Carlos Diez Jr.: A Masonic Message Through The Noise

Credit: Rick McKee, Counterpoint / CTNewsJunkie via Cagle Cartoons

by Christopher Hodapp

Hopefully, all of my readers had a happy – and mostly harmless – post-election Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends, with as few fights on the lawn as possible. WB Carlos Diez Jr., Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of California, recently posted a message to the Brethren of that jurisdiction, called A Masonic Message Through The Noise. It's a timely subject all of us need to bear in mind as Freemasons in a world of tumult and chaos. Especially before somebody gets stabbed in the hand by a pickle fork or whacked in the noggin with a gravy boat.

Brethren,

Each week, we gather in fellowship. This practice should prepare us for the divisions that strain our society. Our world is filled with external noise (TV, social media, etc.), even in our everyday conversations. This can shape our thoughts and emotion and, if unchecked, can unsettle the inner peace and harmony we strive to maintain.

As Masons, we take a profound obligation: To be beacons of civility within our communities. This obligation goes beyond words. It guides our actions and conduct in the light of understanding and mutual respect. When the world around us is filled with discord, our role is to stand as examples of brotherhood, composure, and harmony—all rooted in the peace we nurture within.

Our Masonic teachings constantly remind us that we aren't just recipients of the world's energy but active stewards of our own consciousness. By recognizing what we allow to influence our minds and hearts, we guard against the intrusion of negativity. We cultivate a peace that is uninterrupted by disturbances.

Our degrees teach us who can "best work and best agree." This wisdom extends to all aspects of life, not just Masonry. They remind us that harmony begins within and prevails beyond the lodge's four walls. When public debates and disagreements overshadow one’s spiritual essence, they risk disturbing the delicate balance that makes you you. By choosing actions rooted in virtue and love, we maintain that sacred harmony the craft seeks to instill.

Therefore, hold fast your commitments. Remind yourself you are the guarantor of your obligation because only you are with yourself 24 hours a day. Conduct yourself as the light and by doing so, you will embody the principles of our fraternity, promote peace, and will inspire those around you.

Carlos Diez Jr.,
Grand Orator of California

Louisiana Grand Master's Edict Requires Bible Readings For Meetings: Internet Masons Go Crazy

by Christopher Hodapp

The brand new Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, MW Jay B. McCallum, kicked off his first week in the Grand East yesterday by issuing Edict 2022-1, and Masonic social media immediately erupted into a divisive public donnybrook. 

The edict reads, in part: 

Whereas the Holy Bible is the Great Light in Masonry; and

Whereas the Holy Bible is the rule and guide to our faith and practice; and

Whereas Freemasonry opens this Book upon its alters, with the command to each of its votaries that he diligently study therein to learn the way to everlasting life;

Therefore, by the authority vested in me as Grand Master of the grand Lodge of Louisiana, Free & Accepted Masons, I do hereby issue and proclaim the following edict:

“Effective upon the date hereof, the  Worshipful Master of each lodge shall cause a verse or passage of Scripture from the Holy Bible to be read aloud immediately after the lodge has been opened and before the reading of the minutes or any other business of the lodge shall be transacted.”

(Click image to enlarge.) 

When I first joined the fraternity in 1998, our Grand Master Robert E. Hancock issued an edict that added a new bit of business to the rubric. As the lodge was closing, instead of closing the Bible and placing the square and compass on the closed cover, the Chaplain was to turn the book to Matthew 5:16:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

It was to remain open to that passage at all times until the next lodge meeting, when it would be turned to the degree-appropriate pages. Hancock wasn't attempting to shoehorn a deliberately Christian New Testament message into the lodge. He simply felt that the words themselves succinctly described Freemasonry's mission, along with a charge to each of us to spread Masonic Light as an example to others. It wasn't so much a religious message as it was a reminder to us as Masons about our conduct, and it was to remain visible at all times as a symbol of the duty we all have as Masons. Nevertheless, when the annual Grand Lodge session came around in May 1999, Hancock's edict went down in flames, in part because many Masons voting that day couldn't see anything beyond the fact that it was a New Testament quotation, and therefore automatically an overt Christian message.

What disturbs me about the online reaction to GM McCallum's edict is that it has resulted in a toxic wave of insults and accusations between purported Masons who seem to have a lopsided hatred of anything that even smells like Christianity creeping into lodge business. Suggestions for readings from the steamier parts of Song of Solomon or giggly recommendations of passages referring to Biblical figures "sitting on an ass" and other idiocy that was worn out in third grade Sunday Bible School all came tumbling out. Yet, many of these same online commentators are the first to whip out "Whattabout the Koran? Or the Veda? Huh? Huh?" And then, of course, comes the wave of "Can I read out of Harry Potter?" "I'm a pastafarian - can I read the ingredients off of a Creamettes angel hair pasta packsge? Huh? Huh?"

