Sunday, August 2, 2009

The fundamental problem of the Fraternity

by M.W.Bro Harold J. Richardson
Grand Master of Masons in New York

from the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New York for 1928

As for myself, I am convinced that many of our most perplexing problems resolve themselves into phases or aspects of one fundamental problem, which is not difficult to envisage. We might describe it as the difficulty found buy the Craft in properly assimilating the new members and by the new members in assimilating the Craft.

Consider the picture! On the one hand is the new member. He is an individual. He comes to the door of the Lodge with only the vaguest of what kind of thing Freemasonry is. He has heard dim accounts of its mysterious history and vague rumours of its hidden activities. He brings nothing with him but his own head and his two hands, and he is perhaps a little timid and somewhat embarrassed.

On the other hand stands the great Fraternity, with all its complexity. Behind it is the vast sweep of its history, with its ever increasing richness of traditions. Within it is its ritual, the language; its symbols; its intricate system of jurisprudence; its peculiar system of offices; its truly bewildering complexity of activities; like a vast machine whirring, wheels within wheels. Around it are all manner of outgrowths, concordant bodies, side orders, and social organisations without number.

How shall the individual find his way into this strange, new world? What are the paths for him to follow? Where shall he discover his own appropriate place or station? How shall he learn to perform his duties? How can he become a Mason in fact as well as in name?

If he fails, he loses interest, drops from sight and becomes a mere name on the rolls, receives nothing except the satisfaction of calling himself a Mason, and gives nothing except his annual dues. Or else, if he becomes active, he may do himself and the Craft more harm than good, not from malice, but from a complete misunderstanding of Masonry, its practises, its rules, and its purposes; he may, for example believe the Lodge to be a social club, existing merely to give him a good time; or a sectarian organisation out to make war on some church or political party; or act out of some other misconception equally wild.

The solution for is for us to organise ourselves in all our parts and branches to close the gap between the Fraternity and the new member. We must keep the paths open for his feet to travel; we must develop to the full every possible means to to acquaint him with the fraternity, to enable him to understand it and to find his place in it, to appropriate it into his very own private life, and to contribute his life to it.

Everything that can help close the gap between the individual and the Craft should be used by us, I believe, should be encouraged and supported, not as a fad or as a a luxury but as a a necessity under the new conditions our extraordinary growth (comment from the Webmaster: growth could easily be replaced by decline here to reflect the current situation) have imposed upon us. By all possible means we should create and sustain such an atmosphere of enlightened interest and understanding throughout our whole membership that it will become the natural and inevitable thing that for every member to have a living knowledge of Masonry under his skin, flowing through his blood, shaping and inspiring his life. In so many cases Masonry does not have a chance with a Mason; it must be given that chance lest the day come when Masons cease to be Masons and become members only.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Knight versus Higham - part 11 - Regalia and Secrecy again

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue MacGregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


......continued from part 10

And now Val in Bournemouth you have a question for us I think.

(Val) Yes, good morning. I think my question would be to the Commander Higham. I have a friend who is elderly and sick and they have just returned from Malaysia and her husband, they've just come from the North of England back to the South, and her husband died and has left a lot of regalia I believe you call it- I'm afraid I'm not very well up on the technical terms....

You're wondering what should be done with it?

(Val) Yes.

Commander, can I ask you that question?

(H) Val, I'm sorry I haven't got your other name, if you'd let me know and the address has been given on the air.....

Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street....

(H) That's the word! Tell me all about it, we'll look after it for you.

All right, Val, we've given the address and I'll just repeat it very briefly, it`s Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B.

A last question very briefly to you Commander, why all the secrecy if it's all so blameless being a Freemason?

(H) Not secrecy, privacy.

But why?

(H) Why? Because we've got a habit of privacy, we're entitled to be private if we want to be. We're actually being a great deal more open now than we used to be ....

Well ....

(H) ... we're not, we're not secret .

. . . you certainly have been [open] on this programme. Thank you to Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge and to Stephen Knight, author of The Brotherhood. From us on Tuesday Call, goodbye.

Knight versus Higham - part 10 - are Masonic Meetings illegal?

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


...continued from part 9


Now we'll talk to Andrew Turek who's in London. Good morning, Mr Turek. Hullo, is that Andrew Turek?

(Mr Turek) Hullo. Yes it is.

What's your question please?

