The SNAFU – Roles and responsibilities in a philosophical society.

I can’t help but make some comment about the latest in the line of SNAFU‘s, this time taking place in Arkansas.  I don’t want to make any particular comment on what’s going, its my hope that all involved are true and acting above board and that the situation will resolve it self int he best way possible for the fraternity.  But for now, a SNAFU is what it is indeed.

With this situation in Arkansas, and those of the past including West Virginia, Ohio, Alabama, and across orders with the Jesters, it begs the question what is our responsibility as a member of the order?

The easy answer is to say the things to which we take the obligations over, and further, the things that we sign on and linked to our states Masonic constitution.  But that covers the physical or tangible things to do or not to do.  What about the less obvious?  And, from the other side of the fence, how do our own actions carry out the principals that we espouse.  Really, there are four, Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, and Justice.  Maybe your jurisdiction has others, maybe none of these, but by and large, these 4 tenets are the foundation of our being.

• Masons are Temperate: In their consumption, in their excesses, in their sensibilities.  Masons are not excessive, not marked or driven by passion.
• Masons are Prudent: They make sound and carefully weighed decisions, their mind is on the greater good over the individual end.  Masons are CAREFUL of their management.
• Masons have Fortitude: Where others will crumble or compromise their morals, Freemasons have the Moral Fortitude to stand upright in the light, rather than hide in its shadow.  Still human, Masons try harder to just and upright.  Masons have the ability to face adversity with cool connectedness and courage.
• Masons believe in Justice: Not in the strict sense of an eye for an eye, but rather the dispensation of the moral law, the divine mercy that even the Great Architect of the Universe  gives to all of us in our weakest failings.  Masons have a rightness and rectitude in all things, and an integrity in our dealings.

So, in the wake of these minor incursions in these remote places of American Masonry (not some far away place, but your fraternity in the next state over, your neighbors, your brothers), is this YOUR Masonry?  Are you a Mason to practice the Royal Art whilst those who claim governance (see leadership) re-write what the moral value is to fit their actions?

Is that what the fraternity has de-evolved into?  Would we better off without a centralized governance, where lodges govern and maintain their own members, where they interact with the community spreading the word of Masonry?  Is it because of a lack of professional Masons (see paid), except at the Grand Lodge level, that like a Robber Baron Mob Boss, the future of the fraternity is being ground into dust for the gain of a few fancy jewels, a title or two, and a pay check.

Would we be better of incorporating the whole thing and making every member a single share holder responsible for a part of the whole?

Or, maybe Masonry just isn’t important to its members anymore with thinking that because its not happening in your own back yard, it has no overall effect to your membership.  Is the system safe from a philosophical chain reaction with each instance triggering an invisible event somewhere else down the line?

This isn’t an indictment to the system of Grand Lodges, or those who staff them per-se, but a question as to what value they bring to the system overall.  Is it a necessary layer of governance to a system that is otherwise set up to do it itself at the lodge level?

Could it be done without the leadership of a Grand Lodge, or does a Grand Lodge make YOUR individual Masonry more valuable?  Somehow this period of SNAFU’s has got to come to a head, the question is what are you doing to help point it where you want it to go?

Collateral Damage – The Aftermath of the Arkansas License Plate Scandal

What follows is the story of a young Mason who is caught in the middle between a Grand Master who is stuck in the past, in pre Civil War Masonry and those of us who have an improved 21^st century view of life and practice Masonry accordingly. Far from being some firebrand, screaming reformer, Derek Gordon is a mild mannered, respectful Mason who has no ax to grind. He only wished to present his Lodge as favorable towards the civil rights of all citizens regardless of color. For that he is going to pay the ultimate price for being a human being.

This is his story as he told it to me:

You are secretary and webmaster of your Lodge, Sebastian Lodge #706, Grand Lodge of Arkansas F & AM..  You are a 23 year old student studying law in the neighboring state hundreds of miles from your Lodge.  You have decided to volunteer to help Peruvians caught in northern Chile in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. As you stand in line to board your international flight to Peru your cell phone rings.  It is the Worshipful Master of your Lodge with an important message – the Grand Master wants an immediate meeting with you. You convey to the Worshipful Master that will not be possible for a number of weeks, but that when you return you would be most happy to accommodate the Grand Master. The Worshipful Master is unable to tell you what this request is all about.

You immediately call the Grand Secretary and apprise him of the situation.  He tells you that the Grand Master is in a meeting but that he will pass on to him your information and travel itinerary.