It's sort of like being trapped into sitting at a bar next to a drunk who won't shut up until you hate his ex-wife as much as he does.

And then there are the characters who actually say with a straight face (or a straight keyboard, in this case) that "If this edict is allowed to stand, I'm not setting foot in lodge ever again! I didn't join a Christian church!" 

No, you didn't. But it's been astonishing to encounter Masons who honestly claim that passages from the Bible have no business being read in open lodge. Moreover, they contend that reading scripture from the Bible means excluding Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and all other non-Christian members. A bizarre claim for members of an organization that bases its entire structure on the symbolism of Solomon's Temple as described in two books of the Old Testament, which is made up of the Hebrew Tenach. Yes, I know, there are currently more than 4,000 religious varients in the world today. But Solomon's Temple is a shared icon of the three Abrahamic religions that comprise the vast, VAST majority of the religious believers on the globe. And there's a certain amount of unintentional comedy that our own internal critics are screaming their collective heads off over this when our ritual's central story was dreamed up by a bunch of middle-class British Anglicans trying to emulate Old Testament Jews in the first place.

Put it another way: I don't see a further commands from the Grand Master that passages from the Qur'an, the Veda, the Tao Te Ching, the Bahagavad Gita, the Book of Common Prayer, Khordeh Avesta, the Tripitaka may NOT be read in a Louisiana lodge.

Partially wrapped up in these exchanges are clear situations of Masons believing that all jurisdictions, grand lodge rules, and degree rituals are exactly the same as their own. In the case of Louisiana in particular, the history of the development and growth of Freemasonry in that state  is dramatically different than the rest of the U.S. because of its early French influences. Because of their pre-1800 French origin, eleven Louisiana lodges are permitted to use English translations of Craft rituals for EAs, FCs and MMs that are not worked elsewhere in the U.S. (with a couple of noteworthy exceptions in New York and Washington DC, and – I think – California). These are sometimes referred to, somewhat improperly, as the "red lodge degrees" or "Scottish Rite Craft degrees."

It's been a long time since I've seen these degrees performed in person, but Louisiana Masons have told me that there are no biblical passages read during their degree rituals. That's a MAJOR difference in their ceremonies. With the exception of Louisiana and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, the majority of U.S. Masonic lodges all use slight variations of Preston-Webb rituals of English origin. In each of the three P-W Craft degrees, the circumambulation of the candidate is accompanied by the reading of a specific Old Testament Bible verse:

Entered Apprentice: Psalm 133
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessings, even life for evermore.

Fellowcraft Degree: Amos 7: 7,8

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then, said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them anymore.

Master Mason Degree: Ecclesiastes 12: 1-7

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain;

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

But lest a big clot of you think the whole Masonic world uniformly includes these verses in their ritual work, that's simply not the case. Even in the U.S. I'm told some state grand lodges, including Idaho and Mississippi, do not use them. On the other hand, some states include the 133rd Psalm as an official part of their opening of all meetings. So, like so much else in Freemasonry, differences in rituals and customs are entirely jurisdictional.

In the rest of the world, some lodges to open with the passage, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3). Others use, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 - another New Testament passage, for those of you keeping score). Just because your lodge doesn't do this doesn't make it irregular, clandestine, or otherwise offensive to the spirit and purposes of Freemasonry. Our founders and forebears took their inspiration and philosophy from wherever they found it, and the Bible remains the most important and widely read book of any kind in human history that has inspired literally hundreds off millions of people for three millennia. So what's all the screaming about, especially from men and Masons who are purportedly adults and who are taught the lessons of universal tolerance and benevolence? 

The Grand Lodge of Louisiana has a different pedigree than any other grand lodge in the U.S. From the time of its formation and growth (partially by English and Irish expats in France in the late 1720s), French Freemasonry was populated by Roman Catholic members. Even the early emigres from the British Isles were Stuart supporters desperate to place James on the throne(s) back home and return the monarchy to Catholic rule. Roman Catholicism was the state religion for centuries in France, a situation that wouldn't change until the outbreak of the Revolution. By 1773 when the Grand Orient de France was officially established, there were more than 600 Masonic lodges at work in France. By the time of the French Revolution in 1789, almost 1,000 lodges had been chartered. 

