“To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest”

Friday, November 7, 2008

Walt & June Cleaver Are Dead

There can be no denying Freemasonry has to change, as does the Republican Party. Before you go off in a tangent thinking I am linking the Freemasons with Republicans, I am making the case they both suffer from “trying to bring back” a bygone time.
For the Republicans, it seeks the days of white picket fenced homes, Ozzie and Harriet, and Walt and June Cleaver.
For the Freemasons, it was a time when the who’s who all joined the fraternity.
Both seemed to have lost sight of what there true intention was.
At its founding, the Republican Party was hardly a conservative party in the typical sense. Abraham Lincoln led a party that smashed the institution of slavery, waged all-out war, suspended and amended parts of the U.S. Constitution, launched a hugely ambitious social program known as Reconstruction, imposed a short-lived progressive income tax, as well as creating a national banking system, a Department of Agriculture, and a system of land-grant colleges. Here is how Lincoln himself, in his Second Message to Congress, characterized his party's governing philosophy: "As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew."Lincoln once described the difference between the Democrats and Republicans of his day as follows: Democrats, he wrote, "hold the liberty of one man to be absolutely nothing, when in conflict with another man's right of property. Republicans, on the contrary, are for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar." Lincoln, of course, was referring to the slavery debate and the claim of Southern Democrats to hold a property right in their slaves.
Is this the Republican Party of today?
That is not to say they have to look back, on the contrary, "As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew."
As for the Freemasons, I ask what our true intent was. Was it all about our numbers?
Was it all about charity and morals?
Do I know the answers, no, but I do know we have to change, or die.
We have become a more diverse society; does your lodge reflect this diversity? By some estimates, when the year 2040 arrives the white population will be a minority in America, shouldn’t Freemasonry also reflect this shift?
These are all questions we need to address, questions very few are willing to confront.
We are Freemasons, builders of a better temple, recently on Masonic Central I heard a speaker discussing Masonry of the past, a time when all the who’s who were masons, a time this gentleman thought we should return. It was his opinion that we needed to throw more black balls. I respect his opinion, but I fear this elitist attitude is dangerous. (By the way, I highly recommend the pod-casts; they are extremely insightful and fun.) We are creating a better temple, not a temple for a select group.
Our original masons were philosophers, theologians, scientists, and thinkers. At the time the world was masculine, women could not break through. Today we have women philosophers, theologians, scientists, and thinkers, why are we excluding a group because they bare children? (Talk about a hotbed issue!) What is it we are so afraid of?

"Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled." -- The Kybalion.

6 comments:

Tubal Cain said...

a brother and I were discussing the same topic

either ride the wave of change or crash into it

Son of the Light said...

To 2 Bowl Cain
I could not agree more. Just the other day one of the Grand Lecturers presented an interesting statistic in our State. The average Mason in New Hampshire is 68, most die by 77. The implications are dismal unless we attract younger, motivated individuals. I, personally, think this can be done if we focus on the universal spiritual aspect, and I do not mean religious.

Tubal Cain said...

Ah-men, brother.

I believe the average age in general is in the late 60's.

More emphasis on the "Universal Whole" and less on titles and appendage bodies.

Tubal Cain said...

Feeling Threatened
Afraid Of The Truth

Most of us have had the experience of being in possession of a piece of truth that we were afraid to share because we knew it would not be well received. There are also instances in which we ourselves have been unable to handle some truth confronting us. This might be a small truth, such as not wanting to see that our car needs repairs because we don’t want to pay for them, or a large truth, such as not fully accepting that someone close to us is pushing us away. Usually the truth is evident, and we can see it if we choose, but we have elaborate ways of hiding the truth form ourselves, no matter how apparent it is.


For the most part, we avoid the truth because it scares us, or makes us angry, or makes us feel like we don’t know what to do. We often create our lives based on a particular understanding, and if that understanding turns out to be fully or even partially incorrect, we may feel that our whole sense of reality is being threatened. It takes a strong person to face the truth in circumstances like these, and many of us run for cover instead. Nevertheless, we can only avoid the truth for so long before it begins to make itself known in ever more forceful ways.


Ultimately, there is no way to avoid the truth, no matter how painful it is, so the sooner we let down our defenses, the better. When we know the truth and accept that we may have to adjust our lives to accommodate, we are in alignment with reality. At the same time, we can be patient with people around us who have a hard time seeing the truth, because we know how painful it can be. Whatever the truth is, we make a sincere effort not to close our eyes to it, but instead to be grateful that we have access to it.

Widow's Son said...

The Supreme Duo of Ward (not Walt) and June Cleaver will never die!

I believe in the Beav!

See official documents of the Church of Beaver Cleaver here.


Widow's Son
BurningTaper.com

Son of the Light said...

To The Widow's Son,
You are right, it is Ward, it must of be a Freudian slip (I must of been thinking of Walt Disney)