'Know Thyself'
If We Hope For Our Organizations To Have A Bright Future, We Must Face Reality
Earlier this week I received the latest copy of Knight Templar, the small magazine put out by the Grand Encampment Of Knights Templar USA.
A sentence in big yellow letters across the back cover caught my eye. It read:
“Templary continues to be the most prestigious Masonic organization.”
Well, I just don’t think that is true. I don’t think that the vast majority of Freemasons would think that to be true.
And, I think that if we hope to improve our Masonic organizations so that we can share in a bright and prosperous future, we need to look at the organizations we belong to, and lead, honestly. We need to give our groups a good and honest assessment so that we can identify the changes that need to be made.
Looking at our favorite group through the proverbial rose colored glasses does neither ourselves, nor the group in question any good.
The fact of the matter is, the Grand Encampment Of Knights Templar has been suffering leadership missteps and scandals for as long as I have been a Mason.1
Was it, at one time, an extremely prestigious Masonic organization? I imagine that it was. I’ve seen large numbers of historical photographs through the years that seem to indicate that Templarism was huge and influential.
Certainly that influence and prestige has greatly fallen in more recent decades. Some of that decline can be attributed to the general decline in fraternalism in our country that began with the Baby Boom generation, and some to the specific declines in Freemasonic membership.
But not all. Without a doubt the questionable actions of some of the national leaders of the organization have certainly led to a tremendous decline in the prestige of Templarism.
If this fact isn’t recognized it can’t be addressed. If it isn’t addressed, then the future of the Knights Templar in the USA looks dim indeed. At least from my vantage point.
I am a member of the Knights Templar, and to be clear, I want to see the Knights Templar succeed. For that to happen though, the leaders of the organization must look at it with clear eyes. They must recognize what changes have to be made in order for the Order to be relevant again. And they must clearly communicate that to their members, not put out false platitudes about how “Templary continues to be the most prestigious Masonic organization.”
Additionally, as the only people eligible for membership in the Knights Templar are members of our Craft Lodges, it seems strikingly short sighted for the leadership of Templary to try and convince its members that they are somehow better than the average Master Mason.
I just don’t think that the average Master Mason would want to join an organization that propagandizes that its members are superior to the men it needs to attract. Members of the Knights Templar are not somehow better than Master Masons, not somehow better than Royal Arch Masons, Scottish Rite Masons, or Shriners. To claim otherwise is not only untrue, it harms the very recruitment efforts that Templarism must excel in if it is to survive.
I believe that if instead of claiming a prestige it does not have, and claiming some sort of superiority over our Craft Lodges, Templary would be much better served if its leadership instead encouraged its Commandaries to work with those Craft Lodges. For without strong Craft Lodges, no concordant or appendant body can be successful, for they are all completely dependent upon those Craft Lodges for their membership.
Grand Lodges are sovereign over all of Freemasonry within their respective Jurisdictions. No matter how many extravagant titles the leaders of other Masonic bodies give themselves, or how many claims of supposed prestige are made, that fundamental fact does not change.
Templarism can find a bright and glorious future to match its splendid past.
If it is willing to work to strengthen our Craft Lodges.
But as Templarism is completely dependent upon those Craft Lodges for its membership, claims of superiority over them and their members will prevent that bright future.
Working together, we can build a strong future together. Indeed doing so is the only way we can do so.
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http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2011/04/washington-oregon-and-grand-encampment.html#links
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2011/09/grand-encampment-sues-grand-masters.html
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2018/08/gl-of-louisiana-withdraws-recognition.html
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2021/09/it-goes-on-knights-templar-gm-johnson.html
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2021/09/petition-calls-for-special-conclave.html
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2021/09/knights-templar-gm-removes-dgm-from.html
https://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2022/03/as-sword-turns-called-conclave-removes.html
I see this across all avenues of the fraternity: the men who’ve been there for decades claim they want to see it thrive. They claim they want young men to be interested, invested, and dedicated. They claim they want to retain their existing members. And yet, for similar reasons you have mentioned, they seem often unwilling to do the work to change the culture of Masonry to meet the needs of a modern man. Let be clear: Masonry does not need fixing. It is an ancient system veiled in a flavor that was interesting and relevant for the past few hundred years. A savvy man can work to see the light it has offered mankind since before any can claim to remember. But Masonry can change, has changed, and it will again. If we cannot evolve, adapt, and grow, then we deserve to fade into the annals of time.
What I notice is a poisoning of the lodge. Well meaning men, who have pride in the craft and it’s illustrious work and celebrated history, are unwittingly causing it’s demise. They assume, erroneously, that just because it’s been done that way since they’ve been members, that changing it would be a bad thing. They hold onto the glory days of our craft when it was perhaps little more than a social club and had the admiration and respect of our communities. The tragedy being that those men who come to it now, at its lowest point in popularity in living memory, are the ones who see the deeper, perhaps more ancient intent and meaning. They aren’t joining for the perks, to be sure. But they join only to see that the elders in their lodge don’t seem to take the tenants of our order as seriously, and in fact act so “unmasonically” they lose heart at their most crucial time in their Masonic journey.
I’m not a Scottish Rite, nor York Rite Mason myself. I did join the Shrine last year and it perhaps epitomizes my feelings as above. It is an institution with a mission at its core that is undeniably “the greatest philanthropy”. Yet it’s history and customs are nothing short of fetishizing Middle Eastern culture and it’s practices are so reliant on a “social club” style structure that was very popular the last 100 years or so, but perhaps isn’t just what a modern man finds necessary. Would it harm the institution to exchange the word “lady” for the word “partner” in its numerous appearance in their messaging? It makes an assumption, however innocuous it intent, that to a modern man just reeks of “the old ways”. And it might serve to drive away a good man who otherwise would have made a valuable addition to these institutions.
Like you said, we must reflect upon who we’ve been, who we are, and who we want to become. There’s so much history (and amazing foresight) in each of those avenues, that there is room for everyone.
I agree with everything you said.
This conversation is linked to another issue I have, that I think is related. “Retrograde idealization”. My goodness we look backwards a lot, living on withered laurels. I have read, though not confirmed, that in 1900 about 80% of American homes had fraternal affiliations. Today, I would guess that number might be as high as the single digits. Freemasonry was the most prestigious of the fraternities, and attracted the best men from around the world. When men who shaped the world also had our grand titles those titles seemed legit. Those days have passed. Additionally, a little research will reveal that many of those men were actively pursuing the mysteries and wisdom of their Masonic traditions. And they were rewarded by those efforts with elevation in the fraternity. Yes, there are men like that in our fraternity now, but there is little link between Masonic titles and that kind of work now. Today, if I use all my titles and affiliations and fill my lapel with every Masonic pin, I am entitled to wear I look like a Russian Naval officer, pretending to be an Imperial Romanov!
As our numbers decrease, and we continue to try to maintain infrastructure established when our Lodges were over full, when many off our affiliated bodies struggle to have enough enthusiasm to operate, I think the whole way we think our ourselves needs to be rethought. The core of Freemasonry is the Blue Lodge. There is NO Masonic title more sublime than Master Mason, there is no organization more prestigious, than Blue Lodge. There are more specialized organizations, and there are more specialized titles, but not more prestigious. A man who has achieved some level of success integrating the lessons of the first three degrees is a prince among men, and NO lapel pin is more prestigious that the square and compass of a Master Mason. Calling myself a Knight Templar, or a Master of the Royal Secret means very little if I have not done more than receive the title after a hurried ritual.