The Revolution aimed to bring an end to monarchial rule in France, and almost as vehemently, the removal of Catholicism from its positions of power over government and its monopoly over the education of French children. Equally hated were the vast properties held by the Church which were untaxed by the state. And there was the usual hatred of the elite nobility that festers in almost every social uprising. The Abbé Barreul capitalized on the involvement - real and imaginary - of Freemasons in fomenting the Revolution in his book,  that helped create the modern conspiracy theory (but that's another conversation).

At the the formation of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana in 1812, numerous Masons from post-revolutionary France had turned anti-Catholic. And back in France, the Grand Orient itself would become quite politically active throughout the 19th century. In the late 1800s, Grand Orient Masons in the military brewed up a huge scandal when they went on an anti-Catholic purge of the ranks by using Grand Orient membership files to weed them out. And Grand Orient members were deeply involved in drafting France's laicité laws that vehemently banned any open show or support of any religion by government or government employees. (Laicité laws today are still in full force in France, and have been used to prevent teachers and government workers from wearing religious head scarves or veils, or crucifix jewelry on the job.  So, the early founders of Louisiana Freemasonry came from that kind of background.)

Not every grand lodge ever officially adopted a specific list of "unchangeable landmarks" (mine never did, while those who have them have a huge variety and number of them, lest anyone be under the misapprehension that The Landmarks are in any way universal). The GL of Louisiana officially adopted 24 Landmarks of the Order. Number 24 reads:

Healing Day – June 24,1813.

Moderns and Ancients had separated and formed separate Grand Lodges over one question: The religious belief of a candidate.

They agreed – June 24, 1813 on this statement:

“Let a man’s religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the order, provided he believes in the Glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth and practices the sacred duties of Morality.”

Many other grand lodges have differences in stated or implied policies concerning the Bible. For instance: the Grand Lodge of Texas Monitor published in 1922 contains this notation :

[The first section of the Entered Apprentice] degree teaches the candidate, by Symbols, many important lessons, and among other things, that Masonry is a moral institution, founded upon the morality as taught in the Bible, and that he has to take the Holy Bible as the rule and guide to his faith and practice; it being the great light in Masonry and the source whence we, as Masons, derive all our ethics.

Texas' Charge to the Entered Apprentice includes this:

As a Mason, you are to regard the Holy Scriptures as the great light in your profession; they are the unerring standard of truth and justice; and you are to regulate your life and actions by the divine precepts therein contained. No institution was ever raised on better principles, or a more solid foundation than that of ours, which takes the Holy Bible as its corner-stone; nor were ever more excellent rules or useful maxims laid down, than are inculcated in the several Masonic Lectures, which you will learn at your leisure, by conversing with well-informed Brethren, who will be always as ready to give as you will to receive instruction.

 The 2013 revision of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky's Constitutions has this to say:

The Supreme Being.

Masons believe that there is one God and that people employ many different ways to seek and to express what they know of God. Masonry primarily uses the appellation, “Grand Architect of the Universe”, and other non-sectarian titles, to address Deity. In this way, persons of different faiths may join together in prayer, concentrating on God, rather than differences among themselves. Masonry believes in religious freedom and that the relationship between the individual and God is personal, private and sacred.

Volume of the Sacred Law.

An open volume of the Sacred Law, “The rule and guide of life,” is an essential part of every Masonic meeting. The Volume of the Sacred Law in the Judeo/Christian tradition is the Bible, to Freemasons of other faiths, it is the book held holy by them. (2000)

The Oath of Freemasonry.

The obligations taken by Freemasons are sworn on the Volume of the Sacred Law. They are undertakings to follow the principles of Freemasonry and to keep confidential a Freemason’s means of recognition. The much discussed “penalties”, judicial remnants from an earlier era, are symbolic, not literal. They refer only to the pain any honest man should feel at the thought of violating his word.

Freemasonry Compared with Religion.

Freemasonry lacks the basic elements of religion:
(A) It has no dogma or theology, no wish or means to enforce religious orthodoxy.
(B) It offers no sacraments.
(C) It does not claim to lead to salvation by works, by secret knowledge, or by any other means. The secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with modes of recognition, not with the means of salvation.

Freemasonry Supports Religion.

Freemasonry is far from indifferent toward reli- gion. Without interfering in religious practice, it expects each member to follow his own faith and to place his Duty to God above all other duties. Its moral teachings are acceptable to all religions.

By the way, since I'm on the subject of VSL readings, I'll pass this along. More than 20 years ago, this subject was being debated on the old Philalethes Society mailing list. WB Rashied K. Sharrieff Al Bey (who, 20 years later, is now the current president of that esteemed society) gave these recommendations if the Holy Qur'an was being used on the Altar during a Muslim's circumambulations:

Entered Apprentice - Surah 3: 103

And hold fast all together, by the Rope which G-d stretches out for you, and be not divided amongst yourselves; and remember with gratitude G-d's favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in Love, so that by His Grace, ye became Brethren; and ye were on the brink of the Pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth G-d make clear His Signs to you: that ye may be guided. 

