Freemasonry exerted an extremely strong influence on the United States throughout most of American history, with two notable exceptions.
The first of these exceptions is the time period following The Morgan Affair which saw a widespread anti-Masonic movement in this country.
The second is now.
If we feel discouraged about Freemasonry, I think we should look out at the world around us, and ask ourselves, is society on the right track? Are we creating a better nation for our children and grandchildren than we received from our ancestors?
It is extremely easy to destroy a Masonic Lodge. Apathy alone will do it. But do we want to live in a world without Masonry’s benevolent influence?
Powerful people are pushing this country into a civil war. From the algorithms on social media that highlight controversy to the politicians that call people "deplorable" or other derogatory terms, to the traditional media that doesn't report news without emphasizing divisive opinion. I do not know what the motive is or what goal they hope to achieve but everywhere I look I see massive efforts to divide us into tribalistic identity groups that will be at each other's throats. United we stand, divided we fall. But to what and who gains? I suppose Russia and China stand to gain from a collapsed America, but most of the people of the world would be worse off.
Some want us divided, polarized, and angry. Masonry is the answer to that. We have centuries of experience bringing men together who might otherwise remain perpetually at a distance.
Some want us on our phones, living alone in a virtual world. Masonry is the answer to that. We bring men together for real friendships in the real world.
Some would dismiss us for our small numbers. Masons helped design a vision for an entirely new kind of nation. Who says we can’t do that again?
Are we creating a better nation for our children and grandchildren than we received from our ancestors? Sadly, no. On our best day we're fighting the tide with a broom. This is not to say that I don't love being a Mason. I do. But as much as I love being a Mason my biggest criticism is that we're experts at talking to ourselves. It feels good, and within the reach of our immediate families and closest friends some of that rubs off, but much beyond our closest relationships there's a diminishing ripple effect.
Consider a recent time when social unrest was almost as severe as it is today; the late 60s. I was a teenager and I thought it was great! Looking back I think it's fair to say that there would have been a better and more civilized way to advance our Union. As a teenager I can't imagine I would have looked to a bunch of old guys in suits as role models, and that was more than 50 years ago. There's no reason to believe that old guys in suits are more effective today, even though the need for what we have to offer is greater. There's no harm in talking to ourselves, but we shouldn't fool ourselves about the impact we really have on society at large.
Do we want to live in a world without Masonry's benevolent influence? No. We should do what we can. And we should continue to challenge ourselves to find ways to increase our range. Brooks Brothers went bankrupt so suits might not be the answer (that's a metaphor, we love metaphors).
I recently had a woman I was dating break up with me, mainly because of masonry. As much as I tried to explain to her the fraternity, she just couldn't accept that we were simply a group trying to make ourselves better people. Part of it was the fact we're a fraternity that doesn't allow women, part of it is the secrecy, and part of it is what you read online by idiot conspiracy theorists. One of her comments was "if one of my friends knew you were a mason, how would I explain you to them if I don't know everything?". It's like how do you prove something that doesn't exist. That is the biggest fuel that fires the whole anti masonic views. I can't prove their theories are hogwash, because I am not at a high enough level to know, I'm not part of the inner circle. And if I *was* I'd never admit it exists. So frigging stupid. There is no way to win those arguments and sadly that's what dominates societies view of our craft.
I find that human history moves in cycles, and improves in what are called step functions. It’s not a gradual evolution, but periods of stability bracketed by sharp periods of change. These step functions usually occur in response to outside stimulus, not from a desire to evolve, but rather as a need to evolve in order to survive. Often periods of change are destructive.
One of the elements that creates the environment that requires change is that during the long periods of stability we ignore some element of society and life, that at the time seems irrelevant, but later turns out to limit our development. Consider the monarchy we revolted against as a nation. The divine right of kings was ‘assumed’, and a natural and fixed hierarchy of worth concerning people was the way most people saw society. If you were ‘low-born’ you would stay low born forever. Our revolution challenged those beliefs and initiated a bloody period off change, including the French revolution, which went off the rails.