You make your trip to Peru and in your time there you make numerous phone calls back to Arkansas, leaving messages with the Grand Master’s wife at his residence and the Grand Secretary.  None of your phone calls are ever returned.

You learn that while you were away that the Grand Master did not wait for your return but proceeded ahead all guns blazing! With just two days notice the Grand Master came to Sebastian Lodge to pull its charter and announce formal charges against you.

You can’t understand how this could all happen.  What’s the beef?  Friends notify you that the problem was the posting on the Lodge website of the Grand Master’s request that Arkansas Masonic license plates not be purchased by members of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas AF & AM.  Other Lodges in the state made similar postings on their websites and their charters are still intact and their webmasters still honored members.  Perhaps it was the sentence at the end that this was not necessarily the view of the Lodge.  But you complied with the Grand Master’s edict that all members of the Lodge be notified of his ruling.

Other members get in touch with you to tell you that the Grand Master said in his visit to Sebastian Lodge to pull its charter that there were thousands of complaints received by the Grand Lodge about the website of Sebastian Lodge. They tell you that you are being charged with placing Grand Lodge and Masonic information on a public website in violation of a recent Grand Lodge ruling.  You are also charged with posting Grand Lodge Resolutions to the Grand Lodge publicly.

You find this hard to believe.  You have taken whatever Masonic information is posted on Sebastian’s website from three other Arkansas Lodge websites. A 1700’s lecture is really a historical document not an expose of Masonic secrets  & ritual and other Arkansas Lodges have considered it so much a part of their Arkansas Masonic tradition that they have also posted it on their websites.  None of them are having their charters pulled. Huntsville Lodge has ten times the Masonic information publicly displayed on its website.  You had picked just a few interesting posts from this Lodge to include on Sebastian’s website.  Boone Lodge, among others, has posted publicly on its website the Grand Master’s ban on license plates.

Huntsville has posted much more Masonic information publicly for a longer period of time.  While you created Sebastian’s website in May of 2009, Huntsville and other Lodges have had posted Masonic information for up to 10 years.   Your sources from which you copied the material you posted on Sebastian Lodge’s website included Crossett Masonic Lodge #576 F & AM and The Carroll County Mason, both of which were hosted by the now defunct Geocities.  Another source was Key Lodge #7 – http://www.keylodge7.org/ None of these other Lodges are under indictment.

If the Grand Lodge is so concerned about electronic transmission of Masonic material why has it posted a link to Huntsville Lodge on the Grand Lodge website for years?

This makes no sense to you.  The recent ruling on not posting any Masonic matter on a public website nor the use of the internet for any Masonic matters, including E-Mails was just passed at last month’s Grand Session.  It was a little known resolution that received no debate and was passed with a vote made with it grouped with other matters. As secretary of the Lodge you have never received official notification of this ruling in the mail as is the usual custom. You also have not received any written notification of any charges preferred against you.

Perhaps the problem also stems from the fact that you tried to form a committee for Prince Hall recognition.  But the Grand Master told you that Prince Hall did not desire to have anything to do with the Grand Lodge of Arkansas AF & AM.  Recognition is ten years away if at all, you remember the Grand Master saying.

Later you are notified that the Lodge on 3/24/10 has finally received the letter of charges against you and the date for a Masonic trial. You are now back from Peru. This document should have been sent to you personally and you should have been the first person to read it.  Along with the document of charges in the mail comes the official Grand Lodge notification of the ban on any and all Masonic electronic transmissions. You check with other Secretaries in other Arkansas Lodges.  They have just received the same official notice of the new ruling and this is the first time they have heard of it. So it seems that you will be prosecuted for violating a ruling before it was officially put into place.

You are told the date for your Masonic trial is a date you will be on maneuvers with the Arkansas National Guard. You feel that the Grand Lodge knows that you are a member of the National Guard, knows that it is holding weekend maneuvers which require compulsory attendance and has thus scheduled your Masonic trial on the Saturday of these maneuvers deliberately. But the document is still not in your hands.  Your information is second hand.

Finally the document of charges comes into your possession:

As a parting gesture you post this parting message on Sebastian’s website.

UPDATED: 27 March 2010.

SebastianLodge.Com is down for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for visiting.

We have had well over 20,000 visitors in our one year in operation. We hope that we can return and provide one of the most-visited Masonic website on the net.

Our charter was revoked for being un-Masonic as to our website. I, Derek Gordon, apologize for mentioning the order to not purchase license plates. As the order said, all members must be notified. This seemed to be a great way to get it there as many members visited.

