membership

Walking the Walk

November 1, 2009 by The Euphrates

Every once in a while, I’ll meet someone that asks me “So what is a Freemason?”

Like most Brothers, I want to tell them how great of an organization is, how it is so important in society, and how much it has enlightened me personally, and usually I do. However, sometimes I feel a bit apprehensive about giving give these inquisitors the old Masonic sales pitch: “It’s the world’s largest and oldest fraternity. It is a group of men with good morals that gather to improve themselves through a philosophical education, fellowship with like-minded people, and improve the world through charitable acts.”

Now most of you are probably asking “What’s wrong with that?”

Well…nothing if you are encouraging men to join the fraternity, but there might be something wrong with it if you feel that it is very important to tell the truth. It is easy to use some flowery language and an impressive description to sell the fraternity, but to be truthful about what really goes on within a Masonic lodge can be difficult.

Would you really want to explain to a prospective Mason what really goes on at a typical lodge meeting? Let’s imagine how that conversation would play out.

Inquirer: So what do Masons do?

Mason: Well, we have a couple of lodge meetings a month.

Inquirer: What do you do there?

Mason: We read the minutes of the previous meeting and make any necessary corrections to them. Then we pay the bills, read any correspondence, and vote on any new petitioners. Then we proceed to discuss business for about an hour. Like, last week we were discussing how we were going to put on a spaghetti dinner. Our Junior Warden had it all planned out and then one of the older Past Masters told him how he ought to do it. We also discussed how we might go about making the necessary repairs to the building. Then we closed the lodge and went downstairs to eat some generic-brand cookies and drink some coffee before going home.

Inquirer: I thought you had philosophical education.

Mason: We do when we perform the degrees.

Inquirer: How often does that happen?

Mason: Sometimes once a month. Sometimes we will go several months without doing any degrees.

Inquirer: What about the fellowship you were talking about?

Mason: That’s what the coffee and cookies are.

Inquirer: What about the charity?

Mason: Well, that’s why we’re doing the spaghetti dinner, so that we can raise money in order to write a check to the Grand Lodge’s charity.

Inquirer: That sounds kind of boring.

Mason: Want a petition?

Freemasons view the organization in the proper light, but they don’t always run the organization with that same philosophy. Freemasons need to take all of the great things that they have to say about the fraternity and actually accomplish them in lodge.

We need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

At your next lodge meeting, take a chance and walk the walk. If someone talks about the greatness of Masonic charity, stand up and make a motion to go visit a sick Brother or provide some service for a Masonic widow. Read a paper on Masonic teachings and discuss it with your lodge. Go out to dinner with your Brothers and have some real fellowship.

That way, the next time someone asks you “What is Freemasonry?” you can answer them with a clear conscience.

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Don’t Be A Taliban Freemason

June 19, 2009 by Fred Milliken

Stephen Dafoe’s There’s A Hole In Our Bucket article was a solid reinforcement analysis of what he and I and others have been writing about for some time now. American Freemasonry is like the NFL Indianapolis Colts until just recently. The Colts spent all their money on offense and not much on defense. Consequently they could score a ton of points but they often gave up just as many. Freemasonry has spent a ton of money on marketing the product and not much on maintaining the quality of the product. Hence it has been the solution of many of the writers who seek to motivate Freemasonry into being all it can be to call for Freemasonry to practice Freemasonry.

Most of us venting our spleen on this subject have gone over time and again what is lacking in our Lodges. Boring business meetings, poor food, no agenda, few activities, no Masonic education, research and study, run down old drafty Lodge buildings falling apart and sucking the budget dry and dues held artificially low all result in no Freemasonry.

Dafoe is right on when he pointed out that we don’t have membership problem we have a retention problem. The death of our older Brothers is not depleting the ranks anymore for we are replacing them with new arrivals. The continuing decline is due to demits. And Dafoe has proved that analysis with tables and statistics to back it up.

But when all is said and done many Lodges who have corrected the folly of their ways and have vastly improved the Freemasonry that they practice, they still do not see the results that they were expecting. Perhaps there are other mitigating circumstances. I have written about the albatross around Freemasonry’s neck, the expense of their Lodge building in “The Old Past Master & Lodge Foreclosure.” I have also addressed one other shortcoming in “How Freemasonry Is Missing The Boat”, the lack of being socially relevant and I will not readdress either point again.

But the key here to what Brother Stephen DaFoe has presented us is the statistics, the facts. Like Sgt. Friday on Dragnet, “just give me the facts, ma’m, just the facts.” And the facts are those that have been demitting are not Masons who have been members of the Lodge for 20 years who band together to keep dues and expenditures artificially low. Those that demit are much newer members who have found something lacking in the practice of Freemasonry. We have always assumed that it is “the poor Lodge performance” that has caused all these demits. But what if that is not so? As previously noted many Lodges have corrected most of these deficiencies yet they are still receiving a large amount of Brothers just walking away from the Craft.

