The Journal For Research Into Freemasonry & Fraternalism
February 6, 2010 by BeeHive
Filed under The Bee Hive
In case you haven’t noticed there is a new guy on the block, The Journal For Research Into Freemasonry & Fraternalism- http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/JRFF/index. This new venture emanates from Sheffield, England and bills itself as “A Bridge between different traditions of scholarship“. In essence this undertaking will publish scholarly contributions in regards to fraternalism in its many forms blending in culture, art, history, music and other disciplines while maintaining a Masonic focus. Its high level of scholarship is evident as the Journal sees itself as “a scholarly journal following strict rules of assessment, peer-review and rigid quality control.”
The JRFF will not be tied to any Grand Lodge as it joins the growing number of scholarly undertakings who do not want to be encumbered by the restrictive definitions and rules of individual Grand Lodges nor Apologists for them. Rather it will be an independent voice employing freedom of inquiry and broadening the scope of research into currents of social, political and cultural crossovers.
Editor Andreas Onnerfors explains why JRFF is needed at this time.
“The historiography of one of the oldest and most fascinating fraternal organizations – freemasonry – has for a long time been dominated and guided by internal needs. Academia has only relatively recently discovered that a better understanding of freemasonry and related fraternal organizations offers a fascinating insight into the many neglected fields of social, cultural and political history. And Masonic scholars have realized that broadening the scope and rigour of research will reveal new insights about their own organizations, alongside a deeper understanding of its proper place in the history of events and ideas.”
NATIONAL IDENTITY
I found in its just published first edition a most interesting article which I could access without becoming a member. “Nationalism, National Identity and Freemasonry” by Timothy Baycroft was a work which I found extremely well written and one that rang my bell.
First there must be an understanding of the concept of “nation.” Baycroft lets us know that this is no easy task.
“One can measure the area, population, Gross National Product (GNP), and identify the institutions of a state, but nations are conceptual, emotional, abstract entities which may be associated with a state, but can only be grasped through their representations, symbols, and the understanding of those who consider themselves to belong to the nation.”
So look here! Freemasons are not the only ones who employ symbolism. And words are not the only or even best way to allow the human brain to conceptualize an abstract concept. But Baycroft doesn’t stop there. Every cake has to have its icing.
“Like nations, freemasonry can also clearly be understood and conceived as an ‘imagined community.’ This is true both in the sense that the number of masons has always been far too great to be known personally, and that members project into the wider community their own individual understanding of the meaning, values and culture of the association as a whole” (bold added by The Beehive).
So we can’t know everybody, yet to have a mass identity something must bind us together. Thus it is the mere fact of abstract imagining using symbols, artistic expressions (statues, music etc.) and shared beliefs that nations and Freemasonry bind themselves together. For just one example, with nations it may be the flag and with Freemasonry it may be the square and compasses which bonds complete strangers into a common community.
For years I have seen the American Masonic scene as one of separatism and parochialism. While some see much merit in that method of organization I have always felt distanced and a lack of bonding, of closeness and community with other American Masons. It even goes so far as to see so much difference between American Grand Lodges that some even seem un-Masonic.
Nobody in the world has as many regular, recognized Grand Lodges in one nation as the United States of America. Fifty Grand Lodges in Mainstream Masonry and around 40 recognized Prince Hall Grand Lodges with more to come pushes the number of separate Grand Lodges in the U.S.A. to bordering on 100. Nobody else in the world even comes close, not even Canada and Australia. And that fracturing of power leads to differences and differences lead to separate ways and separate ways lead to jealousies and animosity. American Freemasonry is like a football team with no coaches. Each player does his own thing and the concept of “team” is ignored.
That has led me to advocate a greater sense of cohesiveness through political means such as a National Grand Lodge or an American Masonic Constitution and Bill of Rights. The fracturing of power in American Masonry has led to a fracturing of fraternalism. In this time of high mobility and “The Information Age” the world is supposed to be getting smaller, everywhere I guess but American Freemasonry.
But I no longer call for a political coup d’état of American Freemasonry but rather a sense of American identity whereby we think of ourselves as American Masons first and Masons of our individual states secondarily.
And nobody reinforces that change of thought on my part better than Timothy Baycroft. We can create symbolism that will allow an “imagined community” to develop from sea to sea. The effect would be to enlarge the Masonic community and bring it into the 21st century where high mobility and the use of the tools of the Information Age will send ripples of wider and wider interconnectiveness, like rocks skipped on a pond.
The pride in which we hold America and the traditions of our hard fought heritage of liberty and freedom need to spill over into our Masonic culture to reinforce the Brethren with a sense of cultural-political-fraternal community.
Marching forward with an American identity, American Freemasonry can forge elements of common purpose and practice, uniting all American Masons in a cooperative effort without diminishing the authority or the hegemony of individual state Grand Lodges.
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Have you… January 15, 2010 by BeeHive Based on Pennsylvania’s conversions from one black ball to three black balls and the comments coming in regarding the changes that might bring, I think it is time to revive an article previously written by “The Beehive.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Masons treat balloting as something holy and sacrosanct. Any suggestion that perhaps another way of voting might be preferable is met with shock and derision. “Mess with balloting? We have always done it this way (sputter, sputter). Why that’s downright unMasonic!” Thinking about the reason we use a little box with white balls and black cubes in a secret ballot where all members of the Lodge must vote, you have to go way back to the 1700s. Masonry grew up with the United States growing into a nation. It became customary for each hamlet to have its own Masonic Lodge rather than one Lodge drawing from many different communities. As such the local town Lodge was in a village where everybody knew everybody else. Outside of the few big cities of that time like Boston, New York and Philadelphia, Americans lived in communities small enough in size for an individual to know every single person in that town. Therefore everybody needed to vote on a petition in Lodge because everybody knew the applicant. And everybody also knew what everybody else was doing. Private lives were not so private. If you did something you shouldn’t or acted in a manner that drew attention you can be sure that everybody else in town knew about it. Therefore it became necessary to shield those voting in Lodge from having their decision spread all over town. Rejecting an applicant could have serious repercussions especially if you were the only one to drop the black ball. Without a secret ballot any vote could be held up to ridicule thus putting undue pressure on the voter to go along with the crowd. To make a truly independent decision away from pressure and to avoid the mess of paper and pencil the present system was devised. And for its day that system worked very well. But today is quite different or as they used to say, “This is not your grandfather’s Chevrolet.” Today we are much more mobile than our ancestors. I live in a suburb of Dallas 20 miles outside the core city. The population of my town was 28,000 in 2004 when I moved here. It is today over 50,000. Two hundred years ago in this population I would be living in one of the largest cities in the United States. The Dallas/Ft. Worth population today is 6.1 million. I know about 15 people in my town and I would dare say everybody else is in a similar situation as I am. Casting a mandatory vote on somebody I have never heard of is not only silly it is downright dangerous. Yes we all rely on the Investigating Committee to do their job and inform us, but that committee in many jurisdictions is not a standing committee but one appointed as the need arises. Those who serve on the Investigating committee are far from professional investigators and the job they do is often very amateurish. If the investigation is superficial and only the sponsor knows the applicant then we often times are at the mercy of he who recommended the applicant. And thus has risen abuses in this system. First we are blackballing men who should be Masons. But because they are the wrong skin color, speak with a foreign accent, are not Christian or happen to be a person we have had a run in with, well then a little black cube takes care of that! After all we must remember that Masonry in the USA is a WASP society. Since he who rejects does not have to answer to anybody then he can black ball for no good reason and there is no way to stop him. One Mason in a Lodge can and has black balled good and worthy applicants over and over again, voting his prejudices, and the system has no way to prohibit this abuse. Conversely we are admitting men who should have been blackballed. Because nobody knows the applicant besides his sponsor and the investigation is far from thorough many a man slides in that should have been kept out. I am sure many of you who are reading this have served on an Investigating Committee. Let me then ask you, the reader, if you have ever asked an applicant if he should become a member and he would be voting on a petition would he hesitate to vote for acceptance of a black man? I’ll bet that one in a hundred would ask a question like that. That’s because we don’t screen personal beliefs, outside of a belief in Deity, just actions. If we are relying so heavily on our Investigating Committee to properly inform us, the vast majority knowing nothing whatsoever about the applicant, why don’t we make the Investigating Committee the decision maker? We have a three member committee, majority rules. All that would be needed for acceptance or rejection then would be a minimum of two votes. No balloting, no white balls, no black cubes, just a vote of three members who have done a good investigation. The Investigation Committee then would decide who is accepted and who is rejected. Before investing them with this power we would have to do few things. First let’s make them a standing committee each member serving three years. And let’s make the first committee consist of a one year term, a two year term and a three year term. Thereafter every election or appointment would be for a three year term. This way one of the three comes up for replacement every year. Second let’s send any Investigating Committee members to school to learn how to do an investigation the right way. This could be a course offered by an outside agency or school or Grand Lodge. Perhaps part of the investigation process now might be an FBI check and a credit check. Lastly let’s invest each member with the inability to say anything about their investigation or the person they are looking into. This would be just like the silence of the lawyer/client relationship or the Priest in the Confessional. So it’s still a secret ballot, but now a secret among three. Not even the Worshipful Master should know what went on in the decision making process. Now any member of the Lodge who has reason to reject an applicant can present whatever evidence they have to the Investigating Committee. But what has to happen here that heretofore has not is that the objecting Brother has to have a good reason. No longer will a man be able to be kept out of Masonry for no good reason like prejudice. Conversely those that should not be accepted have a far better chance of being caught with a permanent, professional Investigating Committee performing an in depth investigation. What we will have succeeded in doing then is to remove this process from amateurs, from guess work and from a method of total permissiveness void of enforceable voting guidelines. That ensures better protection of the Lodge and an increase in fairness.
Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… January 13, 2010 by BeeHive It seems that the sweeping changes that MW Thomas Sturgeon made to Freemasonry in Pennsylvania upon assuming the Grand East will be one of the top Masonic stories of 2010 not only for its swift boldness but even more so for its far reaching modifications. As such you can expect more than a few articles to be written about what Sturgeon has done and a multitude of comments to follow. The goal of modernization and some of the steps taken is what Frank Haas did for West Virginia. It is my fervent hope that the succeeding Pennsylvania Grand Masters do not reverse all the changes Sturgeon has made or worse yet expel him for what he has done. Already we have the lines of battle drawn with a group of “traditionalists” rallying to reverse the reforms. It looks to me as if these changes were mandated by edict rather than submitted to a vote of the entire Grand Lodge membership. To pounce on Pennsylvania Freemasons with so many changes without allowing any input can be both a dangerous card to play and too much for the membership to digest in such a short period. Over and above that most parties involved are not talking about the most important aspect of these changes, namely that which has been omitted. Rather the entire debate is focused on approval or disapproval of Sturgeon’s 3Ms – Modernizing, Marketing and Membership. What Sturgeon and the rest of y’all have left out (HatRock excepted) is the need to have a membership committed to the principles of Freemasonry as a way of life, to be well grounded in the belief system of Freemasonry and to accept that as the foremost reason to be a Mason. Mainstream Masonry just hasn’t learned yet that when you spend all your money, time and effort in marketing a product rather than on the product itself, then you end up marketing an inferior product. Short term the marketing works. But when dissatisfaction with the product sets in users and believers start to disappear. This holds true for any product. And that is why we have a retention problem. The performance of Freemasonry doesn’t match its hype and what follows is apathy and disinterest. The viability of Freemasonry has to rest on something solid, something that inspires and fires up the heart and soul, something that holds for the individual the very meaning and essence of life. Without that then the practice of Freemasonry becomes superficial and shallow. An illustration of how important this is to most any organization can be illustrated by the plight of the Protestant Church. Those Protestant Churches labeled Mainline, such as Congregationalists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, etc. have seen their membership plummet in direct proportion to their deemphasizing doctrine and personal salvation, rather concentrating on social, community and political ends. Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, AME, Evangelicals, Black Baptists and a number of nondenominational communities who hold Bible Study, Prayer groups, mentoring and in depth and far reaching education from day one are strong congregations and are growing by leaps and bounds. These more conservative and traditional Protestants are doctrine driven. Freemasonry should be doctrine driven, doctrine driven first. And then from that will flow the social, the community outreach and the fraternalism of fellowship. Belief must propel practice. This way of looking at Freemasonry is often misunderstood. Such thinkers are not calling for some education in the Craft, they are calling for a focus of knowledge commitment. I have sat in many a Mainstream Grand Lodge Session and watched the donations and money pour in. Yet Grand Lodge cannot place the outflow in its proper place with the proper priorities. Freemasonry is a bonding society. But the bonding needs to come from a sharing of the joy that emanates from an understanding of how Freemasonry changes the heart and inspires the nobleness in life. And that comes when the belief system of Freemasonry is ingrained in every Mason’s heart and soul. To these ends Lodges and Grand Lodges should be financing and leading Masonic Lest any have forgotten this is The Information Age. Invest in Freemasonry to make it a superior product rather than an inferior one. Then watch it grow. It will sell itself.
Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… January 10, 2010 by BeeHive “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum,” is the title of a 60s Broadway play. It is the sort of punch line that has been repeated since day one when something unexpected crosses your path, something ironic. Well I can’t say that that has ever happened to me until today. I was reading in the NY Times article about the New Grand Master of Pennsylvania: IN the final days of a year dominated by repeated — and mostly unheeded — calls for full disclosure on the part of Wall Street banks, pharmaceutical companies, the N.F.L. and any number of other organizations, transparency arrived out of the blue from an unlikely quarter if ever there was one: the Freemasons. Thanks go not to Dan Brown, whose latest novel, “The Lost Symbol,” focuses on the notoriously mysterious fraternal order, but to Tom Sturgeon, a career law-enforcement officer, who was installed as Right Worshipful Grand Master for Pennsylvania on Dec. 28. His ceremony, in a break with centuries-old Masonic tradition, was held at a convention center here and open to the public. “We need to make Freemasonry more contemporary,” Mr. Sturgeon told me, “to make it reflect 2010, not 1910 — or 1810.” “Brethren, ladies and friends,” Mr. Sturgeon greeted the audience for his installation. “The 21st-century Masonic Renaissance starts today!” (“The Not-So-Secrets Of The Temp;le,” by Holly Brubach, New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brubach.html Well that sure beats West Virginia I thought. Now maybe, just maybe, that’s something I could go along with, depending on whether he is modernizing or whether he is just turning his Grand Lodge into a Service Club. So I read on about some of the changes Grand Master Sturgeon had sprung on everybody in a flash. I sure hope that when he steps down from the Grand East that the next Grand Master doesn’t “Haas” him. He sure has pissed off a lot of Brethren. It was then that I decided to do an internet search and see what the poop was around and about. Who knows a dozen others could have written many bon mots on the subject already. That’s when a funny thing happened to me on the way to the………. The first hit on my browser WAS MYSELF! Now I am not a vain person. I don’t go around searching for myself, so to have ME pop up first on a search was……..well, kind of a shock. The hit was an essay I had written which was on Phoenixmasonry. But what was even more interesting was the same story 7 more hits down the line but this time coming from “A Partir Pedra,” reprinted off “The Beehive” with comments before The Beehive joined Freemason Information. I do not remember A Partir Pedra asking me about publishing that story. Then again I have a lousy memory and I do not copyright my work. Considering the relevancy of the topic I am going to republish the full story once again for the first time here. Perhaps additional comments will come in. THE CASTRATION OF FREEMASONRY An American Point of View BY Wor. Frederic L. Milliken For the past several decades, Freemasons worldwide have been preoccupied about the decline in membership. All sorts of reasons have been advanced for this decline and many different solutions have been tried to stop it, but to no avail. The line on the graph of Masonic membership continues its steady downward trend. Lost in the turmoil of argument of reasons and solutions has been the realization that Freemasonry has developed a schism and that breaking apart is in reality about who has the best way to rebuild The Craft. It’s almost as if the Antients and the Moderns were back at it again, but this time it is not over ritual but practice. Today’s Antients assert that Freemasonry is a personal journey of moral improvement that prepares a man to re-enter society as an individual providing to the outside world an example or role model of one who has taken the high road in life. Speaking for Today’s Antients is Provincial Grand Master Lord Northamton, UGLE, who tells us that Freemasonry has no role in society. Speaking for the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland he states, “Freemasonry has no role outside Freemasonry and that the only influence it should be seeking is over itself and its members.” He goes on to say that Freemasonry is simply a matter of self improvement through self discovery and education with The Craft pointing the way and that a man who brings the lessons and virtues of Freemasonry into his heart would then be expected to be an arm of improvement for society as an individual operating as such outside the Craft. But never should Freemasonry as a fraternity take any position on any public issue, he asserts. “Freemasonry is not, and should never be allowed to develop into being, a lobby group – no matter how universal and noble the cause.”(1) Today’s “Moderns”, strongest in the U.S.A., promulgate the practice of “community Freemasonry” whereby Freemasonry as a unit has undertaken a vow of charity for all mankind and then enters society as a collective force to uplift the less fortunate. This view is aptly put forward by MSANA’s Executive Secretary, Richard Fletcher, who acknowledges the Crafts roots in the Enlightenment but then “modernizes” that heritage into community action and involvement, code words for Institutionalized Charity. He tells us, “In my judgment there is nothing Freemasons could do that would be more important than undertaking the role of unity builder by being seen in our communities, by doing community outreach, and showing by example what it means to be part of a family, not only our own family, but the family of our state, the family of our nation. Without fully realizing it Masons used to do these things. But like the rest of the country our ‘sense of purpose’ had eroded.”(2) Another Masonic commentator, Tony Fels, reaffirms this position on increasing Masonic membership when he says, “There seems to be much talk within the Masonic order about what it might take to spark a revival of interest, especially among younger people, in the principles and practice of fraternalism. Certainly the ongoing tendency among many Grand Lodges and local lodges to become more visible in their local communities through sponsoring scholarship funds, clean-up campaigns, and other benevolent activities will help bring the Masonic brotherhood to the attention of people who may wish to join in the fellowship of the lodge.” (3) Absent from this tug of war over Freemason’s hearts is the fact that Freemasonry consists of two distinct divisions of actualization and that both are equally valid and both are absolutely necessary for the Complete Mason. Simply stated these two parts of the whole are: 1) That private and personal journey whereby a Mason reads and studies on his own and then applies the virtues and lessons of the Craft into his daily life, building that Temple within. 