The Rev. Father Vivian Cohen
(In a letter to the Editor)
THIS IS A follow-up on The Gleaner's Editors' Forum of Monday, November 3, 2003.
Prejudice is a great time saver. It enables one to form opinions without bothering to get the facts. To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of ignorance.
Freemasons in Jamaica and elsewhere know that there will always be those who are hostile and unaccommodating to Freemasonry that is their right.
It is interesting how some people can pontificate on issues on which they have no intimate/personal knowledge. There are those who claim vehemently that their experiences are the same as others.
If two different opinions are printed or verbally expressed about the same issue, hostility and preconceived opinions on the topic will cloud the issue.
LODGES SACRED OR SATANIC
Back to The Gleaner forum:
The original topic as posited by the opponents of Freemasonry was "LODGES SACRED OR SATANIC".
We objected to the message implied therein, and we are grateful that The Gleaner acceded to our objection.
Freemasonry is in no competition with religion/Christianity it makes no claim to be sacred it has no sacraments; it offers no salvation hence the revised headline "SAFE OR SATANIC'.
Brief definition: Freemasonry is a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
The term "LODGES" is generic It is clearly stated in our ORDER that there are bodies/groups of people who use the title "Lodge" with whom Freemasons have no relationship the precise term we use is AMITY we are not in amity with these bodies.
There are THREE CONSTITUTIONS ENGLISH, SCOTTISH and IRISH which wee subscribe to, and practice. We do not engage in the barbaric customs/traditions we hear described by those persons hostile to Freemasonry.
SECRET SOCIETY
Freemasonry is not a secret society. The only secret is the means of recognition and admission into a meeting. BELIEF IN GOD is mandatory. There is no competition with religion/Christianity. The movement does not proselytise no public campaign for members. Membership is by INVITATION and recommendation by Freemasons Applicants can be/have been refused.
ORIGIN: The order came out of OPERATIVE Stone Masons who built the great cathedrals of the early centuries with their architectural splendour and precision.
The masons were itinerant workers who lived/lodged in LODGES on the site. There are different categories of workers whose competence and skill differed, and who were rewarded, promoted and paid according to their level hence, terms like Apprentice, Craftsman and Master Mason. So organised, disciplined, reverent and devoted were those operative masons in their various lodgings LODGES that men in the society, observing them, were greatly influenced and began to copy them in a SPECULATIVE way. ("Free and Accepted or Speculative Masons' is the full terminology).
So the tools WORKING TOOLS of the Operative mason were given symbolic/ moral significance e.g. the SQUARE, LEVEL, PLUMBRULE, 24-INCH GAUGE, CHISEL, MALLET, COMPASS, PENCIL.
God is referred to as the Great Architect of the Universe, the Grand Geometrician and the Most High. Can these not be substantiated by Holy Scripture? Psalm 19, Isaiah 40:2-4, Amos 7:7, St. Luke 3:5 et al. What is the offence committed?
To those who say the Church and Holy Scripture are sufficient and Church members priests and others need nothing else for salvation WE AGREE. We emphasise that Freemasonry is in no competition with any religion including Christianity. This does not mean that we should not encourage laudable, moral precepts and principles where they exist outside of the Church.
Let us think of two "SECULAR" songs, "In God we trust" in which mention is made of the old rusty penny (American) which, unearthed, was the source of an inspiring and instructive "sermon". Also the "Deck of cards" used by the soldier who was charged for not mustering for corporate worship. We must be careful, that in our zeal for God we do not become exclusive and Pharasaic.
IRONY
Most of us look back with shame and remorse on the INQUISITION (C. 1232 AD). Although not the total reason, the Church leaders considered themselves the only repository of knowledge (the Church founded universities and colleges) and anything intellectual and ecclesiastical with which they were not involved became a threat, and had to be suppressed. We today, have learnt that the Church is not the only repository of knowledge. Knowledge need not be Biblical in order to be beneficial. Today the Church is no longer the repository of all knowledge (or even commendable knowledge in some instances). In times past a musical instrument like the organ was prohibited in the Church it was deemed satanic.
Compare the scenario with what transpired in Guyana years ago (Jim Jones) and later with the Dravidians in Waco, Texas. Satanic or sacred? Select membership? To what end?
OATHS
Freemasons do take vows on the Bible (New and Old Testaments), the Torah, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita and other Scriptures, according to the religion of the candidate. There is nothing in these vows that are incompatible with human dignity, love and respect of neighbour, treasonable or ungodly. The vows merely ask for loyalty, commitment to, and defence of, the basic tenets and principles of the Order. There is nothing barbaric or pagan in these oaths/vows. Anyone who has access to the valid vows now used will see that the "penalty" of violation is "self-inflicted".
"New occasions teach new duties; times make ancient good uncouth" James Russell Lowell. Moses said, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". To us this may sound abominable, but it was a great improvement on what went before. Jesus, however, improved on what was said by them "of old time".
The Operative masons of old may well have used drastic and painful means to protect their "degrees" their levels of skill and their trade secrets, (they had no unions, but later there were Trade Guilds). Today, Speculative masons have no trade secrets to protect. Men of all professions, religions and occupations are members.
Today, in Jamaica, many Christian denominations are represented in Freemasonry; among them Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics and the United Church. There is room for more if you qualify.
It is interesting that many men in our communities who are respected, revered and admired for their service are not only Christians but also Freemasons, but people don't know it. As it appears now, when disclosure is made we will all suddenly become satanic.
"Criticism has never killed anything that should live, and flattery has never made anything live that should die". (Vicomte Chateaubriand)
"I'd rather know a lot of things for certain than be sure of a lot of things that aren't so." (Josh Billings)
I am, etc.,
THE REV FATHER VIVIAN COHEN is Rector of the Church of St. Margaret (Anglican), Liguanea, Kingston 6