Then we have the issue of those who might join who do not. Those that see something in the Fraternity that turns them off before they petition. Could the cause be the same in both instances?

When you step back and look at Freemasonry you realize that you are looking at a very old society with deeply and tightly held traditions. If you stop and ask yourself if there was no Freemasonry, if it never existed and today you were going to invent just such an organization would you make it exactly the same as it is constituted today? If you say yes I don’t think you are being honest with yourself.

There is a great deal of difference between how we as a culture today in the United States and Canada look at — society, at the role of science in society, at God and the practice of religion, at gender equality, at sexual preference, at race and issues such as slavery, at politics and government and such issues as government welfare, and at human beings right to change and alter the universe — versus how Western society looked at these issues in the 1600s and 1700s when Speculative Freemasonry was formed.

But sometimes these deeply held traditions remain with us even though society has moved on to a more “enlightened’ view or arrangement. I think of my church, The Roman Catholic church when I say this. When Catholic churches were built way back when, they contained a multitude of statues and pictures. Much of the belief system could be seen in the stain glass windows and on the walls where the Stations of the Cross were carved. This was so structured because much of the population of the time was illiterate. Protestant denominations that followed long after saw no need to have their churches so adorned. As we became a better educated and more informed society did the Catholic Church remove all its statues, pictures and carvings? No it kept them and added to them modernized methods. Freemasonry is a lot like that.

And now the Catholic Church is experiencing an extreme shortage of Priests to the point that soon many churches will not have a Pastor. There is of course a solution to this crisis. If tomorrow the Catholic Church would admit women to the Priesthood they would have more than ample Pastors to go around. But they will not do that. They cling to the old ways and the reasons and justifications of many hundreds of years ago when human beings looked at things through a whole different set of eyes. Freemasonry is a lot like that.

So let me ask you again, if you were going to invent American Freemasonry today, armed and influenced by the modern outlook of today, would you structure it into 50 individual state Grand Lodges? Would you have it racially separated? Would you even deny another race the right to practice Freemasonry, this your new invention? Would you exclude women? Have we discarded the ancient belief so much evidenced in the Holy Bible that women are just property, the property of men? I would hope that you would say Western society has. But ask yourself, has Freemasonry?

Today’s young men and women would affirm a belief in a society that regards all races as equal, all gender as equal, sexual preference as a personal choice and every expression of worship of the Creator as equally valid. They will only fraternize with and join groups, organizations or societies that reflect those core beliefs. So if you were to invent Freemasonry today you would probably structure it around those modern views, those progressions of society, so tightly held today. If you would do that then why not reform Freemasonry today into that image? Because it may very well be that this is what is causing the demits and the refusals to petition. This could be what is stunting the growth of Freemasonry. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to Margaret C. Jacob.

“At present in the United States freemasonry is in serious decline, with numbers dwindling and lodges closing. Yet at the same time American reformers have arisen, many of them identified with what they see as the more liberal forms of freemasonry practiced in continental Europe. Central to their concerns are issues of gender and race.”

“Officially women are still not admitted as sisters in the American lodges. In fact, and in spite of the official position, lodges for women, and for men and women do exist in major cities and receive some encouragement from brothers who value gender inclusiveness. But this is a struggle, and the outcome is by no means certain. More lodges may close and charitable work cease before the inclusion of women becomes the official norm. In the meantime such exclusions seem increasingly beside the point, as slowly and only through struggle do Masonic women appear closer to a still distant equality.”

“But there is another matter, that of race, perhaps even more serious in terms of its larger implications for American society in general. Vast numbers of lodges, particularly in the American South, are segregated rigidly by race. Recently when addressing an entirely white audience of freemasons in Louisiana – all without exception immensely gracious – I was asked what I thought about the future of the American lodges. What can be said in the face of an institutionalized social system that works against our highest civic ideals? I find it hard to imagine the young men and women of every imaginable racial background who populate my university classes – where an ease in social mixing is now the norm to be sought – being attracted to lodges that would exclude one or another of their friends. Obviously, the future does not lie with segregation.” (1)

Finally let us address the two stumbling blocks to any such solution, “It can’t be changed”, and “It isn’t my problem.”

There is nothing humanly created that cannot be humanly changed. The Constitution of the United States has been changed many times. The Landmarks of Freemasonry are not sacrosanct or exempted from such change. Like altering the Constitution of the United States it should be very difficult to do so but not impossible. To write into any Constitution, by-laws, rules or regulations that no changes can ever be made is unrealistic and invalid. Everything changes. The definition of life is change. Freemasonry, The Catholic Church and any and all other institutions possessing a long history and tradition have to learn when it is time to move on, when it is time to get a life. Failure to do so will see such institutions whither and die.

