Join A Winner!
Sovereign Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33
 By providing a focus on the history of our Order and on related Masonic subjects, the Scottish Rite Research Society fills a significant gap in
 Masonic studyand does it with style, spirit, and scholarly excellence.
FRANKLY, I didnt expect such enthusiasm. Suddenly, however, Brethren were coming at me from every direction!
The place was Irvine, California. The day was April 16, 1994. The occasion was the Scottish Rite Workshop for the Northwest and Southwest Sectors. After a telephone conference with Ill\ Warren D. Duke Lichty, 33, S\G\I\G\ in Nebraska and President of the Scottish Rite Research Society, all the details were in place.
With pride and a sense of the importance of the moment, I announced to the assembled Brethren incentives which will accomplish two things: (1) increase membership in the Scottish Rite Research Society and (2) sustain the Societys present scholarly excellence.
The quality of the Society and its publications is well established. Approved at the 1991 Biennial Session of The Supreme Council, 33, the Society has already produced one volume of transactions. Titled Heredom, this premiere volume contained a wide variety of outstanding essays ranging from Professor C. Lance Brockmans well-illustrated study of Thomas G. Moses, a scenic artist expert in painting theatrical backdrops for the Scottish Rite Degrees, to the late Ill\ John J. Robinsons incisive essay Albert Pike and the Morning Star. Back issues of volume one of Heredom can be purchased only by members of the Society. Copies are still available for new members.
The second volume of Heredom is nearly complete. It contains, among other excellent offerings, a beautifully illustrated essay on Masonic furniture, a thorough study of the Royal Arch Word, insights into Pikes Thirteenth Degree Lecture as used by the Supreme Council for Iran in-exile, and a view of contemporary American anti-Masonry from the perspective of a European who experienced the Nazi attack on Freemasons during World War II.          
In addition to its transactions in softbound and available deluxe hardbound editions, the Society publishes a newsletter titled The Plumbline which, like Heredom, is edited by one of our Rites and Freemasonrys most outstanding scholars and writers, Ill\ S. Brent Morris, 33. Nor is that all. The Society has also distributed to its members complimentary books such as Masonic Philanthropies by Dr. Morris and The Bible in Albert Pikes Morals and Dogma by Dr. Rex R. Hutchens, 33, and the Reverend Donald W. Monson, 32, K\C\ C\H\ The Bible in Albert Pikes Morals and Dogma is the 1994 bonus book and will be given to those who join the Society in 1994. Such free books, as well as other special volumes at reduced prices, are sent to members every year.
By providing a focus on the history and Ritual of our Order and on other related Masonic subjects, the Scottish Rite Research Society meets a continuing need in Masonic studyand does it with style, spirit, and scholarly excellence. The Research Society is already a success. As Honorary President, first Charter Member, and first Life Member of the Society, I heartily congratulate the Societys present 420 members. More than that, I am fully behind a new incentive program to expand the membership and benefits of the Society. Remember, membership or subscriptions are available to all interested partiesScottish Rite Masons of any jurisdiction, Master Masons, and non-Masons alike.
Our goal is at least 3,000 members, and to accomplish this, the Societys President and Board of Directors have approved the following provisions effective from April 16 to December 31, 1994:
Waiving the usual $35.00 joining fee.
Reducing the annual membership fee (regularly $35.00) to $20.00 for 1994.*
Distributing the 1994 bonus book, The Bible in Albert Pikes Morals and Dogma, with each new membership.
Establishing a Life Membership for $300.00.*
Within minutes after the announcement of these membership incentives at the Irvine, California, Scottish Rite Workshop, 38 Brethren joined the Society. Also, three Brethren became Life Members. In addition, I personally sponsored 12 new memberships. Within ten minutes, the Society grew over 10 percent!
Becoming a Scottish Rite Research Society member during this special incentive program is more than a bargain. It is a significant contribution to the scholarship of the Rite and to your understanding of our great Scottish Rite traditions. Today, as Freemasonry is under attack for its history of religious toleration, church/state separation and advocacy of education, nothing strengthens our Craft better than knowing and appreciating our Orders deep-rooted heritage.
Beyond becoming a member, consider sponsoring other deserving individuals, Masons and non-Masons alike. Each new member will be appreciative of your $20.00 donation in his or her name, and you will know the personal satisfaction of having gone the extra mile for our Order. Once the Society has a sufficient membership base, regional conferences will be organized. In addition to the presentation of scholarly papers, these meetings will provide opportunities for membership forums, festive banquets, and warm fraternal fellowship.