2) That gathering into Masonic community whereby Masons initiate new members, exemplify rituals and customs, cement the bonds of fraternalism through Masonic fellowship and interact with the greater community at large. Freemasonry is then both public and private, singular or group, open or closed. It is not fair to say that the Craft is exclusively one or the other. It is a mixture of practice much as a person’s church is. One may read his Holy Book privately away from church and then apply the lessons of his religion to everybody he meets and he may privately offer his adorations to deity in the solitude of his aloneness. Or one may go to church and pray and worship in the community of believers. And one may participate in a church supper, Bible study or mission work with others, even going forth into the streets and avenues of the public at large. To say that one’s church is only about changing the heart of each individual member and does not involve the reception of spirit or transformation in group interaction is as wrong as to say the same thing about Freemasonry. Yet we are not here to take sides and declare a winner, rather to declare that neither Today’s Antients nor Today’s Moderns have the answer, both are wrong. The Antients have totally misinterpreted the prohibition of the Lodge involvement in politics. Politics and religion can be discussed in Lodge and Freemasonry as a fraternity can engage in politics and religion publically. It is only partisan politics and sectarian religion that are banned. That it is to say it is not the general but the specific application that leads to proselytization and the problem. This misinterpretation has caused the Antients to practice only half of Freemasonry. The half they do practice is entirely correct but half a loaf is not the whole thing, it’s like trying to walk with only one leg. Freemasonry is not designed to be practiced like Monastic Christianity with no concern or relationship with the outer world. We as Freemasons are not Monks of the Craft. Yet the Moderns, mainly Americans, fare no better in this analysis because not only have they so downplayed the importance of instruction, education and private research and study in Freemasonry as for it to be virtually nonexistent but they have then taken the public charge as to be one that places Freemasonry’s primary role as savior of the world’s poor and less fortunate. The societal mission has been corrupted by Grand Lodges who have turned American Freemasonry into a Service Club in the name of “Masonic Awareness” whereby Masons spend all their time, money and talent on Institutional Charity whose primary purpose is Masonic publicity and the marketing of Freemasonry. This is not caring for society or an attempt to support society’s leaders in their quest for a better nation. Rather it is an attempt to buy or bribe friends. And in so doing Freemasonry, which touts itself as a noble and virtuous society, comes across as being hypocritical. It certainly isn’t a path Dale Carnegie would have chosen. Today’s Antients would say that the virtues and lessons of Freemasonry teach an individual Brother to be charitable but they do not teach a Lodge how to be the same. To look at the traditional true path of Freemasonry regarding its role in society one only has to look at its practice shortly after its formal chartering in 1717 and the high preponderance of society’s most prominent leaders who were Freemasons. For you see there was a time when American Freemasonry counted within its ranks professional, intellectual and government leaders as well as owners and managers of businesses. Prominent men, the makers and shakers of society, were Freemasons. It must be remembered that Freemasonry was a product of the Enlightenment and the early practice of the Craft involved directly influencing society. Freemasons then had no qualms about advocating and working for democracy, separation of church and state, religious freedom and public school education for everybody. Ben Franklin, Paul Revere, John Hancock, George Washington, and a host of others, were intimately involved in the American Revolution and thus the remaking of the society of their day. The leaders of society joined Freemasonry because Freemasonry was involved in working for the betterment of society. Was that politics and religion or was it merely an expression and implementation of those inalienable rights given to all mankind by their Creator? Today under a strict misinterpretation of the politics and religion ban, American Freemasonry does not have anything to do with the workings of society nor will it even comment on any of the freedom and rights violations made by different nations around the world or advocated by various groups here and abroad. This has made the practice of Freemasonry so bland that it has discouraged society’s leaders from becoming members. If American Freemasonry chooses not to be concerned with society why should society be concerned with Freemasonry? If Freemasonry supported society’s leaders in making a freer, better America then those leaders would once again be part of Freemasonry. RW Brother A Goncalves of the Grand Lodge of Portugal states this case quite clearly. “We regular masons don’t live in caverns or ghettos, out of society. We live within society; we are an intimate part of it. We have special responsibilities that we assume as privileges, because they are moral and ethical obligations”. Masonry is not and cannot be passive,” he says. He goes on to assert that the problems of the individual and the problems of society meet in the commonality of freedom. Freemasonry is forever linked to The Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the Charter of Human Rights, the United Nations Charter, UNICEF and many more. He talks about The Grand Master of Chile, addressing a United States Masonic audience, emphasizing that Freemasonry is not a spokesman for any political party nor should there be any political proseltization in Lodge, yet “Grand Lodges should share some common concepts like: opposition to any tyranny that denies or restricts, in any way, human equality and individual freedom to a complete performance of democratic rights; a clear support to the right of expression and to a fair existence; the respect to the sovereignty of nations; recognition of democracy as system of government and individual aspiration to cultural improvement of any society. Democracy and masonry are substantial and active systems of social progress of Peoples, because both act as source of liberty of speech and conscience and as ferme4nt to interior and external peace».”(4) The path to Masonic Renewal and Growth leads through a reconnection with society through a constant affirmation of its most humanitarian goals. There are four main areas that I would like to point out where Freemasonry can return a sense of purpose in its role with society. DISCRIMINATION As a world leader in toleration and acceptance of many different cultures and peoples this is an area where American Mainstream Masonry needs to get its entire house in order. There is no room in a fraternity that espouses equality among all men, for race, religious, cultural or economic discrimination to exist. Nor is there any room in American society for it either. Prince Hall Masonry has for years been a big supporter of the Civil Rights movement. They have the same prohibition in their Lodges against partisan politics and sectarian religion as Mainstream Masonry does. Yet they see no violation of that tradition by working for the same equal treatment of all men. Championing fully, anti discrimination principles will go a long way in convincing leaders of society that Freemasonry is sincere in its support. LIBERTY American Masons have long been the champions of liberty. It is no coincidence that the phrase “Liberty, Equality & Fraternity” was penned. And advocating the pursuit of happiness unfettered by abridgements to God given freedoms is never unmasonic. American Masons fought to free us from British rule and then played an important role in the framing of the structure and the government of the longest running free society in the history of the world. “To avoid politics did not mean to deny the civic. The enjoyment of social harmony by the Lodge members relied upon peace and freedom as guaranteed by the civil authorities. Each Lodge was intended as a microcosm of the ideal society.’ A Mason is a peaceable subject to those Civil Powers that guarantee the expression of fundamental freedom,’ says Giuliano Bernardo. Without Liberty, Freemasonry cannot exist.”(5) Freemasonry was not allowed to exist under Hitler, Stalin, Mao and other despots. All tyrants have recognized that the principles of Freemasonry undermine their rule of total control. That being so, it would not be inappropriate for Freemasonry to let the world know that it is actively supporting the freedoms of all peoples. And in cases of extreme suppression and ruthlessness Freemasonry is as obligated to speak out and work for Liberty as it did during the Enlightenment for the democratization of government. HUMAN RIGHTS Imprisonment without cause, torture, denial of due process, enslavement, ethnic cleansing, prohibition of free speech, refusing freedom of religion and freedom of association and terrorism are just a few of the violations of human rights that can be mentioned, all of which run counter to Freemasonry’s belief in the worth of the individual, thus totally incompatible with Freemasonry. So why not say so? There is nothing politically partisan about basic human rights and the dignity of man. Renowned historian and Masonic chronicler Dr. Margaret Jacob, recently considered a question as to what she thought would be the cause Freemasonry should champion to restore a sense of purpose to the Craft and regain its role in society.(6) She was very reluctant to answer as she said she was not a Mason but when pressed she said her choice would be Human Rights. PEACE Freemasonry seeks to unite diverse people not divide them. It abhors coercion and the use of force except in self-defense. It does not advocate one political cause over another, one religion over another nor one race over another. Every Lodge room is an oasis of peace where peace and harmony flows. When you enter a Lodge room you leave all your differences outside the door. Freemasonry is the only organization in the world that brings together in peace and harmony men of different cultures, creeds, races, religions, economic circumstances and political persuasions. It is the biggest hope for peace the world has. This is a favorite subject of Paul Bessel who regards Freemasonry’s role in society to be one that is a vocal proponent of the inalienable rights of man endowed by his Creator. “This idea of Masonry’s role being to uplift society, and support democracy and freedom, is not such a radical concept. In the early 1900s it appears to have been a dominant concept in American Freemasonry. Mainstream Masonic writers spoke about Freemasonry working for the good of society, bringing men of all races, religions, and backgrounds together and promoting world peace.” (7) Bessel reminds us that Roscoe Pound was adamant in his belief that Freemasonry must promote the universality of mankind and that H.L. Haywood regarded the important byproducts of Freemasonry to be equality, liberty and democracy. And then Bessel delivers his ringing rally cry of allowing Freemasonry to be all it can be. Freemasonry could be, and could have been in the past, the only institution in the world that at all times in every way promotes tolerance and meeting on the level. We could be the leaders in seeking racial harmony, religious ecumenism, cooperation among men and women, civility between people who believe in different political philosophies, and friendliness among those who choose to live their lives differently from others. We could be better than the United Nations, Amnesty International, and interfaith organizations, all