(Mr Turek) Mr Knight, good morning to you. On the first page of your book you allege that a Freemasons' lodge meets in technical breach- you call it- of an Act of the eighteenth century. When you wrote that did you know that Act was repealed in 1967?

(K) I didn't.

(Mr Turek) Well, in that case, that's something you could have checked in a public library, doesn't that rather cast doubt on the value of your research into things that people try to keep secret?

(K) No, well, yes I....

(Mr Turek) Doesn't it really leave a question mark over all the other pages in the book, whether there's any value in this at all?

Andrew, just let me make it clear to the listeners who may not have read the book, you're talking about the, page one of the Prologue of the book, where ....

(Mr Turek) That's right, Unlawful Societies Act was the Act, and it was repealed in 1967 .

...Stephen Knight says that not many people know that it is actually illegal to attend a Freemasons' meeting.

(Mr Turek) Yes, and those that do know have it wrong. And I think Mr Knight copied this from an earlier book printed before the Act was repealed and didn't bother to check, did you?

Stephen?

(K) No I didn't, I wasn't able to check in time ....

(Mr Turek) Oh. It's in the public library, you can look up whether any Act's been...

(K) Well can I speak please?

(Mr Turek) Of course.

(K) I unreservedly apologise for that. It was a thing which was put in at the last moment before it went to press, there is no excuse for it, but it doesn`t in any way cast doubt over the rest of the book.

(Mr Turek) Well Mr Knight may I add one thing which is that your book on the .. [words unclear] murder is much better.

(K) Thank you.

(Mr Turek) Okay?

Thank you for raising that point Mr Turek.

...continued on part 11

Knight versus Higham - part 9 - Education

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


....continued from part 8

Now we talk to Peter- just Peter- who's in Cambridge. Good morning Peter. What's your question?


[EDUCATION]

(Peter) I want to know a bit about education and about the influence of Freemasonry especially in promotions in the professions, and how many headmasters and governing bodies are Freemasons, to what extent teachers' prospects are affected by whether or not they belong to the Freemasons?

Do you ask this from a rather concerned point of view, Peter?

(Peter) That's right. Well I know someone who used to teach in the West Country and he felt very firmly that there were reasons why he hadn't got promotion when other newcomers to the school had, and he didn't know at the time, but when I read Stephen Knight's book I felt that there probably was a connection.

Stephen Knight, perhaps you could elaborate on the views you expressed in the book?

(K) What I would like to say is that many people feel tremendous paranoia about Freemasonry for their own reasons, and just because somebody has not got promoted or someone else has got promoted whom you don't think should have done, is no reason immediately to jump to the conclusion that Freemasonry is at the back of it. I have invited people to write to me- I don't go into the education area in the current edition- I've invited people to write to me, and many have, on the education situation. But at this stage it's just impossible to say how many, what percentage of headmasters or whatever are Freemasons.

It's not an area that bothers you particularly?

(K) It's not an area I've looked into, so I can't say whether it bothers me or not.

The areas that do bother you are Freemasonry in the police force and Freemasonry in the church?

(K) Not so much in the church. I mean, that chapter was written not because I am concerned particularly personally, but because so many people had written to me and wanted to know, they were concerned and wanted to know the situation. It's the police, the law, and local government more.

Right. Well let's stick to education for the moment and ask Commander Higham to answer that point.

(H) First I can't answer your question about how many headmasters are Freemasons, our records don't go into that sort of detail. I think Stephen Knight's put his finger on the reason behind your friend in the West Country not being promoted. I don't want to seem to comment on his professional abilities, but I think in general it might be a happy accident that better men are promoted because the system is right- and I'm not talking about Freemasonry, because the promotion system in education is right- and by accident better men happen to be Freemasons. The two I don't think are connected at all.

Peter, would you like to answer that point?

Well, I'm very grateful for those views. Just the reasons why I thought this because my friend had served at this particular school a long time and newcomers came in with fewer qualifications and apparently less ability, and things seemed to change, the atmosphere in that school changed, and he was very concerned about this.

You're talking about this at one remove of course, because you're talking about a friend, not yourself?

Well that's right, yes.

Right. Peter, thank you very much for your question.

...continued in part 10

Knight versus Higham - part 8 - Mozart`s Death

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.

....continued from part 7


Now let`s talk to Alexander Myers who's in Brentwood. Hullo Mr Myers.