Join a winner! Become a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society today. And sponsor others! It is a bargain. It is a benefit to you and the Order. It is the best thing any Brother can do to extend the Scottish Rite tradition of intellectual accomplishment into the 21st century!
*Dues to the Scottish Rite Research Society may be deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes. Please consult your tax advisor.
Scottish Rite Research Society
To take advantage of these special Scottish Rite Research Society incentives and receive your 1994 free bonus book (available only from 4-16-94 to 12-31-94), please send checks ($20.00 for each membership) payable to Scottish Rite Research Society to: Plez A. Transou, 33, Secretary, P.O. Box 1850, Dallas, TX  78221-1850. For additional information or membership applications, telephone 214-748-9196 or fax 214-748-5155. Also, petitions for membership in the Society should be available at your local Scottish Rite Temple.
Perspectives on America in 1994
Looking at the plus and minus sides of our nations situation today reveals
 a new and necessary
 perspective for America and Freemasonry.
Editors note: This article is a shortened version of Senator Nunns remarks to the Conference of Grand Masters of North America at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel, Arlington, Virginia, on February 22, 1994.
The Honorable Senator Sam Nunn, 33, Grand Cross 
U. S. Senator from Georgia; Chairman, Armed Services Committee
303 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC  20002-5822
I am proud to be a small part of this very great organization called Freemasonryan organization that for centuries and continuing to this day, has millions and millions of times in this country and around the world, held out a helping hand to those who needed it most. It gives me great satisfaction that you are having this conference in our nations capital and, in particular, starting the conference yesterday, on Presidents Day, and continuing it today, on George Washingtons birthday. George Washington was the best-known Mason of his time, and he inspired many others. There were nine signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation who were Masons as there were thirteen Masons who signed the United States Constitution. So, it can be both literally and figuratively said with great accuracy that Freemasonry laid the cornerstone of our Republic and that our organization, in many respects, provided the mortar that has held our Republic together for over
 200 years.
In 1994, as we move toward a new century, we need to take a fresh perspective on America. The word perspective has different meanings for different people. So, what is the proper perspective for Masons and Americans in 1994? Here are some crucial questions for all of us.
,Do we live by the teachings of God?
,Do we who have large egos and great ambitions remember that the kingdom of God is promised to those who are humble in spirit?
,Do those of us who compete in the fierce world of politics and business remember that we are commanded to love our enemies?
,Do those of us who live by elections, votes, and polls remember that our tenure on earth will not be decided by a majority vote?
As we read and hear and sometimes even experience ethnic, religious and racial hatred around the world, we remember that we as Masons have been taught tolerance to all and bias toward none. This lesson needs learning and relearning especially now as children are being shot down in Bosnia as they play and as tens of thousands are being starved in Africa because of their ethnic or tribal affiliation.
What is our duty in this kind of world as Masons and as Americans in 1994? As our Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill\ C. Fred Kleinknecht, said, Ours is a Brotherhood without boundaries, a faith without sect, a patriotism without party. Ours is a unity of hearts universal, a bonding of good men becoming better through service to all humankind and the Creator.
What are proper perspectives for America in 1994?
I think we have an obligation to back off of our busy schedules and take a look at where we are. We have many strengths in this country, and we have the most solid foundation of any nation in the history of the world. We have unparalleled freedom in America. We are the model of the world. We are the envy of the world. So many times it is Hate America, but it is really Envy America. We have the most powerful military in the world. We have the best technology in the world. We have the best qualified people in our military of any military in history. We have unparalleled resources in America. We have a strong work ethic. We have talent and innovation. We have more entrepreneurial spirit than any country in the world. 
That is where our jobs come from. Small business is the heart of American job creation. No other country in the world has the kind of small business community that we do. Even though we have been through a recent recession, American businesses have come out of that recession leaner and more competitive than at any time in history. So, all of that is on the plus side of the ledger. What is the minus side of the equation?
