Whence Came You? – 0674 – Awakening the Masonic Eye

From Whence Came You – Original Post

Join us this week for an exploration of the future of Freemasonry—no, not the rosy-colored one we dream of, the reality—or is it? Then, we’ll unlock the secrets of awakening the all-seeing eye within the Freemason! Secret formulas are forthcoming! Thanks for listening, and have an amazing week! Links: The Masonic Eye of Awakening https://www.universalfreemasonry.org/en/article/the-masonic-eye-of-awakening Freemasonry Goeth To His Long Home https://meetactandpart.com/freemasonry-goeth-to-his-long-home/

The Midwest Conference of Masonic Education MCME1949.org

San Antonio Esoteric Summit – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566473288239

San Antonio Esoteric Summit Tickets! tinyurl.com/4wvkjpaf

Skull and Crown Ltd. www.skullandcrownltd.com Craftsman+ FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/craftsmanplus/

WCY Podcast YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/WhenceCameYou

Ancient Modern Initiation: Special Edition http://www.wcypodcast.com/the-Shop The Master’s Word- A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light, and the Self – Autographed https://wcypodcast.com/the-shop

Get the new book! How to Charter a Lodge: https://wcypodcast.com/the-shop

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Service To Others

From The Midnight Freemasons – Original Post

 by Senior Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Greg Knott, 33°

Col. Richard B. Bushing and Greg Knott

Since retirement, I have been pursuing a hobby and perhaps more in aviation photography.  I have attended numerous airshows, visited air museums, stopped in small towns looking at the military aircraft they have on display in front of the American Legion Post and more.

My travels have taken me across the US, including a recent trip to Arizona.   I made my way to Tucson and visited the Pima Air and Space Museum.  This museum is adjacent to Davis-Mothan AFB, home of the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG)B and the museum has been the recipient of many of the retired aircraft that come to their final home in aircraft boneyard at Davis-Mothan.   

The museum now has a collection of over 400 aircraft, with most of them in great condition.    These aircraft range from pre WWII aircraft to modern recently retired aircraft.   Most of the planes were flown to the museum for their final flight.  The Arizona desert is a great place to keep planes, when they are outside for display. 

On the grounds of Pima Air and Space is a smaller museum, the 390th Memorial Museum.   This museum pays tribute to the crews who flew in B-17 bombers during WW II.  A fully restored B-17 is prominently featured in the building and the exhibits tell the stories of those who flew aboard the B-17 and the ground crews who supported them.

The particular day I was visiting, the museum had an author, Col. Richard B. Bushing there to talk about his book “My Wars”.  Col. Bushing had a 32 career as an aviator in the United States Air Force, first serving as a B-17 pilot during WWII and finishing his career flying an F-4 in Vietnam.

Col. Bushing told the stories of the B-17 crews.  He recounted the heavy losses they sustained as they flew from bases in England, flying over the English Channel with missions in Germany and elsewhere, to bomb amongst other targets, factories that were vital to the German war efforts.    Most of the time, the B-17 did not have fighter escorts, as the escort planes did not have sufficient range to stay with the B-17.  This changed later in the war as the P-51 Mustang came into service and it had sufficient range to escort the B-17.   The famed Tuskegee Airmen were amongst the crews who flew the P-51 and served as escorts.

The Germans knew the B-17s were on the way, as their radar could pick them up as they left England.  The Americans primarily bombed during the day, as US Army Air Force leadership thought that was the most effective method.   The crew flew at altitudes of up to 29,000 feet and faced heavy flak from the Germans below.   The B-17s had to fly in tight formations to help their rate of survival and to be most effective.  

B-17 losses were often heavy.  Each B-17 had a 10 man crew and when a plane was shot down, the crew’s only hope was to bail out of the plane and hope to evade capture by German forces on the ground.  

Crews were under extreme duress.  The B-17 is an unpressurized plane, which meant that above 10,000 feet, crews had to wear an oxygen mask.   This was in addition to heavy jackets and clothing to keep them from freezing to death.  The air temperature could drop to -50 degrees below zero.   All the while the plane had to be flown, the radio manned, the bomb site scoped in for accuracy, 50mm guns to be manned and reloaded. 