But if we look closer, and deeper we can see that the period that led to our revolution started in the late 13th century with climate disasters, invasions and diseases. For centuries feudal politics and law had been the form of government, and a manorial economic system had locked society into a perpetual stasis. After several years without a summer, the plague and famine that followed and invasions and raids by outside forces and a schism in the Catholic Church, the population was decimated. This led to a labor shortage, and allowed peasants to negotiate better circumstances. The middle class slowly began to evolve. These events were the initiation of the events that led to the renaissance and American revolution.
It is my opinion we are living through the end of that cycle. The individual, undervalued in the period before the events mentioned above, has risen to the top of the philosophical heap of our society. In the long march from legal and moral obscurity to being the penultimate element of society the individual and their ill formed ego is the element that will lead to the next evolutionary event in society.
It’s impossible to say what that next step will look like, but I think a reintegration of responsibility with rights will be part of it. While I believe the rights of the individual will be maintained in the new era, humility and responsibility will become more important. I also think, and this is JUST my opinion, but spirituality so recklessly abandoned over the last few hundred years will be an integral part of the new era. Not religion per say, but spirituality.
Masonry, born during the enlightenment has some of the best elements of the renaissance thinking, but unfortunately has been affected by society at large. We have in our fraternal culture many of the needed elements to heal and grow society, but it will take a humble dedication and sincerity that is currently not at the forefront of our fraternity.
Without getting into political or religious discussions, I feel our nation is heading in the wrong direction. Taking all the societal trends into account, we (collectively) are losing our faith, losing our work ethic, losing our influence in our political system, trusting too much in our "leaders" (who are anything BUT 'leaders"), and losing our contact with neighbors and communities. My Masonry is my comfort zone. In Lodge, I can meet and greet with like-minded men, share a meal, discuss issues and ideas, and I always feel renewed when I leave Lodge. Yes, many members are apathetic, and we spend a lot of time and resources trying to get them back into Lodge, but will that man actually return to be a contributing member again? Is it really worth the effort? YES! I feel that the principles we encourage are always worth the effort it takes to make those necessary changes in ourselves to become the "Perfect Ashlar" before we enter "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns." Ever if I am the last Freemason on earth, I will always attend Lodge in my heart, mind, and soul.
Powerful people are pushing this country into a civil war. From the algorithms on social media that highlight controversy to the politicians that call people "deplorable" or other derogatory terms, to the traditional media that doesn't report news without emphasizing divisive opinion. I do not know what the motive is or what goal they hope to achieve but everywhere I look I see massive efforts to divide us into tribalistic identity groups that will be at each other's throats. United we stand, divided we fall. But to what and who gains? I suppose Russia and China stand to gain from a collapsed America, but most of the people of the world would be worse off.
Some want us divided, polarized, and angry. Masonry is the answer to that. We have centuries of experience bringing men together who might otherwise remain perpetually at a distance.
Some want us on our phones, living alone in a virtual world. Masonry is the answer to that. We bring men together for real friendships in the real world.
Some would dismiss us for our small numbers. Masons helped design a vision for an entirely new kind of nation. Who says we can’t do that again?
Let's take the questions one at a time.
Is society on the right track? No.
Are we creating a better nation for our children and grandchildren than we received from our ancestors? Sadly, no. On our best day we're fighting the tide with a broom. This is not to say that I don't love being a Mason. I do. But as much as I love being a Mason my biggest criticism is that we're experts at talking to ourselves. It feels good, and within the reach of our immediate families and closest friends some of that rubs off, but much beyond our closest relationships there's a diminishing ripple effect.
Consider a recent time when social unrest was almost as severe as it is today; the late 60s. I was a teenager and I thought it was great! Looking back I think it's fair to say that there would have been a better and more civilized way to advance our Union. As a teenager I can't imagine I would have looked to a bunch of old guys in suits as role models, and that was more than 50 years ago. There's no reason to believe that old guys in suits are more effective today, even though the need for what we have to offer is greater. There's no harm in talking to ourselves, but we shouldn't fool ourselves about the impact we really have on society at large.