Americas culture is eroding. Why do I say this? The Economist magazine recently defined a war as a conflict in which over 1,000 people die in one year. By this definition, America is at war. Two thousand teenagers in America were murdered in 1992. Eight out of ten Americans will be victims of a crime at some point during their lives. Of these victims, one out of twelve will be women attacked by rapists. That is probably grossly underreported because of the very nature of that horrible act. In America today, 135,000 children under the age of 16 carry guns to school every day. That doesnt count knives and other weapons. We expect our teachers to be able to overcome such criminal behavior. The culture of America is eroding.
We could go on and on with statistics about crime and the crime rate in the last 25 years. It has risen about 300 percent in every categoryviolent crime, assault, rape, murder. What is the cause of  it?
In my opinion, there are many causes, but two are predominant. Number one is family breakdown. The American family is breaking down at a rate we have never seen before in our history. I am not sure any country in the world has ever seen the kind of family disintegration we have in our country.
The second predominant cause is the pervasive effect of violence on television. Television could be one of our greatest assets, but it is increasingly becoming a liability.
Today in America, the family is breaking down. Thirty percent of all American children born today are born out of wedlock. In 1960, there were 246,000 children born out of wedlock in America. In 1992, thirty years later, that number is 5.5 millionfrom 246,000 to 5.5 million. What is wrong with this?
Society has said that we need to accept these facts. What is the consequence of that? Children born out of wedlockin many cases growing up with single parents or no parents at allare three times more likely to flunk out of school. They are three-and-a-half times more likely to be convicted of a violent crime. They have drug problems, they have emotional problems, they have teenage pregnancy problems, they have more of all of these problems, and they end up, many of them, being incarcerated for serious crimes. Discipline in our schools is breaking down, in my view, as a result of this family breakdown.
Just a couple of statistics here. We talk a lot in education about the importance of the teacher-to-pupil ratio, and certainly that is important. But, there is another ratio that increasingly looks more important, and that is the parent-to-pupil ratio. How many parents are in the home raising children? North Dakota is virtually the highest in math on SAT scores, and that state has the highest number of parents in the home. Washington, DC, is one of the lowest math scores and also in English, and it has the lowest number of parents in the home.
Without these parents in the home and so many single mothers having to work, who is taking care of these children? Who is raising them? What are they learning? Well, to make a long story short, by the time the average young person in America today is 18 years of age, he or she has watched 18,000 hours of television compared to being in school 13,000 hours. That gives you some perspective about the effect of television13,000 hours in school, 18,000 hours of television.
What are they seeing? A recent University of Delaware survey showed there were 26 acts of violence per hour on television. Eighteen thousand hours, 26 acts of violence per hour why are we surprised that we are having an outbreak of crime in our schools? The bottom line is that here in America as our standard of living has gone up, as we have become more and more the envy of the world in the material sense, the culture of America has gone down. We are reaping what we have sown.
The question rises for all of us, What do we as leaders do about the cultural and social erosion of America? Also, what can government do? Certainly, government at every level must address this problem. We must have more policemen, more judges, more probation officials, more prosecutors, more jails. But all that is not enough. We must have better early education and early childhood intervention. When children are two to six years old and nobody is raising them, what do we expect? We are getting what we have sown.
We must have the right kind of welfare reform, and the right kind of health-care reform. All of us as leaders and all of us as people who have watched government at every level recognize it alone cannot solve Americas problems. Government does not create culture in a society. It only reflects culture. As leaders, our duty is to recognize the sweeping changes in American culture, and we as individuals and as organized groupsmust do something about it.
For too long in America, marriage, family, and commitment have been replaced by liberation, lifestyle change, and temporary affiliation in associations. What has been viewed in the last thirty years as freedom for adults has been absolutely devastating for our children. Let adults do anything and who suffers? The children and eventually the nation.
