Editor's Letter

Sir,
    I feel impelled to tell you how encouraging and timely I found the Letter from the Editor (Freemasonry Today issue 41, Summer 2007).
    Of recent years I have sunk into that cynical weariness of which Michael Baigent speaks, to an extent that left me considering severance of thirty-four years association with the Craft. Having read the article, I am now inspired to continue the search for the genuine secrets.
    It is heartening to know that there are still Brethren who can perceive the wisdom of our teachings and are not side-tracked by the flim-flammery of rank, regalia and public image.
    Having read the article, I shall now continue to leave the East and go to the West with renewed zeal.
Herbert Ewings,
Surbiton, Surrey.

Supreme Being and Sprituality

Sir,
    Freemasonry Today (issue 41) must be congratulated for publishing a letter such as that from Ian Smith. The process of making people better must include intellectual honesty.
    Perhaps the view could be taken that there is only one possible answer to the question, ‘Do you believe in a Supreme Being?’And that would be, ‘I am sorry, but I do not understand the question.’ Surely the question can only phrased as The Supreme Being unless Freemasonry is, as the Vatican claims, an irreligious syncretism and advocates a polytheism of supreme beings.
    As with the issue of ‘spirituality’, a view must be taken on Freemasonry and the paradigm of space and time. ‘Supreme Beings’, ‘eternity’, ‘the immortality of the soul’ and so on are all religious concepts and do not fit into a pragmatic human invention such as Freemasonry. It may well be possible to understand and describe ‘spirituality’ and alternatives to materialism without having to extend beyond space and time. Perhaps this is worthy of the attempt.
Gerald Reilly,
Frinton on Sea, Essex.
Universal Lodge of Friendship, No. 9759.

Sir,
    Oh dear! I do seem to have disturbed a hornet’s nest! Now we have a mason with a distinguished record courageous enough to admit he was not quite truthful, and Michael Robinson on Hindus and Christian Orders (another subject for debate?). And I have been well and truly lambasted for my heresy! But this is surely a healthy sign because true debate on the meaning and values of Freemasonry I believe has been eschewed for too long.
    I remain obdurate in my views. The Aims and Relationship of the Craft and Freemasonry and Religion make no reference to spiritual values. The Grand Lodge booklet Your Questions Answered starts its first paragraph: ‘Freemasonry is the United Kingdom’s largest secular, fraternal and charitable organisation. It teaches moral lessons... ‘ (my italics); and then on page 9 it states: ‘Freemasonry deals in relations between men; religion deals in a man’s relationship with his God’. On page 12 the distinction is made between secular ritual and religious liturgy. What more need be said?
    One can of course examine masonic ritual and find plenty of apparent spiritual meaning as has John Acaster in his article on the Great and Lesser Lights and Nigel Beavan in his critical letter on my views, both in the most scholarly manner. Was that really in the minds of those who originally devised the ritual so long ago? Or could it be that much of it is more recent speculation? I do not condemn such probing, but it nevertheless seems inconsistent with the declared principles of masonry and to be of little value to practical Freemasonry and the overwhelming majority who practise it.
    And I feel sure care is needed. If there is true spiritual uplift to be found in Freemasonry which is not already available in one’s religion, are we not getting dangerously close to regarding masonry as at least part of religion or as a substitute therefor? I may be over-sensitive, but having seen three friends of mine, all masons of high rank and distinction, resigning from masonry after having been persuaded that masonry is inconsistent with their faith for just such reasons, alarm bells ring strongly.
    There are in fact some quasi-spiritual aspects of masonry which I find disturbing.
    Reference to the Grand Lodge Above, for example, implies a special place in Heaven for the sole use of Freemasons. That is surely an unjustifiable presumption which ought never to be made.
    I love my masonry, warts and all, but it must be protected from the attacks of the insidious.
Peter Smith,
Oadby, Leicester.
Semper Eadem Lodge, No. 3091

Sir,
    Reading Ian Smith’s letter (Freemasonry Today issue 41, summer 2007) reminded me of a good friend of mine who told me that, at his interview, he answered ‘No’ to that all-important key question. He was immediately asked to withdraw and reconsider his answer. After sitting outside the room for a few minutes, he realised that perhaps he should answer ‘Yes’ when he was readmitted. He did this, was eventually accepted and, as far as I know, was an excellent mason.
Peter Oakley
Surrey
White Rose of York and Addeys’ Lodge, No. 2840.

Sir,
    In his letter about the use of the ‘Supreme Being’ question at interview Ian Smith (Letters, Issue 41) argues that ‘this requirement is superfluous’. The growth of multi-faith studies in schools and a decline in churchgoing is creating a generation of younger, potential masons to whom the concept of a Supreme Being is alien. In this sense he is correct, the question is superfluous because it has already become virtually meaningless to the younger, in my opinion, tear the heart out of Freemasonry. To retain the question as it is usually posed is to condone an untruth by a briefed candidate. One alternative might be to preface the question with an explanatory statement that sets out the liberal, allembracing, non-dogmatic nature of the Craft.
    ‘The sacred writings are to govern our faith’: they are the bedrock of Freemasonry and point out the pathway to our personal Supreme Being. For every Freemason that Supreme Being will be both transcendent or ‘outside it all’ and immanent ‘in evidence all around us’. The immanent dimension lies in a thousand humane and caring actions, unexpected support in times of sorrow, in the beauty of nature, in an unintended act or word of kindness as dark clouds lour, in the joy of words, music and art and in the scope it offers the mason to demonstrate his masonic credentials in the daily round; for our masonry is worth little if it does not shine through our lives. In this way each mason’s Supreme Being becomes his unique and personal faith.
    Faith is an assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen, a vision of perfection. Let us, therefore, ask if the candidate has a faith, for if a candidate is to be able to enter into and understand the deeper meaning of the Craft he needs to have derived from a personal faith a sense of spirituality. Let ‘faith’ be the personal interpretation of the guiding essence of spiritual life; drawn from the sacred writings but fashioned by an awareness of the transcendent and experience of the immanent. Then it becomes personal, unique and alive; manifest in life and work so that it becomes the path by which the mason leaves his mark upon his world.
Mike Rogers,
Cheadle, Staffs.
Churnet Valley Lodge, No. 8092.

