Masonic Public Relations
Written by Bro. Eitan Isreali
After his installation as Grand Master our new Grand Master
pointed out among others, two targets, that he plans to achieve during his term
of office. These targets have direct connection to this lecture. One target was
to enlarge and broaden the rows and was quoted as "Many people act as
Freemasons and we are not able to dress them with an apron." and the other
target was enforcing the awareness of the community to Freemasonry while
distinguishing between advertisement and Public Relations.
This lecture, was given in the lodge last year, and is posted
in our web site (in Hebrew), followed by a full scale debate where Brethren had
a lot to say for and against the ideas. I regret that we didn't have enough
time to finish the discussion and hope that we will be able to do so tonight.
My intention tonight is, to briefly sum up the main idea and address the responses
of brethren which arose in other Masonic gatherings.
Information and Public Relations require two sides: the
explanatory side and the public or target audience. The best "salesman"
of Freemasonry was, and still is, the strict moral and behavior of the
Mason. Our target audience is very
special and does not include everyone. Outlaws and people who do not care for
the good of others, won't find their place among us. Since there were many
changes in society, in the methods of communications and one's priorities, we
need to broaden the horizons and adjust to the new scenarios. We need to
address Public Relations in a very dignified manner.
There were voices within Freemasonry which called for a
change of methods and adopting tactics of other organizations in order to
attract new members. These well meaning Brethren didn't count on the fact that
Freemasonry is different from other organizations and is unique in the way it
carefully picks its members. Thus there should be an unambiguous distinction between
advertisement and Public Relations.
Masonic Public Relations, is an educational process.
Information should be spread to brethren, their families and to the community at
large with emphasis on our activities concerning the community. Due to the fact
that Freemasonry lacked Public Relations for a long time, and was somewhat
secretive. public impression was, that Freemasonry is a secret organization
which undermines the government or religion. Many anti-Masonic groups took
advantage of this and feed the community with false accusations against us.
These days we witness in books like “The Da Vinci Code”
or movies
like “National Treasure” that try to present a distorted picture of
Freemasonry. The picture is intended to add secrecy to the plot.
Advertisement of Freemasonry in order to attract new members
is against Freemasonry’s rules. We ask a new candidate in his initiation if he
joins “unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends against your own
inclination...” On the other hand, good information and right Public Relations
can stimulate people’s thoughts and make them seek us as partners. These people
will be happy to put on our apron.
Today's world, using newspapers, radio, TV, Internet and many
other means of communications, report constantly of events and deeds of groups
within society. Using Public Relations we should integrate in a positive way in
these reports and pass the correct message to the community. In meetings and
talks with Brethren we marked two target audiences. One was inactive brethren
and the other was university students. We should approach these two audiences
in different ways and I'll address this later.
If we'll try to "take good men and make them
better", we need to define what are
"good men". In my previous lecture I claimed that it pointed mainly
to the social aspect, like, a good family man, a strict moral man, a good
friend and so on. Thus the scale for measuring the "good" in men must
be by the social standards of the society we live in.
The reasons a man does good to his fellow men are many, and
may vary from the need to survive as a society, through his culture, the rules
and regulations around him and one's beliefs.
In my previous lecture I presented Dr. Abraham Maslow’s
(1908-1970) Hierarchy of Needs theory, and arrived at the
conclusion that in order to become a mason, a man should be in the social
recognition stage of the hierarchy or up.
Assuming a man is a social animal who relies upon other
people, then his moral standards and behavior are derived from the norms of the
society he lives in.
I mention again the need for belief, and that is for the
reason of moral obligation. If one sets his own moral rules, he can change them
as soon as time goes bad. Once these rules are set by his belief, it is
stronger than he is, and he obeys.
I think that Freemasonry emphasizes the social good in men.
We can see this in the symbols of Freemasonry and declare that our doctrine
sets brotherly love, help and truth as it's values. We do charity in the lodge
and also for the community.
As an answer to the question "What can we offer the new
candidate?" I suggested we offer him becoming a part of a well known
organization which is involved in activities which are for the good of the
community. We can also offer a unique way of life and high moral doctrine.
The ways to accomplish these goals:
1.
Information, explanation of who we are, what are
our goals and how we plan to achieve them.
2.
Deep involvement with the community on a
personal, lodge and order levels, when all the deeds are done under the flag of
Freemasonry.
3.
Checking each new candidate very carefully, how
well he fits the well oiled machine that should be better for the community.
I claimed that we spend the 24 hours of the day in a wrong
way. We spend too much time in “prayer to Almighty God” i.e. doing the ritual
work and Masonic lectures, and too little time is spent “serving a friend or
brother in time of need” - doing good to ourselves and unto others.
In order to act as Freemasons and prove that we are better
men we should treat the lodge as a single entity, set goals that are accepted
by all and "go get them" while each and every one participates to the
best of his ability, forgetting ego-trips.
With every goal we set, we need to check how we can do it in
the best way, and not point at past failures explaining why it can't be done.
We should fully utilize the skills and connections of every brother who can aid
in achieving that goal. Each successful task adds positive recognition and
respect of the lodge and Freemasonry.
Another issue that caused different responses was the rivalry
between lodges. Had it been competition it may have been productive and added
to the common cause, but rivalry causes harm to the lodges and to Freemasonry
as a whole.