The Catholic in Nebraska says, “we have no pedophile priests in this state. This controversy has nothing to do with me and should not reflect on the Catholic Church in Nebraska.” Is there any way that you believe that to be true? If not then don’t say the same thing about Freemasonry. Racism in another jurisdiction but not yours does reflect on Freemasonry as a whole. Gender persecution is unlawful in the United States of America and Freemasons are always told to uphold the civil law. Why let it be that way in Freemasonry? Sexual preference, although legislated more locally, is a right across the United States. Why let it be different in Freemasonry? The tradition of non-interference into the business of another jurisdiction is just that a tradition and an unwritten one and merely an excuse. Codifying laws, rules and regulations that negate basic human rights and civil rights if not illegal is at least morally repugnant.

Soon Masonic Central will have as a guest on its radio show/podcast an articulate female Mason, Karen Kidd. I hope that you will listen with an open mind and be willing to accept the challenges of the 21^st century.

Don’t tolerate intolerance

Don’t be a Taliban Freemason

(1) “The Origins of Freemasonry – Facts & Fictions” by Margaret C. Jacob, pgs 130-131

Two Dirty Words

June 4, 2009 by TimBryce

It’s now time for all of us–those who supported the merger and those who opposed it–to pull together for the benefit of the company.
Carly Fiorina, President of Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999

Let me give you two little words that scares a lot of Masons: “consolidations” and “mergers.” As the fraternity continues to recede in terms of membership and finances, Craft Lodges inevitably face the question of these two dirty words. But let’s be clear, the two are not synonymous; consolidation means to move multiple Lodges into a single building, and mergers represent the combining of multiple Lodges into one. Mergers are probably considered the worst of the two as Masons fear they will lose their identity and will be overshadowed by the other Lodge they are merging with. Nonetheless, both are viable alternatives and, from a business point of view, makes a lot of sense. For example, companies have long known that if a franchise is struggling, it is better to cut your losses and combine it with another. But unfortunately, most Masons do not think from a business point of view and have developed emotional attachments to their Lodge buildings. This is understandable to a point, but if the Lodge is operating on the edge, you have to seriously ask yourself what a Lodge is anyway. Is it the physical building? More likely it is a Brotherhood of men who share common values and are interested in improving themselves, their community, and the world at large. The building, therefore, is nothing more than a venue for the Lodge to meet. So, when push comes to shove, which is more important: the Lodge or the building? Those Lodges struggling to make ends meet financially would be well advised to consider this.

Interestingly, a lot of Grand Lodges do not provide guidance or leadership in terms of assisting Lodges in considering the question of merging or consolidating. Instead, most Craft Lodges have to fend for themselves and only consider it when it is too late. As a small example, I know of a Craft Lodge that lost its way and quietly went out of business, selling its building and donating its remaining funds to local charities. The Grand Lodge did not find out about this until two years later. Had the Grand Lodge been studying Lodge trends, they would have surely spotted a problem and offer advice to the Lodge. They didn’t, and the Lodge went under.

Obviously, there are some simple indicators to measure the pulse of a Lodge, such as finances, membership, attendance at Lodge functions, and the average age of the Lodge members. They could also examine Lodge officers, e.g., do they have enough members to open the Lodge? Do they routinely re-circulate Past Masters through the East? Are they proficient in their degree work and Masonic knowledge? Such analysis may very well have detected the problem of the Lodge that quietly went defunct.

I have discussed this topic with many a Brother, both locally and far away. Sure, we would all like to have large Lodges, but there is nothing wrong with small ones either, as long as they are thriving and actively operating to the satisfaction of the Craft. But we may not know this if we do not study the problem and pay attention to the trends of the variables mentioned earlier. Further, if a Craft Lodge is indeed in trouble and is interested in consolidating or merging, the Grand Lodge should grease the skids in order to help the Lodge make the transition as painlessly as possible.

Some Brothers stubbornly want to hold on to their Lodges for sentimental reasons. As the fraternity continues to decline, we have to look beyond our emotions, as difficult as this may be, and do what is practical in order for the Lodge to survive. For those of you who possess an emotional attachment to your Lodge building, I will remind you that there is only one word worse than the other two: “closure.”

Keep the Faith.

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry

NOTE: The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction or any other Masonic related body. As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com

Please forward me a copy of the publication when it is produced.

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Also be sure to check out Tim’s “Pet Peeve of the Week“ (non-Masonic related).

