Let's Discuss Arguing In Public
Can we take things too far?
Undoubtedly, if we hope to protect and preserve Freemasonry for the future, we have to be free to write and talk about our Craft to as many Brothers as we can reach. For only by spreading our ideas can we bring forth the change we would like to see.
Only by telling as many Masons as possible what is working well in our Lodge can that idea spread to other Lodges. Only by alerting as many Masons as possible about a misguided proposal can we hope to defeat that proposal.
And today, a whole heck of a lot of that discussion happens online. It happens in Masonic subs on Reddit, in Masonic groups on Facebook, and I’m sure elsewhere. None of these places are or can be Tiled. The general public, if they go looking for them can find these open communications about our Craft. Good and bad.
I figure that’s perfectly OK. Because I don’t figure that very many people at all who don’t find value in Freemasonry will bother. We just aren’t very exciting. The conspiracy theories about us maybe interesting, but the day to day operation of our Lodges just isn’t the stuff of high drama and intrigue.
But is spouting our views about Freemasonry in traditional, mass media taking things too far?
This Letter to the Editor was published in my local newspaper:
Order of the Eastern Star Should Remake Emblem
If you don’t want to follow the link, here’s the text:
“Having family near Chehalis, I read The Daily Chronicle article: “Chehalis Order of the Eastern Star donating $130,000 to area groups” (Aug. 19 edition). Apparently, the Chehalis chapter is closing up and donating its surplus treasury to K9 police programs, as well as to Centralia College, the Masonic Lodge and Masonic youth.
That is sure better than sending it up to the state level where it might get lost in bureaucracy. I also noticed in the news elsewhere that the Luce Order of the Eastern Star has also dissolved after 117 years. That is sad, but a growing trend. Supposedly, they had two officers traveling to get there from one town, and another two members traveling from a different town. And they need seven members to have a quorum. It just wasn’t happening, and they had to close up forever.
I am a Mason and have been since I was 18. I joined Freemasonry some 42 years ago. I also joined the York Rite and Scottish Rite. I joined Shriners 35 years ago. Yet, I never wished to join the Order of the Eastern Star. I know it was formed in the 1800s for female relatives of Masons — and Masons can join. Yet, it wasn’t my cup of tea.
The few remaining members of both the Chehalis chapter and the Luce Chapter of Eastern Star will go to other chapters. I wish them good luck. But, nationally, I sure wish the Eastern Star would modify its emblem. I know, the upside-down star with tails pointed downward is meant to symbolically point down to Bethlehem. I realize that it is probably a good organization having a heritage of little old ladies in covered wagons having joined in some places over 150 years ago. I realize that the Order of the Eastern Star was created by a man named Rob Morris in 1850. He was supposedly an educator and a lawyer. He must have been more of a lawyer than anything else, since his symbolism seems so complicated and disjointed. I know he meant well, but I have had friends (even clergy members) take one look at his emblem and say that it looks blasphemous.
Public perception means a lot. However, in this 21st century, too many people envision a sinister, satanic emblem. Having the word “fatal” in tiny letters on the emblem is off-putting as well. That word may allude to something simple, yet it only scares off prospective members.
I just hope the powers-that-be in the Eastern Star straighten up and remake that emblem into an upright five-point star. That type of star is acceptable for the Texas flag and the United States’ flag. It is high time the Eastern Star remade its emblem family-friendly, too.
Good logos make for good public relations.
James Marples
Longview”
Without getting into the letter writer’s ignorance of the history of the symbol, and his misunderstanding of part of it, I have to question if taking this to mass media, instead of specialized media is right at all.
Looking back through Freemasonry’s public history, we have always had specialized media to serve our Craft. Masonic newspapers, Masonic magazines, Masonic periodicals of all types.
Today we have things like Emeth here, blogs like The Magpie Mason, podcasts, and our Masonic social media groups.
The letter writer could have taken his letter to a myriad of specialized Masonic media, and probably have had it seen by a lot more Masons (and OES members.) But he took it to mass media instead where it probably reached two thousand or more non Masons for every Mason who saw it. That seems goofy at best.
And not a way to influence Masons.
Additionally, had it been published in specialized Masonic media, there would be an opportunity for others, more knowledgeable than the writer, to give him a more informed perspective.
All of this brings up a couple of questions to my mind.
Is a Mason, publishing a critique of some aspect of Freemasonry, in mass as opposed to Masonic media taking things too far?
Should the local OES Chapter respond in kind, with its perspective of the symbol? (This question is not directly mine, I was asked it by one of the Chapter leaders. I advised no, but I don’t know that my advice was the right advice.)
Let’s chat about it…
Note:
Before you yell at me that OES is not Freemasonry, yes, I understand that. And I understand that it is considered clandestine and irregular in some Jurisdictions around the world. But, I think that this letter is a timely illustration that we can use to stimulate an important discussion, and in my Jurisdiction (and throughout the US) OES is certainly considered to be a fundamental component of the Masonic Family of organizations.
Not in any particular order...
a) Except the secrets (which also differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction) everything else can be discussed publicly.
b) We don't need enemies as long as we have enough uneducated Masons... [he is airing his frustration for not being able to give an educated answer to that dumb clergyman]
c) We all know how it works when a Mason tries to talk to his "superiors" about contentious issues... Best case scenario: they ignore it/him.
d) We can try educating parts of the public regarding our symbols, tenets, philosophy etc. but leave the conspiracy nuts alone - they are like religious zealots, nothing can change their preconceptions.
Maybe it's not a bad thing for certain debates to be aired publicly. The OES logo is a good example. I've never thought about the OES logo one way or the other. Now I know that there's an way to look at it that, right or wrong, doesn't reflect well on OES. And even if the writer is indeed ignorant about the meaning of the logo he still may be making a good point. That point is that we get one chance to make a first impression, especially publicly.
Why didn't he voice his concern internally with other Masons? Well, one reason is that our greatest weakness tend to talk to ourselves. That makes it pretty hard to get a read on the outside world. If the outside world naively thinks that the OES logo is a satanic symbol aren't we better off knowing that? Maybe we can provide a bit of Masonic education to the unknowing Mason but we're not going to bet a chance to educate a man or woman on the street if they dismiss OES based on their first impression of the logo.
To the broader question of arguing in public, clearly there is a boundary. Making personal arguments public is inappropriate. Other than that we may be looking at various shades of gray.