together, because we could be the prime organization supporting tolerance for all, everywhere, in all circumstances. This would be a unique role for Freemasonry.” (7) By actively working for and speaking out for the elimination of discrimination, for liberty and freedom for all, for human rights and for world peace, Freemasonry can regain the respect and the involvement of the leaders of today’s society. It can interact with society as a partner in promoting what is noble, just and right, furthering the dignity and worth of each individual rather than using society to further its own ends. Freemasonry’s greatness will be acting as a vehicle through which society can improve itself, individually and collectively, for no man is an island and no institution exists in a vacuum. We are all traveling this journey of life together; we are all one. BIBLIOGRAPHY (1) Lord Northampton (2) Franklin, Freemasonry and the Enlightenment by Richard E. Fletcher – SHORT TALK BULLETIN, March, 2009 (3) Is Freemasonry A Religion? Learning From A 19th-Century Masonic Debate by Tony Fels – HEREDOM, Volume 15, 2007 – page 175 (4) Freemasonry Role On The 21st Century by RWB A. Gonçalves, Secretary of Morning Star Lodge No 7, Grand Regular Lodge of Portugal (5) The Masonic Concept of Liberty, Freemasonry and the Enlightenment by W. Bro. Alex Davidson http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/Davidson.html (6) Masonic Central Radio Podcast 3/12/09, part of the mega Masonic site Freemason Information, http://www.freemasoninformation.com/ (7) Masonic Traditions In Our Past And Our Future by Paul M. Bessel, Presentation at La France Lodge #93, F.A.A.M., Washington, D.C., September 8, 2000 And I will also add a post comment that I made to the original article. It might seem a bit out of context, because it is. I do not feel I have the right to publish other people’s comments that came before mine. This is a very interesting comment and brings to light some misunderstandings about how Freemasonry should act. Freemasonry does not have all the answers. If that were so all members of the Craft would be polishing their Perfect Ashlars. Be we are not. We are all chipping away at the rough and superfluous jagged edges of our Rough Ashlars. No human has all the truth. No human is right all the time. No human is perfect. The second point follows the first and should be strongly emphasized to all who have a fervent belief………..in anything. One can chose a path that one thinks correct without having to, in the process, castigate and bury all contending beliefs or exterminate those who believe differently. I then as a Christian believe I have found a way to eternal happiness and a relationship with the Almighty – a way, not the way. I can live peacefully with a Hindu who has found another way. We are both going to the same place to meet the same God, we are just on different paths. All the spokes on my bicycle wheel lead to the same center hub. 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. But the vast majority of people that you associate with in your daily life – the profane do not have different goals in life nor different aspirations nor different values- they have different means on how to accomplish the same ends. Their culture is different – their language, their political process, their formalized religion, their dress, their customs, their heritage may all be different. That’s OK. Freemasonry is non judgmental. It is non judgmental on different paths chosen from the same sound, wise and time tested understanding of life. That is what makes Freemasonry tolerant. Unfortunately many who think they have found the one and only true answer or even just the best way insist that all others do it their way or they will refuse to associate with them or allow them into their societies, institutions and groups. How sad. I, like most Freemasons, do not feel threatened by a different approach. I , like most Freemason, can live peacefully with others that see things slightly differently because I don’t want to convince them that they should change theirs. Many in Freemasonry have interpreted all this to mean that Freemasonry can, therefore, take no open stands on anything public lest it offend somebody else and that Freemasonry is not meant to push its nose into the affairs of civil society. This of course is the opposite extreme from those that demand we must make serious stances on many specific issues and what we have been arguing against above. These two extremes of everything or nothing , if and when they are enacted, are what is causing the main lack of membership today. Here is where I believe we should be – right in the middle, in moderation of extreme positions. Many Freemasons have characterized the ethics and morality of Freemasonry as “the religion upon which all men agree”, that is on the points that are common to all religions So what we promulgate are certain basic secular and religious truths that are accepted by the vast majority of the inhabitants of this earth either openly or privately in their hearts. Or as stated in the American Declaration of Independence that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.”. And we should be, as I make the case for it in my paper, be standing up for these basic rights, these virtues, these moral and ethical standards both publicly and privately. But lastly these are general points upon which all men agree. The specific application of each of these general points is left up to the interpretation of each Brother. For an example Freemasonry stands squarely against murder. Now that is a general moral or ethical position upon which most religions and most human beings agree upon. So where is the disagreement then? The disagreement comes into the sub categories, that is the specific application of these general principles. In the case of murder to give you an example of a specific application – is abortion murder? Well some say abortion is murder and some say it is not. Does Freemasonry have to take a stand upon abortion to the point that once it has decided which side to support anybody on the other side cannot be a Mason? If that is what the Brother commenting is advocating then I ask him to think again. We, as Freemasons, do not take stands on specific applications of general positions and standards. We leave the specifics, like abortion, to be a private matter between that Brother and his Maker. And we do not judge, but leave that judgment up to God. But what I have been emphasizing is that does not demand that we, as a Craft, also keep our lips sealed when in the public about the general virtues upon which we stand. We can and should proclaim outloud to the entire world that liberty, justice, democracy, freedom education and others must be adhered to and that we are in the world’s presence to remind them of their responsibility to act accordingly. How to apply them and what they mean specifically is up to the citizens of each country and state to decide working through institutions other than Freemasonry such as their church and their political party. But be not deceived into thinking that Freemasonry has to publicly stand for nothing or publicly take stands on every specific issue. That will and has been its downfall. Frederic L. Milliken
Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… December 20, 2009 by BeeHive It is this time of year when I stop and take notice of a certain change in the atmosphere around me. When I accidentally cut off a stranger on the road I do not get back the raised fist or digital sign language of contempt. No blaring horns, no verbalizing scorn with four letter words, no cold shoulder darken my path. Instead I am greeted with a smile and best wishes by perfect strangers; women open doors for me and even dogs wag their tail at my presence. It’s Christmas and the spirit of the holiday has taken hold of most homo sapiens. Chris Thomas in an article titled, “ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, Having A Real Spirit of Christmas Throughout The Year,” quotes Thomas S. Monson: “Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than things.” Thomas goes on to say: “Having such a spirit doesn’t have to be something that is seen or noticed by everyone. It can be as simple as continuing with one’s work while the teacher’s not in the room or conducting oneself at work as if they were being watched, even while the boss is away.” “Philippians chapter 2, verses 3-5 state, ‘Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.’ “Note that these verses don’t encourage one to belittle themselves but rather to recognize the worth of others as well as oneself. The spirit of Christmas truly involves being a character with integrity, one that is selfless and humble and above all, loves.” “Our Daily Bread,” describes the Christmas Spirit this way: J. I. Packer goes to the heart of this matter in his book Knowing God. He writes, “We talk glibly of the Christmas spirit, rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity . . . . It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the [temperament] of Him who for our sakes became poor, . . . the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent—to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, thought, care, and concern to do good to others . . . in whatever way there seems need.” http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2006/12/01/devotion.aspx These descriptions, this Christmas Spirit are how a Mason governs himself 365 days a year. Oh there are a few bad apples in the pile, I guess. But by and large a Mason is or strives to be honest, kind, giving, patient, understanding, tolerant, patriotic, gentle, forgiving and charitable. These are attributes which puts a Mason in a year round Christmas Spirit. I am often asked what effect does becoming a Mason have on the individual. And my answer is that one becomes a new person, with a new outlook on life. Masonry is a way of life but that way of life is not limited to a certain time of year. That is really what it means to become a Mason. When you enter that door for the first time you are in darkness, seeking light. When you have found light you have started your rebirth into the world of constant learning and constant striving to polish that rough ashlar. Freemasonry is a journey not a destination but it is the process of performing a new way of life that makes a man a Mason. Remember that spirit that followed immediately after 9/11? We were all one, united in one purpose, one spirit, one common bond. From my home state of Massachusetts, The Gloucester Daily Times put it this way: “There was a true spirit of camaraderie, a sense that we were all in this together, all on the same side, from our own neighborhoods, throughout our local communities, and across the country” But then the newspaper goes on to lament: “Sadly, that spirit has long since been lost over the last seven years; in fact, it was lost within a few months after the attacks. Unfortunately, we now seem as divided — politically, economically and ideologically — as we have even been. And that’s not only on the national level.” http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_254224823.html?keyword=topstory Outside the Craft, the spirit is short lived. It is there after some national traumatic event; it is there at Christmas time but it soon fades and soon we are back to a dog eat dog world. Not so with a Mason. His world is Christmas time year round. So let us salute the peace, harmony and tolerance that Masons throughout the world contribute to their world and everybody else’s world. AND A HO, HO, HO TO Y’ALL!
Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… November 30, 2009 by BeeHive Live Stone Lodge No. 152 F&AM: Thanksgiving Food Basket Charity from Odin Clack on Vimeo. There is a Lodge a few cities away from my Lodge that does some great things, some of the wonderful things that my Lodge does and all the Lodges I have become familiar with in the Prince Hall Texas system. It is Live Stone Lodge No. 152, Grand Prairie, Texas. Today we have a good example of what a caring community can do for others. To see a video on this event all you have to do is to click on the link and then when the video screen pops up click on the start video arrow in the lower left hand corner. To all my friends in Mainstream Masonry I want to say that this is a good illustration of the difference between institutionalized charity and personal charity. The charity viewed here by Live Stone Lodge is the type of aid and concern for others and those that have labored that we might be where we are today, that should be a part of the charitable works of the Lodge. To Live Stone Lodge #152, F & AM and my friend Brother Calvin Thomas who is one of the Brothers there that I know well, I say BRAVO! This Lodge deserves Kudos not only for what it does but also for being part of the 21st century age of technology and for using that technology to display what they are accomplishing. If more Lodges would do likewise think of the increase in favorable impression of Freemasonry that might be generated. If you have any trouble with that video Link here is another one to try: http://vimeo.com/7817538 In addition Live Stone Lodge offers a full gallery of photos of the event here: http://gallery.me.com/odinclack#100099 I invite you all to drop Live Stone Lodge a line and encourage them to continue in the manner they are proceeding and to tell them how much you enjoyed their video and photographs. Live Stone Lodge No 152 F & AM Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… November 27, 2009 by BeeHive This has led to the rise of the un-Lodged Mason. He is a cousin to the un-churched Christian, the un-templed Jew and the un-mosqued Muslim, who belong to that cadre of believers who wish to worship outside of sectarian organized religion, not as a member of a worshipping community but alone. Thus I hear from some of my Christian friends, “Well you don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian.” Translated into Masonicese you have, “Well you don’t have to go to Lodge to be a good Mason,” which may all be well and true but if one operated in that manner one would be missing something. Those of who are Masonic writers have to acutely aware of this dichotomy, for if we are not careful we will treat our beloved Fraternity as a concept, a study, a discipline only, and only is the key word here. Lest anyone think I am a snob here, I am absolutely convinced that Masonic research and study is a necessity for the complete Mason. I am greatly in favor of esoteric Masonic study groups. It is difficult to be a Christian without ever having read the Bible nor having any knowledge of what Jesus said and did. It is equally difficult to be a Mason without appropriate study of the Craft. But it can’t end there. There has to also be the human touch. The whole benefit of community is to be able to interact with living, breathing human beings. When I attend church I experience what community can do in the magnification of the power of the Holy Spirit in group action. I am also never able to inspire myself as much as a good preacher or a good Masonic ritualist can. This concept of community is something Scott Peck put into words: “If we are going to use the word meaningfully we must restrict it to a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have developed some significant commitment to “rejoice together, mourn together,” and to “delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own.” Like electricity, it is profoundly lawful. Yet there remains something about it that is inherently mysterious, miraculous, unfathomable. Thus there is no adequate one-sentence definition of genuine community. Community is something more than the sum of its parts, its individual members. What is this “something more?” Even to begin to answer that, we enter a realm that is not so much abstract as almost mystical. It is a realm where words are never fully suitable and language itself falls short. The analogy of a gem comes to mind. The seeds of community reside in humanity – a social species – just as a gem originally resides in the earth. But it is not yet a gem, only a potential one. So it is that geologists refer to a gem in the rough simply as a stone. A group becomes a community in somewhat the same way that a stone becomes a gem – through a process of cutting and polishing. Once cut and polished, it is something beautiful. But to describe its beauty, the best we can do is to describe its facets. Community, like a gem, is multifaceted, each facet a mere aspect of a whole that defies description.” If Scott Peck were a Mason perhaps he would have used the lesson of the rough ashlar and the perfect ashlar. So what we can say about Freemasonry is that it is not only a study, a philosophy but an interaction of community gathered together to practice, teach the virtues of the Craft in a mode of human interaction whereby those in the community seek to inspire and bolster each other. And the larger the community and the more interaction that takes place the greater the pride and enthusiasm that is generated. Note that we certainly are not speaking here about a business meeting. But the two main aspects of Freemasonry can feed on each other. Study and research encourages community Masonic participation and community Masonic participation encourages study and research. I was reminded of the importance of the human touch when I traveled to meet fellow Masonic Information writer Terence Satchell. (who may or may not agree with these views). Actually we both drove about half way to each other and met in the middle. Although Terence and I have sent numerous E-Mails back and forth to each other and chatted online, we never had met face to face. That meeting in person was so much more valuable and more heartwarming and personal than electronic communication that it led me to write this message. We explored each other as a person with the ability to feel the emotion and the nuance of each others communication. A bond was forged that was impossible to create in any other manner. And that is the message for today. Virtual Freemasonry is very nice but it is no match for the real thing. Virtual camaraderie is not the real thing either. It lacks the substance and the ability to reach to the very core of being, the human soul. There is no substitute for the real thing. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby I got your picture hangin’ on the wall I read your letters when you’re not near Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby I play the game, a fantasy No other sound is quite the same as your name I got some memories to look back on So let me get the real thing Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… November 22, 2009 by BeeHive The room is quiet in anticipation. The Senior Deacon goes to the door, “Let them enter……….Spontaneously 53 Fellowcrafts break into song, Send it on down Send it on down Lord let The Holy Ghost come on down Heavenly Father hear our call And let your Holy Spirit fall Send it on down Send it on down Lord let The Holy Ghost come on down You are Holy Oh so Holy Send it on down Send it on down Lord let The Holy Ghost come on down.
as they march in and perambulate around the Lodge room The ceremony of the 3rd degree had begun. It was Friday night at Grand Lodge Session and the business of the hour was a mass raising at Grand Lodge. If you are a Mason and you haven’t seen this done before you have missed a sight to behold. There is electricity in the air as the questions are asked in the First Section and 53 answers returned whose volume of response rattle the Square & Compasses on the altar. And when all is done in this first part of the degree, 53 voices ring out with “Come Along and Get on Board and Ride This Train” as they march around the Lodge and then back out. And if you haven’t seen 53 Brothers all supine at the same time spread across the Grand Lodge Room, you haven’t felt the power of spiritual community. Then your heart knows that you are in a place of oneness, of unity, of peace, harmony and accord. That was the main course and if that’s all there was we would have concluded the evening well satiated. But desert was on the menu and a scrumptious one at that. Prince Hall in colonial dress capped off the ceremony with a charge he first gave in 1797 to the African Lodge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Beloved Brethren of the African Lodge: “We are to have sympathy, but this, after all, is not to be confined to parties or colors, nor to towns or states, nor to a kingdom, but to the kingdoms of the whole earth, over whom Christ the King is head and grand master for all in distress.” “Among these numerous sons and daughters of distress, let us see our friends and brethren; and first let us see them dragged from their native country, by the iron hand of tyranny and oppression, from their dear friends and connections, with weeping eyes and aching hearts, to a strange land, and among a strange people, whose tender mercies are cruel,—and there to bear the iron yoke of slavery and cruelty, till death, as a friend, shall relieve them. And must not the unhappy condition of these, our fellow-men, draw forth our hearty prayers and wishes for their deliverance from those merchants and traders, whose characters you have described in Revelation xviii. 