I, being secretary, webmaster, legal domain owner, and creator of this website, never meant to upset Grand Lodge. Rather, I sought to protect our lodge because so many saw the letter as racist. I realize it was not meant to taken that way, but its poor penmanship didn’t get the proper message across. Other Arkansas lodges have the same kind of post, yet they still have their charter. Some Arkansas lodges and members have posted the entire letter from the Grand Secretary online and those two have yet to see punishment.

*REGARDING other information supplied and provided on the Sebastian Lodge website, it was all found on other Arkansas lodge websites. Some of those were created as far back as 2001; this site was created in May of 2009. I never typed a single word regarding the lectures and Masonic history. The page source-code made light of that. I posted the Masonic informatoin because it had been written by and posted on other Arkansas lodge websites for years; I thought it must be acceptable by precedent. As a Mason of 2.5 years, I was foolish to believe that if other lodges are allowed to do something (created by Masons who have been in much longer than I have), it would be acceptable for our lodge to display as well.

To my former brethren of Sebastian Lodge, I apologize to you for this instance. I felt that we were safe after finding the post on so many other sites. There’s much more to the story, but out of respect for Masonry and for the title of Grand Master and the Grand Lodge I will humbly refrain.

I further urge all Masons to support Sebastian Lodge in reobtaining its charter. By this I outline that I was doing what was seen as acceptable by precedent. The lodge itself was not involved in this directly. I am ashamed at the outcome.

Currently, I’m awaiting a Masonic trial for expulsion that I cannot make it to. It is scheduled for the weekend of April 17th, 2010 when the Military has summoned me to work. The Grand Lodge will not return my phone calls and one can only imagine the desired outcome.

Should you wish to contact me, it is possible by emailing webmaster706 @ sebastianlodge.com. I’d suggest removing the spaces around the @.

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” – George Washington

Fraternally,
Derek Gordon
Former Secretary, 706

Thanks.

All this was told to me by Brother Derek Gordon whose Lodge Sebastian Lodge #706 is no more and who awaits expulsion at a very young age from the Craft he loves. This is his story in his words.

But our observations are really questions.  We are perplexed. What was the rush?  Why could this whole affair have not waited until Gordon returned from his trip?  Why would the Grand Master not wait for a personal meeting before proceeding unilaterally?  Why prosecute a Brother for posting material that was already published 300 years ago and as recently as last month on other Arkansas Lodge’s websites?  Why schedule Gordon’s Masonic trial on a weekend when you (GL) were told he was on maneuvers and why have you yet to make arrangements to reschedule?  WHY HAS THE GRAND LODGE OF ARKANSAS’ WEBSITE BEEN SHUT DOWN?

To those who would like to support Brother Derek Gordon we urge you not only to get in touch with him but also to voice your opinion with the Grand Master of Arkansas.

The First Year of the Euphrates e-Book is Now Available!

The Banks of the Euphrates--The First Year e-Book is now available!

It is finally here! I have finished putting together the free e-book that I promised to create which celebrates the first year of the Banks of the Euphrates on Freemason Information Magazine.  This book features the best of the articles which were featured on the Euphrates over the past year. I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the articles and selecting some of my favorites for this e-book and I hope that you will enjoy revisiting some of the moments from the past twelve months as well.

The book is available for download in .pdf form by clicking on the link below or the image to the left. Thanks for reading and I hope that there are many more years of articles to come!

The Banks of the Euphrates–The First Year

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Freemasonry’s Religion

For some reason, I have noticed a lot of people talking about how religion influences Freemasonry lately. Some folks have proclaimed that the foundations of Masonry are found in Kabbalah or Hermeticism. Others argue that Masonry is essentially a Christian art. Quite frankly, I disagree with both camps and find both sides a bit annoying. I am a firm believer that Freemasonry is impartial to religion. However, I am also familiar with the old saying “those that live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

So why do I reside in a glass house? Because at one point in my life I was guilty of these very transgressions. Early in my Masonic career, I found myself expending all of my energy to prove to myself and everyone else that Freemasonry was truly Christian. The reasons for this were numerous. First, I was raised in a church which declared that its communing members could not be Freemasons. Second, I was in hot pursuit of a young girl who belonged to the aforementioned church. But most importantly, I was not comfortable being a Freemason if it wasn’t a Christian organization.

