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Post by torence on Nov 30, 2010 14:24:28 GMT 9.5
I presume that everyone is familiar with the Ohio and West Virginia situation. Recently, West Virginia denied its members the right to attend a Masonic Funeral for a West Virginia Mason who was waked in Ohio. FYI: Expelled Grand Master Frank Haas will be in court on Monday 12/6/10. (He has since received the degrees in Masonry in Ohio and is in good standing there).
The Judge has apparently ruled in a pre-trial hearing the following:
1. The Grand Master did not have the authority to expel a member based on the Laws of Masonry (West Virginia Lawbook).
2. The State of West Virginia has the authority to rule and force a private organization to follow its own rules.
3. The Grand Lodge had filed a motion to not allow any discussions regarding race. Their argument was that race was not pertinent to the case. She denied it and my understanding is that she indicated that it is pertinent to the case.
Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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Post by LorrB on Dec 1, 2010 7:06:56 GMT 9.5
Oh dear. Reminds me of the Catholic Church in the bad old days, when they would not allow Catholics to attend weddings in Protestant Churches. How many families did that destroy!
I would hope that there are enough Free Masons out there mature enough to decide for themselves what is right and what is not. No Masonic body will tell me whose funeral I can attend or not... Freemasonry has instructed me well.
Freemasonry is a thing of Beauty, anything that arises within it that is not Beautiful, is not Freemasonry.
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Post by LorrB on Dec 1, 2010 10:31:16 GMT 9.5
Which raises a good question ... To pledge fidelity etc is one thing, to make one's self totally subject to something or someone is another thing entirely .. ?? Both good and bad leaders sometimes demand absolute obedience... For me it gets down to gut feeling... that point from which we cannot err - hopefully  |
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Post by paul on Dec 1, 2010 19:53:35 GMT 9.5
>For me it gets down to gut feeling... that point from which we cannot err - hopefully
It may be as well to distinguish gut feeling (emotional instinct) from intuition (heart knowledge).
And yet the point from which a Mason cannot err is higher still.
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Post by torence on Dec 1, 2010 20:40:10 GMT 9.5
No Masonic body will tell me whose funeral I can attend or not... Freemasonry has instructed me well. Of course, I would have to admit that there are a few services that I would be more eager to attend then others. |
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Post by torence on Dec 1, 2010 20:46:39 GMT 9.5
Which raises a good question ... To pledge fidelity etc is one thing, to make one's self totally subject to something or someone is another thing entirely .. ?? Both good and bad leaders sometimes demand absolute obedience... For me it gets down to gut feeling... that point from which we cannot err - hopefully But our obligations are two-fold. While we may pledge to follow the rules of the organization; we, in nearly the same breath, pledge our fealty to one another. Once one party breaks the covenant, how much of an obligation does the other have to keep that contract? My Master's Hat is off to M.W. Bro. Haas, R.W. Bro. Blankenship etc. for staying as true as possible to the genreal body of the Craft. |
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Post by torence on Dec 1, 2010 21:08:50 GMT 9.5
The issues in this case are not limited to the recognition of Prince Hall Masonry in West Virginia but the whole package of "Wheeling Reforms" passed by due process by the delegates at the communication presided over by Grand Master Haas in 2005. That body sought such radical reforms as permitting West Virginia Lodges to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our Country or to donate to other charitable causes not strictly "Masonic," acts that they are currently forbidden to do.
The highest perfection of a free society is to have no government. Why not model this? Let the Local Lodges decide with whom to share communication, IMHO. If a Local Lodge wishes to share the intimacies of our Tyled Halls with not only Prince Hall Masons but Co-Masons as well as other groups, then let them make that choice for themselves. They are capable of deciding those issues according to their own sensibilities.
The specific Masons accepting or rejecting visitors, pleas for dual and plural membership, petitions for the degrees in Masonry etc. will get along just fine without acquiring debts imposed upon them by generations in the process of waning away. We Past Master must give up our notions of supremacy and graduate our involvement to being the Mentors that we profess to be.
These are issues of the head and issues of the heart which taken together form the basis of the body of FreeMasonry.
Our fault is that we administer the duties upon our blind initiates and do not form true covenants. There is no mutual consent, negotiation or meeting of the minds during the degree process. But the privilege of a Master of the Craft is the ability to make choices; and the duty of other Master Masons to respect studied course.
