“This flag, emblem of civil and religious liberty well deserves a place in a Masonic Lodge. May we as Masons stand ever ready shield and protect it as we should foster and promote the DIVINE PRINCIPLE for which it is a symbol throughout the world.”
In the Jurisdiction of Washington the above text is an optional part of our ritual that can be used if the American flag is to be posted in the East.
Like all of our ritual, the words were chosen very carefully, a long time ago, in order to convey an important meaning.
That begs the questions:
What is the Divine Principle being referred to in this passage of ritual?
Why is it considered to be Divine? That is a strong word, referring to the very highest power, yet we know that it was chosen with care.
Let’s chat about it.
I must give credit where it is due for this discussion topic, for I stole it from our District Deputy Grand Master who presented it at the District 12 Meeting. I felt it so good and interesting that I thought we should discuss it here as well.
We do not have this language in New York, but to me it sounds like an allusion to Natural Law. The Divine Principle being, for example, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This philosophy is based on the principle of self-ownership. You own your life. To deny this is to imply that another person has a higher claim on your life than you have. No other person, or group of persons, owns your life nor do you own the lives of others.
You exist in time: future, present, and past. This is manifest in life, liberty, and the product of your life and liberty. The exercise of choices over life and liberty is your prosperity. To lose your life is to lose your future. To lose your liberty is to lose your present. And to lose the product of your life and liberty is to lose that portion of your past that produced it.
A product of your life and liberty is your property. Property is the fruit of your labor, the product of your time, energy, and talents. Property is that part of nature which you turn to valuable use. Property is the property of others that is given to you by voluntary exchange and mutual consent. Two people who exchange property voluntarily are both better off or they wouldn’t do it. Only they may rightfully make that decision for themselves.
At times some people use force or fraud to take from others without willful, voluntary consent. The initiation of force or fraud to take life is murder, to take liberty is slavery, and to take property is theft. It is the same whether these actions are done by one person acting alone, by the many acting against the few, or even by officials with fine hats.
You have the right to protect your own life, liberty, and justly acquired property from the forceful aggression of others. And you may ask others to help defend you. But you do not have a right to initiate force against the life, liberty, or property of others. Thus, you have no right to designate some person to initiate force against others on your behalf.
You have a right to seek leaders for yourself, but you have no right to impose rulers on others. No matter how officials are selected, they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher than those of any other human beings. Regardless of the imaginative labels for their behavior or the numbers of people encouraging them, officials have no right to murder, to enslave, or to steal. You cannot give them any rights that you do not have yourself.
Since you own your life, you are responsible for your life. You do not rent your life from others who demand your obedience. Nor are you a slave to others who demand your sacrifice.
You choose your own goals based on your own values. Success and failure are both the necessary incentives to learn and to grow.
Your action on behalf of others, or their action on behalf of you, is only virtuous when it is derived from voluntary, mutual consent. For virtue can only exist when there is free choice.
This is the basis of a truly free society. It is not only the most practical and humanitarian foundation for human action; it is also the most ethical.
Problems in the world that arise from the initiation of force by government have a solution. The solution is for people of the world to STOP asking officials to initiate force on their behalf. Evil does not arise only from evil people, but also from good people who tolerate the initiation of force as a means to their own ends. In this manner, good people have empowered evil throughout history.
Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving the free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act — especially when it is easier to do nothing.
I don’t know what the author meant when those words were penned. Since the DIVINE PRINCIPLE is not enumerated, maybe its intended to stimulate consideration on our part? What divine principle does the American flag represent? What Divine Principle does America represent? Maybe its intended for us to seek out what role Providence had in forging this new nation almost 250 years ago, and why? I once read an author who said America was never a land, but an idea, and once that idea was let loose on the world the world changed. Maybe there is something in that concept. I don’t know.
I do not know the right answer to the question, yet I would like to share the following;
Sir Isaac Newton developed the three basic laws of motion and the theory of universal gravity, which together laid the foundation for our current understanding of physics and the Universe. Isaac Newton: Discoverer of Universal Laws: In tribute to his predecessors, Isaac Newton (1643–1727) once wrote: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In the first half of the 17th century, two giants stood out above the rest: Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571–1630). Galileo pioneered the use of experimental method to discover mathematical laws governing the motion of terrestrial bodies. At the same time, Kepler achieved a similar revolution in astronomy by discovering causal laws governing the motion of the planets around the sun.