There’s a Hole in Our Bucket

June 3, 2009 by templeofdafoe

The following article originally appeared in Issue 2 of The Masonic Society Journal.
By Stephen Dafoe

North American Freemasonry is on a bit of an infinite loop these days. I don’t mean the type of infinite loop we used to see on the Flintstones whenever Fred and Barney would drive past the same three houses and two palm trees over and over again, but it is close. The type of infinite-loop motif I’m referring to is the type that forms the basis of songs like 99 Bottle of Beer or There’s a Hole in my Bucket. In fact, both songs represent two of the problems confronting many lodges today with respect to our declining membership.

Now, before you turn the page, let me assure you this is not another article lamenting our sagging numbers, nor is it a rallying call for us to rise towards that lofty Masonic pinnacle that was the Halcyon Days of the post-World War II influx. But we will be looking at the numbers, not with an eye towards depression, but with an eye towards resolution. We have a problem, but if we can truly know where the problem lies, and if we can convince enough Masons that this is actually the case, we can collectively begin to work towards fixing it.

What the numbers tell us:

Since 1925, the Masonic Service Association of North America (MSANA) has been keeping track of the numbers of Freemasons in the United States.

Without launching into a long and boring examination of the ebb and flow of these numbers, let it suffice to say that Masonic membership’s highest point in terms of numbers was 1959, when it boasted 4,103,161 members; its lowest point occurring in 2007, when our ranks had been reduced to just 1,483,449. Ironically, our highest point in terms of membership may well have been our lowest point for Freemasonry, or at least the start of it.

The hand ringers in our fraternity love to hold on to that 1959 membership number like the middle aged bachelor who holds onto the photo of the fashion model he dated in college, as if it were a goal he may yet attain once more. But as both pine away for a desire that has longed since passed the realm of possibility, they begin to tell themselves lies to justify their current situation.

As such, our hand ringers have created a long-standing belief that once upon a time Freemasons made up a sizable percentage of the population in American communities. However, if one compares the US census with the MSANA membership statistics, an interesting and revealing picture emerges. In 1930, only 2.66 per cent of the population belonged to the Masonic fraternity. By 1940, that percentage had been reduced to 1.86% – largely due to the effects of the Great Depression, men simply couldn’t afford their dues. It reached its lowest point in 2000, when less than 1 per cent of the US population could say they owned a Masonic apron. But even in the midst of those glory days our hand ringers so love to remind us about, only 2.41 per cent of the population belonged to the Craft. If we divide and multiply these figures to represent a male population of roughly 50 per cent, then we see that even at our highest percentile penetration in 1930, only 5 in 100 American males were Freemasons – this is a far cry from the cries of deep lamentation emanating from the lips of our loudest hand ringing Brethren that once upon a time almost every American male was a mason. And yet, they will cling to that four-million-plus-Masons figure like cat hair to black pants, failing to accept that the much brandied about number represents nothing more than a sociological anomaly. It was that influx of men who swelled the Craft’s ranks between 1945 and 1959 that, in many ways set the tone for the downward spiral towards the Masonic caliginosity we have experienced in the decades since. Although many became dedicated members of the Craft, expanding their learning through books and periodicals, discussions and debates, many who took on leadership rules were attracted by the formality of the ritual, to the point where it became the beginning and end of a Master Mason’s education.

Perhaps the greatest decade for Freemasonry – at least from a point of research, education and all around Masonic bigness – was the 1920’s; a decade that saw the creation of the National Masonic Research Society and its publication The Builder, a magazine that offered the words and thoughts of the great Masonic luminaries of the day. It was also a decade where Masons displayed their Masonic pride, not by the number of pins on their lapels, but by the number of elegant buildings on Main Street. It was during the 1920’s that great Masonic buildings including the House of the Temple in Washington DC, The George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia and the Detroit Masonic Temple in Michigan transformed from idea to reality. That decade, which I’ve long-argued to be the most enlightening for Freemasonry, saw an increase in membership of just above four per cent.

But then the Great Depression reduced membership roles by almost 25 per cent by then end of the 1930’s. In fact membership continued to decline until America entered the Second World War in 1941, and that is when the anomaly occurred. By the end of the 1940’s, Masonic membership had increased by more than 42 percent, carrying a forward momentum through most of the 1950’s, which saw an increase of 16 percent from the decade before. From this point on membership has been on a steady decline, with the present decade – now about to enter its final year – on a fast track to surpassing the 1990’s, the current record holder for membership seepage.

It is a mistake for us to pine away for a resurgence of the anomaly that was the 1940’s and 1950’s. The WWII soldier returned home and, looking for the camaraderie of the barracks, he sought to find it in fraternal societies like Freemasonry. This inflated our membership roles like a windfall inflates a bank account, but like the lottery winner who does not invest his new found money properly; it is soon piddled away until nothing remains.

Another tale the hand ringers love to tell us, especially those who have more steps behind them than they have left ahead of them, is that men are not joining today like they used to, and that we are losing members from death faster than we can replace them through initiations. Certainly, if one considers “not joining like they used to” to be those post-war Halcyon Days previously discussed, then I’m more than willing to concede the point. However, if there is one myth in Freemasonry that has gained wide currency and firm traction, it is the notion that Masons are dying faster than we can replace them.