I mentioned that in June 2003 a lecture was given in the
lodge on "Can Freemasonry still contribute today?" and "Why do
people join Freemasonry". In that lecture our brother Danny Doron showed
that Freemasonry contributes two major principles: universality and equality.
He talked about joining Freemasonry, and touched the issue of the dropping of
Brethren. The following general discussion called for a deeper involvement and
better coverage of our actions within the community.
Brethren called for stronger leadership which will set goals
for the community, utilize as many brethren as they can and publish our
activities in such a way, that everyone will know what is done and by whom.
Public Relations should be done according to the size of the
community and the connection to local media. We should decide if we work on a
lodge level or a district level of some lodges. There should be a man or a
committee in charge of Public Relations. The job should be given to a celebrity
or someone who's close to the media, and he should have a very good verbal
skills and knowledge of Freemasonry.
After my previous lecture, some remarks were made that led me
to realize I wasn't clear enough, and the message I was trying to pass was not
received. I will try to clarify the message and bring some operative
suggestions for addressing Public Relations.
Some Brethren got the idea hat we have to show the public
everything about Freemasonry, and that is NOT what I intended to say. I will
try to clarify.
The secrecy of Freemasonry is ours for generations and is a
basic part of our legacy. This is an essential part that makes us unique and
builds a solid foundation for Freemasonry. Public Relations does not deal with
the way of life within the lodge and does not intend to post it for general
knowledge. We talk about brotherly love, help, truth and charity as our way of
life and it's OURS, and ours only. All of this is no one's concern but ours.
The analogy in this case is to a married couple who does not make their privacy
public domain and it's no one's business.
The ritual and educational bounds of our doctrine are also
our own affairs and making it public may harm us. We should not let the media
cover our gatherings like we did on our joint "Rosenfest" assembly in
2003. This is not good Public Relations.
Now, when I said what NOT to do, I'll try to say what should
be done, why and how.
Having the lodges exist as they do, don't let new candidates
look for us and the only way to get them is if we "pull" them in. One
problem with this way of recruiting is that it's against Freemasonry rules, as
we "convince" prospective candidates to come. I may exaggerate here
but I do it to emphasize.
Another problem is the age factor. In 2003, brother Haim
Brotman, surveyed the age in our lodge and found out it increased through the
years. As an explanation, an example was given of a new brother in his 30s who
joins and a few years later achieves his third degree and then wants to
"convince" his friends (who are at his age), the same process begins again
with a man in his 40s now, and when he's at this point, we're talking about new
Brethren in their 50s etc.
An older member has his benefits of experience and knowledge,
but these people are mostly retired, their financial means are limited and
their connections to the community are weaker.
Where should we point the Public Relations then ?
We should enlarge the knowledge and give more information to
our families and close friends. We do this by behaving morally and being an
example in our daily lives.
I mentioned before two target audiences, "inactive brethren"
and university students, and now I'll elaborate a little. An inactive brother often
became inactive due to non-maonic reasons like employment, family matters etc.
In one of our discussions a suggestion was made to assemble as many inactive brethren
and raise questions concerning their inactivity. Maybe the reason is not valid
anymore and the brother will rejoin and become active again.
In another discussion about university students, we mentioned
the relative high social and moral levels that may be found in this audience,
also that these people can be good ambassadors of Freemasonry in key positions
when getting their jobs. The suggestion
was to organize general knowledge lectures, sponsored knowingly by the lodge in
which they will also get some general idea of Freemasonry and it may stimulate
them to join if their goals are similar.
We should be more involved in the community declaring that we
are Freemasons every time. We have brethren who do charity work for the
community and it is important that the receiving party will be aware that we're
Masons.
We can also join other organizations and municipality activities
and while there show the flag of Freemasonry as we march.
One of the advantages of this kind of involvement can be,
that people who are pillars of the community may find us attractive and will
ask to join. If these people join we can revive the lodges and the order. Years
back we used to have Mayors, judges and shipping tycoons in our lodge, and the
order was then flourishing.
The answer to "What should be publicized" is deep
community involvement, with or without other organization, but always carrying
Freemasonry’s flag up high.
The answer to "Why" can be summed in one word: survival,
which means making the lodge younger in age and spirit.
When planning the way to accomplish Masonic Public Relations,
we face many challenges and obstacles. We first need to establish Public
Relations strategy, to appoint brethren responsible and get professional
support. Next we should break the strategy into targets and goals which are achievable.
This way sounds very much like the text books, but this is
just the beginning, and as it is, we need time to overcome each obstacle on the
way. If we have Brethren who are close to the media, we should recruit them for
the job and help them present Freemasonry in a favorite manner.
In previous discussions someone said that Freemasonry has a
street named after them in a remote part of the city while Rotary club has
flourishing squares in
I will end this session by repeating and emphasizing the
community issue. We are part of the community and as human beings need the
recognition. When talking to the average non Mason, we’ll find out that he
knows what is the Rotary club or “B’nai B’rith” but when it comes to
Freemasonry, he doesn’t know how to define it and if he does, the definition
will have negative connotation.
Let’s set big goals, work forcefully and united to accomplish
them and make sure we publicize the successes. All the while we should decorate
these tasks with Masonic education and rituals.