From: Ron Blaisdell [ron@blaisdell.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 1:11 AM
To: mi-masons@egroups.com
What is the Matter With Blue Lodges?
By Bro. BURR H. MALLORY
In Two Parts - PART I The Master Mason - March 1926
What is the Matter With Blue Lodges?
This thoughtful and thought-provoking article should arouse a storm of discussion among those who will take the opposite side of the question from Bro. Mallory. Yet it is only by discussion and argument that the truth may be found. The Editor of THE MASTER MASON is glad to give space to this, even though he may not agree with all that Bro. Mallory says. He hopes it will result in some well-informed brother painting the other side of the shield, for presentation in these columns. The great enemy of knowledge is not error, but inertness. All that we want is discussion, and then we are sure to do well, no matter what our blunders may be. One error conflicts with another; each destroys its opponent, and truth is evolved. That is the course of the human mind, and it is from this point of view that the authors of new ideas, the proposers of new contrivances and the originators of new heresies are benefactors of their species. Whether they are right or wrong is the least part of the question. They tend to excite the mind; they open up the faculties; they stimulate us to fresh inquiry; they place old subjects under new subjects; they disturb the public sloth; and they interrupt rudely, but with more salutary effect, that of routine, which, by inducing men to go groveling on in the ways of their ancestors, stands in the path of every improvement as a constant, an outlying, and, too often, a fatal obstacle. DO THE Blue Lodges today hold the interest of the members as they should? Many will undoubtedly answer in the affirmative, others will want to, qualify their replies and some will unhesitatingly state that they do not, only natural as the views of each are the result of temperament, experience and surrounding circumstances. That many lodges do have a problem in this respect is the consensus of opinion borne out by the discussions carried on between lodge officers and others, both verbally and through the medium of various publications. Such a condition is not peculiar to the present day only. From old records regarding lodges before our time we find much evidence to the same effect. Many, however, insist that the interest in Masonry is growing. They point with pride to the increasing membership, the great number of Masonic lodges and the many prominent men who actively participate in Masonic work. But what of the vast number of Masons who do not take any active interest, who never go near a Blue Lodge and who have not the faintest idea what Freemasonry means? That number is increasing and the percentage of Masons in that class is certainly growing. The distribution of magazines and books on Masonic subjects is increasing, but not in proportion to the increase in membership. Those who read the books are those who read the magazines. Grand Lodges can present books to new members or send them Masonic periodicals but they cannot compel them to read such literature carefully or at all for that matter. IN ORDER that there may be no misunderstanding, just what is meant by "holding the interest of members?" Without attempting to, put any literal interpretation on the phrase, for practical purposes it resolves itself into the answers to two questions. Do the members attend meetings with any degree of regularity? Do they evince a reasonable interest in the activities and welfare of the lodge? "Attending meetings with any degree of regularity" certainly means coming out in goodly numbers on other occasions than when a third is being worked or some special feature has been arranged; and a "reasonable interest" in the lodge certainly ought to mean a willingness to do some of the work both inside and outside of the lodge room, as well as attendance at the business sessions. Local conditions have a considerable influence on such interest. As a general rule, to which there are exceptions, the larger the center of population in which the lodge is located the more difficult it is to hold the interest of the members. This is evidently due to the many more demands upon spare time. The larger the center the more Masonic activities are carried on, such as Masonic Clubs, Fellowcraft Clubs, Tall Cedars, Grotto, York and Scottish Rite Bodies and the Shrine. They all more or less bid for and compete with each other and the Blue Lodges for the spare time of the members. These organizations have many social activities and other means of entertainment. Blue Lodges are considered by many as merely a necessary means for obtaining membership in some of the other organizations. As a result many take the Blue Lodge degrees and then drift away, to be seen seldom, if ever, in the lodge. The activities and interests of the fundamental body are neglected and members who are utterly ignorant or grossly misinformed on Masonic subjects, mislead themselves and others, both within and without the Craft; especially when they have taken the so-called higher degrees and are led to believe that they are advanced in Masonry. THIS is not meant to be an attack on the organizations in question but a statement of the results of their influence on many members of the Fraternity. That their purposes are