Do we want to live in a world without Masonry's benevolent influence? No. We should do what we can. And we should continue to challenge ourselves to find ways to increase our range. Brooks Brothers went bankrupt so suits might not be the answer (that's a metaphor, we love metaphors).
I recently had a woman I was dating break up with me, mainly because of masonry. As much as I tried to explain to her the fraternity, she just couldn't accept that we were simply a group trying to make ourselves better people. Part of it was the fact we're a fraternity that doesn't allow women, part of it is the secrecy, and part of it is what you read online by idiot conspiracy theorists. One of her comments was "if one of my friends knew you were a mason, how would I explain you to them if I don't know everything?". It's like how do you prove something that doesn't exist. That is the biggest fuel that fires the whole anti masonic views. I can't prove their theories are hogwash, because I am not at a high enough level to know, I'm not part of the inner circle. And if I *was* I'd never admit it exists. So frigging stupid. There is no way to win those arguments and sadly that's what dominates societies view of our craft.
I find that human history moves in cycles, and improves in what are called step functions. It’s not a gradual evolution, but periods of stability bracketed by sharp periods of change. These step functions usually occur in response to outside stimulus, not from a desire to evolve, but rather as a need to evolve in order to survive. Often periods of change are destructive.
One of the elements that creates the environment that requires change is that during the long periods of stability we ignore some element of society and life, that at the time seems irrelevant, but later turns out to limit our development. Consider the monarchy we revolted against as a nation. The divine right of kings was ‘assumed’, and a natural and fixed hierarchy of worth concerning people was the way most people saw society. If you were ‘low-born’ you would stay low born forever. Our revolution challenged those beliefs and initiated a bloody period off change, including the French revolution, which went off the rails.
But if we look closer, and deeper we can see that the period that led to our revolution started in the late 13th century with climate disasters, invasions and diseases. For centuries feudal politics and law had been the form of government, and a manorial economic system had locked society into a perpetual stasis. After several years without a summer, the plague and famine that followed and invasions and raids by outside forces and a schism in the Catholic Church, the population was decimated. This led to a labor shortage, and allowed peasants to negotiate better circumstances. The middle class slowly began to evolve. These events were the initiation of the events that led to the renaissance and American revolution.
It is my opinion we are living through the end of that cycle. The individual, undervalued in the period before the events mentioned above, has risen to the top of the philosophical heap of our society. In the long march from legal and moral obscurity to being the penultimate element of society the individual and their ill formed ego is the element that will lead to the next evolutionary event in society.
It’s impossible to say what that next step will look like, but I think a reintegration of responsibility with rights will be part of it. While I believe the rights of the individual will be maintained in the new era, humility and responsibility will become more important. I also think, and this is JUST my opinion, but spirituality so recklessly abandoned over the last few hundred years will be an integral part of the new era. Not religion per say, but spirituality.
Masonry, born during the enlightenment has some of the best elements of the renaissance thinking, but unfortunately has been affected by society at large. We have in our fraternal culture many of the needed elements to heal and grow society, but it will take a humble dedication and sincerity that is currently not at the forefront of our fraternity.
Without getting into political or religious discussions, I feel our nation is heading in the wrong direction. Taking all the societal trends into account, we (collectively) are losing our faith, losing our work ethic, losing our influence in our political system, trusting too much in our "leaders" (who are anything BUT 'leaders"), and losing our contact with neighbors and communities. My Masonry is my comfort zone. In Lodge, I can meet and greet with like-minded men, share a meal, discuss issues and ideas, and I always feel renewed when I leave Lodge. Yes, many members are apathetic, and we spend a lot of time and resources trying to get them back into Lodge, but will that man actually return to be a contributing member again? Is it really worth the effort? YES! I feel that the principles we encourage are always worth the effort it takes to make those necessary changes in ourselves to become the "Perfect Ashlar" before we enter "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns." Ever if I am the last Freemason on earth, I will always attend Lodge in my heart, mind, and soul.