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Multiple VSLs in Lodge.
By Tofique Fatehi

Almost every Lodge in India - irrespective of which constitution it belongs to - has 5 Volumes of Sacred Law placed open on the Altar while the Lodge is open. They are: Geeta,Koran,Zend-Avesta,Granth-Sahib and the Bible. And yes - they are refered to as Volumes of the Sacred Law- note the plural.

And there are 5 officers at the District level: the Bearer of Geeta, the Koran-Bearer, the Avesta-Bearer, the Granth Bearer and the Bearer of the Bible - collectively known as the Bearers of the Volumes of Sacred Law. And if we have a candidate not 'subscribing' to any of these faiths - ours is a very multi-faith society - we ask him to bring his own Volume of Sacred Law - which is also then placed on the Altar and on which he takes his obligation. And seals the obligation 'in a manner most binding on his concience'. As beliefs vary with respect to how one reveres the VSL.

And another thing - There are many non-English speaking Christians in the world for whom God is meaningless as it is in English language. I know many Christians here in India who pray in a Church to Ishwar, which is the Hindi word for God, and whose very Christian names are Yesudas (Yesu = Jesus, Das = worshipper) or Ishwardas etc. They are Baptised in the Church with those names. I even know of a couple of Arab Christians who know only Arabic and no English. I am sure they are praying to Allah, which again is the Arabic word for God. Al-Lah - The Divine. This word is more amorphous - like the VSL or the GAOTU. It is only a great misconception that Allah is the God of the Muslims that makes this a sacrilage. It is just that in Arabic God is called Allah. He is the same God as the God of Adam and Noah and Abraham and Moses and Jesus and Mohammad.

Incidently - when I visited the Lodges in US - I took the Tylers Oath (Something unknown here in India) on the VSL which was the Bible. I also attended a 3rd Degree work in a Lodge where the Bible, on which the Candidate had taken his 3 obligations was presented to him after raising, having been signed ('autographed') by all those present. When it came to taking my signature, they were a bit hesitant. Then the WM asked me if it would please me to sign the Bible, only if I didn't mind, and I gladly did so with great satisfaction, and also a great appreciation of the gesture of the WM in asking my approval before I signed it.

Tofique Fatehi
Mumbai, India.