What the numbers don’t tell us!

In 2005 I was asked to deliver the keynote address to the Western Canada Conference – an annual gathering of the Grand lines of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Part of my presentation sought to dispel this myth that the Grim Reaper was using his scythe to cut a swath through the fraternity. Whereas, the MSANA numbers only give us the annual bottom line, I was able to look at the big picture closer to home by tracking specifics in our membership statistics over an eight-year period.

What I discovered was that, like the rest of North America, Alberta had a sizable hole in our Masonic bucket; 1,777 of our Brethren had affiliated with the Grand Lodge above, leaving us with a net loss of 1,512 members between 1996 and 2003. But this is not where our problem was because the numbers showed that in that same period of time, 3,118 men had joined, affiliated or renewed their membership in one of our lodges.

In an ideal world, the difference between deaths and new members should have seen Alberta experience a 14 per cent growth in that time, but instead we were dwindling, just like everywhere else. The question was why? Where was the hole in our Masonic bucket that was causing the decline? It wasn’t through deaths; we were clearly finding the men to replace ourselves. The answer was through demits and suspensions for non payment of dues (SNPD); a combined loss of 2,863 over the eight years. When added to the deaths, we had lost a total of 4,640 men, while gaining a respectable 3,118. The hole in our Masonic bucket had been found and, as I’ve learned, it is not an isolated situation.

This past November I was keynote speaker at the Grand Lodge of Manitoba’s Masonic workshop and presented a similar address and findings, chronicling their past six years of data. Like Alberta, Manitoba has a hole in its Masonic bucket, caused by demits and suspensions outpacing new members. Between 2002 and 2007 Manitoba saw 856 men join, affiliate or reinstate their memberships. During that same time, 753 Manitoba Masons have died; again leaving a positive number between membership losses and gains. Like Alberta, their hole is caused by the combination of demits and SNPD’s. In the past six years the province has seen 1,355 men leave the Masonic fraternity.

But the Craft lodge in Canada is not alone in finding it has a bucket with the same hole.

Membership statistics from the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar show that between 2004 and the end of September 2008, 17,470 American Freemasons have become Templars, while 9,576 have taken a demit and another 21,706 have been suspended for non payment of dues. Add to this the 22,546 Templars who have gone on to join their creator, and you have 36,358 fewer Knights Templar marching about. But perhaps marching about is precisely the problem. Perhaps the men who are joining today are joining to parade about like the sword-wielding Templars of old and disappointed to find only old Templars parading about doing sword drill. It is a question only the Grand Encampment and those who are left remain in her Commanderies can resolve, but like the Craft Lodges, its bucket is leaking primarily from the same rusted out hole.

Towards a solution

Back when I was editor of the short-lived Masonic Magazine, I wrote an editorial titled The Restaurant at the End of the Masonic Universe. Without republishing the editorial here, it told the story of a restaurant that does not live up to its advertising slogan, “We make good food better,” an obvious play on our own slogan “We take good men and make them better.” The editorial, which has received equal doses of praise and criticism, sought to explain in a light manner the malaise affecting Freemasonry today and the true cause for the hole in our bucket.

Every mason has heard the expression “but we’ve always done it that way before.” The fact that it is used as the butt of Masonic jokes serves as proof positive of its longevity and power in maintaining a status quo. But, as we have seen by what the MSANA numbers don’t show us, the status quo is draining our buckets. As the allegory of my restaurant editorial showed, the reason things suck in many lodges is because the men who show up month after month like things that suck. They do so because they enjoy the bland food; not the shoe-leather roast beef and off color green beans, but the Masonic meal that is largely comprised of recitation of minutes, tedious debates over how funds are dispersed and arguments over when and how to salute the Worshipful Master. Clearly these are not the things that appeal to the men who are leaving our ranks. If they were, they’d be with us still. But instead of spending our energies trying to retain them, we devote our efforts to finding their replacements.

For as long as I have been a Freemason, we have been trying to fill a bucket that has a sizable hole in it. Like Henry in the famed children’s song, we have whined through the infinite loop of reasons why we can’t fix the bucket and like Jack in the classic nursery rhyme, have rolled down the hill, our empty bucket tumbling behind us. Like children on a bus trip we have done our rendition of 99 Bottle of Beer by repeating the same pattern ad nausea, as one by one our members – like the bottles of beer on the wall – vanish.