I believe Freemasonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. It is a movement whose members are joined together in an association based on brotherly love, relief and truth. These are the principal tenets of Freemasonry. Derived from these tenets are the virtues of faith, hope and charity – all supported on the three great pillars of wisdom, strength and beauty. I also believe in the 12 Spiritual Laws of the Universe, 1st. The Law of Divine Oneness: it is the foundational law, according to which absolutely everything in our universe is interconnected. In other words, every choice, word, desire and belief we have will also have an impact on the world and on the people in our lives, (Our Quantum Field). The definition of Namaste in Hindi, which is a greeting, I choose to belief it means, I bow to the Divineness that you are. When I mindfully greet anyone, while I may not use the word Namaste, and use Brother instead, my intention is always to acknowledge that you are a Divine Eternal Spirit, a part of God.
"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We, as Masons and as Americans, are the last bastion of free citizens. So many from other parts of the world are trying to get to America, legally or illegally, so they might experience the freedoms we offer. If America falls to socialism/communism, there is no other place to go. I have noticed that not many are trying to get to Cuba or Venezuela to experience freedom and prosperity. No, braving extreme dangers, they are trying to get to America. God has given us divine rights, not the government, as was defined in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, and we are charged--as Americans and Masons to defend and preserve those rights for all men.
Great topic, MW Bailey, that question poses a great deal of thought and meaning. For me to break down a question, I often refer to breaking down words in the dictionary. In the Oxford Dictionary, ‘principle’ is defined as, “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” Whereas the word ‘Divine’ means, “of, from, or like God or a god.”
As taught in Hermeticism and Gnosticism, all truths come from one truth, and all truths are but half-truths. Thereby the term “Divine Principle” is used as a metaphysical concept of divine truth, of which the religious or philosophical books and teachings are only an imperfect human expression of that truth. Divine Principle could be thus interpreted as philosophy or religion, but even more so, is in the aspects that we are all Divine beings, by its definition. However, in the context of the usage stated above, its primarily emphasizing the symbol of the American flag as the emblem of civil and religious liberty. This land was founded by the Divine Principles of Freemasons and Rosicrucians, some called it the second Atlantis, others the second Eden. In our countries foundation, we fought against draconian government and slavery, and promoted instead liberty and freedom.
To interpret this one step further is what we seek from the Divine source; Truth- light from darkness, or simply ‘becoming’ divine. Once we find that within, it is we, as individuals and a divine sparks of the one true light, to restore and promote regeneration. Specifically with ourselves, spiritually (ashlar stones) and physically with the elements of earth.
In my own reflection on this, I do believe that the Divine Principal referenced can be summed up with the word Liberty. The notion that men are, by Divine Right, Free.
That Liberty is a Divine Principal because it comes to us from the Grand Architect, is not bestowed upon us by any King, Prince, Potentate, or in today's age, government.
But, I think that history has shown that while man might be born Free, his rights granted by Divine Providence, others will always conspire to take that Freedom, and so it must be fought for from time to time and from place to place.
As I write the above, my mind asks, are we fighting for our Freedom today? Do we need to? Are America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, as Free today as they were 30 years ago? If not, why not? If not, why have we allowed the Freedom purchased with the blood of patriots be eroded? These are questions I ask myself.
That also brings to mind the question, given that this is a Masonic site, is Liberty political in that issues of Freedom can't be discussed in Lodge? This last question I can answer, for myself anyway. I believe our prohibition relates to partisan politics, not to the fundamental questions of human life here on earth. I think that is proven out by our own Masonic history as it relates to the founding of this nation, and indeed our individual States.
As Freemasons we carry forth the ideas and ideals of the Western Enlightenment. Ideas and Ideals that seem to be less important to many today. Things that are so important to us, and so important to entire generations of men before us, seem easily discarded by many in society now. I wonder why that is? My hunch is that it is caused by a number of things, the continual news cycle that must be fed with outrage in order to keep advertising dollars flowing, entertainment out of Hollywood that doesn't value many things that used to be seen as nearly sacred, psychoactive drugs that serve to remove care, yet keep people artificially happy.