[MOZART'S DEATH]

(Mr Myers) Hullo Miss MacGregor. There was a broadcast last year which was a mock inquest about the death of Mozart, and the verdict was that he was murdered by poisoning for having given away masonic secrets, so I wondered if your team would agree that, A, that he had given away masonic secrets, and B, that he was murdered for it?

This would be Masonic secrets as given away in the opera The Magic Flute?

(Mr Myers) I should have said that, that's right, yes.

Yes. Stephen do you have a view on this at all?

(K) No, I don't. I mean it's a long standing story that one. I haven't looked into it, I don't know anything in great detail about Mozart, and so I can't say either way. All I know is that there were strange circumstances surrounding Mozart's death, but whether they were anything to do with masons or not I don't know. I would somewhat doubt it. Certainly masons acting officially, I mean they may have been masons and also murderers but that's another matter.

Anyone who saw the play or the film Amadeus might know a little bit more abut what Mr Myers is talking about. But do you have a view on this Commander Higham?

(H) I didn't see the film. No. I think it's very unlikely that a Freemason acting as a Freemason, in fact I could say it's absolutely certain ....

Be extraordinary if you said it was likely in the circumstances!

(H) Well, I don't think you'll get me to admit it! No, we've got some lurid penalties in the obligations but they've never been inflicted.

(K) As far as you know!

So you don't have a view really one way or the other. Mr Myers, I'm afraid you're not ....

(H) If you find the evidence I'll look at it!

... going to get a very satisfactory answer. I'm sure if anyone does have firm evidence on that it would make a great, it would be a find of great historical significance. Thank you for your question.

...continued in part 9

Knight versus Higham - part 7 - Masonic Relatives

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


.....continued from part 6

Thank you Commander, and Mr Bond. We'll move to Reigate in Surrey, we'll talk to Mrs Joyce Allen who is on the phone to us on Tuesday Call, hullo Mrs Allen.


[MASONIC RELATIVES)

(Mrs Allen) Hullo. I would like to say that amongst my mother's papers after she died I found that she'd written in 1926 that my grandfather was a Freemason, I wondered were there any records or registered- even if I wrote in, that could get information about my grandfather? It's for family history reasons.

Where was he a member of a lodge Mrs Allen?

(Mrs Allen) Well I don't know you see, this was just my mother, just one sentence she wrote in 1926, and she was writing about me, and what she wrote was "her grandfather was a Freemason".

Would it be possible to find out with those very sparse clues, Commander?

(H) Well, Mrs Allen, I think we might have to ask you to help us a bit more than that. We'd like to know when your grandfather was born, what his full names were, and ....

(Mrs Allen) He was born in 1856, he married in 1879, my mother was born in 1888 ...

Mrs Allen, we won't go into all the details now. I think Commander Higham' probably inviting you to write in to him, and to see if he can help ....

(H) Dead right.

Do you think it might be possible, Commander Higham?

(H) Certainly, if we can identify Mrs Allen's grandfather we'll tell her something about his masonic career.

(Mrs Allen) He lived in St Giles, Bloomsbury area in London.

Well, it sounds as if it might well be possible to find out. Records are fairly detailed are they Commander Higham, of past members, deceased members?

(H) They're not- I wouldn't say 'detailed', they may well be adequate for Mrs Allen's purpose.

Thank you very much Mrs Allen.

(H) Look forward to hearing from you.

And we'd better give the address of the United Grand Lodge I think for people who aren't familiar with it.

(H) Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ.

I'll repeat that, it's Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2.

...continued in part 8

Knight versus Higham - part 6 - Charity

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


.......continued from part 5

Thank you Commander, and Mr Begbie for your question. Now to Cardiff we go and talk to Mr Cyril Bond. Mr Bond, what's the point you'd like to make?


[CHARITY]

(Mr Bond) Well, I was wondering, there's been a terrific slant against Freemasonry, not the emphasis on the good things of it. I've found recently in our local press a series of articles that are slanted against, and there's no doubt about it, against Freemasonry. What on Earth are they afraid of? And in a recent BBC Wales Television programme, was similarly slanted. In half an hour three minutes only were devoted to an interview with a past master of a local lodge trying to, and I emphasise trying to, get in a point about masonic charities. I wonder why, why there's not emphasis on the good points, the very considerable amount raised for such widespread things as famine relief, repairs to cathedrals, to churches, and about fifteen years ago the raising of one million pounds- fifteen years ago- for research, to the Royal College of Surgeons- for research irrespective of religion, colour or creed.

