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Hugo Ramirez's avatar

You are quite the shaker, ain't you, Broth.'. Cameron? Discussing a number of changes, trying to imagine different ways for the Craft to be. One could even call you a Free Thinker at that!

As you know, here in Brazil we have that level of freedom - we have 8 different Rites to choose from, not taking into account regional variations and very particular ones practiced in certain States. We also used to have some Lodges in different languages, particularly Lodges gathering immigrants [we had English, German, French, Spanish, Hungarian (who practiced their own Rite, the St. John's), Italian and probably others I don't know], though that practice has faded away.

The main difficult is understanding what constitutes valid/invalid [or regular/irregular] Masonic practice, since different Rites have different principles, working on different Landmarks. For a quick example, the RER [Scottish Rectified Rite] demands that the Freemason be a Christian for its higher degrees. Meanwhile, the Modern Rite [also called French] has a very literal Vol.'. of Sacr.'. Law: the Constitution.

The tension between these different approaches is no easy thing to handle! Standardization has a strong advantage in that you have very clear guidelines, very clear expectations. You don't have to worry about conflicting ideas Ritual-wise. It's also easier to attract a very specific kind of person if you have a very specific product. If all a market offers is vegan, what kind of person is going to shop there?

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Glenn Geiss's avatar

I enjoy the fact that the ritual I am doing has changed little since our founding fathers were initiated. I also enjoy the fact that anywhere I go within the state, if needed I could step into a chair for an evening and pro temp for a lodge short handed.

It is fun to see other rituals in other jurisdictions and compare how they do things versus my home lodge.

But I take comfort in our ritual, like a warm blanket.

You’ve brought up the alternative language argument before. There is nothing stopping a community from creating their own masonic traditions. If the women in our jurisdiction are doing it, so can others. Would they be regular and recognized? No. Would that be a problem? I can’t think of any and perhaps some day they could petition the grand lodge of Washington to be recognized as such. But I could see similar arguments with allowing women into the fraternity and that nose needs to stay out of under the tent flap.

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