Unfortunately, we are not doing a good enough job identifying what it is that the men who are joining are looking for, which is – in almost all cases – that which they cannot get any place else – FREEMASONRY! They are looking to be educated in the Masonic Craft, in the art of being a gentleman in a world that has largely forgotten what one was, and in how they can be part of – to quote my jurisdiction’s ritual – “the society of men who prize honor and virtue above the external advantages of rank and fortune.” In short, they want to be taught the things about themselves and the world in which they live that only Freemasonry can teach them. If we cannot teach them because we do not know these things ourselves, then we must learn alongside them. Then, and only then, can the hole in our Masonic bucket be truly repaired and we can return to that growth that once allowed us to select men who would most benefit from Freemasonry’s teaching and most benefit Freemasonry by their character and their conduct.

It will not be and easy task fixing this half-century old hole in our Masonic bucket; but it will not be possible at all until we accept that a failure to do so is the cause of our decline and the harbinger of our demise.

Read: So What? The Dynamic of Masonic Membership.
And, Freemasonry Is Dying.

About the author

Stephen Dafoe

V. W. Bro Stephen Dafoe is a past Grand Steward of the Grand Lodge of Alberta, former publisher of Masonic Magazine and the author of several books on the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. In addition, Dafoe is a self-confessed anti-Internet Mason.

Ironically, his website can be found at www.stephendafoe.com.

Freemasonry – Know Thyself

April 12, 2009 by Greg Stewart

By Martin Faulks

Why did an organization founded in the Goose and Gridiron Tavern in St. Paul’s Churchyard in 1717, go on to spread over the entire face of the habitable earth, and become the largest fraternal society in the history of mankind? And why is Freemasonry dying, in England, the place of its birth? Freemasonry is one of history’s success stories. Under the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland we have an estimated membership of over 500,000. But the universal appeal of Freemasonry is not limited to the British Isles; world-wide we have an estimated membership of over 5 million!

Even within Freemasonry it is not widely appreciated how rare and unusual a phenomenon this is. No other fraternal organization has ever spread so quickly, spread so widely or grown so large. To have done this Freemasonry must contain some idea that exerts a firm grip upon the imaginations of a considerable body of humanity, regardless of race, language or upbringing. Something about Freemasonry appeals to the very basic nature of humanity. What is it?

Today all organizations are having problems retaining membership, many Masonic lodges are having to close. Perhaps it is time to look at what got us into our successful historical position and what attracted our present level of membership. To recreate these achievements in the future, we need to understand what Freemasonry has that other organizations, founded at the same time did not. We must ask what distinguishes our Craft from superficially similar organizations.

Our society provides many and varied chances for social and fraternal intercourse amongst individuals who choose to split off into distinctive fraternities. It offers many chances for charity and friendship. But this is not exclusive to freemasonry. There are a huge number of societies that offer similar opportunities, but none boast even half our membership, and none attract such men of distinction as we. By a process of elimination, we arrive at the only remaining raison d’etre for the spread and attractiveness of the Masonic system, namely, the significance and implications involved within our ceremonial rites. There is something very special about our rituals.

A wonderful thing about Masonic ritual is that it acts like an ink blot test on the human mind. Each Freemason sees something slightly different in the working of the Craft depending on his situation in life, his personal background and his level of development. Sometimes I wonder if lack of firm knowledge of our origins is one of the greatest gifts Freemasonry has. This ambiguity allows the ritual to speak directly to us all without preconceptions.

Masonic ritual is a system of moral and spiritual transformation. It inspires men to look at themselves and change the way they interact with the world; and it always has. Freemasonry is a system of mental control and self-development comparable to Buddhism, yoga and many other paths of self-improvement to be found around the world. But it is a unique western tradition.

The special thing about Freemasonry is that it is free of dogma or religious bigotry. It is truly open to all religious persuasions. Each ritual is progressive, building on the work that was set before the candidate in the previous ceremony. It was the effectiveness of our teachings that inspired men the world over to don the Masonic apron. The rituals of Freemasonry tap into the basic human urge to want to improve one’s self, and to make the world a better place for all. Our Masonic philosophy should direct and aid us in this quest.

Freemasonry teaches us that our personal characteristics are neither random nor immutable. We are not stuck with the nature we are born with. We can change ourselves just as a builder changes his surroundings. We are living stones to be reshaped by the Masonic tools of the ritual. This is a powerful lesson. I believe it is the idea that originally drove the success of freemasonry and made it appeal to so many people. We all want to be better. If Masonic membership is dwindling, could it be that we are no longer putting this message across.

The lessons of freemasonry could be summarized as follows, the first degree teaches the principles of morality, the second degree the importance of learning, and the third the discipline of self knowledge.

As a young Freemason looking at Freemasonry in the modern world, I believe that it is at this final step that we falter. Lack of self-recognition and self-knowledge is not just lacking in the membership but also in the organization itself.

Freemasonry as a collective has still to master its third degree. We know the principles of morality, we understand the outside world. But we still have not realized our Order’s own true nature. The value of self knowledge is immeasurable. A man or a society must know its vices and its failures before it can eliminate them. It must know its virtues and successes to build on them.