Well, Mr Bond you've made a valuable point about some masonic charity work, let me ask Stephen Knight about that, as he's written a book which is largely critical of the masons. What do you feel about perhaps the influence for evil sometimes overshadowing the influence for good?

(K) The influence for good is very great. The potential for good, and the actual influence for good is very very great indeed. There's an enormous amount of money which goes to various charities. And I mention all that in the book. I come back to my concern with an organisation which has so many members, many of whom, a minority are using it for their own purposes, and what I want to happen is for Grand Lodge to say, 'Okay, well this situation is happening to whatever degree, and what we've got to do is get to the bottom of it and root out as much as we can- no-one can ever loot out all corruption- 'root out whatever corruption there, to whatever extent, in Freemasonry.'

While acknowledging the good of the charitable donations you're saying there is, you have evidence of corruption- we can't go into that on this programme- and you're calling for an enquiry?

(K) An enquiry by Grand Lodge.

Can we turn Mr Bond's original question into a question about an enquiry?

(H) Sorry Mr Bond, I expect we'll come back to your question in a moment. Mr Knight is saying that there's, there has been corruption, or people who are masons have got the way in which they carry out their obligations wrong. If he would provide us with evidence then we would consider it, and I think that's as far as he or I would want to take that at the moment. But to get back to charity, your basic question was why is so little reported about the good side of Freemasonry, I'm afraid it's not news. I hope that if people were, interested in good news they would be able to pick up quite a lot that is favourable to Freemasonry, and not just for our own people. I mean you've quoted quite a lot of examples Mr Bond and I'm very grateful to you for it!

....continued in part 7

Knight versus Higham - part 5 - Christian Degrees

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.


......continued form part 4

Thank you, gentlemen. We'll move on now to Egham in Surrey and to Mr Jeremy Begbie who's on the line to us. Hullo Mr Begbie.


[CHRISTIAN DEGREES]

(Mr Begbie) Good morning. I'd like to bring the discussion back if I may to the more religious aspect of Freemasonry, if I might put it like that, I have heard it said that there's such things as Christian lodges, that is lodges open only to Christians, and secondly I have heard also about Christian degrees, that is degrees which have a specifically Christian emphasis, I'm thinking particularly of the eighteenth degree, the 'Rose Croix', and I'm wondering if I could have confirmation of that.

Well the best person to ask I think is Commander Higham. Are there lodges open only to Christians?

(H) Not lodges, Mr Begbie, but there are masonic units which belong, you identify it correctly, to the 'Rose Croix', which require a Christian belief which is laid on top of the basic masonic requirement for a belief in a Supreme Being.

How does a degree differ from a lodge?

(H) Oh, gosh! Basic masonry, what we call 'Craft' masonry, is the first three degrees in Freemasonry. The third degree extends into the Holy Royal Arch, and then after that you're away from the orders of Freemasonry which are administered from Freemasons' Hall into other masonic organisations, still based, as I say on Craft masonry, and one of them is the Rose Croix, and yes there are Christian degrees and there's no trouble about them because they don't practice Christianity in a way which upsets the Christians who belong to it ....

So really serious Masons can work their way gradually up through the degrees, is that right?

(H) Oh, no, it's not a question of 'working your way up'. The fact that the Rose Croix happens to be called number eighteen doesn't mean to say that it's superior to the first three. I mean basically all your masonic organisations are independent, they are in charge of affairs within their own order of masonry, but they don't try and jump over each others' backs and say that we're senior or higher. If you're interested in Freemasonry, yes, you can go off and join a lot of other degrees and you find a lot of satisfaction in doing it.

Mr Begbie, are you satisfied with that answer?

(Mr Begbie) Thank you. If I may just quickly follow up the last point about the eighteenth degree, we've been told that there aren't, there isn't anything like, a sacrament in Freemasonry, however in the eighteenth degree ritual, which I have been lent, there seems something very akin to a sacrament toward the end of that ritual, could I have your confirmation on that? Or is that to detailed a question?

(H) I don't think it's too detailed. I can tell you that it's not sacramental, if you read your ritual you'll find what the reason for it is, it's an ancient Oriental custom of fellowship, but not a sacrament at all. You won't find the..., any element of worship or sacrament in that if you read it properly.

...continued in part 6

Knight versus Higham - part 4 - Masonry too open, Money

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue MacGregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.

.....continued from part 3

[MASONRY TOO OPEN]


Stephen?