Fellowcraft - Surah 2: 255

G-d! There is no god but He, -- the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him, nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there that can intercede except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

Master Mason - Surah 85: 12-16

Truly Strong is the grip of thy Lord. It is He Who creates from the very beginning, and He can restore (life). And He is the Oft-Forgiving, full of loving-kindness, Lord of the Throne of Glory, Doer (without let) of all that He intends.

The more you read from the past, the more you learn from it. Our Founding Brethren could have picked any symbols or sources they liked when crafting our rituals. I suppose one could argue that you could just as effectively teach "wise and serious truths" using Gulliver's Travels instead of the Book of Kings (the mind reels - think of THAT initiation!)

But the greatest lesson Freemasonry was designed to teach was NOT that Freemasonry must be blanched of any whiff of religious-sounding influences. Nor must Freemasonry as an institution be dramatically changed so that MY religious faith or YOUR's (or our lack of it) get accommodated so neither you nor I be offended. No, the lesson is that YOU and I must accept its methods of teachings, and be tolerant of our brethren's beliefs, while ALL of us find the universal truths in Masonic teachings themselves. The Founders wanted lodge to be a place where men who had been quite literally killing each other for seventy years over whether they believed in seven sacraments, or three, or two, could sit in the same room, break bread together, and celebrate their commonality, while happily accepting their differences. Masonic philosophy had no equal at that moment in time.

Somewhere, somehow, modern Masons got mixed up into thinking that religious faith, questions of the soul and eternity, can't be talked about in lodge. On the contrary – lodge is EXACTLY where men should be able to openly and unashamedly discuss their own beliefs with each other without reproach or scorn. Even goldfish desperately want to know who changes the water in the bowl. These are questions that have haunted every single one of us since the Dawn of Man. And if we can't freely exchange our thoughts and fears and joys and heartbreaks with our Brothers, we're a piss-poor excuse for the dream our Founders expected us to fulfill.

A Prince Hall Brother Responds

by Christopher Hodapp

My post on July 4th, Why Freemasonry Still Matters, generated an unprecedented amount of discussion, pro and con, in numerous Facebook groups and elsewhere over the last several days. (If you didn't see it, go read it before you continue below.) I also received an astonishing number of private messages about it. But one response especially stood out.

Brother James R. Morgan III is a Prince Hall Mason in Washington, D.C. and a Curatorial Consultant at that city's African-American Civil War Museum. He is an author and historian, and recently published the outstanding book, The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West (1867-1906). 

On Sunday, James was motivated to pen his own thoughtful response to my essay, entitled 'What to the Prince Hall Freemason is the Fourth of July? - Why Black Masonic Memory Matters' (his title is a deliberate play upon a famed abolitionist speech by Frederick Douglass in 1852, commonly known as 'What to the slave is the Fourth of July?'). In it, he rhetorically points out incidents and issues I did not discuss in my original post, and seems to be less critical of what I actually said than of what I did not say. Please read it and decide for yourself. 

CLICK HERE: 
https://medium.com/@jamesmorganiii/what-to-the-prince-hall-freemason-is-the-fourth-of-july-ca088aa0882c

Freemasonry is needed more today than at any time in the last century and a half in this country, because we as Masons hold the key to building and protecting and advancing enlightened civilization just as we have done at critical moments in the past. What's important is that I don't regard James and myself as being on opposite sides of the issues I originally wrote about — we are merely looking at it from both sides of a picket fence that sometimes blocks as much as it admits. If the Masonic fraternity is to remain relevant to today's society and tomorrow's, it will be because we meet upon the level and discuss controversies in a reasoned, tolerant, calm and rational manner that is passionate without 'growl and batter,' and always departing as friends and brothers. 

Why Freemasonry Still Matters

by Christopher Hodapp

The United States has been rocked over the past month with images and stories relating to massive protests, rioting and statue-removing furor set off by the death of George Floyd while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the weeks passed, the toxic confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, anger, widespread unemployment, summer heat, pent up frustration, a breathless media, and the echo chamber of the Internet have all worked their worst influences to bring out some of the most socially divisive traits, allegations and arguments among Americans in more than 50 years. 