11-13? And who knows but these same sort of traders may, in a short time, in like manner bewail the loss of the African traffic, to their shame and confusion? The day dawns now in some of the West India Islands. God can and will change their condition and their hearts, too, and let Boston and the world know that He hath no respect of persons, and that bulwark of envy, pride, scorn and contempt, which is so visible in some, shall fall.” “Now, my brethren, nothing is stable; all things are changeable. Let us seek those things which are sure and steadfast, and let us pray God that, while we remain here, he would give us the grace of patience, and strength to bear up under all our troubles, which, at this day, God knows, we have our share of. Patience, I say; for were we not possessed of a great measure of it, we could not bear up under the daily insults we meet with in the streets of Boston, much more on public days of recreation. How, at such times, are we shamefully abused, and that to such a degree, that we may truly be said to carry our lives in our hands, and the arrows of death are flying about our heads. “ “My brethren, let us not be cast down under these and many other abuses we at present are laboring under,—for the darkest hour is just before the break of day. My brethren, let us remember what a dark day it was with our African brethren, six years ago, in the French West Indies. Nothing but the snap of the whip was heard, from morning to evening. Hanging, breaking on the wheel, burning, and all manner of tortures, were inflicted on those unhappy people. But, blessed be God, the scene is changed. They now confess that God hath no respect of persons, and therefore, receive them as their friends, and treat them as brothers. Thus doth Ethiopia stretch forth her hand from slavery, to freedom and equality. “ I was very proud that my Lodge, Pride of Mt. Pisgah #`135 had three new Master Masons raised at this Grand Lodge Sessions, three Brothers we all in the Lodge had worked hard with and who had in turn applied themselves assiduously. But we weren’t done yet. That was only day one of Winter Session which is half as long as the four day Summer Session. Saturday morning’s Grand Session reconvened and the Grand Master was escorted in and received in proper fashion. The Grand Lodge conducted its business and heard reports from many of its committees. Almost all of that is private information that cannot be shared. But I can tell you that Prince Hall Texas voted favorably on mutual recognition with Mainstream California and Mainstream Connecticut. After the business of the Grand Lodge was completed we broke into workshops and presentations. I viewed four interesting informational presentations. One was on Real Estate and mortgages. The second was a demonstration of a Masonic burial service. The third a presentation of a new data base system being developed for Grand Lodge whereby we would be operating our own servers. The fourth workshop was given by a member of my Lodge. PM Kazar LaGrone gave us a lecture and Power Point slide show on the Masonic Library of Iowa After lunch we had a presentation by the Deputy Grand Master Michael T. Anderson on Masonic catechism. He tuned us all up. We topped off the day with two stirring presentations. The first was given by the Grand Chaplain. His theme was “The whole is greater than the sum total of its parts.” He told us that the key word was SYNERGY, working together to achieve a greater good. The problem is, he said, that we have steam shovel ability but we are doing teaspoon work. He left us with the thought that we can achieve much when we don’t care who gets the credit. The second and final address to the Grand Lodge was by the Grand Historian who led us in a journey, bringing us down from Boston, Providence and Philadelphia into Kansas and from Kansas into Texas where Prince Hall Texas was born. Lodges were chartered by Captain W.D. Mathews, Most Worshipful Grand Master of Kansas and after the Civil War Norris Wright Cuney, who had been mentored by Mathews, was elected the first Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas when it was formed in Brenham, Texas. Cuney was a noted community leader and Republican politician in the Galveston area and our Grand Historian also intertwined the political and economic conditions into the journey noting the contributions of Black Freemasons in freeing the bonds of slavery, addressing the needs of Reconstruction and paving the wave for a new vision of a day when we all work together with the very same tools. When he finished we all felt as if we had been on that 40 year trek. There was really nothing left to be said and to thunderous applause and the love of his Brothers, the Grand Historian retired upon which the Grand Lodge promptly closed. Afterward many of us gathered in the lobby to take pictures of the massive collection of toys for Christmas children and the members of the Prince Hall family who were responsible for this heartwarming program. Another year has gone by in Freemasonry, one of great inspiration and the development of good men and the introduction of many new ones. The job is never completed. We enter the 2010 year again spreading light, one man at a time. Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… November 13, 2009 by BeeHive Pictured here is Moses Dickson, from the frontispiece illustration of the 1879 book A Manual of the Knights of Tabor and Daughters of the Tabernacle. In 1872, the Rev. Moses Dickson founded the International Order of Twelve of Knights and Daughters of Tabor, an African-American fraternal order focused on benevolence and financial programs. Dickson was born a free man in Cincinnati in 1824, was a Union soldier during the Civil War, and afterwards became a prominent clergyman in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dickson showed an interest in progressive fraternal organizations early on – in 1846 Dickson, with others, founded a society known as the Knights of Liberty, whose objective was to overthrow slavery; the group did not get beyond the organizing stages. Dickson was also involved in Freemasonry – he was the second Grand Master of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri. Dickson’s International Order of Twelve of Knights and Daughters of Tabor – or Order of Twelve, as it’s more commonly know – accepted men and women on equal terms. Men and women met together in higher level groups and in the governance of the organization, although at the local level they met separately – the men in “temples” and the women in “tabernacles” (akin to “lodges” in Freemasonry). The Order of Twelve was most prominent in the South and the lower Midwest. The major benefits to members – similar to many fraternal orders of the time – was a burial policy and weekly cash payments for the sick. What many people today remember about the Order of Twelve is an institution founded in Mound Bayou, Misssissippi in 1942 – the Taborian Hospital. Michael Premo, a Story Corps facilitator, posted his appreciation for the impact that the Taborian Hospital had on the lives of African-Americans living in the Mississippi Delta from the 1940s-1960s. The Taborian Hospital was on the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s 10 Most Endangered List of 2000, and an update to that list indicates that the hospital still stands vacant and seeks funding for renovation. Here are some photos of the Taborian Hospital today. Want to learn more about the Order of Twelve? Here are a few primary and secondary sources that we have here in our collection (with primary sources listed first): Dickson, Moses. A Manual of the Knights of Tabor and Daughters of the Tabernacle, including the Ceremonies of the Order, Constitutions, Installations, Dedications, and Funerals, with Forms, and the Taborian Drill and Tactics. St. Louis, Mo. : G. I. Jones [printer], 1879. —-. Ritual of Taborian Knighthood, including : the Uniform Rank. St. Louis, Mo. : A. R. Fleming & Co., printers, 1889. Beito, David. From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social services, 1890-1967. Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina Press, 2000. Skocpol, Theda, Ariane Liazos, Marshall Ganz. What a Mighty Power We Can Be : African American Fraternal Groups and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2006. (1) From The National Heritage Museum - http://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/2008/05/moses-dickson-a.html SOME ADDITIONAL INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT MOSES DICKSON Moses Dickson, prior to the Civil War was a traveling barber. Later he became an AME minister and was known as Father Dickson. He was one of the Founders of the Lincoln Institute, now Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Misouri. In 1879 along with others such as James Milton turner, John Wheeler and John Turner he helped create the Committee of Twenty Five, organized to set up temporary housing for the more than 10,000 travelers who passed through St. Louis each year. He was President of the Refugee Relief Board in St. Louis which helped to shelter and feed 16,000 former slaves who relocated to Kansas. Moses Dickson was the first Grand Lecturer of the Most Worhipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri upon its foundation in 1865. He was the second Grand Master of this Grand Lodge and the Grand Secretary in 1869. In 1876 Companion Moses Dickson was elected Deputy Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Holy Royal Arch Masons of Missouri and Jurisdiction. Moses Dickson wrote the Ritual of Heroines of Jericho penning the “Master Mason’s Daughter,” the “True Kinsman,” and “Heroines of Jericho” degrees. It was sold and distributed by the Moses Dickson Regalia and Supply Co., Kansas City, Missouri and entered into the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. in the year 1895. The Knights of Liberty was organized by 12 Black Men in secret in August, 1846 in St. Louis, Missouri. They were also known as the Knights of Tabor or the International Order of Twelve. Tabor is a Biblical mountain in Israel where the Israelites won a big victory over the Canaanites. Moses Dickson was a leader of the Underground Railroad. He and 47,000 other Knights enlisted in the Union Army as soon as Linclon authorized Black men to sign up. Disbanded by the Civil War many of the Knights of Liberty reformed after the War was over into a benevolent fraternal society named the International Order of the Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor. Moses Dickson authored “International Order of Twelve 333 of Knights and Daughters of Tabor,” a book outlining the Constitution, Rules and Regulations of the Temples of the Uniform Rank of Tabor and Taborian Division. Moses Dickson died on November 28, 1901. A truly remarkable man! Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you… November 12, 2009 by BeeHive Mackey’s notorious list and its impact on Maryland Masonry Originally published in The Philalethes Magazine, vol. 44, no. 3, June 1991 authored by S. Brent Morris A mushroom may grow ever so tall, on a boundary line or at a corner, but it will never be mistaken for a landmark Albert Pike on Mackey’s “Landmarks”[1] Freemasonry in Maryland, as in the rest of the world, is changing. This is a continuing process that began in 1717 at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern in London when four lodges made a radical innovation on the body of Masonry and created the office of Grand Master, an office that prior to that date had been only legendary. The additions, corrections, and elaborations to our Craft have come in fits and spurts since then, and we should not be so naïve to think that our Grand Lodge is immune. What is needed to face the challenges of change is an openness of mind and a flexibility of procedures. Maryland Masonry is fortunate that its leaders have had minds open to the evolving needs of the Craft. They have laid a solid foundation on which the Grand Lodge has set goals, established programs, and disseminated the tenets of our profession. However, there is a grave danger that we are losing our flexibility of procedures which will be so essentially necessary for our survival in the twenty-first century. At the 1989 Semiannual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, we witnessed the elimination of informed debate on several potentially vital pieces of legislation and the disenfranchisement of the representatives of the subordinate Lodges. This disregard for democratic principles was not part of a conspiracy nor planned with malice, but rather it sadly followed from a strict application of Mackey’s so-called “Landmarks of Freemasonry.” These twenty-five platitudes never have been adopted formally by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, but they threaten to become liabilities through a rigid interpretation. Albert Galatin Mackey is one of the best-known American authors on Freemasonry. What is less well-known is that his creative genius often overshadowed his quest for historical accuracy and truth. In 1858, Mackey invented his list and foisted it upon an unsuspecting American Craft. Soon after there was a headlong rush by “scholars” to create lists of Landmarks and thus fill in what they perceived as a nagging gap in Masonic tradition. Right behind these creative writers came the Grand Lodges, each trying to outdo the other in adopting the “true” list of fundamental Landmarks of Freemasonry. These enterprises resulted in nothing less than confusion in the temple. Of the American Grand Lodges, thirteen have adopted no formal list, five rely upon the Old Charges, ten have produced their own lists (ranging from seven to thirty-nine Landmarks), eight use Mackey by custom, and only thirteen have formally adopted his tabulation.