If a crew member was able to fly and complete 25 missions, they would have completed their service and rotated back home.  Crews only had a 25% chance of completing their 25th mission.  Hundreds of crew members were lost after being shot down and hundreds more were taken as prisoners of war after being captured by the Germans.

The bravery of these crews is easy to forget today, as we are now 80 years after the close of WWII.  Yet the events of the current day are still influenced by those brave service personnel from decades ago.   Col. Bushing at 102 years of age is one of the very last of the surviving B-17 crew members.   He has made it his life’s mission to tell the stories of these brave men, in hopes of keeping their story alive and help ensure the sacrifices they made are not forgotten.

I want to thank Col. Bushing for his service and all those who flew, manned and crewed the B-17s to help ensure our freedom.

~GJK

Greg Knott is the Senior Contributor to the Midnight Freemasons and a member of the craft since 2007.

Whence Came You? – 0673 – The Trouble with Librarians

From Whence Came You – Original Post

This week, we’re looking at the role of Masonic Libraries—the good, the bad, and the ugly! We’ve also got a great piece on the proposed benefit of joining the independent bodies sooner rather than later. All this and more. Thanks for listening, and have a great week! Links: Are Masonic Libraries and Archives a Joke? https://meetactandpart.com/are-masonic-libraries-and-archives-a-joke/

How Can Appendant Bodies Strengthen the Blue Lodge? http://www.midnightfreemasons.org/2025/03/how-can-appendant-bodies-strengthen.html

The Midwest Conference of Masonic Education MCME1949.org

San Antonio Esoteric Summit – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566473288239

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WCY Podcast YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/WhenceCameYou

Ancient Modern Initiation: Special Edition http://www.wcypodcast.com/the-Shop The Master’s Word- A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light, and the Self – Autographed https://wcypodcast.com/the-shop

Get the new book! How to Charter a Lodge: https://wcypodcast.com/the-shop

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Do I really want to be a Past Master?

From The Midnight Freemasons – Original Post

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor
Matthew Walters


If I can take a minute to set the backdrop for this “epistle” (as one of my Masonic Mentors dubs my emails to the Lodge and our York Rite), I am thirty-eight years old, married with two children under the age of three and am a public servant by occupation.  I was Initiated, Passed, and Raised in September 2017, November 2017, and March 2018 respectively.  I sat the remaining portion of the year on the sidelines learning about this new and amazing brotherhood that I had joined.  I am a first-generation Freemason in my direct line with some distant great uncles who were (deceased) Masons and Shriners. My working knowledge of Freemasonry was directly from a co-worker of whom I asked, “the question.”  From there I was adopted into a smaller circle of passionate younger masons in my Lodge and introduced to my first “salty old dog” Past Master.  

The group brought me under their wing with items to read, fellowship after meetings with a few beers and late-night masonic talks.  I was hooked.  Ready to be involved like they were.  Some of them were officers, soon to be officers, lodge educators, catechism coaches, and meal providers for Stated meetings.  The fellowship was real and flowing.  My wife met their wives.  It was a glorious time.  Skip a rock and I hear about the York Rite.  This group is all apart of something special and big, they refer to planning meetings aka “White Boarding.”  I see a dry-erase board with names, roles, and supply lists.  So, I ask, what is that?  I am informed that they are part of saving our local York Rite body which dates to 1886 for the Chapter (1944 – Council and 1922 -Commandery).  “What’s the project and how can I help?”  “Well, you need to be a member to help and that’s just it, we are learning all the Degrees and Orders from memory and have a class that is going through them in long form and not at a festival.”  Another new mason and I jump on the next festival as we are burning hot and wanting to be apart.  I was then admitted and received all Degrees and Orders conferred on me in a large class in April of 2019.  Three days later the two of us have non-speaking roles in the Royal Master’s Degree.  Excited to give back that fast, I want a speaking role in the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross.  Ask and ye shall receive.  Every Saturday we practice for weeks learning the floor work and ritual from the old salty dog we will call Boaz.  I became involved in fellowship during hours of practice, laughing, telling stories and getting deeper into this fraternity, and learning simultaneously about the Craft lodge.  