Over the last couple of weeks, some enthusiastic or activist Masons have advocated for the fraternity to 'get on the right side of history' and support the Black Lives Matter movement. Some energetic Masonic keyboard artists have created graphics to combine the square and compass of Freemasonry with symbols of social activism, such as a clenched fist of BLM, confederate flags, the 'gay pride' rainbow,' or others. Such symbols have been making the rounds of the Internet, often with the exhortation to 'get on board' with one side or another, because, according to the bromide, 'silence is violence.'

With all due respects to my energetically demonstrative brethren, that's not the role of Freemasonry. It never has been, and it cannot be today. Its role is just the opposite.

Freemasons are human beings, and as individuals, we often take different sides in arguments. This is as it has always been throughout the history of the fraternity, sometimes violently so. When you examine the wars involving America and other Western nations in which Masons have fought in the last 300 years, you will find dedicated Freemasons on both sides of those conflicts. We tout the famous Masons who led the American Revolution, but there were plenty of loyalist Masons throughout the American colonies who fought and died to keep us British. (And, no, the Boston Tea Party was NOT a Masonic action, despite what you might have been told.)

Individual Freemasons may fight for the causes they support, but 'The Freemasons' do not take sides in social, political, cultural or religious conflicts.

That's why images like this one are not appropriate for any Freemason. This very moment in time is an excellent teaching moment for this lesson, and our youngest, newest members need to understand it. 

Freemasonry teaches men to behave properly, to treat each other fairly, to live by the cardinal virtues and follow our precepts. But it does not tell Masons what to think, how to vote, how to worship God, what protests to march in, what products to boycott, or what bumper stickers to put on our cars. The sanctuary of the lodge is absolutely shattered by any member who seeks to abuse its good offices by assigning political or religious motives to it that do not exist. 
Freemasonry is a force for good by espousing and teaching mannered toleration, reinforcing the cardinal virtues, and providing a sanctuary from the divisive nature of the profane world. If a Mason abuses the square and compass into a symbol that creates a deliberately divisive atmosphere within the Masonic community, to compel his brethren to also adopt his favored cause, or to erroneously create a false public perception of Masonry's motives -  that Mason has erred, not the fraternity.


James Anderson listed in the Constitutions of Masonry our responsibility to the civil authorities (second only to God):

A Mason is a peaceable Subject to the Civil Powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concern’d in Plots and Conspiracies against the Peace and Welfare of the Nation, nor to behave himself undutiful to inferior Magistrates ; for as Masonry hath been always injured by War, Bloodshed, and Confusion, so ancient Kings and Princes have been much dispos’d to encourage the Craftsmen, be- cause of their Peaceableness and Loyalty, whereby they practically answer’d the Cavils of their Adversaries and promoted the Honour of the Fraternity, who ever flourish’d in Times of Peace. So that if a Brother should be a Rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanc’d in his Rebel- lion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy Man ; and if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brotherhood must and ought to disown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage or Ground of political Jealousy to the Government for the time being; they cannot expel him from the Lodge, and his Relation to it remains indefeasible.

Masons from the past who have been prominent leaders of revolutions (along with not-so-prominent ones who were on the losing sides of failed ones) never marched at the head of mobs wearing a giant square and compass on their chest or helmet, for good reason. Riots, revolts, revolutions, wars - these take place between nations or factions or masses or mobs of peoples. Freemasonry is practiced between individual human beings who seek to retain their individual honor and humanity, and to civilize and improve their town, their country, and the world by their own actions. Freemasonry is not a movement - it is a cultural institution that can only function if it is seen as a diverse, calm, civil, and evenhanded organization of a community's best leaders, regardless of their particular political affinities. 

The Western world is currently caught up in a moment that measures diversity only by the hue of skin color - literally the one human trait that cannot be altered, controlled or changed, and therefore the very least important one - and not by diversity of thought, belief, achievement, or aspiration. That is how Freemasonry seeks to differ from the outside world. If we're doing it right, we welcome diversity among men in all its intellectual, theological, economic and vocational forms. But I have never in my 20 years as a Mason seen a petition for the degrees of Freemasonry that asked a man's race. 

It is why, for instance, the meetings of lodges under the Grand Lodge of Israel are attended by Masons who are Jewish, Muslim and Christian, from all races, and from political persuasions that are diametrically (sometimes militantly) opposed to each other in that turbulent part of the world. Even the seal of their grand lodge reflects its uniquely Masonic diversity. It is the true meaning of meeting 'on the level.'

We say that Masonry becomes the 'center of union' because it conciliates true friendship among men who would for any other reasons have remained at a perpetual distance. Living through a tumultuous moment in time with heated passions on all sides doesn't imbue any of us with the ability to decide who is 'on the right side of history.' That's the nature of mass conflict and social unrest and upheaval. Only the lapse of time and history itself can make that judgement. 