I think that trying to determine what religion Masonry is derived from is a perfectly natural thing to do. We become Freemasons to discover truth and for most of us, we are preconditioned to believe that there is one correct answer to every question. Therefore, when we become Freemasons we understand that the craft is tolerant of all religions, but we also believe that if it teaches the Great Truth that it must point to one individual religion. We want one path, one plan, and one True Religion. So we set out to compare various religious teachings to the lessons taught in the Masonic lodge to determine which religion gave birth to Freemasonry. This is where we begin to err, for the man that studies the Blue Lodge degrees would observe that Freemasonry is Jewish, the reader of Morals and Dogma may determine that Freemasonry is alchemical, and the Sir Knight would learn that the craft is indeed Christian.

The problem with this process is that the approach is entirely incorrect. Why must we automatically assume that Masonry’s truth was taken from religion? Why don’t we assume that religion learned its truth from Masonry? Or let me put it a different way: Would the introduction of religious teachings into Masonry make it perfect or would the introduction of Masonic teachings into the world’s religions make them perfect?

This is how I finally learned to approach Freemasonry. Over a number of Sundays, I would sit and listen to preachers give their sermons. The thought that kept penetrating my brain was “How much better would that lesson be if it incorporated some Masonic teachings?” No matter what the subject of the religious meditation was, I realized that Freemasonry taught more about it in less time through its symbolism than the minister could ever cover in one of his sermons. I realized that Freemasonry wasn’t teaching the truths of my religion. Instead, my religion was attempting to teach the truths of Freemasonry.

Of course, this realization didn’t happen overnight. All things change over time. I eventually left the church and the girl dumped me. I have studied several different religions trying to find the almighty truth. Yet, I keep discovering that Masonry’s lessons are more universal and all encompassing than those of any particular creed. More than ever before, I realize that Freemasonry is not partial to any religion because it teaches only truth and does not attempt to answer questions which cannot be answered. Instead, it leaves the individual Brother to discover these answers for himself.

Freemasonry’s religion is simply the teaching of truth. Its initiates may flock to any religion that they choose to find salvation, but in the Masonic lodge only truth is discussed. That is what makes Freemasonry so appealing to so many men. It is the only organization that divests itself of man-made dogma and canonical law and serves only to shine a light on the bridge that runs between man and his Creator. It is not the vessel to the realms of Deity, but instead a lamp to light the path.

That is the religion of Freemasonry.

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Second Day – Phylaxis Society National Convention

The second day of the Phylaxis National convention saw us get right down to work. This day and the next we were primarily devoted to presentations of papers written by learned members of a certain field.  Out of all the presentations made I will feature three.

The first paper was “Masonic Jurisprudence” by our National President, John B. Williams, FPS. He told us that because most Grand Lodges have incorporated there has been imposed on them civil rules, regulations and restrictions that were never previously considered.  Prior to incorporation Grand Lodges were restricted only by the rules that they imposed on themselves.  Civil courts generally do not meddle into private concerns.

But once a Grand Lodge incorporates it is no longer a private society and is governed as the state incorporation statues specify and to which the Grand Lodge who incorporates agrees to when it signs the article of incorporation.

So what’s the big deal? Well let’s take the common practice of Grand Masters to rule and govern by edict when the Grand Lodge is not in Session.  Most Grand Lodge by-laws stipulate that the Grand Master rules in absentia. This is a Masonic tradition and how most Grand Lodges have been governed for centuries. However, in most cases, depending on the state, this is not legally correct. Most state’s corporation rules state that the corporation is governed by a Board of Directors when the Grand Lodge is not in session.  Corporate rules supersede any organization’s by-laws. This means that the Grand Master cannot decide matters at all, he must refer all business over to the Board.

Some states require all corporations be governed by a Board of Directors at all times and the President (Grand Master) acts under the powers granted to it by that Board but whether that Board can delegate its fiduciary responsibilities is open to question. If so interpreted the Grand Master could, then, in some states be nothing more than a ceremonial figure head.

Secondly Williams also informed us that incorporated Grand Lodges are then subjected to corporate tax laws as applies to tax exempt corporations.

• This means that there can be restrictions on fund raising
• That using funds for purposes other than purposes stated could be in violation of tax law
• That polling Board members by E-Mail could be a problem as the absence of a signature in corporate matters can sometimes be illegal.

In summary if a Grand Lodge is incorporated then it is now Government Protected. Final say rests with a Board of Directors and not with the President (GM).  This contradicts traditional Masonic practice where the Grand Master and only the Grand Master is all powerful. Grand Lodge by-laws must conform to the state corporation laws that issued that GL’s corporate status. In essence by incorporating a Lodge or Grand Lodge is no longer a private society but becomes a public one much more readily sued.