Insert my first dose of the reality of the Past Master flex.  As a new member, I asked to be involved in my blue lodge.  The Master elect is filling roles, so I ask to have a position as an appointed officer.  Junior Steward it is.  I am off to a great start.  I want to give an education; I have been reading and studying.  The master says yes.  I present a research piece on the details of the Entered Apprentice Scripture and why I think it is important.  Three or so pages later, there is no discussion, the lodge applauds, and I sit down.  A Past Master comes up after the Stated and said for your first education it was pretty good but a little long for this crowd.  Shorten your next one.  Yes, sir, I am on it.  A meeting or so later attendance is down, and a prominent Past Master and former District officer comments in open lodge that if those York Rite guys would show up to the Stated like they did their own York Rite meetings and practices, we wouldn’t be talking about attendance.  At which time Boaz, as a Past Master, but not of this Lodge asks the brother which ones aren’t here, as most of the line currently is York Rite and those on the sideline are too.  The standoff is over quickly with quiet whispers on the sidelines.  While seconds in duration, this felt like a long scene in Tombstone when Doc Holiday has just been introduced to Johnny Ringo in the saloon.  I have never seen brotherly behavior like this before.  Finger-pointing and maybe a false accusation in open lodge, whew that was weird, I am glad it is over.  

The fall is now on us, and Lodge elections are approaching, the Secretary informs the Lodge he is older, wishing to spend more time with his grandkids, and will be stepping down at the end of the year.  No one asks to learn or become an assistant to that highly sought-after chair in or after the meeting.  I approached him the next month and asked if he would teach me what was needed, that I would be interested in becoming his Assistant Secretary, he smiled and said yes.  That is heard by some Past Masters, and I am told by one that I need to be sure that I understand giving up going through the line as this isn’t a two-to-three-year commitment.  Hey, the Lodge needs me, and I am ready to serve.  At the next meeting, it is announced I am the Assistant Secretary, all knowing full well that means my name will be read aloud in a few months as Secretary…it does haha.  About a year or so later, the now Past Secretary passes away.  

Meeting after meeting I find myself having to refer to the Code (governing document of rules/regulations/constitution in my jurisdiction) to answer questions, Past Masters and Masters look to me in meetings to have the answer.  I was not prepared for this part.  I begin reading the Code and do so cover to cover.  I dog ear pages, email the Grand Lodge questions not covered, ask Past Masters.  On the later group, I begin to get differing answers locally in my Lodge.  Coming to degree practices, I see disagreement after disagreement from Past Masters who are coaching the new officers on their roles.  It’s the left foot, right foot, the versus thee, should, and shall.  I begin to question teachers and get “tradition” as my answer.  I asked for items of lighting in degree, I get told the Code by one, the ritual by another, and tradition by a third.  Degree after degree men are correcting officers on the ritual in the degree, after the degree, prompting words of all types during a freeze up or pause by officers.  Past Masters and Past Masters only are allowed (or condoned) to do this.  Officers don’t question them and don’t know from practice to practice how it may go.  Bad mouthing current officers’ ability to lead, confer degrees, spending lodge funds for meals being catered, floor work, coaching, all begin to come to light in my eyes in groups of Past Masters after meetings, practices, and degrees.  I’ve now lost count of how many strikes just were thrown there.  My apologies.  Now my lodge is no different than yours, the Shrine, the York, the Scottish Rite, etc. take the new brothers you hear from Past Masters.  I get it, but wait, do they?  Do men seek what they aren’t getting in their Lodge elsewhere?  My answer is yes.  But it is also they are looking to be treated like a brother, and not a kid brother who is beaten up by the older sibling to make you tough.  Love does hurt but we try to minimize it right?