[2] The United Grand Lodge of England, the source and origin of all Freemasonry, has never seen fit to adopt any formal enumeration and in particular has never endorsed Mackey’s list, and our English Brethren seem none the worse for it. Where in all of this does the Grand Lodge of Maryland stand?—somewhere between using Mackey by custom and by formal adoption. In November, 1939, R.W. Harry C. Mueller, Grand Secretary wrote that “Maryland has included in its Code Mackey’s twenty-five Landmarks. By the adoption of this Code we feel that the twenty-five Landmarks in their entirety were adopted also, although there was no specific mention made of this, nor has there been at any time.”[3] Thus the foundation of Masonic Jurisprudence in Maryland has never been formally adopted! Isn’t the simplest solution to formally adopt Mackey’s product and to be done with it? That would easily solve the problem F the status of Mackey’s landmarks in Maryland, but like most simple-minded solutions, it’s more wrong than right. There is a naïve satisfaction in having an absolute list of guiding principles, and a childlike comfort in being able to assert, “These constitute the Landmarks … in which it is not in the power of any man, or body men, to make the least innovation.”[4] However, naïve satisfaction and childlike comfort should not be the guiding forces of Maryland Freemasonry as it prepares to face the rigors of the twenty-first century. To begin with, Mackey was simply wrong. Some of his so-called “Landmarks” are universally agreed upon, but most are just creatures of his fertile imagination. Albert Pike’s scathing denunciation of Mackey’s concoction stands as the damning opinion of contemporary scholar, and Pike was not alone in his condemnation. No serious student of Freemasonry has accepted Mackey’s 1858 list in its entirety, nor have more than thirteen Grand Lodges. “So far as known, no Grand Lodge outside the United States has ever adopted any list of landmarks.…”[5] Even a partial list of those disagreeing with Mackey provides a Who’s Who of Masonic scholarship (See Table 1 and Appendix.) Some Masonic Scholars Disagreeing With 1856, Rob Moms, Past Grand Master, Kentucky 1858, J. W. S. Mitchell, Past Grand Master, Missouri 1885, Robert Freke Gould, Past Master Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 1888, Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander. Southern Jurisdiction 1910, George Fleming Moore, Sovereign Grand Commander, Southern Jurisdiction 1919, Roscoe Pound, Dean, Faculty of Law in Harvard University 1923, Joseph D. Evans, Past Grand Master, New York 1924, Melvin M. Johnson. Past Grand Master, Massachusetts 1931, E. W. Timberlake, Jr., Past Grand Mater, North Carolina 1961, Henry Wilson Coil, Fellow of the Philalethes Society 1973, Dwight L. Smith, Past Grand Master, Indiana Table 1 A Landmark should be something so fundamental, so basic to the fabric of Freemasonry, that any deviation merits immediate condemnation. Mackey’s creation fails this test rather miserably. There is no reason to analyze each of his landmarks; a few particulars should suffice. For example, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina not only does not recognize the prerogative of a Grand Master to make Masons at sight (Mackey’s Landmark 8), but also does not recognize any Mason made by this method, regardless of whether he may belong to a regularly chartered Lodge. Yet we still maintain fraternal relations with the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. Several of the regular European Grand Lodges we recognize use a Grand Masonic Word different from Maryland, thus effectively negating the Mackey’s first landmark, the modes of recognition. Freemasonry recently has come under increasingly vicious attacks from narrow-minded religionists. One of the frequent accusations made against our gentle Craft is that we are a “secret society” with all of the vague connotations of unknown evil that charge carries. Maryland has wrestled with this problem and has tried to solve it with our rather awkwardly worded Standing Resolution No. 8, which says in part “that our Order is not a secret one in the sense that everything that goes on in the Lodge room may never be revealed; rather it is an Order which has certain secrets which we do not share with the world outside these doors.”[6] This is all fine and good, but Mackey’s Twenty-third Landmark states in simple, plain language, “Freemasonry is a secret society.” If we adopt Mackey’s invention, then we are declaring to the world that we are indeed a secret society (despite our waffling resolutions to the contrary). If we are not a secret society, then Landmark 23 of Mackey is not a Landmark of Maryland. The Grand Lodge of Maryland presents another paradox on the one hand we acknowledge by custom Mackey’s Landmark 14, “the right of every Mason to visit and sit in every regular Lodge.” On the other hand we ignore this clear, absolute right and allow only the privilege of visitation. A Brother visiting a Maryland Lodge may be denied admission if any member of that Lodge personally demands it. In fact, Maryland’s deviation from this “landmark” has earned us special condemnation in Mackey’s Masonic Jurisprudence, as an offensive example of a “very contracted view of the universality of Freemasonry.…”[7] At the 1989 Semiannual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, an amendment to the Constitution was proposed that would have allowed subordinate lodges to conduct normal business in the first degree. The Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence carefully considered the matter, adhered faithfully to Mackey’s landmarks, and made the straightforward decision that “the proposed Amendment … would violate the Landmarks of Freemasonry and Masonic history and tradition.”[8] This inescapable conclusion that the committee reached by following Mackey’s authority is logically precise and historically wrong. On May 18, 1842, the Grand Lodge of Maryland “Resolved, That all the business of a Lodge, except that of conferring the inferior degrees, and the instruction therein, should be transacted in a Master Mason’s Lodge.”[9] In other words, from 1749 to 1842, every Lodge in Maryland conducted its business on the first degree—in violation of Mackey’s landmarks and Masonic history and tradition! How is it possible that our first ninety-three years of Masonic activity violated the Landmarks of Freemasonry and Masonic history and tradition? For that matter, what does this say about the United Grand Lodge of England, whose Lodges have never stopped meeting on the first degree? These contradictions are possible only if Mackey’s inventive list is given official status in Maryland, and we abandon our original history and customs. Finally, there is the example of the recently aborted attempt to provide checks and balances upon the powers of the Grand Master of Maryland. The argument which prevented the amendments from even being discussed was that Mackey’s so- called landmarks do not allow the Grand Lodge to limit the authority of the Grand Master. Mackey states with his usual authoritative tone that Grand Masters and Grand Lodges are “coeval” (a highfalutin word that means “of equal antiquity”). However, there is no foundation in fact—only in modern Masonic ritual—that Grand Lodges or Grand Masters existed before that historic 1717 meeting in London. These lofty, theoretical arguments overlook a fundamental problem: if the Grand Lodge cannot limit the powers of the Grand Master, how did we get the limitations we now have? Perhaps the Grand Architect Himself ordained the requirement that the Grand Lodge has to approve edicts of the Grand Master for them to remain in force? The powers of the Grand Master spring from the consent of the lodges he governs, and they can modify his powers whenever or however they see fit. The fact is, Mackey’s fabrication never has been adopted formally by the Grand Lodge of Maryland nor has it made any particular contribution to our jurisprudence. What is true is that Mackey has been regularly ignored by the Grand Lodge of Maryland when convenient, though his invention most recently prevented a democratic discussion of important issues facing the Grand Lodge of Maryland. The solution to the confusion is straight forward: drop Mackey’s lame “landmarks” (either by agreement or by formal edict or by resolution) and give the Grand Lodge of Maryland the flexibility and authority it needs to face the problems of the future. APPENDIX Quotations from Some Masonic Scholars Disagreeing with Mackey’s “Landmarks” Robert Freke Gould We shall vainly search in the records of those early times for a full specification of the twenty-five “Landmarks” which modem research pronounces to be both ancient and unalterable … Of the Ancient Landmarks it has been observed, with more or less foundation in truth: “Nobody knows what they comprise or omit; they are of no earthly authority, because everything is a landmark when an opponent desires to silence you, but nothing is a landmark that stands in his own way.” The History of Freemasonry, New York: John C. Yorston & Co., 1885, vol. 2, p. 59. Albert Pike There is no common agreement in regard to what are and what are not landmarks. That has never been definitely settled. Each writer makes out for himself the list or catalogue of them, according to his own fancy, some counting more of them and others less. Most of these so-called landmarks were not known either to Ancient Craft Masonry in England or Scotland before the revolution of 1723, or to the new Masonry, as landmarks, for years afterwards. It is a pity that Masonry has not a Pope, or cannot make one of some Grand Master, Editor, or Chairman of a Committee on Foreign Correspondence, endowed with infallibility, to determine the age which a landmark must have to entitle it to call itself a landmark; what is the essential nature of a landmark; how many of the supposed twenty-five are landmarks, and what others the oracular wisdom of the author [Mackey] of this catalogue has overlooked. Proceedings of the Masonic Veterans’s Association of Iowa, 1888 (reprinted in Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia, New York: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 1961, pp. 367–59). E. W. Timberlake, Jr. A number of Grand Lodges have undertaken, by express enactment, to fix what the landmarks shall be within their respective jurisdictions, and these differ very widely. For example, nine American Grand Lodges declare that the ancient charges contain the landmarks, while several Grand Lodges have adopted statements of their own, varying all the way from seven in West Virginia and ten in New Jersey to thirty-nine in Nevada and fifty- four in Kentucky. It would seem obvious, therefore, that, since even a Grand Lodge can neither create nor abolish a landmark, such declaratory enactments cannot be viewed in any other light than as Masonic legislation.