Pat Moynihan, a Senate colleague of mine from New York, not long ago said, Will we be the first species that forgets how to raise our young? Now, lest my remarks seem in any way harsh to single mothers, let me put it in perspective very quickly. I condemn, most of all, the fathers. Fathers by the millions in America are abandoning their childrenmaterially, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Government is only a partial answer, even if government does everything rightand who can believe that is going to happen?
 So, what can we do as individuals? I dont have all of the answers. My purpose is to stimulate your thoughts as leaders in your own community. However, let me offer three suggestions.
First of all, let me frankly admit that money drives television. That money comes from American businesses, but it really comes from the consumerfrom all of us. What do we do as consumers? When we see a program on television we dont want our children to see and we dont think it is good for our nation, we ought to write not only the TV station but also the advertiser who financed the program. We should keep the TV on just long enough to see who advertises on that program and then write a letter. If that is done all over this country, believe me, things will begin to change.
 My second point to all of us as individuals comes from a program Bill Moyers had on CBS three or four years ago. It was called Vanishing Family: Crisis in Black America. Today, that could be called Vanishing Family: Crisis in Black America and White America. The lines are moving in the same direction. Black America is about 20 years out in front, but the lines of illegitimacy in the white community are moving in exactly the same direction. The interview was with Mrs. Wallace, the manager of a community center for families in Newark, New Jersey. The interview went like this:
Bill Moyers to Mrs. Wallace: Are you worried about the black family in America?
Mrs. Wallace: It is going to be an endangered species.
Moyers: Who is going to say to these young people that it is not right to have children out of wedlock? Who is going to say to them that you have to take responsibility for your children? They wont listen to me.
Mrs. Wallace: It doesnt make any difference. You have got to say it anyway. They may not listen to me either, but if you say it in your corner, and I say it my corner, and everybody is saying it, it is going to be a drumbeat. You are not going to be safe, and I am not going to be safe until there is a drumbeat in America.
I believe Mrs. Wallace is right. All of us have to say it. There has got to be a drumbeat.
Finally, my third point is my starting pointa helping hand. Despite different backgrounds, different geogra- phical origins, different leadership experience and different occupations, we all have at least one thing in common besides being Masons: at some point in our lives other individuals gave us a helping hand when we needed it. We probably never saw their names in the paper or saw their faces on television. They werent sports heroes. They werent movie stars. They helped us at a crucial time in our lives. They gave us a hand.
These are the unsung heroes of America. These are the people who are working every day to save our country. They are tutoring students. They are helping parents to learn to read so they can teach their children to read. They are helping to comfort adults who have serious diseases and afflictions. They are helping to care for crack babies. They are helping to vaccinate children.
Just recently the Masons in Atlanta, the Scottish Rite Medical Center there, and former President Jimmy Carter had a program to vaccinate children all over Atlanta. It was very successful. Such people are our unsung heroes in America. Dr. Joshua Simon of the Scottish Rite Medical Center said it all when he said, Children are our countrys most valuable resource. The Masons are a vital part of this group of unsung heroes in America. We are out there in the trenches trying to save our children and our nation. For centuries, Masons have emphasized a solid foundation, a faith in God, and a sense of caring for human beings. The Masonic symbols of corn and wine and oil remain strong and truefeeding the hungry, sharing joy with the suffering, giving a hand to those who need it.
My final point is that in 1994 the world needs the kind of spirit that comes out of Freemasonry, the spirit that advocates tolerance and condemns the hatred that is killing children in Europe, Africa, Asia, and on our own American streets. Our nation needs the kind of helping hand Freemasonry extends. Multiplied by millions and millions, such personal help can stop the violence stalking the streets of our land. Masons provide that spirit and that helping hand in this country and around the world. My final message is that we must double our efforts. God bless each of you in carrying on this great work.     s
Senator Samuel A. Nunn is a member of Houston Lodge No. 35 of Perry, GA, and the S\R\ Bodies of Macon, GA. In recognition of his services to America and Freemasonry, he received the K\C\C\H\ in 1985, I\G\H\ in 1987, and was elected a G\C\ in 1993.
Should We Wave the Flag?

