej2LjOYZKTxTtAgL2EEgPra36TPVKQtPH5S5SXx6VlMNSLJ76nJ6AWhyJvsPOkWsWZD4xriLCMNRIZr-WxTZTwgYe8vnnIA-VBDjDiF044tL6HHqrX4Q5M2_Q/s400/358586053_6516691625018527_1293950712186700917_n-2.png"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht06ciZyF3EYZjsptPB-4p3WUvPmpE2qHRCA9W6CU3CKsGHRNzjR4DkPsVB7Ej2LjOYZKTxTtAgL2EEgPra36TPVKQtPH5S5SXx6VlMNSLJ76nJ6AWhyJvsPOkWsWZD4xriLCMNRIZr-WxTZTwgYe8vnnIA-VBDjDiF044tL6HHqrX4Q5M2_Q/w400-h400/358586053_6516691625018527_1293950712186700917_n-2.png" width="400" /></span></i></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Brother Robert Wise, 55, was killed in July after officer's installation</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">(Photos: McAllen Lodge 1110 Facebook page)</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;">by Christopher Hodapp</span><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">The family of a Texas Mason who was murdered outside of a Masonic hall following an officers' installation ceremony has just filed a civil lawsuit against McAllen Lodge 1110 alleging negligence.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Brother Robert Wise was shot and killed in the lodge parking lot the evening of July 10, 2023, allegedly by an anti-Mason named Julio Diaz, who actually shot a video of the murder as it happened and posted it to his social media page.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A story on the MyRGV.com website reads, in part:</span></div><div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>The surviving family members of a McAllen Masonic Lodge member’s summer murder filed a lawsuit saying the organization should have known about what they say is growing anti-Masonic resentment across the country.</b></i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>And Robert Wise’s wife and children said they should have known about 35-year-old Alamo resident Julio Diaz, who is <a href="https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/07/12/freemasons-say-man-was-killed-outside-mcallen-lodge/">accused of fatally shooting Wise</a>, 55, and posting a video of the murder to social media.</b></i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>His surviving family members filed a lawsuit against McAllen Masonic Lodge No. 1110 on Nov. 27, alleging their negligence killed Wise because they ignored what they call a national trend of vandalism and threats against Masons, and because they did not install a light and security camera system purchased in 2022 until after Wise’s murder.</b></i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>They also allege that the organization failed to warn its members about Diaz, who was known to the organization, because Diaz allegedly committed an act of arson at a Weslaco Masonic Lodge, which the McAllen members frequented, according to the petition.</b></i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>McAllen Masonic Lodge No. 1100 is located at 118 N. 11 Street.</b></i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>Wise walked out of that building on July 10 after being a member for more than two years and after a ceremony where he was named a “Junior Deacon.”</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>Police allege that’s when Diaz fatally shot him.</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>[snip]</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>Following Wise’s murder, on July 28 at the McAllen Lodge, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez met with members and “stated the obvious.”</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>“At night, when one enters or exits the McAllen Lodge, the parking lot and surrounding area and the front of the building had no lighting. It was pitch black,” the petition stated. “The premises was unlit, unfenced, and completely unprotected from any trespasser at the time of Wise’s murder.</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>“The McAllen Lodge knew how vulnerable it and its members were, but did nothing.”</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>But even before this meeting, the petition says a popular blogger who writes about Masonic news, had been reporting that ever since the COVID lockdowns that “there has been an alarming increase throughout the U.S. and Canada in incidents of vandalism and arson against Masonic halls by admitted paranoid anti-Masonic extremists and conspiracists.”</b></i></span></div></div></blockquote><div><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">(NOTE: I believe this is in reference to stories appearing on this website, which in no way could have predicted – or prevented – what happened. - CLH)</span><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /></span></i></b></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">Then, on Dec. 6, 2021, the McAllen Lodge was vandalized and the location “became emblematic of the national trend on a local level.”