Everywhere I go I hear Brethren earnestly saying that “Freemasonry has no secrets!”

If this is true then it is no surprise that young men join and then leave.

We are misleading them, because Freemasonry does hold secrets. Its traditional secrets tell how to turn vice into virtue. We are a school of self-improvement and self-development. This is the point of Freemasonry. If we Freemasons lose this focus then only failure can result. If we have no secrets, what’s the point in joining? If a school has no lessons it will attract no pupils. We will only get more men into Freemasonry, if we get more Freemasonry into men. Our success in the past was due to men being inspired to join to learn how to improve themselves. Freemasonry is about inspiration. If we do not practice our teachings we will fail to be attractive. A rose only becomes beautiful as it grows from a bud into a full flower. We are only going to progress if we truly engage with our own teachings. I don’t mean doing “sincere” ritual, I mean applying the “peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols” to ourselves. No matter how many rituals or meetings you turn up to you can’t absorb the virtue of morality by osmosis (Though you may absorb extra weight as you eat your way through numerous festive boards.). To make a daily progress in Masonic knowledge you have got to work hard in your spare time. You need to contemplate the working tools, and apply their principles to your daily life until they become second nature. You need to study the ritual, slowly cultivate the control and progress it demands. When others see Masons on this path they will flock to join us, as they did in the past.

The task that Freemasonry puts before each one of us, is monumental, hard and painstaking. It is easy for modern Freemasons to push their efforts and time into other matters, which though laudable can lead to them becoming distracted from the purpose of the Craft.

Many Freemasons become expert on the history of Freemasonry in general and their own Lodge in particular. Knowledge of Masonic history is interesting and fun, but it should always be second to the transformational work of Freemasonry. Many Freemasons work hard to be charitable. Charity is commendable and is one of the virtues all Freemason should try to cultivate. But Charity should be a side effect of our personal development not its focus. It is not, and should not, become the point in our organization. If we are a charity then our ritual is of no purpose. If we are a moral School the important thing is that our students are learning. I believe it is time for Freemasonry to take a close, critical look at itself.

The United Grand Lodge of England is leading the way with the message of its pamphlet Freemasonry An Approach to Life which makes clear to the public that freemasonry is system of self-improvement. But the brethren need to get serious and back up this message by demonstrating its application by their actions.

If we are to regenerate Freemasonry from within, we need to look to the future not the past. We need to enjoy the solution, not suffer the problem. I opened this article by saying Freemasonry in England is Dying. Our third degree teaches us that a wonderful thing about death is it can lead to a rebirth. Let is concentrate on putting this Masonic lesson at the center of our Freemasonry.

The Death of Freemasonry

April 4, 2009 by Greg Stewart

Freemasonry will never be extinguished by outside forces. Tyrants, religious zealots, conspiracy theorists, and the jealous have attempted to stamp out the oldest fraternity and have repeatedly failed. At times the Society of Freemasons has gone into ultra-secret mode when faced with attack and this simple defensive mechanism enabled it to survive until the storm passed. Freemasonry can be killed, however, in two ways – one of which is not realistically going to happen anytime soon.

Freemasonry can die simply because it is no longer needed. That would require, however, an unprecedented and unlikely — at least in the imaginable future — change in all of human society. All humans would have to actively seek enlightenment while dealing with each other on the level. Humankind is nowhere near this utopian ideal.

The other, more possible, cause of death would be as the result of Masonic suicide. Masonic suicide could come in many forms, but the very real potential scenario involves making the mistake of thinking that humankind has reached that utopian level previously mentioned. If a large segment of the Freemasonic fraternity believing that all of mankind is ready for the teachings of Freemasonry — pushes for the inclusion of all people into the organization, an unraveling of the very fabric of the fraternity could easily occur. To understand how this could happen, an examination of what makes Freemasonry work is necessary.

Like any fraternity, Freemasonry is a collection of — despite some amount of diversity — a gathering of like-minded men. The Brethren of the Craft must have, by necessity, some common ground even before they became members of the Fraternity. Without this basic foundation there could be no way to keep the fraternity from crumbling into chaos. An easy example of a portion of this common ground is a belief in a Supreme Being. Without this belief — held by all the members of Freemasonry — there would be no starting point. There would be no foundation. There can certainly be organizations without this important building block but they just can not be classified as Freemasonic.

Another important aspect of why Freemasonry works and sustains herself is the existence of a structure – a government. Though there is no doubt that Freemasonry contains a philosophy, one would be remiss if he did not recognize that it is — first and foremost — a structured government. It is a society that has a philosophy. The rules, regulations, and diplomatic protocols drive the philosophy — not the other way around. The governmental side of Freemasonry is what keeps the philosophy from becoming fractured and it also ensures that the common ground, or foundation, remains intact. Without the governing structure, the philosophy of Freemasonry would quickly splinter into many different philosophies as individuals attempt to remake the Fraternity into their own images.