The famed 'Friend To Friend' statue at the top of this post, erected at Gettysburg by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, is a parable in bronze that demonstrates the unbreakable mystic tie between two Masons on opposing sides of a deadly conflict.  Union General Winfield Scott Hancock and Confederate General Lewis Addison Armistead were personal friends and both were Freemasons. Secession wasn't a Masonic cause, and neither was preserving the Union. These two men had served and fought side by side in the US Army before the Civil War broke out. But Armistead said he could never raise his sword against his fellow Southerners and joined the Confederate Army in 1861. 

Armistead led his men against Hancock’s troops in the ill-fated Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, but was mortally wounded in the battle - by the irony of fate, Hancock was also wounded during the same battle. The statue depicts Union Captain Henry Bingham, also a Freemason and staff assistant to General Hancock, rendering aid to the fallen Confederate General. It was a bloody day - Henry Bingham himself had been wounded in the fighting, but he knelt by Armistead's side as he died. General Armistead is shown handing his watch and personal effects to be delivered to his friend and Brother, Union General Hancock. A final act of friendship among men who would for any other reasons have remained at a perpetual distance.

It's one of those lessons people can learn if statues aren't toppled by mobs. 

---

UPDATE: JULY 7, 2020

This post generated an unprecedented amount of discussion, pro and con, in numerous Facebook groups and elsewhere over the last several days. 

Brother James R. Morgan III is a Prince Hall Mason in Washington, D.C. and a volunteer coordinator at that city's African-American Civil War Museum. He is an author and historian, and recently published the outstanding book, The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West (1867-1906). 

On Sunday, James was motivated to pen a thoughtful response to my essay above, entitled 'What to the Prince Hall Freemason is the Fourth of July? - Why Black Masonic Memory Matters' (his title is a deliberate play upon a famed abolitionist speech by Frederick Douglass in 1852, commonly known as 'What to the slave is the Fourth of July?'). In it, he rhetorically points out numerous incidents and issues I did not discuss in my original post, and seems to be critical less of what I said than of what I did not say. Please read it and decide for yourself. I don't regard either of us as being on opposite sides of things, merely looking at it from both sides of a picket fence that sometimes blocks as much as it admits. 

CLICK HERE: 
https://www.facebook.com/jamesrmorgan/posts/10217184280782312

---

Did the Freemasons create the United States?

Video: 'George Washington's Rules for Freemasons in Life and Lodge'

by Christopher Hodapp

Macoy Publishing has just posted a short video about a little book that Mark Tabbert put together with illustrator Ryan Flynn a few years ago. I called attention to it when it came out in 2017, and I am reprinting that post from October 21, 2017 below.

[Back in 2016], my friend Mark Tabbert sent me a manuscript to look over, and graciously asked me to write a foreword to it if I saw merit to it. I absolutely did. It was an unusual little book, and actually a by-product of his own much larger research project. In 2013, Mark embarked on a massive attempt to identify, organize, document, and interpret every incident, object, and contact George Washington personally had to do with Freemasonry. Just making the list to start with was daunting enough, and he's still not close to being finished with the final book he has long envisioned. Nevertheless, since Mark is the Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, his mission is guided by a sense of responsibility to Washington's Masonic legacy that surrounds him every day he drives up that long driveway on Shooter's Hill.

Anyway, back to Mark's research "by-product." One of the persistent things he kept encountering were references and quotes taken from a list of sayings often referred to as Washington's '110 Rules of Civility.' Over the years, people tended to be confused by that title, often believing George himself made them up, or maybe collected them over the years, scribbling them down as he heard them. But that wasn't how he came across them.
In the three centuries preceding this one, a common method of teaching penmanship to young students was by use of the copybook. This was a booklet filled with pages of blank lines, and at the top of each page was a saying, a proverb, or an aphorism, printed perfectly so that the student could follow the example and dutifully attempt to reproduce the precise handwriting presented. But those aphorisms had a more important effect over time. Those bits of wisdom, guidance, rules of proper behavior, and just plain common sense were handed down over the centuries, pretty uniformly, throughout much of Western society.

It was also the way that young George Washington learned his penmanship with a quill, and as an added bonus, how to treat people and be a civilized member of society. It is fair to say that the copybook and the repetitive writing of the sayings was a kind of basic training for living a decent life. By doing so, he also absorbed perfection of character and soul. Reading the Rules, it is striking that they concentrate, not on self-interest or personal happiness, but rather on the treatment and happiness of others. They call for the seemingly minor sacrifices that are required every day for the sake of living together in peace and harmony. The manners described in them go far beyond an obsession with when to tip one’s hat or bow when introduced, and are far more concerned with making other people feel welcome, or comfortable, or honored.