</span></i></b></div></blockquote><div><b></b><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></b></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">“Aware of the national trend and seeing it play out in their front yard, leaders of the McAllen Lodge pushed for the purchase of the light and camera system after this incident,” the petition stated. “Despite the full knowledge of the national and local trend of violence toward Masons, it took another act of vandalism in December of 2021 at the McAllen Lodge to prompt the purchase of a light and camera system.”</span></i></b></div></blockquote><div><b></b><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></b></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">That happened sometime in 2022 when the McAllen Lodge purchased a light and camera system for about $2,000, according to the lawsuit.</span></i></b></div></blockquote><div><b></b><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></b></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">“However, the light and camera system was not installed until months AFTER the murder of Robert Wise. In the wake of this security failure the criminal activity targeting the McAllen Lodge continued,” the lawsuit stated.</span></i></b></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(NOTE: I have no way of knowing the veracity of these claims, but early reports immediately following the murder stated there was surveillance footage of the lodge's parking lot that provided details to law enforcement. The petition goes on to make the bizarre claim that the lodge wasted money on an entertainment event that would have been far more responsibly spent on security systems, as though lights and cameras could have in any way dissuaded the murderer from his premeditated action. - CLH)</span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-bottom: 26px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>On March 30, 2022, someone vandalized the location with graffiti that read “Sorcery against the Holy spirit and the human race must all be stoned to death.”</i></b></span></p></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-bottom: 26px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>After that happened, the person who was the third in command sent text messages to the top two people in charge and the petition said nothing was done.</i></b></span></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-bottom: 26px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>“Five months later, on September 15, 2022, the criminal struck again. The McAllen Lodge was vandalized, the front glass door smashed and fuel thrown into the building to start a fire,” the lawsuit stated.</i></b></span></p></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-bottom: 26px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>After this incident, the petition said a high-ranking member on a state level sent out a message warning people to be vigilant and to secure the lodge building.</i></b></span></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">“Both the McAllen Lodge and the Grand Lodge had actual knowledge of the national trend and the specific threats to the McAllen Lodge,” the lawsuit stated. “What happened to Robert Wise was completely foreseeable and yet no action was taken.”</span></i></b></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(NOTE: For decades, Masonic lodges have often received non-specific, threatening messages, accusing Masons of heresy, secret plotting, devil worship, mind control, and a raft of economic, political and religious conspiracies. Allegations like these date back as far as the early 1700s, and several states have reported numerous instances of finding anonymous warning letters plastered to lodge doors or stuck in mailboxes. It's infinitesimally rare for any actual harm or damage to come from these kinds of threats, but it's still unnerving to find them. Police won't act until an actual crime is committed, and judges often don't like sentencing obviously nutty people to jail time over their beliefs in conspiracies or overzealous religious beliefs. So what exactly is a lodge supposed to do when faced with these kinds of messages? – CLH)</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i>The petition then cites two more arson attacks on Mason buildings on a national level and then another arson attack at the Llano Grande Masonic Lodge on Feb. 21 in Weslaco.</i></b></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://myrgv.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Julio-Diaz-2-e1689786876996-300x264.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">Julio Diaz remains held in the Hidalgo County</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">Adult Detention Center on <a href="https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/09/23/man-accused-of-shooting-mcallen-freemason-in-the-face-indicted-for-murder/">an indictment</a> charging </span></i></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">him with murder and arson. He has a $1 million </span></i></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">bond on the murder charge and a $5,000 bond</span></i></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial;">on the arson charge.