The High Priests Of Democracy
And the worth of our Gentle Craft
One of the most popular newsletters in the country had to turn off the ability to comment on its posts yesterday while it figures out new rules for comment moderation. This is the second time this particular newsletter has had to do this.
The local newspaper in my little City turned off commenting on its articles quite some time ago, and has never turned the ability to comment back on.
Why?
Because far too many people in our society have lost the ability to communicate in a civilized manner when discussing political, cultural, or other hot button topics.
Far too many in our society are unfortunately embracing barbarism. Declaring anyone who dares to disagree with them as somehow evil, an evil that must be shouted over, destroyed if necessary.
In contrast to this, our Gentle Craft stands.
There are countless benefits to becoming a Freemason. I would argue that one of those benefits, one of the most important benefits, is the ability to hold civil discussions, even on issues in which significant disagreement exists.
In the early days of our nation, and as it expanded westward, the leading men of our country were Freemasons, and strongly encouraged Freemasonry. Why? Because it taught the most fundamental lessons of democracy. That all viewpoints were important and should be heard, that it is possible to disagree without rancor, that decisions are best made by the majority yet the rights of the minority must be protected in the process.
Indeed, during the formation of our nation, Freemasons were the high priests of democracy. Our Lodges stood as working schools where Masons lived and practiced the arts of self government. This resulted in the strongest, most prosperous, most stable nation on the face of the earth.
Yet those skills are being lost today.
The institutions that make up our Civil Society are shrinking, in many cases collapsing and dying. Fewer and fewer people are learning the practice of self government because they are not participating in self governing organizations.
But, Freemasonry stands.
Freemasonry stands to teach the skills and arts necessary for a functioning democratic society. It stands to teach effective disagreement, logic, rhetoric, and the fine arts of persuasion.
Without it we are left with little but screaming. Little but barbarism. Instead of persuasion we have no tool beyond destruction.
This is an intrinsic worth of Freemasonry. This is a benefit each and everyone of us derives from our involvement with it. This makes it worth saving. This makes it worth all the efforts we put into making it thrive.
Freemasonry has the antidote to the sickness infecting our society.
Fifty years ago if I read an editorial in the newspaper and felt inclined to respond, I would have had to search out a piece of paper, find a pen, and craft my response, all the time knowing that whatever I wrote was going to be seen and evaluated by many of my neighbors and friends. I would spend the best part of the day crafting my response to ensure I had my fact right and that my intended message was not misunderstood, knowing that my reputation in the community depended on my “well thought out” response.
Today I can be a total moron, hiding in near anonymity, dashing off a knee jerk response in mere moments without the slightest bit of personal reflection or consideration for how my response might be received.
If you disagree with me, it’s no big deal, as it only took a few minutes to write this, and I didn’t even have to engage my brain before I hit the Post button!
Love this article and absolutely Freemasonry paved the path to a republic under a constitution in North America, going back to Francis Bacon and Benjamin Franklin. The last letter Benjamin wrote was a warning on "Rules for ruining a Republic." If you were to read it without knowledge of who wrote it, you might think that it was written based off of current affairs or as a part of this article.
Franklin's letter includes: "If a dispute is salubrious, there are ways to make it poisonous, namely by employing dispute as a form of obstruction, rather than a means of betterment." and "Words are to democracy as beams are to a house. Our Constitution, our laws, hold up the edifice of the Republic. Whilst the democrat must have reverence for words, the foes of democracy must eat away at them like so many termites. Truth and falsehood must be meaningless. Impression is all that counts. Inconvenient facts must be called lies, not met with evidence. Disagreeable opinions must be called conspiracies, not judged by reason. In this way the beams weakened and the house easier to bring down."