This is why guarding the west gate is imperative, as one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.
No one wakes up every morning and thinks to themselves, I will be evil today. Every single person thinks they are doing good from their point of view. They justify their actions to themselves and see it as right, regardless of who they are hurting.
The biggest common factor of criminals is lack of empathy. They don't care about you. They only care about themselves. They see your possessions as theirs. They think they have the right to take it, by force if necessary. All crime is theft. Theft of goods and services. Theft of life. Theft of loved ones.
But the second most common factor with criminals is the ability to lie. To tell you what you want to hear. The most difficult part of delving into the criminal mindset is getting past the lies to uncover what they truly think. They lie so convincingly because they have had a lifetime of practice.
So, facing a potential candidate that seeks entry into our fraternity, you can only do so much. The accomplished liar will glibly tell you all the right things, and make all the right noises that you'll have no problems vouching for their entry.
But sooner or later, you'll discover the truth. It may take days, weeks, or years, but at some point you'll realize things are not ok. By then, it might be too late. Lodges have learned the hard way that the person they thought they knew they never really knew at all.
I completely agree with you about the extreme importance of Guarding The West Gate. Not doing so is a major cause of Lodge problems, everything from membership issues to misuse of funds.
You are also right though, that eventually we do learn the true character of a man. Most can't, or don't see the value to them in keeping up a ruse for too long. That's one of the great benefits for Lodges that drastically increase the amount of time between meeting a new Man and handing him a petition.
Unfortunately, that quality practice is still not adopted in all of our Lodges. Just the other day I saw a man who met the Lodge members for the very first time walk out of dinner with a petition in hand.
All we can do I suppose is continually remind our Brothers about the importance of properly vetting those who are seeking the Degrees of Masonry for we will not create Legendary Lodge Experiences if we are letting unsuitable men into our Lodge.
This is why guarding the west gate is imperative, as one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.
No one wakes up every morning and thinks to themselves, I will be evil today. Every single person thinks they are doing good from their point of view. They justify their actions to themselves and see it as right, regardless of who they are hurting.
The biggest common factor of criminals is lack of empathy. They don't care about you. They only care about themselves. They see your possessions as theirs. They think they have the right to take it, by force if necessary. All crime is theft. Theft of goods and services. Theft of life. Theft of loved ones.
But the second most common factor with criminals is the ability to lie. To tell you what you want to hear. The most difficult part of delving into the criminal mindset is getting past the lies to uncover what they truly think. They lie so convincingly because they have had a lifetime of practice.
So, facing a potential candidate that seeks entry into our fraternity, you can only do so much. The accomplished liar will glibly tell you all the right things, and make all the right noises that you'll have no problems vouching for their entry.
But sooner or later, you'll discover the truth. It may take days, weeks, or years, but at some point you'll realize things are not ok. By then, it might be too late. Lodges have learned the hard way that the person they thought they knew they never really knew at all.
I completely agree with you about the extreme importance of Guarding The West Gate. Not doing so is a major cause of Lodge problems, everything from membership issues to misuse of funds.
You are also right though, that eventually we do learn the true character of a man. Most can't, or don't see the value to them in keeping up a ruse for too long. That's one of the great benefits for Lodges that drastically increase the amount of time between meeting a new Man and handing him a petition.
Unfortunately, that quality practice is still not adopted in all of our Lodges. Just the other day I saw a man who met the Lodge members for the very first time walk out of dinner with a petition in hand.
All we can do I suppose is continually remind our Brothers about the importance of properly vetting those who are seeking the Degrees of Masonry for we will not create Legendary Lodge Experiences if we are letting unsuitable men into our Lodge.