John R. Nocas, 33

Memorable moments from our nations history demonstrate each Americans right
to wave the flag with respect and pride.

Should Americans be proud of their country? Should Americans be patriotic?
Should we wave our flag? You bet we should!

If we were to list the great moments in history, right at the top would be
that moment in July 1776 when members of the Continental Congress heard these
words: We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That
to secure these Rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the Consent of the Governed.

Boldly, these new Americans proclaimed to the whole world that all should be
free to govern themselves. The peasant, the downtrodden, and the enslaved
have prayed (and died) for these rights from time immemorialbut in vain.
This new country, our own United States of America, denounced the tyranny of
the agesthe despotic rule by kingsand announced a new age of freedom for
all, beginning right here in our country. Nations around the globe have
embraced our ideals and, since 1776, millions and millions of people, with
tears in their eyes, have thanked the United States for leading the way to
freedom.

In the poem In Flanders Fields, John McCrae writes: To you from failing
hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high. Masons have held the
torch of freedom high starting way back at Bunker Hill when General and
Brother John Stark encouraged his New Hampshire volunteers with his famous
battle cry: Live free or die. Death is not the worst of evils.

Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr., hero of the war against Tripoli and the War of
1812, gave this famous toast which, like Patrick Henrys immortal words Give
me liberty or give me death, will be forever enshrined in American history
books: Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always
be in the right; but our country, right or wrong. He had seen the subjugated
peoples of Europe and the slaves in Africa, and he knew that, regardless of
political positions, this was the greatest country in the world, for it was
the home of the free.

Captain Decatur probably did not know Major George Armistead, yet Armistead
was also a hero of the War of 1812. The Major wrote to General Samuel Smith,
in charge of the defense of Baltimore, declaring: We, Sir, are ready to
defend Fort McHenry. . . . It is my desire to have a flag so large that the
British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance. Major
Armistead secured the money, $405.90, and had a huge battleflag, 30 by 42
feet, made (by Mary Young Pickerskill, a Baltimore flag maker), and flew it
over Fort McHenry during that tremendous bombardment. 

He was given the flag when he retired as Commander of the Fort and, as
celebrated by the words of Francis Scott Key, it became our glorious
Star-Spangled Banner, the inspiration for our national anthem. There was a
man proud of his flag and country! What an article he could have written on
patriotism!

When Francis Bellamy, a member of Little Falls Lodge No. 181, New York, was
writing the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892, he spent considerable time
pondering the exact words to be used. He asked himself, What doctrines would
everyone agree upon as a basis of Americanism? His answerliberty and
justice! He was right, and the United States of America stands today before
the world as the greatest symbol of these values. 

No doubt about it. We should proudly wave our nations flag!     s 

John R. Nocas was a member of the Long Beach, California, Scottish Rite
Bodies, a consultant to the California Grand Lodge History Committee, and a
past President of the Philalethes Society before his passing on February 9,
1992.




Patriotism

The respect and zeal you hold for your country honors the earth which truly
bore you. Obedience and observance of its laws and customs must rank among
your most precious possessions. Their very existence allows you to change and
improve your lot in life. Freedom of choice carries responsibility and
obligation as well as the gifts of expression and fulfillment.

Paul L Helzer, 32
Long Beach, California, Scottish Rite Bodies

It is always a pleasure to welcome visitors to the House of the Temple, 1733 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC  20009-3199. Located on Sixteenth Street between R and S Streets, seven blocks NE of the Dupont Circle Metro stop, Red Line, the Temple is open to Brothers, guests, and the general public for tours from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. on weekdays. The Temple is also open on weekends and holidays for groups of 25 or more, provided special arrangements are made in advance with the Grand Executive Directors office (202) 232-3579. Visitors are requested to register at the door.
THE AMERICAN LEGIONS  REASON FOR BEING
TTo understand the Legion, one must read the Pream- ble to the Constitution
of The American Legion which states: For God and Country we associate
ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the
Constitution of the United States of America; To maintain law and order; To
foster and perpetuate a 100 percent Americanism; To preserve the memories and
incidents of our associations in the great wars; To inculcate a sense of
individual obligation to the community, state and nation; To combat the
autocracy of both the classes and the masses; To make right the master of
might; To promote peace and goodwill on earth; To safeguard and transmit to
posterity the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy; To consecrate
and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness. If you
have served in the U.S. Military during wartime or are currently serving,
please request an application for membership in The American Legion by
calling the Internal Affairs Division at (317) 630-1327.     s

American Legion and Scottish Rite
Kindred Spirits for God and Country
The American Legion and the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry are as one in
unswerving loyalty to the United States, strict observance of our nations
laws, and respect for its flag.