It is good to remember that corporate law is state and (corporate) tax law is federal. The bottom line is that if a GL is incorporated it is now civilly regulated.

When we broke for lunch we all went to the Phyllis luncheon in the banquet hall.  A catered lunch was followed by some presentations, recognitions and awards from our OES sisters.

The other presentation for the day which I will report on was “Prince Hall Freemasonry and the National Grand Lodge” by Alton G. Roundtree, FPS.  This is a subject that is mostly of interest to just Prince Hall Freemasons and can be a very contentious sore spot.

Roundtree has done extensive research on the subject spending many weeks at the Iowa Masonic Library which houses much of Prince Hall Masonry’s archives. He wrote the book “Out of the Shadows” in collaboration with Paul Bessel. His latest book “”The National Grand Lodge and Prince Hall Freemasonry” is the same title as his Phylaxis presentation and should be out and available in April.

Roundtree tells us that in 1847 all existing regular Negro Lodges formed a National Grand Lodge or National Compact. The controversy comes in because it is alleged that the National Grand Lodge shut down and disbanded itself, some say in 1877, others say in 1878. Later, according to the accusations Lodges and Grand Lodges who did not dissolve or who suddenly appeared claimed to be the continuation of Compact Negro Freemasonry. Some Prince Hall scholars and officials say that any restart was bogus and illegal and the Compact Lodges of today are clandestine and  are not legally chartered.

Roundtree disputes these claims in a systematic point by point refutation. He asserts that the National Grand Lodge never dissolved or disbanded. At the Phylaxis Society National Convention his presentation was a power point quiz question and answer format projected on a large screen. He pointed out that many of today’s PHA Grand Lodges were formed by the Compact PHO and thus their point of origin is the National Grand Lodge.  PHA, Prince Hall Affiliated,

Grand Lodges are those that broke away from the National Compact and became independent or were formed without Compact assistance after 1878. Today’s PHO, Prince Hall Origin, Grand Lodges of the Compact still exist in many states but are not as numerous as PHA. Today traditional Black Masonry is concentrated in state PHA Grand Lodges just as its Mainstream counterparts.  But the few National Compact Lodges still around practice regular Freemasonry and according to Roundtree have a legitimate claim to be equal and recognized Brothers.

Before adjourning for the day a special award was presented to Dr. Robert L. Uzzel who will be the third paper presentation featured in The Third Day. He received the prestigious Harry A. Williamson Masonic Hall of Fame Award.

The Phylaxis Society’s Hall of Fame is named for Harry A. Williamson, the founder of the Harry A. Williamson Collection on Black Masonry at the Schombug Center for Research on Black Culture, the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library.

Bro. Williamson was born in New York in 1873.  He was raised as a Master Mason in Mount Olive Lodge #2 in New York on March 5, 1904.  He served the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York in the following capacities:  Deputy Grand Lecturer, Grand Secretary, Grand Senior Warden, Deputy Grand Master, Chairman of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Grand Historian, and Grand Lecturer.

Bro. Williamson was a member of the Manchester Association for Masonic Research in Manchester, England; Dorsett Master’s Lodge #3366 in Poole, England; and the National Masonic Research Society of the U. S. A.

Bro. Williamson was the author of Freemasonry among the American Negroes (1920),

The Negro in Masonic literature (1922), Men of Mark in Prince Hall Freemasonry (1943),

and Prince Hall Primer (1956).

Uzzel is an ordained minister, a professor and PHD and a prolific Masonic writer and researcher.  His record includes:

MEMBERSHIPS

Pride of Ennis Lodge #420, Free and Accepted Masons (Prince Hall Affiliation)

Ennis, Texas

Dale Consistory#31, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite

Dallas, Texas

Zakat Temple #164, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine

Dallas, Texas

AWARDS

Actual Fellow of the Phylaxis Society (1985)

1985 Phylaxis Certificate of Literature

Dr. Charles H. Wesley Medal of History

Blue Friar #92 (2003)

Founding Fellow of the Masonic Society (2008)

Harry A. Williamson Hall of Fame (2010)

After adjourning for the day and freshening up at our hotels we returned for the hospitality of the MWPHGL of Arkansas – libation, epicurean delights and fellowship.  Another great day in the annuals of Masonic fraternalism.

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