As you may know I am a very fond reader of the "Midnight Freemasons". The "Midnight Freemasons" has blog contributors from various different walks of life. I have learned a lot from this blog and have been inspired by some of their contributors. One of the most influential members that I have had the privilege to speak with owns his own podcast titled "Whence Came You?". A plethora of information is streamed all across the world from Brother Robert Johnson. If you ever get the chance to read or hear him talk about Freemasonry I really encourage it. A really wise man.
That however is not what has inspired this post. The other day I was talking to another Soldier who has expressed his interest in Freemasonry. While providing him websites and links for his own personal research before he makes the big step I came across a blog post on "Midnight Freemasons" that I couldn't help but disagree with. This post is in response to Bro. Todd Creason's contribution titled "Men Who Shouldn't Become Masons..." You can use the hyperlink I provided to read it for yourself. I will only reference it here.
Now, Bro. Creason is a great Mason and deserves a lot of respect. He is the founder of "Midnight Freemasons" and author of many different books regarding Freemasonry, which I have had the privilege of reading (If only I can get my hands on copies for my personal library that would be great). He is very intelligent in his knowledge of the craft but this one post I had to disagree with. Which is the reason I love Freemasonry. We are all entitled to our own opinion. There is no right or wrong way to true Enlightenment. The journey is what Freemasonry is all about.
To continue on, Bro. Creason breaks his post down to 5 different types of people that should not be Freemasons in his eyes. In which I agree with the exception of 2, they are: "The Exemplar", "The Atheist", "The Scrooge", "The Nonconformist" and "The Snob".
Now as I said, I agree with 3 of these different types of people that Bro. Creason titles them. An Atheist does not belong in our fraternity. A selfish person does not belong, how can he when we hold charity as a pillar of our foundation? Finally, "The Snob". A Snob should not become a Freemason because of the character we as Freemasons have. To be honest, I would highly doubt that "The Snob" would have much part in their faith if they have one at all. Considering most religions teach acceptance of others including those you may inferior to yourself. Freemasonry is a tool of what ever religion you are to better yourself and come to know your faith and higher being more on a personal level.
Take notice the two I did not mention in my "agreed" column. I truly believe that "The Exemplar" and "The Nonconformist" are prime examples of what we need in our organization. Let's look at it in more detail.
"The Exemplar" is someone who already strives to do what he can to be the best he can be. Bro. Creason makes the statement that they believe they are already perfect. This may not be true. In fact anyone who thinks they are perfect is one clearly delusional or notices things about themselves or their life that they wish they could change. They do not necessarily think they are perfect it is society that puts that label on them. Someone who does all this already would be perfect for our organization. Think about it, he will have ideas to help freshen up our look and bring forth a lot more to the brotherhood than some of the "duds" we have already. Someone who is self-motivated to do what Freemasonry encourage in our members.
"The Nonconformist" is someone who is against what everyone else is into. In sociology you learn all about the free-spirited individuals who deviate from the orthodox practices of society. You learn about the "Hippies", "Punks", "Bikers" or even the "Greasers". Yet, we always forget that there is one subculture of nonconformist that were very influential to Freemasonry. We hang pictures of these men in our lodges, we name lodges after them. In the United States we named our Capitol after one of these men.
These men did not believe in the traditional ideas of England. While all other nations had Kings and Queens, Bro. Washington said no. He refused to be a King. It was a revolutionary idea to elect your leaders. It was a revolutionary idea to have a nation founded on freedoms. It was unorthodox to have an entire country who could practice their faith with out the Government telling you what church you HAD to go to. The Enlightenment period paved the way for all this to happen and out of the Enlightenment period Freemasonry gains its roots. Our history as Freemasons is nothing but Nonconformist. Just think if our lodge was full of one type of person who believed and did everything like you did. It would not be very fun nor life changing. You could not learn from that person. If anything not having free-spirited men in our lodge breaks one of Bro. Creason's rules of people who should not join Freemasonry. Being a snob means that you do not associate with others who are outside your usual social circles... If you have money then you associate with those who have money etc.
So the question should not be who should not become Masons... The question should be "Who should become Freemasons?" The answer? Anyone who accepts the existence of a higher being, wants to learn or doesn't want to learn, who conforms to society or who doesn't, who is willing to give and help others, help yourself and overall be open-minded. Freemasonry is for every walk of life and is looking to make the rough ashlar perfect no matter who you are.
AG