Or equal.

What makes all of this applicable to us as Masons and our lodges comes in something that Washington wrote in a letter in 1793, in which he said, "that the grand object of Freemasonry is to promote the happiness of the human race." That letter echoes a later quote from William Preston in 1796 that "happiness originates in the Lodge, and disperses its influence to the wide circle of the world."

And if it doesn't? I never say this, but I will this one single time. I hate to break it to you, but if it doesn't, you're doing it wrong.

Mark Tabbert has taken these 110 copybook aphorisms and done something unique with them. The result is his small book called George Washington's Rules for Freemasons in Life and Lodge.He's gathered Brother George's 110 Rules and rearranged them into different themes having to do with a Mason's behavior outside of, during, and after lodge (much as James Anderson did in 1723). In addition, Mark follows each Rule with a modern translation in plainer language for each one, much as the average grand lodge Monitor defines archaic language for modern Freemasons. (The original Rules come out of an early 17th century English translation of a French Jesuit book, so the language occasionally needed a gentle nudge of modernity.)

After the specifically Masonic-themed portion of the book, Mark also reprints the original 110 rules, unaltered, in order, so you can see the list of them as Washington wrote them down, for reference. The big bonus to the work is a meticulously detailed chronology of Washington's life and every instance of his contact with Masons, Masonic objects, or Masonic lodges. And finally, there is an extensive bibliography of trustworthy books regarding Washington and Freemasonry. For a book so deceptively small in size, it is densely packed with resources for your own future studies about our most famous American Brother.

At a paltry $10, you ought to pack one in your apron case and haul it out the next time you see a couple of brethren poking each other in the chest out in the parking lot after lodge. Better yet, order one for all of your lodge officers. Read a chapter out loud at your next meeting for a bit of education. Or send an anonymous copy to your grand master just as a reminder.

The copybooks of old largely disappeared in the mid-20th century, so these little proverbs haven’t been widely taught to school children for almost eight decades now. Within about 25 years of them vanishing from classrooms, Americans had already started to be a whole lot less civil, less respectful of each other. I suspect the social barbarism and grotesque treatment of our fellow citizens we are all living through these days is partially a result of the now total disappearance of these gentle, little reminders of truth and civility. They need to make a comeback, and fast.

Maybe as a tool to teach five year olds how to text on their kiddie cell phones, somebody could make an app and resurrect them again.

Mark Tabbert's book is available directly from Macoy Publishing HERE. It's currently unavailable from Amazon for no reason I can think of.

GL of Scotland Shuts Down Its Social Media

"You shall be cautious in your Words and Carriage, that the most penetrating Stranger shall not be able to discover or find out what is not proper to be intimated, and sometimes you shall divert a Discourse, and manage it prudently for the Honour of the worshipful Fraternity." 

- James Anderson's Constitutions, 1723

What is it about anti-social media that compels some Masons to take good leave of their senses?

A couple of years ago, the Grand Lodge of Scotland went all in on social media platforms Facebook and Twitter, in addition to its extensive website, with frequent posts about news of the Craft, announcements, general interest articles, photos and more. Those were public pages and posts that were open for all to see. The hope was that this public campaign would help attract new members, along with engaging existing ones online.

Unfortunately, it seems that plenty of Masons couldn't make the distinction between public versus private pages, and how they were supposed to behave in public when it came to private information and their own language and behavior. Over time there was an increase in posts about what should have remained just between the walls of the lodge room, or public language and behavior that had no business being identified with Freemasons, who should know better.

So, what started as a genial attempt to have an open, public face of the fraternity has now been officially shut down by the powers that be in Edinburgh. 

The Grand Lodge of Scotland has just pulled the plug on its social media pages and accounts - although their website still is online. And the story actually made The Times yesterday. 

From Grand Lodge logs off social media after freemasons overshare secrets (it's hidden behind the Times' paywall, so this is an excerpt):

Robert Cooper, the curator of the lodge’s library and museum, who also edits its Twitter and Facebook pages, confirmed that the pages had been put on hold pending an internal review. 

“As with any organisation there are internal private discussions that shouldn’t be aired in public,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of our members are doing that. Naively, they are putting up messages on Facebook saying, ‘What do you think about what the Grand Lodge are proposing?’ Issues being discussed are not public but then, all of sudden, they are in the public domain.” 

Mr Cooper, an author and historian, said that there had been instances in which individuals had been revealed as members without their consent. “There are some people who work in sensitive occupations that don’t want their membership to be known,” he said. There also have been cases where online disputes between brothers became less than fraternal.