If large enough numbers of the Brethren start failing to recognize the importance of the governmental side of Freemasonry and its role in maintaining the foundation and the philosophy, fraternal suicide is imminent. Chaos will replace Freemasonry as she splinters and fractures herself to death. Those Masons of yesteryear that orchestrated the union between the Ancients and Moderns understood this concept, as well – to a certain extent – as did the ones that arranged the creation of the United Grand Lodges of Germany. Freemasons of the past worked hard to correct the fractures and splinters and Freemasons of today should not allow the fraternity to travel that road again. Correction may not be possible the second time around.

Do you agree with these sentiments, or are they a limiting factor in the growth of the fraternity?

You can find more from the Palmetto Bug at the Masonic Line.

Are We Reading the Signs?

March 27, 2009 by TimBryce

If there is anything constant in life, it is change.
– Bryce’s Law

It is no secret that membership in Freemasonry is either stagnating or in decline in most jurisdictions. Some Grand Lodges pay attention to our membership numbers, others do not. But I contend there are other important indicators we should be paying attention to; namely, membership and participation in the allied and appendant bodies of Freemasonry.

Attendance in our youth organizations (DeMolay, Rainbow, Job’s Daughters) are deteriorating. In Florida for example, just 30 years ago we had vibrant youth organizations; today they are few and far between. The Order of the Eastern Star and clubs like the High Twelve are also diminishing. Their members are getting older, grayer, and are not being replaced by new people. The Scottish and York Rite bodies are still reeling from the Shrine’s decision a few years ago to bypass these groups in order to join the Shrine. True, they have organized many one-day classes, but their numbers continue to drop. And even the Shrine is still experiencing membership problems; so much so, there are whisperings to negate the prerequisite of being a Mason to join the Shrine.

We could look at the decline of these fine organizations and blame it on bad management, and perhaps we would be right, but I believe the problem is more fundamental than this; that the real problem is our failure to adapt to changing times.

Following World War II, Masonic institutions experienced considerable growth during the 1950’s and 1960’s, our ” go-go” years. But our growth was arrested in the 1980’s and began to decline thereafter. The “go-go” years may have been great for membership but I feel this is when the fraternity began to stagnate. We had our way so long that we didn’t see any need for change and developed an attitude that nothing was wrong. In short, we became complacent. This attitude is probably the single biggest reason for the declining state of the fraternity today.

The reality is that the interests of people today have changed; they are not the same as back in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

For example, I can’t begin to tell you how many people have observed the dress and ceremonies of groups like DeMolay, Job’s Daughters, Eastern Star, etc. and told me it was “old fashioned” and “cornball.” They giggle and say the costumes and dress are something out of the 1940’s, certainly not something they want to be associated with. Their activities appear trivial if not totally meaningless. The point is, regardless of the noble intentions of these fine organizations, people perceive them as archaic. What is needed is a face lift. There is nothing wrong with the purpose and lessons inculcated by these institutions, but rather, it is the facade that needs to be updated. For example, are the capes worn by some of our youth organizations really necessary? Couldn’t something more contemporary be devised?

Advertisers have long understood the need for maintaining a contemporary image to sell products. This is why we have seen subtle changes over the years in familiar icons such as Aunt Jemimah, Betty Crocker, and the woman in the Columbia Pictures logo. Either get with the times or fall into obscurity. Unfortunately, this is what is happening to our allied and appendant bodies; they need to either reinvent their image or fall behind.

And Blue Lodges, representing the bedrock of Freemasonry, better be paying attention to all of this as well, less they face the same fate.

I don’t know why, but the old-guard of the fraternity resists any form of change. Perhaps it is a sign of senility. Nonetheless, changes are in the offing if the fraternity and its satellite organizations are to survive. But the younger members are growing weary of fighting with the old-guard over changes. So much so, there is a clever movement underfoot not to even to try to change existing lodges but, instead, to create totally new Lodges who are unencumbered by change and chart a new and imaginative course for Freemasonry.

Understandably, these new Lodges are attracting the younger members. So much so, that the older Lodges are withering and dying on the vine. It is unfortunate that such an approach is necessary, but the reality is that our older members tend to resist any form of change, leaving no other choice for our younger members. Frankly, I cannot argue with the logic of this move.

Bottom-line: We either evolve or face extinction.

Keep the Faith.

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
“A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry”

Article reprinted with permission of the author and FreemasonInformation.com

Please forward me a copy of the publication when it is produced.

Also be sure to check out Tim’s “Pet Peeve of the Week” (non-Masonic related).