Government of mankind by men is slavery. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity will flourish when we divest the central organizations of authority and return privilege to the field.
Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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Post by Henka on Dec 2, 2010 1:15:39 GMT 9.5
The highest perfection of a free society is to have no government. If that's the case, we're in serious trouble.  |
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Post by LorrB on Dec 2, 2010 7:27:17 GMT 9.5
The highest perfection of a free society is to have no government. If that's the case, we're in serious trouble. Agreed, everyone has an opinion based on their Life qualities... tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor (what happened to the women?) mother, nurse, teacher, etc. Each will look at a problem from their point of view. We need elected leaders to discriminate and decide cases. Maybe torence, however, was suggesting that when each individual attains Mastership over themselves, and thereby gain knowledge that was previously hidden, there will be no need for external direction. Keep the Ideal in mind (the Plan) and then steadily work towards it. Builders in deed. |
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Post by LorrB on Dec 2, 2010 7:36:39 GMT 9.5
The specific Masons accepting or rejecting visitors, pleas for dual and plural membership, petitions for the degrees in Masonry etc. will get along just fine without acquiring debts imposed upon them by generations in the process of waning away. We Past Master must give up our notions of supremacy and graduate our involvement to being the Mentors that we profess to be. These are issues of the head and issues of the heart which taken together form the basis of the body of FreeMasonry. Our fault is that we administer the duties upon our blind initiates and do not form true covenants. There is no mutual consent, negotiation or meeting of the minds during the degree process. But the privilege of a Master of the Craft is the ability to make choices; and the duty of other Master Masons to respect studied course. Government of mankind by men is slavery. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity will flourish when we divest the central organizations of authority and return privilege to the field. Fraternally, Torence Evans Ake Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois Well said Torence, obviously I agree with you. After 20 years in the Craft I can still not understand the inability of the various Grand Lodges to meet on the Level, act on the Plumb and part on the Square. How about we draw a big circle and chuck the whole lot of them in the middle and get them to sort themselves out. Oooops, the GA has already done that ;D |
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Post by LorrB on Dec 2, 2010 15:24:41 GMT 9.5
Just a little reminder - we only discuss issues like this philosophically. We are not politically or historically inclined on this forum.
Subjects like these however are useful tools for testing our Wisdom skills.
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Post by torence on Dec 2, 2010 23:16:11 GMT 9.5
In my lodge we have represented a certain point within a circle bordered by two parallel lines. The point represents the individual Mason who must travel about the circle and in doing so must touch upon the parallel lines and one other item. Our Philosophy has two customers, internal and external. Its usefulness is diminished, almost valueless, if it is made to serve only our interior consumers. What is the Masonic experience worth if we keep its teaching all to ourselves? How much of our study should be spent in private; and how much more do we learn through our interactions? I can think of nothing more enlightening then joining in fellowship for just causes. When we fail to do so we cheat the very spirit whose Deity we seek to comprehend. Nothing validates our education better than practical application. If in traveling my circle I occasionally touch upon the exoteric rather than the esoteric; please forgive that transient trespass. We need elected leaders to discriminate and decide cases. Maybe torence, however, was suggesting that when each individual attains Mastership over themselves, and thereby knowledge that was previously hidden, there will be no need for external direction. Throughout my experience here (a quarter of a century) I have maintained that our organization has a shortcoming in that we administer our obligations rather than come first to a meeting of the minds before the dispensation. Historically the change was made when we abandoned the Old Points for the New Points and the general incursions of specific clauses into the obligations to affect political change not in keeping of the Old Points where the Master represents the Tribe of Asher whose jovial fatness represents the wealth and value of the Masonic experience. My favorite part of my job is that as Secretary and a traveler to other lodges for degree work I get to do the Secretary’s interrogatories; and in that moment I take time out alone with each entrant to prepare him, I like to think, as Simeon prepared the implements before the battle with the Schechemites. Peace is a wonderful condition to obtain and maintain. Governmental justice, unfortunately, taxes us out of our transcendental meditations. In that moment when we stand together we have no need of anything of a metallic kind about us. Together, we can unite and become the instrument and need no more motivation than to keep truth and justice on our side. Fraternally, Torence Evans Ake Secretary – Auburn Park lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois |
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Post by Henka on Dec 3, 2010 15:59:55 GMT 9.5
If that's the case, we're in serious trouble. Agreed, everyone has an opinion based on their Life qualities... tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor (what happened to the women?) mother, nurse, teacher, etc. Each will look at a problem from their point of view. We need elected leaders to discriminate and decide cases. Maybe torence, however, was suggesting that when each individual attains Mastership over themselves, and thereby gain knowledge that was previously hidden, there will be no need for external direction. Keep the Ideal in mind (the Plan) and then steadily work towards it. Builders in deed. I know, I was just making a funny.  |
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Post by julianrees on Dec 4, 2010 4:03:50 GMT 9.5
Lorraine, my message has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter. I only wanted to inject something else to add to your Wordsworth quote "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting" 'cos in the same poem the following lines occur, for me very relevant to the 2nd degree:
The youth who daily further from the east
Must travel, still is nature's priest;
And by a vision splendid is on his way attended.