(K) This I think highlights one of the problems of Freemasonry. Many many members misunderstand what Freemasonry is all about, and if only the Grand Lodge could make it apparent what Freemasonry is about, and make it clear that what things are to be done and what things aren't to be done, there would be a lot more understanding. I mean, Commander Higham mentioned earlier that one - to join Freemasonry - one goes through a long process, and it's very well known, I know - very well known by an existing member. I know of a place where there are application forms for Freemasonic membership on the bar in a pub.

You mean it's become as open as that?

(K) As open as that. And what I'm saying is that standards, the required standards of entry aren't as high as they once were, and this again is a basic part of the problem.

I think we'll move on, though, from membership because we may come back to it later, for the moment, and thank Mr Smith in Reading for his questions. There is of course a new, a brand new leaflet called What Is Freemasonry? that's available to masons, it really helps them explain in simple terms what masonry's about to people who are not masons, so there is a chink in their armour, perhaps a deliberate one there. But let's move on now to Birmingham and talk to Denis Bagley. Good morning Mr Bagley.

(Mr Bagley) Good morning.

You've got a fairly straight forward question I think.

[MONEY]

(Mr Bagley) Sure. Commander Higham, I read some time ago that it was necessary to have a considerable amount of money to be a Freemason, would you say this is correct? Would you say that you meet any ordinary working people among the masons, anyone a little down at heel, very many unemployed amongst the masons, or are they from the top echelons, the big businessmen, the top ranks of the police and such?

(H) No Mr Bagley, you don't need to have a great deal of money to join masonry. The amount of money you have to layout depends on the lodge you join, you may find that in your area if you wanted to become a mason there's a great variety of lodges that you could belong to, and depending on your circumstances in life you'd find people who thought the same way as you and probably had much the same income as you. There are some lodges which have enormously high joining fees, that's because they try to be exclusive, there are some which have very small ones. My own is for impoverished naval officers and has a very small subscription.

Can you give us some sort of idea what the highest and what the lowest subscriptions might be?

(H) I can give you my own lodge's subscription which is fifteen pounds a year, fifteen pounds to join. I have heard of lodges with joining fees of two hundred pounds, and I may be not in the top of the bracket there. But the point is nobody is required to layout more money on Freemasonry than he can afford, he's not required to put out more time on Freemasonry than he can afford.

I think Mr Bagley's point perhaps is that there is an impression given that Freemasonry is only for, were you saying sort of middle class, professional people Mr Bagley?

(Mr Bagley) This is correct. What I would like to say I'm not interested in the amount for you joining, would you be recommended and seconded if you was not in a wealthy position or in some position of power, Commander?

(H) Yes you would. There's no idea that Freemasonry is only for the powerful and the rich. I can give you a complete list of - l wouldn't give you a complete list ....

Ah, I wondered whether ....

(H) ... I would mention to you a lot of professions or occupations which do not normally get themselves associated with richness or power.

Mention some.

(H) Engine drivers- I suppose they're fairly powerful!- stage hands, there's one lodge that I certainly know has got porters in a building in it, who are in the hierarchy of that building not of the highest, they enjoy their masonry in their own way.

Do lodges tend to specialise in certain callings?

(H) Yes, but not exclusively. You'll find that some lodges are centred on institutions or professions but you'll find anybody who's associated with that profession will be able to join. You find lodges sometimes start as being exclusive and then circumstances change and they get away from it.

Mr Bagley, I'd like to know what Stephen, and I expect you do too, what Stephen Knight feels about that.

(Mr Bagley) Could I speak ... ?

Yes. Can we just hear Stephen Knight what he feels about this?

(K) Well I feel exactly the same as Commander Higham, and it's open to everybody, and there's no-one better to explain that than the man who's actually inside.

So you have no criticisms on that score?

(K) Oh no, none at all.

Mr Bagley.

(Mr Bagley) Well I would like to ask Commander Higham what impression, has he noted many unemployed, many ordinary people, maybe there's one or two porters in to make it appear democratic but I still feel to be of the opinion that it's basically consists of the upper classes and businessmen who are pushing their own interests through the order of Freemasonry.

(H) Mr Bagley, I don't think that we're going to agree about this. But I don't think we're going to find that people join as porters merely to correct an image which if you like is more democratic, they join because they want to join, because they've got friends who bring them in.

....continued in part 5

Knight versus Higham - part 3 - Chistianity and Business

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) -
Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) -
Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.