In all this rather goofy rambling, what I'm trying to say is that I think the Divine Principal is Liberty, Freedom; and that we must each do what we can in order to preserve it for the generations to come.
And I think that Freemasonry aids in that effort, as it teaches men how to govern themselves.
For surely if men are unable to govern themselves, then they are unfit for Freedom, as it would quickly devolve into anarchy.
We do not have this language in New York, but to me it sounds like an allusion to Natural Law. The Divine Principle being, for example, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Philosophy of Liberty
written by Ken Schoolland
This philosophy is based on the principle of self-ownership. You own your life. To deny this is to imply that another person has a higher claim on your life than you have. No other person, or group of persons, owns your life nor do you own the lives of others.
You exist in time: future, present, and past. This is manifest in life, liberty, and the product of your life and liberty. The exercise of choices over life and liberty is your prosperity. To lose your life is to lose your future. To lose your liberty is to lose your present. And to lose the product of your life and liberty is to lose that portion of your past that produced it.
A product of your life and liberty is your property. Property is the fruit of your labor, the product of your time, energy, and talents. Property is that part of nature which you turn to valuable use. Property is the property of others that is given to you by voluntary exchange and mutual consent. Two people who exchange property voluntarily are both better off or they wouldn’t do it. Only they may rightfully make that decision for themselves.
At times some people use force or fraud to take from others without willful, voluntary consent. The initiation of force or fraud to take life is murder, to take liberty is slavery, and to take property is theft. It is the same whether these actions are done by one person acting alone, by the many acting against the few, or even by officials with fine hats.
You have the right to protect your own life, liberty, and justly acquired property from the forceful aggression of others. And you may ask others to help defend you. But you do not have a right to initiate force against the life, liberty, or property of others. Thus, you have no right to designate some person to initiate force against others on your behalf.
You have a right to seek leaders for yourself, but you have no right to impose rulers on others. No matter how officials are selected, they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher than those of any other human beings. Regardless of the imaginative labels for their behavior or the numbers of people encouraging them, officials have no right to murder, to enslave, or to steal. You cannot give them any rights that you do not have yourself.
Since you own your life, you are responsible for your life. You do not rent your life from others who demand your obedience. Nor are you a slave to others who demand your sacrifice.
You choose your own goals based on your own values. Success and failure are both the necessary incentives to learn and to grow.
Your action on behalf of others, or their action on behalf of you, is only virtuous when it is derived from voluntary, mutual consent. For virtue can only exist when there is free choice.
This is the basis of a truly free society. It is not only the most practical and humanitarian foundation for human action; it is also the most ethical.
Problems in the world that arise from the initiation of force by government have a solution. The solution is for people of the world to STOP asking officials to initiate force on their behalf. Evil does not arise only from evil people, but also from good people who tolerate the initiation of force as a means to their own ends. In this manner, good people have empowered evil throughout history.
Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving the free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act — especially when it is easier to do nothing.
Watch the animated illustration of The Philosophy of Liberty at: http://www.jonathangullible.com/mmedia/PoL.English.The.Philosophy.of.Liberty.swf
I don’t know what the author meant when those words were penned. Since the DIVINE PRINCIPLE is not enumerated, maybe its intended to stimulate consideration on our part? What divine principle does the American flag represent? What Divine Principle does America represent? Maybe its intended for us to seek out what role Providence had in forging this new nation almost 250 years ago, and why? I once read an author who said America was never a land, but an idea, and once that idea was let loose on the world the world changed. Maybe there is something in that concept. I don’t know.
I do not know the right answer to the question, yet I would like to share the following;
Sir Isaac Newton developed the three basic laws of motion and the theory of universal gravity, which together laid the foundation for our current understanding of physics and the Universe. Isaac Newton: Discoverer of Universal Laws: In tribute to his predecessors, Isaac Newton (1643–1727) once wrote: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In the first half of the 17th century, two giants stood out above the rest: Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571–1630). Galileo pioneered the use of experimental method to discover mathematical laws governing the motion of terrestrial bodies. At the same time, Kepler achieved a similar revolution in astronomy by discovering causal laws governing the motion of the planets around the sun.