Sir,
    As a dedicated Freemason of over 40 years standing, I am deeply concerned about two letters in Freemasonry Today Issue 41.
    Ian Smith’s letter headed ‘Supreme Being’ contains the suggestion that interviewees for initiation into the Craft should not be expected to answer honestly to the question ‘Do you believe in a Supreme Being?’, and that this question should be deleted. I profoundly disagree. Belief in a Supreme Being has always been, and must always be, a fundamental requirement of all candidates. To believe otherwise undermines the whole basis and philosophy of Freemasonry. Without this openly affirmed faith by all members, Freemasonry becomes meaningless and indistinguishable from multifarious other organizations and beliefs’ The letter from Nigel Beavan headed ‘Spirituality in Freemasonry’, is equally disturbing. The statement that ‘... the journey is as spiritual as you make it as an individual ...’ is an open invitation to fudge and evasion.
    We live in times of an insidious attack on fundamental standards; simply to keep lodges, or churches, alive by the expedient of recruiting ever more candidates of dubious suitability, regardless of the basic tenets of our Craft, should be unacceptable.
    Quality is more important than quantity. It is time to call a halt!
Chris Hutchins,
Christchurch, Hants.
Elizabethan Lodge, No. 7262.

Sir,
    I would like to comment on the letter sent in by Ian Smith (Freemasonry Today, Issue 41 Summer 2007) in which he puts his views regarding the fundamental requirement of all candidates for Freemasonry; that is a belief in God.
    In the Province of Dorset we have for many years run Wardens’ Workshops, at which all future Worshipful Masters are given a series of talks by a team of Provincial Officers in order to assist them in all aspects of their preparations for taking the chair. As part of one of the lectures, short cameos are enacted which deal with awkward situations which may occur either in the lodge or perhaps at a committee meeting a new Master might be chairing. One such cameo deals with a hypothetical case of a candidate being interviewed who is asked the question, ‘Do you believe in a Supreme Being (God)?’ to which his reply is very non-committal and ‘conditional’. The candidate is then asked to retire whilst the committee debates his application. After a heated debate between two Past Masters, members of the Provincial Team, the rest of the committee, the Wardens then have to join in the debate and make the decision whether or not to accept the candidate for initiation.
    This usually promotes a lively debate and the advice ultimately given is to look in the Book of Constitutions for the answer. Here it is quite clearly stated: ‘The first condition of admission to and membership of, the Order is a belief in a Supreme Being. This is essential and admits of no compromise.’
    However, leaving the Book of Constitutions to one side for a minute and looking at his views from my own personal perspective, I find Ian Smith’s comments confusing on a number of points. Perhaps starting with the final paragraph of his letter when he seems to suggest that asking the question ‘Do you believe in a Supreme Being?’ is less relevant now in 2007 than it was in say, 1807. I don’t see this as an oldfashioned and out of date idea. Surely it is just as relevant now as ever it was. How can you swear a sacred oath and have any commitment to it unless you believe it to be accountable to something or someone divine?
    My own belief is that a vast amount of the ritual and the philosophical teachings within it hinge on belief in God (as you know Him) and learning from the ‘sacred writings’ laid down in the VSL. These and other principles we seek to learn from masonry (I don’t believe we are taught them), form ‘the tenets of the Craft’ which Brother Smith says he ‘tries to live by’.
    Brother Smith has been a mason for many years obviously. I’m sure he is honest and upright and a good man (although he does admit to having lied at his interview!). I personally feel that my Freemasonry would be seriously lacking in substance if I didn’t believe in a Supreme Being and I wonder if Brother Smith gets anything more out of Freemasonry than he would have gained from being, say, an upright member of the Lions or Rotary or Round Table for all these years.
Ken Howes,
Ferndown, Dorset.
St. Cuthberga Lodge, No. 622.

Masonic Fellowships

Sir,
    Masonic Fellowships have been in existence since 1975 and are active in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Isle of Man, Shropshire, Cheshire, Kent and Essex. One of the Essex clubs is at Tendring.
    The Tendring Masonic Fellowship has been established since 2001 and over the past few years our membership has been running at one hundred strong. New friendships develop which, during retirement, is a general reverse of the established trend. The members have just retumed from a five day cruise which added to our general outlook on our Fellowship.
    The Masonic Fellowships movement is intended to promote fellowship among its members, enhancing their retirement and social life. Membership is open to all Freemasons who are retired from full time employment, to their wives, partners and widows of Freemasons.
    The core reason for writing to Freemasonry Today is to find out if there are other Fellowships within the South of England of whom we are unaware, who would like to make contact with me so that we can work to-gether for the benefit of all.
    If any readers would like to know more about this additional social life of Freemasonry, please contact me at roymizen@aol.com and I will be happy to help with advice.
Roy Mizen,
Clacton, Essex.