… It is generally conceded that Dr. Mackey’s list includes all of the landmarks, but it is not conceded that all those which he enumerates as landmarks, are in reality such. “The Landmarks of Masonry,” Nocalore, vol. 1, part 1. pp. 416,1931. Roscoe Pound The skeptic says, first, that down to the appearance of Mackey’s Masonic Jurisprudence “landmark” was a term floating about in Masonic writing without any definite meaning. It had come down from the operative Craft where it had meant trade secrets, and had been used loosely for “traditions” or for “authorized ritual” or for “significant historical occurrences,” and Oliver had even talked of “obsolete landmarks.” Second, he says. the definition of a landmark, the criteria of a landmark, and the fixed landmarks generally received in England and American from 1860 on, come from Mackey. Bro. Hextall says: “It was more because Mackey’s list purported to fill an obvious gap than from any signal claims it possessed that it obtained a rapid circulation and found a ready acceptance.” Perhaps this is too strong. But it must be admitted that dogmatism with respect to the landmarks cannot be found anywhere in Masonic writings prior to Mackey and that our present views have very largely been formed—even if not wholly formed—by the influence of his writings.… In reading [Mackey’s definition of a landmark] we must bear in mind that it was written in 1856, before the rise of modem Masonic history and before the rise of modem ideas in legal science in the United States. Hence it is influenced by certain uncritical ideas of Masonic history and by some ideas as to the making of customary law reminiscent of Hale’s History of the Common Law, to which some lawyer may have directly or indirectly referred him. But we may reject these incidental points and the essential theory will remain unaffected—the theory of a body of immemorial recognized fundamentals which give to the Ma¬ sonic order, if one may say so, its Masonic character, and may not be altered without taking away that character. It is true Mackey’s list of landmarks goes beyond this. But it goes beyond his definition as he puts it; and the reason is to be found in his failure to distinguish between the landmarks and the common law. Lectures on Masonic Jurisprudence, New York: Board of General Activities [Grand Lodge, F. & A.M.], 1941, pp. 32–34. Henry Wilson Coil The way to define a thing or a principle is to examine it closely, list its peculiarities, state how it looks and acts, what it does and does not do, and what it is not as well as what it is. Again, the landmarkers reversed the process by attempting to define the unknown thing arbitrarily and, then armed with that prejudicial formula, search through the rituals, the regulations, and even unofficial literature in search of items which would satisfy the definitions. They did not know that the definition is the conclusion, not the beginning of such enquiry. But, worse yet, they commonly included some items which did not conform to their definitions. Of this class, one of the leaders, Mackey, was a striking example. What he called ancient and unwritten principles were in several of his proposals no more than legislation of the premier Grand Lodge set forth in the Constitutions and General Regulations published in 1723. Some that he called universal were not followed in all, possibly not even in a majority of Masonic jurisdiction. Those called unalterable had already been altered in some instances, and Mackey, himself, gave out several additions which altered his unalterable list of twenty-five. Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia, New York: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Company, 1961, p. 364. Dwight L. Smith The Grand Lodge of England, which should know a thing or two about the ancient landmarks, never has “adopted” landmarks or in any way attempted to define them other than to make casual references to certain practices. To my knowledge, no Grand Lodge of Freemasons outside the United States has ever become concerned about what the landmarks are, or how many there may be. Not so in the U.S.A. Beginning about the middle of the Nineteenth Century, Grand Lodges started trying to define the landmarks and enumerating them. They literally ran races to see how many ancient landmarks they could “adopt” officially. Some lists became so long and so all-inclusive that it was hardly safe to take aim at the brass cuspidor for fear an ancient landmark would be removed. And the hilarious feature about the various lists of “official” and “unalterable” landmarks is that so many are in total disagreement with their neighbors’ lists! “Of Landmarks and Cuspidors,” The Philalethes, vol. 26, no. 1 (February 1973), pp. 6 & 22. REFERENCES Coil, Henry W., et al. Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia. New York: Macoy Publishing aid Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1961. Gould, Robert Freke, et al. The History of Freemasonry. New York: John C. Yorston & Co., 1885. Mackey, Albert G. Mackey’s Masonic Jurisprudence. Revised by R. I. Clegg. Chicago; The Masonic History Company, 1927. Maryland, Grand Lodge of. Maryland Manual of Ancient Craft Masonry. Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Md., 1935. ———Reports to the Annual Communication. Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M, of Maryland, November 17, 1986. ———Reports to the Semiannual Communication. Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F. & AM of Maryland, May 15, 1989. Masonic Service Association. “The Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry.” The little Masonic Library. 5 vols. Richmond: Macoy Publishing aid Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1946. Pike, Albert. “The Landmarks of Freemasonry.” The Little Masonic Library. 5 vols. Richmond: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1946. Pound, Roscoe. Lectures on Masonic Jurisprudence. New York: Board of General Purposes, [Grand Lodge, F. & A.M.], 1941. Schultz, Edward T. History of Freemasonry in Maryland. 4 vols. Baltimore: J. H. Medairy & Co., 1887. Smith, Dwight L. “Of Landmarks and Cuspidors.” The Philalethes, vol. 26, no. 1 (Feb. 1973.) Timberlake, E. W. Jr. “The Landmarks of Masonry.” Nocalore, vol.1, part 1 (1931). [2] Masonic Service Association, “The Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry,” The Little Masonic Library, Richmond: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1946. vol. 1, p. 95. [3] Masonic Service Association, “The Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry,” pp. 76–77. [4] Grand Lodge of Maryland, Maryland Manual of Ancient Craft Masonry, Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F.&A.M. of Md., 1935, p. C. [5] Henry W. Coil, et al., Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia, N.Y.: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., 1961, p. 360. [6] Grand Lodge of Maryland. Reports to the Annual Communication. Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Maryland, November 17, 1986, p. 29. [7] Albert G. Mackey, Mackey’s Masonic Jurisprudence, rev. R. I. Clegg, Chicago: The Masonic History Co., 1927, p. 141. [8] Grand Lodge of Maryland, Reports to the Semi-Annual Communication, Baltimore: Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Maryland, May 15, 1989, p. 29. [9] Edward T. Schultz, History of Freemasonry in Maryland, 4 vols., Baltimore: J. H. Medairy & Co., 1887, vol. 3, p. 67. S. BRENT MORRIS
Free eBook – What is Freemasonry? Available Now! Have you…
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Ballot Reform
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Does Pennsylvania Have A Clue?
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To the Forum
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MW The Pro Grand Master
The Most Hon. the Marquess of Northampton, DL
at the European Grand Master’s Meeting on 5th & 6th November 2007 http://www.ugle.org.uk/news/european-speech.htm
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The Spirit of Christmas Describes the Practice of a Mason
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Live Stone Lodge’s Thanksgiving Baskets For Seniors
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PO Box 531494
Grand Prairie, Texas 75053
info@livestonelodge152.com
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Message To The Un-Lodged Mason – Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing, Baby
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Online Internet Freemasonry tends to be educational, philosophical , reform minded and at times argumentative. Those of us involved in Internet Freemasonry tend to spend more time exploring the fine points of the philosophical side of the Craft, a side we never get from our Lodge, than actually attending our Communications.
Ain’t nothing like the real thing
Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby
Ain’t nothing like the real thing
It can’t see or come to me when I call your name
I realize it’s just a picture in a frame
But they don’t move me
And they don’t groove me like when I hear
Your sweet voice whispering in my ear
Ain’t nothing like the real thing
I pretend I’m not in reality
I need the shelter of your arms to comfort me
No touch can do half as much to make me feel better
So let’s stay together
And though they help me when you phone
I’m well aware nothing can take the place of being there
So let me get the real thing
Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby
Ain’t nothing like the real thing
Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby
Ain’t nothing like the real thing
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Prince Hall Texas Winter 2009 Grand Lodge Session
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“It is now five years since I delivered a charge to you on some parts and points of masonry. As one branch or superstructure of the foundation, I endeavored to show you the duty of a mason to a mason, and of charity and love to all mankind, as the work and image of the great God and the Father of the human race. I shall now attempt to show you that it is our duty to sympathise with our fellow-men under their troubles, and with the families of our brethren who are gone, we hope, to the Grand Lodge above.” 
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Moses Dickson and The Knights of Liberty
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The original Moses Dickson piece originally published at the National Heritage Museum’s blog. The National Heritage Museum is an American history museum founded and supported by 32° Scottish Rite Freemasons in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America.
Call number: RARE HS 2259 .T3 D5 1879
Call number: RARE HS 2230 .T3 D5 1889
Call number: 44 .B423 2000
Call number: 90 .S616 2006 (1)
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Landmarks And Liabilities by S. Brent Morris
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Mackey’s “Landmarks”
[1] Albert Pike, “The Landmarks of Freemasonry,” The Little Masonic Library, 5 vols. Richmond: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1946, vol. 1, p. 66.
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