So, you think I am done with this little article or are saying to yourself “ok stop complaining, let me tell you how to fix it” …but I am not done just yet.  Fast forward a few months and new men don’t return to Lodge and begin to step out of line for verbal treatment and constant correction.  Fact, I asked via phone calls and a survey to the members why they don’t attend.  District combined degrees begin to be set by a few Past Masters and not the sitting Master of my Lodge.  Code violations galore begin to be seen across the District, as Past Masters flex and claim unity of District Lodges. My eyes are opened once again as I come to light to the drama of Masonry.  Past Masters guide sitting Master’s to incorrect actions in Lodge meetings.  “Tradition” is repeated a lot.  “For the good of Masonry” at other times.  Insert sister Lodge bashing now, “in you know Lodge name, they are the way they are.”  Or “that’s insert Past Master who runs that Lodge, they have always been that way.”  “But our lodge is better than that we don’t do that.”  In opening meetings, we allow visiting Past Masters to sing the praise for degree work of my Lodge and thinking ours is superior to others in the district in front of members from those Lodges.  Yes, that means the multiple visiting Past Masters put down their own Lodges in the process.  We are on the level, yes?  Or the Lodge who votes on petitions with only the criminal background check but no subordinate Lodge Committee of Investigation.  We also have a sitting Past Master who is told by a District officer, at a District degree, that he can open an Emergent communication without notice to their membership due to them having a quorum, of a lodge he isn’t a member of.  Why some may ask, so that a catechism of a brother can be heard, so he can join the 3rd Degree that was planned for the Stated in about thirty minutes.  Due and timely notice for an Emergent anyone?  Do we have membership requirements to open Lodges?  Wow, I am glad I am not in that lodge you say, I have just covered over half of my district in Past Master behavior in front of me or after the fact through complaints of others to me, like I can do something about it as Secretary of the one and only Lodge I am a member.  Masonic charges do come to mind for some of the issues, but who would be left?  Notify the District officers you say, done and done and several have in my short time also contributed to this problem being a bit of a good ole boy nomination club, not to mention are direct stories past and present mentioned above.


Let me be clear on one very important topic, this epistle was not meant to bash my Lodge, my District, or my Grand Jurisdiction.  I know you all have your story of that group, clique, or whatever of Past Masters that run the lodge you are a member of.  But my thought is this when I decline the role one day as Secretary, do I want to get in line.  Do I want to be a Past Master who is a Worshipful Brother and not just a Brother?  Do I want to sign the registry and put PM behind my name, so all know who sign in after me that I am a Past Master?  Do I want to wear a non-approved Past Master apron and violate the Code in an open lodge after an education was given, as to needing to replace them with a legal and Grand Lodge/Code-approved Past Master apron?  I do not know.  And to that core I mentioned earlier, well they aren’t all here anymore in my lodge.  A small few are in my York Rite body that is still thriving and loving and friendly.  I am currently on my second term in the East there, and while the York has a thousand titles, I am just the man in the East trying to keep education at the forefront of the body and the studying of the ritual and connection to and through craft masonry.  On my Lodge, District and the Craft, we shall see what the future holds.  I hope this piece helps some who read it learn what not to do.  If some are reading it and you are doing some of the above things, I hope this helps aid your reformation to do good unto all, more especially to the household of the faithful…and you learn the definition of Brother.  I will close this by saying, that I know there are a ton of good Masters, Past Masters, and Past Grand Masters out there.  I am not bashing you for leading and doing the right thing.  I want to pass the chairs in my heart and honor that role and title.  I believe in doing things the right way.  Maybe it will be in my mother lodge, or maybe I will honor the “traveling man” and journey to a new Lodge one day or help charter the “Change” Lodge where all are equal, welcome, and live the tenants of Masonry.

~MW

Matthew Walters resides in North Carolina with his wife and two children. Raised a Master Mason in 2018, he is currently the Secretary of his Lodge and has been since 2020, as well as serving on the Lodge Education Committee.  Other fraternal memberships include the York Rite where he has served as HP, IM, and EC (2023-present). He is also a member of the Allied Masonic Degrees, Knight Masons, and York Rite Sovereign College.  