</span></i></div></blockquote></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;">“This act should have prompted action. Julio Diaz, the alleged murderer of Robert Wise, videoed the Weslaco Lodge fire and uploaded it to his Instagram page,” the petition stated. “Now violence had a name and a face and it lived right next door. The McAllen Lodge routinely met at the Weslaco Lodge and Diaz knew it."</span></b> </div></b></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>[snip]</i></b></span></blockquote></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b></b><b><i><br /></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>On Aug. 7, Masonic leadership finally ordered the McAllen Lodge closed permanently.</i></b></span></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>“Too little … too late. Robert Wise was dead,” the lawsuit stated. </i></b></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/12/14/mcallen-freemasons-failed-to-take-steps-to-prevent-members-murder-lawsuit-says/" target="_blank">Read more at the myRGV.com website HERE</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Reviewing this long, sad story tonight, my heart ached once again for Brother Wise's grieving family. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Understand that I am in no way making light of his family's grief and loss. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">But there's no way the lodge should be blamed for his murder. The arson fires, graffiti, online threats and other hate-filled actions of anti-Masons around the world that have been spotlighted by this blog are infuriating to all of us. But when you consider the tens of thousands of local Masonic halls around the globe that have NOT been attacked in any way, trying to predict and prevent every four-alarm lunatic's deranged attacks ahead of time isn't possible, or even feasible. All the lights and cameras in the world wouldn't have prevented this horrible act of hatred and extreme religious zealotry.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Moreover, suing the lodge won't bring Brother Wise back to life, nor will it do anything to prevent future anti-Masonic attacks on other Masons.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So why the lawsuit? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Many decades ago, my brother and I were ardent teenaged railfans, and we would travel far and wide to photograph and make audio recordings of trains. One particular trip, I had a new Super8 film camera with an especially wide-angle lens I wasn't quite used to yet. As a train came blasting out of a tunnel in rural Tennessee, I was crouched low on the ground capturing an incredibly dramatic angle of the action, while peering only through my viewfinder. My brother Mike suddenly realized with horror that I was mere inches from having my head ripped off by the locomotive's low-riding front step. He leapt over to me, reached down, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and hurled me out of its path at the very last second.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As we both lay on the ground gasping for breath, I wondered aloud if some slick lawyer might have talked our parents into suing the railroad, had I been decapitated by one of their trains, even if we were trespassing and I had clearly been a completely irresponsible moron. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"No," Mike said, rolling it over in his mind. "This railroad is declaring bankruptcy. You never sue anyone poor."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"Who would they sue then," I asked.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"Why, Eastman Kodak, of course," he replied. "Kodak manufactured the film that went into your camera, and you wouldn't have even been here if it weren't for that damned film. Definitely Kodak."</span></p></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-50124721636268767992023-12-16T02:30:00.001-05:002023-12-16T02:30:00.131-05:00UPDATE: Texas GM Smith Ignores Trustees and Removes Grand Secretary From Office<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcQstX9fyCXnuWsDJEHf5gQiBdrqS5byN-5ojXZJjp_Z-urveGw86Jv5cxOiQ3GbDp6_EXCN8FfTb1ZV0b74aeW_TUed16obqq6cBXxcr-8KhcGKJfGY5gqRrlua249w-5mZQ2UZaRuqXfx0yw0M0db1bHJjqDy_A1gwjmuJ1QaEcVLnKaWQ/s487/rs=w-365,h-487,cg-true.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcQstX9fyCXnuWsDJEHf5gQiBdrqS5byN-5ojXZJjp_Z-urveGw86Jv5cxOiQ3GbDp6_EXCN8FfTb1ZV0b74aeW_TUed16obqq6cBXxcr-8KhcGKJfGY5gqRrlua249w-5mZQ2UZaRuqXfx0yw0M0db1bHJjqDy_A1gwjmuJ1QaEcVLnKaWQ/w300-h400/rs=w-365,h-487,cg-true.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Just a few days after <b><a href="https://texasmasons4truth.com/2023/12/15/grand-secretary-justin-duty-removed-from-office/" target="_blank">The Texas Masons For Truth</a></b> website reported on a failed attempt to remove Grand Secretary Justin Duty (<i>photo above</i>) from office at a called meeting of the Grand Lodge Trustees, Texas Grand Master G. Clay Smith apparently has now decided to ignore that Trustee vote and just go it alone. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://texasmasons4truth.com/2023/12/15/grand-secretary-justin-duty-removed-from-office/" target="_blank">The following story appeared today</a></b>:</span></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Information is fluid, but it is currently our understanding that Grand Master G. Clay Smith has removed Grand Secretary Justin Duty from office and instructed him to turn over his keys and passwords. A Form 1 has been filed and the Grand Master is expected to accept the charges.</span></b></i> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">G:M: G. Clay Smith is taking these actions supposedly based on the issue of payroll deductions. The payroll company forgot to deduct for benefits in [Duty's paycheck], which was resolved and paid for last February.</span></b></i></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><i><b>We expect to hear about Grand Treasurer Rick Townsend’s removal in the coming days.</b></i></span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">One source tells me that Townsend's office may have missed a due date for some sort of payment earlier in the year, and that this will be the justification for bringing Masonic charges against him.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in March, <a href="https://texasmasons4truth.com/2023/03/20/grand-master-audits-records-of-the-grand-treasurer-and-grand-secretary-finds-nothing/" target="_blank">Smith had ordered an extensive audit</a> of the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer, zeroing in on a fundraising event from 2022: proceeds came from the sale of a special limited batch of whisky that had been donated to the Grand Lodge for this purpose. According to the information surrounding the event, all sales were conducted outside of the purview of the Grand Lodge and were not held on Masonic property. It was conducted in strict compliance with Grand Lodge law and the laws of the State of Texas. GM Smith's investigation (conducted by just two members of the Finance Committee) found no errors or impropriety on the part of either office.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's looking more and more certain that the 2024 annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Texas is going to be a grotesque bloodbath come January. None of this will be any good for Texas Freemasonry. A faction in the Grand Lodge regards Immediate Past Grand Master Brad Billings and the brethren who supported him last year as nothing but a noisy group of "frat boys" whose influence on the membership must be rubbed out at any cost. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Billings has made his intentions of running for Grand Secretary this year known, and Justin Duty had intended to run for Grand Junior Warden. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The trouble is that Billings and his team successfully brought new enthusiasm and positivism to Texas Masonry in 2022 that few others have in recent years, and their supporters aren't likely to just fade away. Removal from office, suspensions, expulsions – these types of actions frequently backfire when they're attempted, and martyrs have a funny way of outlasting their tormentors.</span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25683662.post-41232310590638911742023-12-13T10:46:00.228-05:002023-12-15T12:31:09.644-05:00Texas: Attempt To Remove Grand Secretary Fails<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTztIDxq9y_aW5vbhJM-iW8pN7VN1if6RipQqqFki8eKTDdM6Z77Juepo6ld71Kd_PQbOHdwFF09vwS2DwPdWyC4QH9vb1uHSPM0ahyphenhyphenxxHWFec9x4aBPSvxELJHgGbW4g3_qIqnJbwFivvUumxJvV7COSkSUI6BN2Uw84KtGP-awIwC-6zM8/s1000/shutterstock_2376006313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="1000" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTztIDxq9y_aW5vbhJM-iW8pN7VN1if6RipQqqFki8eKTDdM6Z77Juepo6ld71Kd_PQbOHdwFF09vwS2DwPdWyC4QH9vb1uHSPM0ahyphenhyphenxxHWFec9x4aBPSvxELJHgGbW4g3_qIqnJbwFivvUumxJvV7COSkSUI6BN2Uw84KtGP-awIwC-6zM8/w400-h285/shutterstock_2376006313.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><div><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #f1c232; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>by Christopher Hodapp</span><p></p><p></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Backroom intrigues continue in the Grand Lodge of Texas as their annual communication approaches in January. The <a href="https://texasmasons4truth.com/2023/12/11/gm-smith-and-dgm-henderson-attempt-to-remove-grand-secretary-justin-duty/?fbclid=IwAR2R7Ib3q0jC-aOsmOyLz-uyrbazwwfU9nuM_g8jwc_Vdgg4tYSXvOgpxjg" target="_blank"><b>Texas Masons For Truth</b> website is reporting</a> on an unsuccessful attempt by current Grand Master G. Clay Smith and Deputy GM H. Bart Henderson to remove Grand Secretary Justin Duty from office prior to their annual meeting.