sincere is unquestioned and many prominent members of the Craft, the hardest workers in the Blue Lodges, are very active in such organizations. Why are these bodies more interesting to so many Masons that they detract from the attendance of the Blue Lodges? The York and Scottish Rite Bodies detract little from the interest in the Blue Lodges, because they are so much alike and those who will take an interest in one usually take an interest in the other for the very same reasons. But the Clubs, the Grotto or the Shrine are an entirely different story. That many take the prerequisite degree just to be eligible for them is an undebatable fact. That many are attracted to them to the exclusion of other Masonic activities is also an established fact. That the meetings and other affairs of such organizations are much better attended than those of most Blue Lodges cannot be disputed. A big percentage of such attendance is made up of Masons who attend a Blue Lodge, or even a York or Scottish Rite meeting, so seldom that when they do the surroundings are so strange they do not know how to conduct themselves and would be utterly unable to take even the most insignificant part in the ceremonies. And yet many of these parade the streets wearing big emblems that lead the uniformed to believe that they are the ne plus ultra of Masonry! ONE reason seems to be that the sincere seeker after Masonic light can never be entirely satisfied with what he receives. After taking the Blue Lodge degrees he is led to believe that there is more to be learned. He wants to know more, and so, he takes additional degrees. But there seems to be something lacking, something that he hasn't attained and after going as far as possible and still not reaching his goal, he loses interest. Then he is attracted by the good fellowship and informality of the play grounds not realizing that hidden under the redundance of ritualistic jargon in the Blue Lodge is the very thing for which he was seeking. It may be answered then that because he doesn't search diligently enough or isn't qualified to understand the real lessons of Masonry, he should be excluded from a knowledge of them. Why? Wouldn't it be better to put the lessons within reach of the earnest seeker after truth, rather than hide them from all but a few who are temperamentally suited to understand them, allowing the vast majority of the members either to remain in ignorance or else carry wrong impressions through life? In admitting members into the lodge is it the intention merely to open the door for those who can find the real secrets of the Order while the others pass on and merely become members in name only? Or is it the purpose to, help in every way possible to teach those fundamental principles upon which the institution is founded? Those who fathom the idea without help would do so anyway, even if they never stepped within a tiled door, because it is part of their temperament. Masonry can do nothing more for them than furnish a little added interest and inspiration. Men like Abraham Lincoln did not need the teachings of a Masonic lodge to help them understand their duties to their fellow men and the part each man plays in the vast scheme of creation. The others, who constitute the vast majority of us, do need and are benefited by such help. Why not help us to find it instead of leaving things to chance? IN DAYS gone by I wandered over many Western States where today gold and silver mines and oil wells produce wealth for the present owners of the land. I didn't know how to find those things and would not have recognized them in their natural state even if I had. Nobody told me how to look for them or pointed them out for me. And yet they were there all the time. So it is often in the Blue Lodge. The new member takes his degrees, he tramps all over the most beautiful lessons of the human race without even recognizing them or realizing that they are there. Nobody helps him to find them, principally because the others don't know they are there, either. Why? Because facts are understandable by people of average intelligence but principles are not so, obvious; to many who do not grasp them thoroughly. They have an illusionary appearance and their influence is consequently weakened. An immense majority are incapable of applying general principles to their daily affairs. The average man possessed of reasonably good sense relies on experience far more than principles, however accurate and scientific the latter may be. For every person who, can think there are a hundred who can observe. While accurate observers are rare, accurate thinkers are far rarer. Most men are influenced far more by their experience in observing facts than by all the beautiful principles enunciated. Men are honest, because from observation they have learned that it is to their advantage, not because it is immoral to be otherwise. When real temptation offers they often lean as far away from moral honesty as their judgment, based on experience and observation, considers safe. In only a small percentage of cases is such judgment based on moral principles. IT IS tiresome to, listen to a repetition of the same old words and phrases, repeated in the same old way; many of them meaning little if anything today and some being absolutely misleading. Does anybody believe that surmounting the two pillars at the entrance of King Solomon's