Bruce Thiesen, 32, K\C\C\H\
National Commander
The American Legion
P.O. Box 1055
Indianapolis, Indiana  46206-1055

The Declaration of Principles of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry, S\J\, U.S.A., calls for unswerving loyalty to the United States
of America. The Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite also expects strict
observance by its members of the laws of their country and respect for its
flag.

By articulating these values in its very reason for being, the Scottish Rite
has shown itself to be an advocate of God and Country and, thus, a kindred
spirit of The American Legion, the worlds largest veterans organization.

I am proud to be a member of the Scottish Rite, and as the Legions National
Commander, I not only identify with the Scottish Rites Declaration of
Principles, I also help perpetuate the values upon which it is based.

For 75 years, The American Legion has been the vanguard of Americanism, from
protecting our flag to defending the rights of those who fought under it. Our
members are wartime veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam,
Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, and the Gulf War.

Just as the Scottish Rite does much more than talk about values, so does The
American Legion. Legionnaires have put their lives on the line, leaving their
homes and their families, all through an unswerving loyalty to our nation.    

Values such as devotion to God and Country are sacrosanct to both
organizations. But it starts with a symbol.

In his 1899 book, The School and Society, John Dewey introduced the idea that
schoolhouses should do more than provide our children with new knowledge.
Dewey suggested Americas schools should build character and train children
to be good citizens, a task which today is a major part of The American
Legions Youth activities programs, from American Legion Baseball to Boys
Nation.

In this way, The American Legion honors one of the Legions missions as
stated in its Preamble: to foster and perpetuate a 100 percent Americanism.
The Preamble is the Legions Declaration of Principles.

It starts with a symbol. A schoolhouse. An American flag. A church. Today,
too many people dont care enough about such things.

Schools no longer teach our children values, or at least most are not doing
it consistently. And broken homes and shattered families are raising children
who know less and less about what is right and what is wrong.

The tragedy here is that when one symbol is crushed under the weight of
shattered ideals, a domino effect begins, and value by value, principle by
principle, the symbols and the substance behind them disappear.

The American schoolhouse is just the first casualty of Americas war with
itself. Our flag may be the next to fall. some short-sighted people view the
Supreme Courts 1989 decision to protect flag burning, under the First
Amendment right of free speech, as a victory for freedom. The question is,
freedom from what? Responsibility? Devotion to God and Country? The
willingness to defend our nation in time of war? By allowing our flag to be
desecrated, we are, indeed, casting aside all of these ideals.

We cannot dismiss the symbol without destroying the values behind it. Too
many veterans, under enemy fire, have fought and died beside our flag for it
to be burned in the flames of political protest under some self-righteous
claim for free speech.

The Legion helped author Americas first Flag Code, adopted by Congress in
1942, outlining proper respect for Old Glory. And today, the Legion seeks to
amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress and the states to enact laws to
protect the flag of the United States.

So far, 43 states have called for changing the Constitution as the Legion has
recommended. The consensus is building for a constitutional amendment to
protect our flag, and I urge every one of you to call or write your
congressional representatives. Tell them to help The American Legion preserve
the single greatest symbol of freedom: The American Flag.

For 75 years, The American Legion has continued to pursue the vision of its
founders, committing itself to caring for veterans and their families and the
nations children. From the millions of dollars Legionnaires give to charity
to the creation of the GI Bill, The American Legion has always and will
always remain devoted to God and Country.

I thank God for today's 3.1 million Legionnaires, veterans of wartime service
in the 20th century, who have recognized the need for continuing what began
in Paris 75 years ago.