I believe Freemasonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. It is a movement whose members are joined together in an association based on brotherly love, relief and truth. These are the principal tenets of Freemasonry. Derived from these tenets are the virtues of faith, hope and charity – all supported on the three great pillars of wisdom, strength and beauty. I also believe in the 12 Spiritual Laws of the Universe, 1st. The Law of Divine Oneness: it is the foundational law, according to which absolutely everything in our universe is interconnected. In other words, every choice, word, desire and belief we have will also have an impact on the world and on the people in our lives, (Our Quantum Field). The definition of Namaste in Hindi, which is a greeting, I choose to belief it means, I bow to the Divineness that you are. When I mindfully greet anyone, while I may not use the word Namaste, and use Brother instead, my intention is always to acknowledge that you are a Divine Eternal Spirit, a part of God.
"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We, as Masons and as Americans, are the last bastion of free citizens. So many from other parts of the world are trying to get to America, legally or illegally, so they might experience the freedoms we offer. If America falls to socialism/communism, there is no other place to go. I have noticed that not many are trying to get to Cuba or Venezuela to experience freedom and prosperity. No, braving extreme dangers, they are trying to get to America. God has given us divine rights, not the government, as was defined in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, and we are charged--as Americans and Masons to defend and preserve those rights for all men.
Great topic, MW Bailey, that question poses a great deal of thought and meaning. For me to break down a question, I often refer to breaking down words in the dictionary. In the Oxford Dictionary, ‘principle’ is defined as, “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” Whereas the word ‘Divine’ means, “of, from, or like God or a god.”
As taught in Hermeticism and Gnosticism, all truths come from one truth, and all truths are but half-truths. Thereby the term “Divine Principle” is used as a metaphysical concept of divine truth, of which the religious or philosophical books and teachings are only an imperfect human expression of that truth. Divine Principle could be thus interpreted as philosophy or religion, but even more so, is in the aspects that we are all Divine beings, by its definition. However, in the context of the usage stated above, its primarily emphasizing the symbol of the American flag as the emblem of civil and religious liberty. This land was founded by the Divine Principles of Freemasons and Rosicrucians, some called it the second Atlantis, others the second Eden. In our countries foundation, we fought against draconian government and slavery, and promoted instead liberty and freedom.
To interpret this one step further is what we seek from the Divine source; Truth- light from darkness, or simply ‘becoming’ divine. Once we find that within, it is we, as individuals and a divine sparks of the one true light, to restore and promote regeneration. Specifically with ourselves, spiritually (ashlar stones) and physically with the elements of earth.
In my own reflection on this, I do believe that the Divine Principal referenced can be summed up with the word Liberty. The notion that men are, by Divine Right, Free.
That Liberty is a Divine Principal because it comes to us from the Grand Architect, is not bestowed upon us by any King, Prince, Potentate, or in today's age, government.
But, I think that history has shown that while man might be born Free, his rights granted by Divine Providence, others will always conspire to take that Freedom, and so it must be fought for from time to time and from place to place.
As I write the above, my mind asks, are we fighting for our Freedom today? Do we need to? Are America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, as Free today as they were 30 years ago? If not, why not? If not, why have we allowed the Freedom purchased with the blood of patriots be eroded? These are questions I ask myself.
That also brings to mind the question, given that this is a Masonic site, is Liberty political in that issues of Freedom can't be discussed in Lodge? This last question I can answer, for myself anyway. I believe our prohibition relates to partisan politics, not to the fundamental questions of human life here on earth. I think that is proven out by our own Masonic history as it relates to the founding of this nation, and indeed our individual States.
As Freemasons we carry forth the ideas and ideals of the Western Enlightenment. Ideas and Ideals that seem to be less important to many today. Things that are so important to us, and so important to entire generations of men before us, seem easily discarded by many in society now. I wonder why that is? My hunch is that it is caused by a number of things, the continual news cycle that must be fed with outrage in order to keep advertising dollars flowing, entertainment out of Hollywood that doesn't value many things that used to be seen as nearly sacred, psychoactive drugs that serve to remove care, yet keep people artificially happy.
In all this rather goofy rambling, what I'm trying to say is that I think the Divine Principal is Liberty, Freedom; and that we must each do what we can in order to preserve it for the generations to come.
And I think that Freemasonry aids in that effort, as it teaches men how to govern themselves.
For surely if men are unable to govern themselves, then they are unfit for Freedom, as it would quickly devolve into anarchy.