The Freemason Forum

These videos have generated a very heated debate amongst The Masons there. So I thought I would see what everyone here thinks.

http://www.itvlocal.com/thamesvalley/news/?&void=275845
 
http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/news/?player=MER_News_15&void=276401

Please post whether you think these are a good idea or not.

I think to many people are making there own minds up which parts of there obligation they will pay heed to.  I know for some reason one of the Grand lodges decided that the only parts of our degrees would be the grip and words covered by the obligation which unless you have a diluted obligation is not true. and that started a snowball effect ( i will post where i read of this when i find it) with people breaking there necks to be the next one to profit from the secrets of the craft. But when all the grand lodges around the world decide which parts of the obligation will be kept secret in there eyes it dosent take long to fit the whole picture together. Even although there is not one part of our ritual or obligations that cannot be found in books or online written by so called freemasons looking to profit from the craft, I know for a fact that the older Scottish lodges  some of the oldest in the world hold each member strictly to there obligation, any member even seen giving a grip in a public place let alone on TV would be asked for his diplomas. and removed from the craft.

what is more dumbfounding is that some Grand lodges as we have seen in other parts of the forum control what there brethren think and say  but allow them to make a farce of freemasonry and openly show parts of it that they all took an obligation under strict penalties to keep hidden.

My opinion after watching the clips amongst others I have seen,  The brethren on display should be removed from the craft and the provincial and grand officers who agreed for them to do it should likewise be removed from the craft. And let the worlds freemasons see this political correctness, profiteering and power hungry people who think that they decide alone what is a secret will not be tolerated in freemasonry. It amazes me that secrets kept hidden and in trust for hundreds of years can be destroyed by a mindless power hungry few who claim power in freemasonry

Disgusted, Dissolusioned, Embarrassed and Angry!

As always the opinions are mine and not of the craft 

Cheers, Iain

Dumbarton Kilwinning Lodge No 18

There are a couple of bits i cringed at. one being obvious the other saying that we were a bit of a closed shop helping our members. this dodnt really ring true since 2 seconds before they were saying how much we give to charities and hospitals! lol

On the whole i thought it was quite well balanced, however that one bit!!! aggghhhh! oh well, i wouldnt be surprised if that was done by non masons for the camera anyway! lets face it there arent any real secrets any more! lol

S+F

James K
U.G.L.E
Stella Maris 7279
MMM, OSM

[quote]

I agree with freemasonry being more in the public eye, and our processions to service and for remembrance days and such being put back on the calender. and freemasons being more media friendly especialy when involved in local charity works etc, But not like this.

If it keeps going as it is we will be aswell to have our meetings in public. You do not have to divulge masonic secrets to try and gain a public acceptance that can be achieved through charitable deeds.

Cheers, Iain

Dumbarton Kilwinning Lodge No 18

None of this means I would encourage the public show of any proper grip, even if it is not in context.  However, that is the only part of the videos which I have a complaint about.  With so much cr4p spoken about FM by ignorant people with an anti bias, I welcome examples of the "real thing" discreetly on view, in this case, in conjunction with a (female) media representative who displayed an open mind.

The multi-ethnic, multi-religious nature of FM was evident, and I for one was pleased to see the video reports.

I want to respectfully comment on Iain's posts.  Respectfully, because he is I understand a very experienced Mason, and a member of a very old and respected Lodge.  Actually, though, if I can comprehend  his post (and I wasn't too sure I could understand all of it), I am somewhat surprised - I thought that Scottish Freemasonry was much more open than in England, and that no-one had been encouraged to hide the fact of their membership at any time.*

Obviously I did not know that in Scotland, more is kept from public gaze than under the UGLE banner.  Therefore, Iain is rather askance at the images he saw.  OK, a different GL approach.  Fair enough.

* As a point of interest: going back to the Nazi threat, could it be that Scotland is so far from the Channel that they were not so worried at that time?  And maybe, with someone like Robbie Burns as an example of masonic membership, and FM membership not being a stigma (as it has been down here in the past), the fact of being a Freemason can be taken as normal, and therefore more than the "UGLE secrets" can be kept private?  We in England are still paying the price of "coming out" after too much privacy.

I would echo Iain, though, that a good start for openness would be more show in processing at decent occasions - eg at the Cenotaph?

PM 5770

Middlesex

Openness yes but public processions and church attendances should be the way,  Wearing regalia whilst presenting charity cheques for good causes. The cameras should not have been allowed through the lodge room door.

As for the openness of Scottish freemasonry Roy v, we are only as open as the rest of the UK.  There are some parts of Scotland where it is very open and virtually the whole village has at least one male family member in the craft, but with the political stand point of some on both sides of the border freemasonry in Scotland for some is kept private.

Not to mention that in Scotland we still have a religious divide and it is still unusual to meet Roman Catholics in Scotland who are members of the craft. There are lots of reasons for this whether it was self imposed exclusion by Catholics or black balling by protestants who didn't want them in the lodge, i am glad to say that this has been changing over the years but there are still some old boys who think that freemasonry is a branch of the Orange order.  So yes in Scotland there are those who would like to see freemasonry kept more secret but this is mainly due to the uneducated who tar us all with the same bigoted brush.