....continued from Part 2


Hullo Mr Hopkins?

[ CHRISTIANITY]

(Mr Hopkins) Good morning Miss MacGregor and gentlemen. How can Freemasonry and Christianity be compatible as Freemasonry is essentially syncretistic and Christianity is not?

Can you explain, Mr Hopkins, what you mean by syncretistic?

(Mr Hopkins) Well a mixture- well syncretism is explicitly condemned throughout the Old Testament and implicitly in the New Testament, whereas the Freemasons' Great Architect of the Universe is a compound word derived from Chaldean, Hebrew, Assyrian and Jewish sources.

Yes. I think Commander Higham that a lot of Christians are bothered by the fact that the Masons take an oath to the Great Architect of the Universe who appears to be above the Christian God and Jesus Christ for instance. What do you say to that?

(H) First of all, there is no Masonic god. The oaths of Freemasonry are not taken to a god, the name of God is invoked. Freemasons must believe in a Supreme Being, but that doesn't mean that Freemasonry is a substitute for Religion. It is a way of pulling together men of any faith which requires the Belief in a Supreme Being under one society.

You don't have to be a Christian to belong?

(H) No you don't, you can be any sort of religion that believes in a Supreme Being.

Can you be an agnostic or an atheist?

(H) Not if you don't believe in a Supreme Being. It doesn't match. The whole business requires a belief in a Supreme Being, and a Supreme Being is I benign Supreme Being, there's no question of devil worship in Freemasonry, I know people have suggested it, this compound word which Mr Hopkins has mentioned has got an element which some people interpret as 'Baal'. That is not so, cannot be so. The origins of that particular word was a time in the mid-1800s when people didn't know so much about Egyptology, or The Bible even, as we know nowadays.

But there are a lot of Christians who are critical of the masonic movement because they feel that it is, actually overshadows what people believe when they go to church and go through, for instance the Church of England services.

(H) Absolutely not. Freemasonry is an addition to religion if you like, but there's no incompatibility between Freemasonry and Christianity.

Now Stephen Knight in your book you have made it fairly plain I think that you believe that there is.

(K) Well yes. From the Christian churches' point of view there is. Freemasonry is happy to accept Christians but basically why is Jesus Christ's name left out of masonic services and masonic hymns? Also there is the fact that the same, for the religions to be the same they must worship the same God, and 'Jabulon' simply is not the Same god as the Christian God.

Is this something that bothers you Mr Hopkins?

(Mr Hopkins) Well in the early 1950`s there was a considerable controversy about Freemasonry. And I remember at the time Walton Hanna writing to me and saying he only wished he was at liberty to disclose what went on behind the scenes to prevent the issue from being discussed at the Convocation of Canterbury, and when he was attempting to reply to a book on the subject by the Rev Dr Box, a masonic Anglican clergyman, writing under the pseudonym of 'Vindex', frankly claimed that Freemasonry was, and I quote, 'the heir and legitimate successor of the ancient mysteries,' close quotes, also that the masonic Hiram is Osiris, Persephone, Bacchus, Orpheus, Camus or Mithra, adding, quotes, 'but quite legitimately he is also Christ.'

Now you're confusing us with quite a lot of long words there Mr Hopkins. Are you saying that in fact some time ago a lot of Christian clergy were bothered about the connection and the incompatibility?

(Mr Hopkins) Oh there was a great controversy in the 1950`s.

But what about now?

(Mr Hopkins) Yes, well it's also, upsets a great number of Christians now, and they don't think that the two are compatible. I can understand a person being a Christian or a person being a Deist, being a mason, but I cannot understand how the two can be considered compatible.

Commander Higham?

(H) Well, if you can't understand it Mr Hopkins we're going to be in great difficulty. But I can tell you that a whole number of Christian churchmen have become Freemasons and had no problem with it. They can make the difference between their religion, which is Christianity in whichever form it takes, and Freemasonry, which is not a religion but an adjunct to it. And they find no difficulty at all. Freemasonry doesn't worship as Freemasonry a god, it refers to a Supreme Being. There's no form of sacrament in Freemasonry, talking in Christian terms. All right you can go on about syncretism, but Freemasonry won't join you in the argument, it studiously keeps away from theology, it is confident that it is not a religion. It merely pulls people of different religions together. There's no requirement I think for a system of that sort to refer to anyone particular religion, there's no harm in leaving out the name of Christ from masonic ritual. If you introduced the name of Christ you'd offend a lot of people who weren't Christians. The whole idea is to pull people together. It's not to substitute for a religion and I think it does its job quite well in that way.