“No Talking Politics!” – A Glance at Freemasonry and Politics

From Midnight Freemasons – Original Post

by Midnight Freemason Contributor
Patrick Dey

At the end of last month Darin Lahners posted on this blog a post in which he says that Freemasonry is “supposed to be a refuge from Religion, Politics, and other sectarian subjects.” And that is the general opinion of brothers within our polite gentlemen’s society: that we should avoid talking about the three things that give our individual lives any value, meaning, or purpose: politics, religion, and sex. Now, while I commend Bro. Darin on his article, I do have to dispute the extent to which Masonry and politics have remained separate, if they have ever been separate, and if they even can be separate.

Freemasonry and politics walk hand-in-hand, almost since its origins as a social club, and really long before that. For instance, the old guild system was an economic system, which means it was by extension a political arm of social-economic policies. Guilds were government sanctioned monopolies. To be, say a baker, and practice in a commercial capacity, you had to be part of the bakers guild. Sure, you could bake at home for your family, but if you wanted to bake and sell bread, you had to contend with the guild, who had the blessing of the king, governor, or whomever has granted them the monopoly. Guilds had patrons, usually an aristocrat who had a vested interest in the commercial work of the guild. For instance, if one owned a silver mine, they would be a patron of the silversmith guild. The patron would lend his political influence to curry favors for the guild from the king or governor, and likewise would help enforce regulations the king has mandated upon a guild, which also ensures his commercial interests in the work of that guild. Such was a matter of public health and safety, maintained quality of production, et cetera. So long before Freemasonry emerges from the stonemason guilds as a symbolic gentlemen’s club, it was already a political organization.

As laissez-faire capitalism emerges, and soon thereafter communism, the guilds as the dominant politico-economic system begins to wane. It is these two opposing economic systems that effectively kill the guilds, as both were equally in opposition to the guilds as they were to each other. Yet, more and more non-operative Masons were still joining the remnants of the stonemason guilds, effectively as patrons. And like the old patrons, though they may not have had a commercial interest in stonemasonry, they were nearly all aristocrats, the likes of which include Sir Robert Moray (initiated in 1641) and Alias Ashmole (initiated in 1646). These gentlemen appear to have used Symbolic Masonry as a private club to rub shoulders and advance scientific and philosophical agendas in a socio-political capacity, and such political ideologies would continue on into the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1717.

One need only look at the driving personalities behind the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, as well as the relationship many of these men had to preceding events in England to see the politics embedded in Freemasonry from its very start.

Ric Berman traces the politics behind the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in several of his books (e.g. Inventing the Future, his Prestonian lecture, et al), which I will outline here using his work. As Protestantism spread and gained followers in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in France, Catholics grew increasingly belligerent toward them. Hundreds of thousands of French Huguenots were massacred over the course of two centuries by French Catholic Kings. One need only look at St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 or the Dragonnades implemented under King Louis XIV to see how terribly Huguenots were treated: theft, rape, torture, murdered… absolutely awful. And over the course of these two centuries the Huguenots would trickle out of France into Germany, Switzerland, North Africa, and most popularly to England. Then in 1685 the last vestige of protection any French Protestant had was revoked by King Louis, and that previous trickle turned into a flood of mass migration of Protestants. And England was very sympathetic to their plight, providing asylum, charitable funds to support them, opportunities for work, et cetera. It is estimated that post-1865 the population of London was 10% Huguenot.

And why wouldn’t England be accommodating to them? They had spent decades trying to get rid of Catholic rulers. And with George I and James Stewart contending for the throne, it became dire for England to keep James from assuming the throne, and thus George I of the House of Hanover became King. There was a serious threat that James would attempt to seize the throne, and he did try, several times, and France, Rome, and Spain all supported him. Over the years a number of Jacobite uprisings occurred to attempt to dethrone George I, but all failed. Had James seized the throne, all those Huguenots that sought asylum in England would have entered into the same predicament they were in previously.

