Tenets anyone?

So the Grand Orient of France has issued a patent for GOUSA:

GOoF Balls

Anybody checked out GOUSA? They don't have many lodges but seem to differ from us 'Ancients' in a few key areas:

- Belief in God
- Discussing Religion in Lodge
- Discussing Politics in Lodge

Any Grand Orient brothers out there that would like to post?

I am not sure how I feel about another group trying to wiggle into the umbrella of Freemasonry, but I am interested in what folks think.

Isn't the belief in God, and the harmony of meetings some of the most important parts of the fraternity?

Discuss.

I would also like to hear what the antis think? Does the elimination of the belief in God make you more or less favorable of an organization like Grand Orient?

Thanks!

In general I'm not too bothered by such splinter groups existing. From what I've heard about how Halcyon split, though, is more disturbing... Allegations of lodge votes held without proper notice (regarding the split from their previous grand lodge), as well as charges that Halcyon finagled it so that they ended up with the property when it should belong to the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In my book the latter falls under "defrauding a brother Mason out of the value of anything." Of course, once they split, they weren't brother Masons. But I can see how it could still cause some bad feelings...

Heya Emsed.

I typically don't pay too much attention to splinter groups either, however, in this case, its one more "Masonic"group that I feel is playing with the basic tenets that you mentioned. IMHO, these tenets are what help to make Freemasonry what it is, and go back the the very heart of Freemasonry. As an aside, I noticed that they are also supporting co-masonry, and female only lodges. I thought Freemasonry was a Fraternity, and not a Sorority, and meeting a female mason would be very strange for me.Dont take me the wring way, I luuurve the ladies, but Lodge nights, for me anyways, are for the boys

Hi all, curious about what opinions I can stir up about the politics/religion in-Lodge discussion thingie... I kept the topic back late enough in our debate that emsed would have had to eat into his conclusion to give it a decent rebuttal. Let's raise the issue again and do the topic justice. I'm not intending to debate the point -- just want to hear and understand. I do think my argumentation was valid; can some perspective be added? Feel free to quote me! Thanks.

Don't know if you've ever checked the blog "The Burning Taper" from a Masons known as The Widow's Son, but he has a lot of information on them (as well as a really great blog in general):

The Burning Taper

The Grand Orient of the USA was formed by seceding brothers who became disillusioned with the current Grand Lodge system. For example, they are opposed to Grand Masters acting as dictators, as is happening in some jurisdictions. The fiasco that is happening in West Virginia is a perfect example.

They are opposed to institutionalized racism, and racism in general. All men of good character are welcome in Grand Orient Lodges, regardless of race, color, or creed.

They are opposed to Masonic Lodges being usurped to promote conservative political agendas. The Grand Orient recognizes that Freemasonry in fact has a liberal heritage, not a conservative one.

They are opposed to one day classes, and require that candidates who advance actually earn the right to such advancement.

They are opposed to Masons engaging in criminal activities, and are more selective than mainstream Lodges in membership.

They reject the innovation that politics cannot be discussed in Lodge. This innovation was developed by English Masons who wanted to preserve the throne against the Stuarts. The Grand Orient recognizes that this innovation was not used by our own forefathers, and that Masonic Lodges in the colonies were originally hotbeds of liberal and revolutionary thought.

The Grand Orient, like traditional Continental Masonry, allows complete freedom of thought on religious matters. According to their theory, we can never have a "brotherhood of man" unless all men can be in the same brotherhood, including atheists and other religious skeptics. Most mainstream Masons claim that atheists cannot be made Masons because they can't be trusted to abide by an oath. Personally, I find that argument silly beyond belief, especially considering how many "God-believing" Masons I've seen break their obligations.

I'm a mainstream Mason, not a Grand Orient one. But I know some of the leaders of the GO, and have known and respected them when they were "mainstream" too. They have valid criticisms, and it's true that mainstream Masonry is currently on a path to extinction whereas GO Masonry is actually growing, here and otherwise.

I don't know what the future holds, but I strongly respect the GO, and am carefully watching their progress.



[edit on 21-8-2008 by Masonic Light]

Originally posted by Ian McLean
Hi all, curious about what opinions I can stir up about the politics/religion in-Lodge discussion thingie... I kept the topic back late enough in our debate that emsed would have had to eat into his conclusion to give it a decent rebuttal. Let's raise the issue again and do the topic justice. I'm not intending to debate the point -- just want to hear and understand. I do think my argumentation was valid; can some perspective be added? Feel free to quote me! Thanks.

Yeah and to be honest I hadn't really ever paid attention to GOF until you brought it up in the debate.

It seems that it is the most popular form of 'masonry' in France right now.

I also wondered how/if they modified the rituals for women. Granted there really isn't anything in them anymore that is 'hazing' but I think the first few women in a lodge might be intimidated by a group of guys saying "OK take off all your clothes and put on these flimsy pajamas!

In looking at the GOUSA web page it seems they support a number of liberal political causes.

One of the things that attracted me to masonry was the 'politics-free' environment. I know that is not always possible, and it's commendable for a group to stand up for ideals they believe in, but maybe not modern freemasonry.

Of course had we REALLY stayed out of religion and politics there might not have been a Revolution, etc.