A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To the Forum
January 10, 2010 by BeeHive
Filed under The Bee Hive
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As quoted in the article: “Here is where I believe we should be – right in the middle, in moderation of extreme positions.”
Could it be, then, that the decline in US Freemasonry membership generally coincides with the polarization of the greater US society that we have seen in recent decades, with resulting lack of civility towards different viewpoints? Could it be that perhaps that this is not coincident, but that they go hand-in-hand, i.e. without the moderating influence of Freemasonry, involving influential members of society, and different segments of society, that our society has then devolved and allowed uncivility, ad hominem attacks, histrionics, and demonization of people with different viewpoints as the rule of the day?
Astute observation. There is no doubt in my mind that if there were more Masons in prominent positions in society, if Masons were an integral part of civil leadership — then there would be less polarization and more civility in the profane world.
Over and above that I think that American Freemasonry has lost its sense of mission, that it has no concept of American Masonry and therefore shows no binding bonds with American society. Rather its mission is its own self preservation and other than throwing money at society to buy and bribe friends it is much more comfortable withdrawing within itself.
Frederic L. Milliken in his article THE CASTRATION OF FREEMASONRY
An American Point of View, Gives the perfect example of (in my opinion) confused Masonic thinking. I quote him as follows;
“As a Freemason I don’t insist that my fellow man do it my way. I allow for the fact that his way is every bit as valuable to him as my way is to me. Of course we must agree on certain basic premises , foundations, and building blocks from which we choose the path to take our journey. That’s a given. A person who does not accept the Almighty, who believes murder is OK, who puts institutions and systems ‘ worth before the worth of the individual are just plain incompatible.”
In the same breath and sentence he says “A person who does not accept the Almighty,…” and continues with “…who believes murder is OK, who puts institutions and systems ‘ worth before the worth of the individual…” as if he truly believes that all people who do not subscribe to the theory of the existence of a “God” also believe that murder is ok, let alone his other assumptions. It is not only him it is the vast majority of Freemasons who think this way. Just try this for a change. Ask a mainstream or Christian Mason why Atheists are excluded from their form of the fraternity. In most cases their answer will be because without a fear of punishment from a God we can never be sure he would keep his word. I have served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was present when many of my fellow buddies were killed. I knew both believers and atheists and I would always want someone covering my back who would be doing it because he knew it was the right thing to do, not because some officer was behind him and would shoot him if he didn’t. That is what is happening when we ask people to take an oath to not allow atheists as Freemasons. It is the same as in the old days when no blacks need apply because they were different from us.