Let's Discuss Divisions
Order degenerating into chaos
Over the past years I’ve written a good deal about the current artificial divisions being inflamed in our society. I know from reading widely that a great many other people are deeply troubled by this as well.
Without a doubt, many people and groups benefit from the stirring up of conflict and hatred between individuals. These groups benefit from chaos.
But, Freemasonry has always stood for order. Peace. Brotherhood. The healing of artificial divisions. The building of bridges between people.
Our Craft, as a human institution, doesn’t have a perfect track record, but on the whole, over the march of time, humanity is immeasurably better off because of Freemasonry’s existence, and its striving for these goals.
Of course, the efforts of those who seek to divide our society could not succeed unless there was an underlying basis of genuine discontent for them to base their efforts upon.
This morning, I’ve been contemplating that. What is the fundamental basis of discontent in our society right now?
Is it extreme political division? The hardening of positions on both sides of the political spectrum?
Is it economic? The extreme contrast between the richest and poorest among us?
Is it spiritual? Have we as a society, and we as individuals lost our spiritual moorings?
Perhaps it is something else that I haven’t thought of. What do you think?
Maybe it is a combination of all these things, and other things. Any thoughts to share?
Lastly, perhaps most importantly, what can Freemasonry do to try and help heal the divisions within our society?
Let’s chat about it…
My Most Worshipful Brother,
I've struggled with whether I could or should write anything related to the current news cycle and these times that try men's souls. The divisions you describe may share a common root: we've lost spaces where people of differing opinions can meet as equals. Social media rewards outrage. News amplifies conflict. Even churches and civic organizations have become sorting mechanisms rather than meeting grounds.
The tiled room is one of the last places left. Men who disagree about nearly everything else sit in the same lodge, share the same ritual, call each other Brother. That's not nothing. In fact, it might be the whole point.
But we can only heal divisions in society if we model that healing first. Are we practicing what we profess? Do we meet on the level, or do we carry worldly distinctions through the West Gate?
Just this week I watched two Brothers from opposite ends of the opinion pool have a full-blown Facebook meltdown. Both profiles proudly display every appendant body imaginable. And I think about a family whose child needs surgery, judging the character of our organization by the conduct of their neighbor who just had a public fight online. There's a child or family who may never approach us for help because of what they saw.
Is the dopamine hit from feeling "right" worth that? Is winning an online tête-à-tête worth that child? I understand how folks get sucked in. The Dunning-Kruger effect is real and playing out live on a screen near you. But at what cost?
The work is somewhere in there.
As always thank you for your work Sir.
MW,
I heartily agree with much of what has been said in the other comments, and would add one more opinion. And I'll try to be brief. :-)
Over the last 50 years or so our society as a whole has moved away from valuing community to valuing the individual. President Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." JFK also had a quote on liberalism which I offer because it conveyed the mood of the country at the time. "If by a "Liberal," they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say that I'm a "Liberal."
Contrast that with the Gordon Gecko quote 25 years later, "Greed is good." Along with that, we have developed a cynicism for the public good. Some politicians and businessmen even brag about cheating on their taxes and civic obligations, perversely as a sort of 'patriotic' duty.
Personally, I think our families, communities, our nation, and indeed the world do better in the Kennedy mindset. And Freemasonry flourished in 1960, with 4 million members in the US. I don't think that was a coincidence. Now, to my more conservative friends, I would certainly concede that the 90% top tax rate in the early 60's was too high. But, I'd posit that most folks then were proud of the things federal taxes were funding - interstate highways, NASA, public education, etc. The point being that most people, and most Freemasons felt proud of being a part of a greater good. (Read Clausen's Commentaries sometime.) I'll close with a thought that Freemasonry and Brothers should always avoid discussing partisan politics; but maybe it's time for us to spread light and truth about civics, civil liberties, our rights, responsibilities and freedoms.