The personalities behind the formation of the Grand Lodge of England were all aristocratic (with the exception of Anthony Sayer, the first Grand Master). They were noblemen with high-ranking titles, advocated pro-Enlightenment philosophy and scientific pursuits, Protestant, and pro-Hanoverian. Jean Theophilius Desaguliers, the third Grand Master, was the son of a Huguenot refugee from France. He grew up poor, his father working for a church in North London, which did not include a salary, but a stipend provided to all the workers for the amount of service they provided, which they split collectively. But Desaguliers becomes wealthy and greatly respected, rising through the ranks rapidly in a way that was almost unprecedented prior to the Huguenot migration.

All the Grand Masters for the first few decades were pro-Hanoverian. That is, they supported Enlightenment ideologies, they promoted meritocracy for social advancement rather than a rigid class system in which there was next to no social mobility; they championed freedom of religion, which was unheard of in its time; they promoted equal rights within governance, such as each man gets a vote and each vote is equal, regardless of social standing. And they provided a social club that would permit such to be implemented. As long as you could afford to pay your dues as a Freemason, you could practice whatever religion you wanted, and it allowed for a simple laborer to have as much right to become Worshipful Master of a lodge as a duke or lord, and that both had the same value in their votes.

This was wildly unheard of. It was truly radical, and deeply political. We might put this on par with, say, a lodge in South Carolina admitting a person of color into their lodge, or any lodge anywhere admitting a transgender or gender-non-conforming person into Masonry. Sure, today we look at Article I of the Constitutions of Free-Masons (1723) and think: “Oh yes, they were wise and ahead of their time.” No, they were absolutely radical. I’m certain there were Masons at the time who were saying: “Keep politics out of the Lodge!” when the Constitutions was published in 1723. And as a note, while we are not totally certain, most scholars firmly believe that Desaguliers was the author of the Charges.

Then look at Article II of the Charges, which specifically states that Masons maintain a “peaceable” subservience to the government, but there is still no problem with a Mason being rebellious toward his government: “So that if a Brother should be a Rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanc’d in his Rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy Man; and if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brotherhood must and ought to disown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage or Ground of political Jealousy to the Government for the time being; they cannot expel him from the Lodge, and his Relation to it remains indefeasible.”

Let’s put that into perspective. I remember during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 there were a lot of brothers I heard advocating for the expulsion of any Mason who participated in those protests. Every Grand Master in the United States issued a formal letter condemning the violence at those protests, and yet, only two Grand Masters formally condemned the violent actions of the insurrectionists on January 6, 2021, and likewise the same brothers calling for the expulsion of BLM protestors were suddenly very quiet on January 6. Double-standards aside, and explicit political biases aside as well, in either instances, so long as a brother did not actually commit a crime, or least was never charged and found guilty of a crime, then no action should be taken against him in the Masonic fraternity, at least according to Desaguliers, Anderson, etc. A brother may have supported the Black Lives Matter movement, or even supported the violence on the Capitol while Congress was in session, but unless he actually did anything, his political opinion is not chargeable. Sure, he may be regarded as an “unhappy man” and all Masons should “disown his rebellion,” but nothing else could be done. It is wild to me, personally, that both rebellions could be weighed the same by Masons, and yet the framers of the Constitutions of 1723 would have seen it exactly like that.

This would be like the Premier Grand Lodge of England permitting a Catholic supporter of James Stewart to become Grand Master… and they did. Philip Wharton, the First Duke of Wharton, was just such a person. Where everyone else was Protestant and pro-Hanoverian, when the Duke of Montagu stepped down as Grand Master, the Duke of Wharton stepped up. He had long been placated by the King and the high-ranking aristocracy, being given titles and lordships to subdue his passions as a Jacobite and win his loyalty to the King. He was also a wildcard, likely being a libertine, and certainly indulging in transgressive and immoral activities. He was even the founder of the original Hellfire Club. However, soon Masons grew tired of his Jacobite rhetoric, and his Deputy Grand Master, Desaguliers, would push him to step down from Mastership. Mind you, at the time, there were still ongoing Jacobite revolts and they were real threats to the Throne of England. We might put this on par with a member of Al Qaeda becoming a Grand Master… and then only urging him to stepdown as Grand Master and no further action taken against him, so long as he was not actually engaged in any crimes. Yep. All anyone can say is: “Booooooooooo!”