“People are putting things on the likes of Twitter and Facebook that are simply not appropriate,” he said. “Certainly things you would never say face to face to people. That’s causing all sorts of internal disciplinary problems.” 

Mr Cooper hoped that the pages, which made announcements, highlighted items of masonic history and addressed popular misconceptions about the organisation, could return. “We have got 25,000 people from around the world who read the posts regularly,” he said. “We have had lots of queries as to why we have stopped.” 

The article goes on to quote a couple of members about the development:

Gordon Paton, a member of the lodge, whose initiates refer to the organization as "the craft," called for the sites to be reactivated. He said: "Social media isn’t going to go away. To ignore it would be extremely introverted whereas we should be outward looking and communicating positively about the craft." 

Ian Hunter, another member, added: "I am all for making the craft more accessible to the public as most lodges are seeking to bring in new members as our numbers are dwindling. "We could have a closed group where anything goes for masons only or a public group where only the secrets and rituals are kept off." 

Many grand lodges have done just that on Facebook - created private pages to discuss matters the public doesn't need to see. In the ancient days of the early 2000s B.Z. (before Zuckerberg), private online forums hidden behind password protected sites with verified member identification accomplished all of this. It's probably rank nostalgia to pine for those halcyon days of yesteryear, but Facebook and Twitter have not been the best development for the fraternity. Only one of the laziest and most insidious, since it's everywhere.

In addition, more and more jurisdictions are establishing social media policies and guidelines for their members in a possibly forlorn effort to bring back the forgotten skills of common sense, decorum and manners to their members. Possibly because of their New England scold tradition and having way too many Harvard lawyers on hand, I know that Massachusetts has a truly enormous one they developed in an effort to think of every possible transgression. Maine, Virginia, Florida, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Minnesota, Hawaii, Texas, Illinois all have them, and I'm sure many more do, as well. Prince Hall jurisdictions have them. My own jurisdiction in Indiana is hammering one out right now, and we might actually be among the last to do so. More and more grand lodges outside of the U.S. are creating them, as well. 

What is it about the bizarre anonymity of online interaction that sends our whole notion of subduing our passions right out the 10th-story window? Far too many Masons proudly display a square and compass on their profiles, or even profile pictures and avatars, and then go right on unleashing rude, crude and reprehensible public posts and comments that would have gotten them bounced from the fraternity even a short decade ago. Political diatribes, religious rants and insults, personal arguments deliberately guaranteed to elicit rage, and regular strings of F-words, D-words, C-words, N-words, S-words, and ABEGHIJLMOPQRTUVWXYZ-words all pour out online next to a shining avatar of the fraternity. The problem is frankly worldwide, but U.S. Masons seem especially uncircumspect in their online discussions and behavior while displaying public badges of Masonry. So, in a world that has lost all manners and common sense, rules and regulations must now replace what used to be those things you "just don't do." 

The problem is that non-Masons regard every single Mason as a freestanding example of the fraternity. In other words, to echo the hairy old bromide, "You are someone's idea of Freemasonry." That's triply true among anti-Masons, or just those who are on the fence about us. In a culture that questions and sneers at nearly all religious and non-activist organizations, and declares hypocrisy to be the most egregious transgression on the planet, Masons who don't publicly live up to our own standards and expectations do us more harm than any anti-Masonic fanatic ever could.

So Scotland has just decided to solve their situation by closing down their social media altogether, at least for now. Hopefully they will come back with private pages, because Bob Cooper was posting fascinating and informative stories online for several years. 

Unfortunately, Times reporter Marc Horne loses ten points from his fair reporting scorecard for his concluding paragraph that resorts to the requisite (you guessed it) 'handshake and trouser leg'  reference:

Last year Scotland’s freemasons allowed cameras into their lodges for the first time for a BBC documentary, Secrets of the Masons. The lodge refused, however, to reveal the details of its handshakes — or grips — or to allow its initiation ceremonies, which are said to involve blindfolds and raised trouser legs, to be filmed.

I'm now convinced that all reporters in the UK have a keyboard shortcut that just inserts this same reference into every single news story by hitting Cmd+33. Odd that they wouldn't dare insist inserting a reference to Catholics 'genuflecting and bead jiggling,' or Muslims 'banging their foreheads on the floor,' or Jews 'wearing their funny little skullcaps' whenever their traditions are reported upon. Because I guess that would be rude and insensitive.

Whereas we Freemasons must just be silly old farts of no real consequence, unworthy of any respect, but always worthy of a parting sneer.


H/T to R. J. Johnson