Thank you very much Commander, and Mr Hopkins for your question. Now we move to Reading to Mr Smith. I don't know whether that's a pseudonym, is it, Mr Smith?

(Mr Smith) No, no, absolutely genuine.

It's a genuine Mr Smith, right. What's the question you'd like to ask?

(Mr Smith) Well I've got two questions, I was listening to the Commander there speaking particularly about the advancement for business, and the secret, it's not a secret society. I would like to ask him first of all, as quoted in the Constitutions of the United Grand Lodge of England, Antient Charges, Five, that you're, 'particularly not to let your family and friends and neighbours know the concerns of the lodge.' Is this consistent with an open society?

Commander?

(H) I think you're talking two different things, your open society is one thing and the private affairs of the lodge are something else. I think that a Freemason who doesn't tell his family anything about Freemasonry has probably got it wrong. There's a great deal he can tell them about it. But if something's private then I think he, as a mason, like any other citizen of the country is entitled to a small amount of privacy.

(Mr Smith) I would agree a hundred percent with you, but you do have in your Constitutions, particularly not to let your family and friends know the concerns of the lodge.

And you feel this is unfairly excluding the family?

(Mr Smith) Very much so.

From part of the business of being a family and being together. Commander?

(H) Well the Ancient Charges are as they say, ancient, and if you go on in that particular ancient charge you find the nice advice which does support the family, it says you must, 'consult your health by not continuing together too late or too long from home after lodge hours have passed, by avoiding of gluttony or drunkenness that your families be not neglected or injured, nor you disabled from working.' It's a practical rule. In the old days I think people were very much more private than they are now. I think that the ancient charges, while not being ignored, are being looked at in a slightly new light. I'm not saying they're going to be abandoned, because probably you'd destroy Freemasonry if you did. I repeat that you should be allowed to be private about some things even from your family. It doesn't mean you can't tell them, it's just that it doesn't concern them.

Stephen Knight what do you feel about this? Because there are a lot of women, for instance, although we've heard that women can join their own kind of Freemasonry, who feel excluded from their husbands' masonry.

(K) Yes, I've had many letters from wives, many saying that they are in favour of their husbands being Freemasons, that it has done a lot for them, and about an equal number saying that it is damaging to the marriage because they simply will not discuss where they've gone or what they've done. I think Commander Higham here has an opportunity to tell a lot of masons that Freemasonry doesn't require them not to tell their wives where they're going in the evening, if that's true, and I think it is.

(H) Indeed, we've just done it. In fact the first, it was the thin end of the wedge you might think when Freemasonry started making a noise, was a letter to the papers pointing out that a Freemason was not obliged by his obligations to conceal his membership and the people who wrote in to thank me for that were mostly wives.

But you think a lot of their husbands actually rather enjoyed the secretive nature of not saying where they were going in the evening?

(H) Well, I think with great respect to those husbands, they've got it wrong. They're taking Freemasonry out of the family when it's actually meant to be a sort of extension of it.

[BUSINESS]

Mr Smith does that answer your question?

(Mr Smith) Yes, to a certain extent on that one. But there was this point about the advancement in business, that you wouldn't put up notices so as people wouldn't know, but we, I think the majority of people know there's words which will be said, not as a whole, etcetera, but then when we come down to the Ancient Charges again on six, it says quite clearly, 'only to prefer a poor brother that is a good man, and true before any other poor people in the same circumstances.'

Preferment for brother masons in other words against others. That's correct.

Commander?


(H) Now we really are getting into history. You go back into history, the Freemasons grew from operative masons, they were the people who built castles, churches, they were 'free' of the mystery of operative stonework, they had learnt their trade, and they preserved the secrets of their trade for very good reasons, that if they gave them out to everybody their jobs would go, in a way you could say Freemasonry was one of the first trades unions.

But this is still in the book of rules?

(H) It's still in the book of the rules. And the explanation for this is that in the old days if somebody came as a Freemason to a masons' lodge he would be given a day's work and sent on his way. If he wasn't a mason he probably wouldn't be helped, it was a self help society in those days. Now it`s changed, and what I explained in the past is definitely the rule today.

So in other words it's a rule that we should interpret differently today?

(H) Yes, the interpretation is different.

.... continued in part 4