It is easy for us look back at the politics of the early Grand Lodge of England and see it as mere “history.” We don’t see all this as deeply political, or even radically political, but it was. We lose sight of the implications of these things because they happened in England a long time ago. Yet, even as history marches forward, we will see again and again Freemasonry intwined with politics.

Freemasonry is a social club, and thus is typically a reflection of the larger socio-political climate it is situated within. I could probably do a second part to this piece to further elaborate, and I probably should, but for now, I will leave it at this. We could deeply explore the politics behind various anti-fraternization policies of Grand Lodges during the American Civil War, as well as how many brothers chose to ignore those policies (and just as many followed them). I have previously explored on the Whence Came You? podcast how most Freemasons and Grand Lodges in Germany renounced Freemasonry and signed up with the Third Reich when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany… a reality that is very contrary to the feel-good narrative we are fed about the origin of the Forget-Me-Not. Heck, even today, I have wondered how the Grand Master of Russia could run against Putin for President and not end up going missing (it has been rumored that the two are very close friends and that Putin actually has some influence over how Freemasons conduct themselves politically in Russia). We could look at how Freemasons have committed treason together (e.g. Boston Tea Party) as well as build a nation and even form states (e.g. it is well known that Freemasons had a huge and mighty hand in the formation of the State of Colorado).

Time and time again we will find that Freemasonry is very political, or at least politics and Freemasonry often walk hand-in-hand, no matter how much we say otherwise. The larger issue isn’t that we need to keep politics out of the Lodge or that our fractured political climate in the United States is bleeding over into the Lodge. No, the bigger issue is that we are confusing our patriotism with our politics.

We know we have a deeply divided political climate in this country. The issue has become that one side of the political aisle thinks their politics is “patriotic” and thus the other side are seditious bastards. Each side thinks their party is correct and walking with God, so the other side is wrong, and therefore we are the patriotic side. If being antisemitic is the policy of one side, then the other side that says, “Hey maybe we don’t exterminate Jewish people,” then the former will claim that any favor extended to Jewish people is unpatriotic… and horrible things tend to follow shortly thereafter, historically speaking. Swap “Jewish” with “transgender” and the same point stands. Frame the same scenario with gun laws and suddenly one side is full of terrorists that want to rip this country apart! (See how I kept that example vague, and you already think it fits your point of view?)

It’s not that politics in Masonry is dangerous. It’s how far sideways political identity has tipped. Bro. Darin’s original point in his post still stands: a lack of thinking, a total lack of reason in guiding our political understandings, a complete lack of original rhetoric in how we understand how we live and make policies together, has led to a decay in how politics can ever be appropriate within Masonry. Thus, what we are left with is left or right-wing soundbites regurgitated as if original, but ultimately is a lot of “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This is when politics in Masonry becomes dangerous: when politics can’t be a part of Masonry.


~PD

 

Patrick M. Dey is a Past Master of Nevada Lodge No. 4 in the ghost town of Nevadaville, Colorado, and currently serves as their Secretary, and is also a Past Master of Research Lodge of Colorado. He is a Past High Priest of Keystone Chapter No. 8, Past Illustrious Master of Hiram Council No. 7, Past Commander of Flatirons Commandery No. 7, and serves as the Secretary-Recorder of all three. He currently serves as the Exponent (Suffragan) of Colorado College, SRICF of which he is VIII Grade (Magister), and is a member of Gofannin Council No. 315 AMD and Kincora Council No. 8 Knight Masons. He is a facilitator for the Masonic Legacy Society, is the Editor of the Rocky Mountain Mason magazine, serves on the Board of Directors of the Grand Lodge of Colorado’s Library and Museum Association, and is the Deputy Grand Bartender of the Grand Lodge of Colorado (an ad hoc, joke position he is very proud to hold). He holds a Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Colorado, Denver, and works in the field of architecture in Denver, where he resides with wife and son.