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">During the weekend of the Texas Grand Chapter and Grand Council annual gatherings, a closed-door meeting of the Grand Lodge Trustees was called by GM Smith to accuse the Grand Secretary of mismanaging his office, and to remove him from his administrative duties. A majority vote of the Trustees is required to do so.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the website story:</span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><b style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Multiple Masons reported shouting coming from the room. At one point, RW Duty was seen waiting outside the room, presumably because they were voting on the matter of removing him.</span></i></b></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>G:M: Smith is not acting alone. P:G:M Reese Harrison and Bro. Russell Brown are reported to have requested G:S: Duty’s removal after an audit found benefits not deducted from G:S: Duty’s paycheck. This clerical error was corrected as soon as it was discovered.</i></b></span></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>While Masonic political allegiances change, it appears the relationship between G:M: Smith and D:G:M: Henderson has remained strong throughout this year. With G:S: Duty outside the door, the remaining Trustees would have been the G:M: Smith, D:G:M: Henderson, G:S:W: Raborn Reader, G:J:W: Jim Rumsey, and Grand Treasurer Richard Townsend.</i></b></span> </span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>G:S:W: Reader, G:J:W: Rumsey, and G:T: Townsend must have voted against for [the] removal to fail, but we are still gathering details.</i></b></span></blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>We are acutely aware certain Past Grand Masters have continued to work behind closed doors to undermine the will of the Grand West.*</i></b></span> </span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>P:G:M: Terry Stogner, as seen handing charges to the Grand Master during an open installation of Grand Lodge,</i></b></span></li><li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>P:G:M: Wendell Miller, as a member of Brooklyn Lodge where the charges against P:G:M: [Brad] Billings were filed, and</i></b></span></li><li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: georgia;"><b><i>P:G:M: Paul Underwood, known to be conducting off-the-record investigations at the request of G:M: Smith</i></b></span></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>* The Grand West is an unusual term used by Texas Freemasons to describe the assembled voting members of their Grand Lodge when assembled.</i></span></p></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What's behind all this smellodrama? It seems that Grand Secretary Justin Duty has the intention of running for election as Grand Junior Warden in January, and is seen by many as being aligned with Past Grand Master Brad Billings and current Grand Junior Warden Jim Rumsey. Billings himself is also rumored to be running for the Grand Secretary's position. So the political maneuvering this year has been an ongoing scheme to prevent the "Billings team" from even coming up for a vote.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>I suspect that, if one were to poll all of the men who voluntarily demitted from Texas Freemasonry in the past year, you'd likely find that a large swath of them would tell you they left because of the ongoing political infighting and backstabbing going on within the officers of their Grand Lodge. Texas politics have long had an ugly reputation for viciousness – precisely the sort of thing that <i>shouldn't</i> be going on within Freemasonry. And the longer these attempts to subvert the vote of their members go on behind closed doors, the more collateral damage will be suffered by the fraternity as a whole.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">There's a good reason why many grand lodge jurisdictions don't permit nominations from the floor and don't permit actually "running for office." Politicking <i>always</i> leads to factionalism. In many jurisdictions, a sitting grand master (or committee) appoints a man to the bottom of the grand lodge line and he advances through the chairs, just as in a Masonic lodge. Over the course of the next 5 to 7 years, long range plans have continuity, men grow into the job (or drop the ball) with several years that permit removal if he's just not leadership material or can't handle the time commitment. Sure, allegations of cronyism arise over appointments and the seemingly un-democratic election process. But I think I'll take that over these kinds of ugly backroom battles and political allegiances. Masons who occupy the dark squares of the tessellated floor eventually move on (or pass on), but they leave way too much blood on the carpet on their way out.</span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>(Photo: Shutterstock)</i></span></div></div>Christopher Hodapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04201859873755654395noreply@blogger.com2