At length the man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.
I keep trying, even as an old man, to hang on to that vision, to stop it "dying away".
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Post by LorrB on Dec 6, 2010 8:12:39 GMT 9.5
Handy tip for the day ... if daily life (birth) is but 'a sleep', then maybe sleep here can awaken us to the vision spendid. Mirror image, as above, so below. I have found it to be so. Not that I get that many glimpses I may add, but just enough to keep me steady and on course.
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Post by torence on Dec 20, 2010 12:42:24 GMT 9.5
FYI: Judge & M.W. Bro. Haas wrapped up the affair in court this week. Here is his commentary.
Reflections on my trial
I won what became a bitter contest, because the Court ruled, as I said from the beginning, that there had been a breach of contract: the Grand Lodge did not follow its own law, which forms a contract with all its members. The Grand Lodge denied my right to a fair Masonic trial. The Court also separately ruled that grand masters cannot summarily expel any members, and it is unreasonable and unenforceable if they do. However, without injunctive relief, which I also requested, winning is a Pyrrhic victory: it feels empty, like this whole process. The true loser in this sad affair is our gentle Craft in West Virginia and those many honorable Masons who suffer in silence while the in-crowd crows about dodging a bullet.
Without ever allowing the Craft to vote on it, your grand officers spent perhaps $400,000 from our – your – treasury, only to lose their case. My own legal expenses approach several times my annual salary—a problem I have yet to solve.
It is true: I remain unlawfully expelled. But that doesn’t matter to me now. Doing the right thing is far more important. It is the fading of the dream of the Wheeling Reforms that I mourn. They are so sorely needed, the reforms that we voted on and which were adopted by the Craft in our Grand Communication in Wheeling in 2006. The favorable vote was proven in sworn testimony by three witnesses in my trial, yet these reforms continue to be denied. Masons in West Virginia still may not pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States when we assemble; a handicapped war veteran cannot become a Mason if he lost his thumb; and our rules about participation in funeral honors remain deplorable and an insult to widows and families. And we say we honor widows! My friends, I fear that without these reforms, and the others, we will continue to be mocked, and marginalized, and will miss the resurgence now taking place in other jurisdictions.
I won—but not enough to bring West Virginia the justice that had been denied her, and for that, I am profoundly sorry. Please know that I did my very best.
Fraternally,
Frank Joseph Haas
133rd Grand Master of Masons in West Virginia
Senior Deacon, Steubenville Lodge #45,
Grand Lodge of Ohio, F & AM
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Post by paul on Dec 20, 2010 15:16:51 GMT 9.5
I trust that in time all the brethren involved can join together and demonstrate that spirit of brotherly love that should at all times characterise Freemasons.
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Post by roman on May 21, 2011 14:50:35 GMT 9.5
I do not understand the desire to remain part of such an obviously broken system. Eventually, if you insist on being in the bin of spoiled fruit you too will begin to decay.
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Post by paul on May 21, 2011 16:01:53 GMT 9.5
I work in the public service and the perennial question for those who wish to change things is whether to be inside or outside the tent.
Outside the tent is easier for the dissolution of forms (solve) and inside the tent is easier for the building phase (coagule).
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Post by mgc on May 21, 2011 19:16:11 GMT 9.5
imo it is easier to change from within.. ppl have tried to change it from outside the tent for centuries, but sortof ended up erecting tents of their own..
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