temple were two globes with maps of the earth and heavens delineated thereon, at a time when, according to popular belief, the earth was supposed to be flat and the sky covered it? Does any member who knows anything at all about Masonic traditions and history believe that eighty thousand Fellowcrafts went up into the Middle Chamber of the temple every Saturday afternoon to receive their wages of corn, wine and oil? An attempt to visualize such a scene by anybody with even a hazy idea as to the size of the temple cannot but impress them with the absurdity of such statements. There are beautiful lessons conveyed in these legends and at the time they were introduced into the ritual they were probably well suited for the purpose for which they were intended, but conditions have changed. Consider some of the time wasted by superfluous ritualism outside of the actual degree work. Take one illustration only; ceasing labor in one degree to commence in another. The W.M. tells the J.D. and he informs the Tiler. The W.M. then causes everybody to rise and he then tells the S.W. who in turn tells the J.W. who then informs the brethren. And after the S.D. has performed his duties the W.M. again instructs the J.D. to inform the Tiler, after which the lodge is seated. All done for the purpose of making the meeting solemn and impressive, and maybe it does, but it also makes the ordinary member who is attending rather weary. It is all very nice to have the orders of the W.M. conveyed to the brethren by the J.W. in order to carry out a certain traditional idea but the effect is almost immediately lost when the W.M. very soon shows that there is nothing to prevent him from addressing individual members directly from the East. WHY is it so necessary to conform to established customs and usages? New members are admonished and Masters sworn not to deviate there from. Why? Are they so ancient and sacred that they must remain immutable? Then why are there so many differences in the ritualistic work in the various jurisdictions that a member from one can frequently recognize very little in some of the others he may visit? The causes are not hard to find, but the point is that the ritualistic work cannot be above criticism and alteration as circumstances require. If the fundamental principles permeate all systems in all Jurisdictions what is the objection to making alterations in the details? Some slight changes are, made from time to time but they are seldom of any consequence and the manner in which they are announced is usually ludicrous. As a rule the brethren are advised at some lodge of instruction. From the manner in which such changes are promulgated one would be led to believe that they are the result of the most profound study of Ancient Craft work on the part of some learned brother or else are the result of direct advice from the spirit of King Solomon himself communicated to the M.W.G.M. at some special séance. To boast, as many Grand Lodge officers do, of strict and careful adherence to the ritualism of Preston, Webb and others, is to admit of a narrow conception of the institution in which they claim to be so vitally interested or else impute an omnipotent wisdom to the learned founders of the work which, despite their great merit, is unwarranted. Masonic ritualism must have something more than its antiquity to recommend it, especially when that antiquity is largely a. matter of viewpoint. Churches today are learning the same lesson to their sorrow. EVERY MASON with even a most superficial knowledge of Masonic history knows that our present ritualistic work is not over two hundred years old, and much of it less than that, but we are led to believe that the fundamental, underlying principles are many centuries older. If we take a really literal view we can consistently believe that those principles have co-existed with civilization. Nobody who gives the subject a second thought believes that Masonic lodges have been conducting their work in the same manner for even two hundred years; if he has the opportunity to visit a little he will find that frequently they do not follow the same procedure for a radius of two hundred miles. Ritualistic work as conducted today is merely a reflection of the conditions that existed in England in the middle of the 18th century. There was a craving after knowledge by those classes from whom knowledge had hitherto been excluded. Before the close of the century schools had been established, newspapers and literary reviews published, societies formed among tradesmen for t he purposes of purchasing books and holding debates, and the proceedings of Parliament appeared in print for public information. Clubs were formed and the idea of class distinction was gradually broken down, as men came more and more to realize that ability and knowledge were superior to ancestry and social position. Lectures on scientific and other subjects attracted interest. It was natural that Masonry followed the trend of the times in the formulation of the ritualistic work and incorporated to a large extent the didactic ideas which at that time were so popular. As a result Preston and others responsible for much of the work endeavored to incorporate instructive and useful information. This is particularly noticeable in the Middle Chamber lecture. AT THE same time the custom of wearing the insignia or decorations of various