As The American Legion marks its 75th birthday, its members do so with
tremendous pride. It is a pride that comes from knowing that the cause you
believe in is right, and that the course set in 1919 remains true today.
s 

Bruce Thiesen is a Vietnam-era U. S. Army veteran and the  National Commander
of The American Legion, the worlds largest veterans organization with 3.1
million members. A member of Traver Lodge No. 294 which merged with Clarence
L. Fraser Lodge No. 294, Dinuba, California, Bro\ Thiesen is also a member of
the Fresno, California, Scottish Rite Bodies.



Thankfulness and Service
Warren J. Blomseth, 32, K\C\C\H\ 
Grand Master, Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of California
California Masonic Memorial Temple
1111 California Street, San Francisco, California 94108-2284

A NY gathering of the Honor Men of our Order makes one thing evident: the men
leading the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry meet and exceed the classic
definition of leadership. They are men who are not satisfied with the status
quo. They encourage, nay, they demand the very best from themselves and
others. Their example challenges us to meet and exceed our potential for good
works in the service of mankinds highest principles and loftiest goals.

What are those principles? What are those goals? The Scottish Rite Creed
gives an immediate and comprehensive answer: Human progress is our cause,
liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and
the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.

Human progress, liberty of thought, freedom of conscience, equal rights to
allnow that is a creed worthy of our finest efforts today and every day to
follow. Socrates must have had such a creed in mind when he declared every
person must seek wisdom and truth. The Scottish Rite Creed is visionary and
leads us to look forward in thought, word, and deed. Albert Einstein knew the
value of just such a vision when he wrote, Try not to become a man of
success but rather a man of value.

Personally, when I review these eloquent thoughts and summarize my life
experiences, two words spring to mindthankfulness and service. Anyone who is
as fortunate as I have been to travel the length and breadth of California
and America cannot help but be aware that the years have been good to our
state and country. With each passing year, the land becomes more fruitful and
productive, the architecture more imposing, and the people better educated. 

The "Golden State" is truly big by any measure. California has the worlds
seventh largest economy. Our agriculture is the envy of the world. We are a
global leader in computers and will have a prime role in the coming
Information Highway. However great our past, no one can doubt upcoming
years hold an even better future for California and America. What we now
reach for, we shall obtain.

Be not discouraged by the cruel storms which batter our society. They are,
admittedly, widespread and deeply rooted. Though they are not unique to
America or to California, they are, nonetheless, disturbing and cry out for
innovative solutions. Through our effort and because of the work of
generations past, America still remains the longest enduring society of free
men and women ever established. Our problems require less money and more
involvement by citizens. And isnt that what Scottish Rite Freemasonry is all
about? No other arm of Freemasonry interacts with every citizen so
effectively to promote the American principles of liberty and justice. Our
Scottish Rite focus is on the critical role of every citizen in our unique
form of government to advance, as our Scottish Rite Creed proclaims, human
progress, liberty of thought, and freedom of conscience.

These three principles lead logically to equal rights. For a chosen few? No.
For all people everywhere. No wonder Scottish Rite Masons wear the badge of
their membership with pride and joy! I believe every Scottish Rite Mason is
thankful for the honor of being a member and is committed, as am I, to
expressing that gratitude through service.

We live in a great country. We have a magnificent future. But only if we
dedicate ourselves though practical service to celebrating the Masonic ideals
we espouse. This is the first day of the rest of our lives. In this new
beginning which starts every moment of every day, remember the words of
Thomas Carlyle: Even in the meanest sorts of labor, the whole soul of a man
is composed into a real harmony the instant he sets himself to work.

In thankfulness and service, may each of us set ourselves to work anew for
Freemasonry and America!     s

Note: This article is based on an address given by M\W\  Blomseth at the
Knight Commander Court of Honour Investiture held in Oakland, California, on
December 4, 1993. M\W \ Blomseth was the Active Candidate of the Investiture.
Warren J. Blomseth came to Freemasonry in 1944 as a DeMolay and served as
Master of Tri Square Lodge No. 551, Hayward, CA, his fathers Lodge, in 1962.
Since 1963, he has served under 16 Grand Masters in a variety of important
California Grand Lodge offices as well as fulfilling key positions in, among
others, the Scottish Rite Bodies of San Francisco, York Rite, Royal Arch,
Cryptic Mason, Shrine, and Royal Order of Scotland.



