Trying again to learn about Masons and secret clubs, page 1

I think this post from Lady V confirms many of the criticisms levied by Pike in "Morals and Dogma", and touches upon my own thoughts as well.

MM is certainly correct that we have no babysitters or thought police, whose goal is to purge the Order of anyone "unorthodox". But there is nevertheless a problem here.

Pike mentions in his book that during the 18th century, the Blue Lodges were composed entirely of intellectuals and serious thinkers, who were extremely adamant about proper ethics.
Then, according to Pike's theory, over time, the Blue Lodges increasingly became populated by the mediocre as membership grew at an unprecedented rate. Many of these men were good and decent men personally, but had no inclination toward philosophical and scientific learning.

This, according to Pike, led the Masonic intelligentsia to institute the new �higher degrees�. The Blue Lodges contained rudimentary instruction for the masses, while the higher degrees were to be populated by only the most serious of the Masonic students.

And so it was in Pike�s day; he himself had observed many of the Brethren of the Blue Lodges treating Masonry as a social club, and not taking its moral and philosophical teachings seriously. This is what led him to state unequivocally in M&D that many in the Blue Lodges deserve to be misled by what he considered a simpleton�s interpretation of Masonic symbolism. This quote of Pike�s is still used ad nauseum by anti-Masons as �proof� that �higher ups� deceive Blue Lodge members, but they show in this context they have absolutely no understanding of what Pike was saying. He was merely here pointing out that since the masses, who had no desire for learning or self-improvement, had entered the Fraternity, it was useless to try to force it upon them, who were incapable of understanding it anyway.

This is why in Pike�s time the higher degrees of the Scottish Rite were limited to only the most studious. But even this has changed. With the advent of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a policy was instituted that only those who held the 32� in the Scottish Rite, or the Order of the Temple in the York Rite, could become Shriners. This was originally intended to provide an incentive for Blue Lodge to become more serious about Masonry and advance in the traditional way through study, but in reality it had the opposite effect. Instead, it eventually caused both the Scottish and York Rite leaderships to rush new members through their systems in order to �get them to the Shrine�. Today, it is common to have �all the way in one day� classes, where non-Masons come in during the morning, and leave that night being 32� Scottish Rite Masons, Knights Templar, and Shriners, without any understanding of what Masonry is, and with many not even caring.

Therefore, as long as we continue down this road, we should not be surprised if our ranks are being filled with philandering husbands and porn freaks. I�ve been preaching this for years now; many respectable Brethren have agreed with me, while other respectable Brethren continue to disagree. Yet I do not see how it is possible to ignore the consequences before our very eyes. I have no reason to doubt Lady�s word, and I�m sure we could find similar testimony elsewhere among concerned Brethren.

What is important to remember is that each individual Mason represents the Fraternity to the public. It may be that one single guy is a Mason, and has only been to 3 meetings his entire life, being those of his own degrees. He may not have stepped within a Lodge room for years, and if he did, no one would remember him. But to the public, he is a �Mason�, and his actions, whether we like it or not, represent all of us, whether he�s a drunkard, or cheats on his wife, or whatever.

I do not claim to have all the answers, but if we get back to basics I think we would at least be on the proper path. My criticism here is directed mostly at American Masonry; on the Continent, Masonry remains very traditional, and does not suffer the same problems we do. They still require Candidates to submit scholarly essays and demonstrate personal growth before advancing. This may not be perfect, but it at least impresses the Candidate that they take Freemasonry very seriously, and that true Masonry is practiced out in the world, not only in the Lodge.

Fiat Lvx.