orders conferred by the monarchs, was also changing. Instead of wearing such decorations prominently displayed, men found it more in accordance with the spirit of the times to wear such ornaments more or less concealed or else to leave them off entirely, except on state occasions. The innate human desire to be distinguished above our fellows was not lessened however. In European countries ornaments are usually conferred by government authority; in this country, where such things are unknown, our desire for distinction finds expression in fraternal and commercial organization emblems the right to wear which can usually be acquired by the expenditure of a larger or smaller amount of money. The more prominent and exclusive the organization the prouder the wearer. And we wear them; all the way from the pin given by the insurance company to its policy-holders and the button of the Benefit Society on up to the Indian heads, helmets, sword and similar and many animal heads or teeth or claws, and others whose design and appearance defy all description. We wear them on our coat lapels, our watch charms and our fingers. We decorate our autos and our women with them and display them promiscuously around our homes and offices, all to awe the natives into silent adoration. And the pity of it is that of all the vast army of the decorated, probably less than one in a thousand has even a faint conception of what the emblem means or what his organization really stands for. To none does this apply more fully than to those who are considered Masons. But how nice it is to have people say "Jones is a big Mason you know." "Yes he's taken a lot of degrees and things, he's way up to the top." "Big man in Masonry." "Must be much smarter than he looks." And the chances are that Jones can't get into any Blue Lodge but his own unless somebody vouches for him and his knowledge of Masonry is confined to a lively recollection of the menus and other enjoyable features of the various social affairs he dutifully attends. THE English have always been much more given to ceremony that we are in this country. They were and still are more inclined to respect precedent and ancient custom. Courtesies and formalities are more important to them. They hold in much veneration and regard the so-called nobility. Every effort was made to interest some of this class in Masonry during the 18th century with the result that it was not long before a titled member of the Craft became G.M. and the custom has been continued, with few interruptions, to the present. It is doubtful if Masonry would have survived, or at least become popular, if this had not been done. It is natural that regardless of the Masonic doctrine of the equality of the members, they should be influenced to a large extent by the ideas of class distinction which were only just beginning to lose some of their force. Class distinction, the ideas of autocratic authority and the popularity of didactic discourses can be easily discerned in the organization and ritualism as it has come down to us from the 18th century. The English will undoubtedly deny that the first plays any part in their Masonry today, but a moment's reflection will refute such denial. Regardless of the "Meeting on the level and parting on the square" the deference shown to Grand Lodge Officers, Masters of Lodges and other dignitaries certainly denotes class distinction which is in no wise consistent with the democratic principles of the fraternity. Our cousins see to it that the members of the tipper class or nobility are enabled to obtain the offices necessary in order that they may receive such homage. Undoubtedly, as our illustrious visitor from the other side, Brother Robbins, assures us, such members have to follow Masonic procedure in their advancement, but that is not hard to accomplish. The point is that they get there and it is seen to that they do. THAT there is a certain element in this country with similar proclivities is evidenced in one instance at least. Our late Brother Harding was induced to take or accept all the Masonry we could consistently confer upon him . He happened to be the first President of modern times who was temperamentally and favorably inclined that way, but not our first public man by any means. We don't make Grand Lodge Officers of them here because that takes too much time and trouble and we have what we consider equally satisfactory short cuts to glory in the Fraternity. The idea of autocratic power is carried out in the authority vested in Grand Masters and Masters of Blue Lodges. It is the result of the monarchial habits of thinking inherent in Englishmen two centuries ago, and which only gradually gave way to the more democratic ideas which characterize them now. The instructive idea is also plainly discernible but today the conditions which made it advantageous to incorporate this idea in the ritualistic work do not prevail. Public and private institutions for the dissemination of knowledge are amply adequate to meet the demands placed upon them; at least they do not need to be supplemented by the very elementary information contained in the Masonic lectures. (To be Concluded)
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Everyone is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him/her to be untrue or unsound. - Morals and Dogma Ron Blaisdell, PM Capital of Strict Observance No. 66