Create A Permanent Remembrance

Have you long cherished a special book, painting, statue, porcelain, or other
collectable? Would you like to share this treasure with others in generations
to come?

If so, the House of the Temple Library, Museum, or Archives can provide a
permanent place for safekeeping and, as appropriate, display. Through your
tax-deductible gift or bequest, you can become part of Scottish Rite history.

Please contact the Office of the Grand Executive Director, 1733 Sixteenth
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-3199 or call (202) 232-3579 for more
information.



Old Glory Speaks
I am the flag of the United States of America. I was conceived in the dreams
of Liberty and in the hopes of Freedom. I was designed by the hands of Betsy
Ross, and her sewing basket was my cradle. Though I was never an orphan, I
was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 and proclaimed the emblem of
a nation newly born, fighting valiantly for survival and destined to bring to
all mankind a new concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I have been many places and seen many things. I have witnessed every event of
American history. I was there at Lexington and Concord when they fired the
shot heard around the world.

I was there in the late twilight at Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott
Key to write the immortal Star-Spangled Banner, now our National Anthem.

I saw Molly Pitcher take the cannon swab from the hands of her dead husband
and help carry on the fight for freedom.

I felt the biting cold at Valley Forge, and I gave warmth and comfort to
George Washington and his tired, hungry Continental Army.

I rode with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, and I saw the signal
that started the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

I was flown above the decks of Old Ironsides and from the masts of the
Yankee and China clippers. I blazed the trail with Daniel Boone and Davy
Crockett. I led the settlers coming west and crossed Death Valley in a
covered wagon.

I was carried through the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli by the
United States Marines. Once I fell to the ground at Custers last stand, and
there were no living hands left to pick me up. I galloped up the slopes of
San Juan Hill with Bro\ Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders of the United
States Cavalry. I stayed with the boys until it was over, over there on the
battlefields of Marne, Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne forest. I
saw many of the best of our nation fall and lie still in death. They had
given their last full measure of devotion. The war was over for them forever,
and I kept my lonely vigil over the graves and stayed to watch the poppies
grow amid the crosses, row upon row, in Flanders Fields.

I was raised by five brave men during the Battle for Iwo Jima. I waved
farewell to the four immortal chaplains who went down with their ship and to
honored glory.  Equality, faith, hope, charity, truth and brotherly love,
there too, am I. May history NEVER write my obituary for I am the Stars and
Stripes FOREVER.

I AM OLD GLORY!     s This article was submitted to the Scottish Rite Journal
by Ill\ Don F. Nisbet, 33, of the Los Angeles, CA, Scottish Rite Bodies. It
was written by Amos Hurley, a member of Wilshire-Garfield Lodge No. 445, Los
Angeles, California, who died shortly after composing this stirring patriotic
piece. He was perhaps best known for his work with and for Sunshine Post of
the American Legion, No. 251. This was the only American Legion Post in
California in which every member was a Master Mason.




Dynamic Freedoms
Truth is forever, and there is no greater truth than that man must be free. The documents presented in this book capture moments in the history of America when our forebearers took giant steps toward liberty. By preserving this living record of our nations past, the Scottish Rite brings to every new generation the principles of freedom. . . . The choice is ours. We are free. Given the action of good men, we will remain free. No society is stronger than the sum of its individual citizens. Consequently, the Scottish Rite is dedicated to making good men better, to building each individuals inner temple of moral character and spiritual achievement. And freedom in all its formsspeech, press, assembly, petition, religionis essential to this work.
C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33
Sovereign Grand Commander, S\ J\, U.S.A.

The above passage is quoted from the foreword to Dynamic Freedoms, 4th ed. A
discussion of this work is included in the book review column Worth Fighting
For on page 64 of this issue.




The Locked Up Lodge
Gary Thomas Scott
32, K\C\C\H\
445 11th Street, NE
Washington, DC  20002

Masonic buildings can gain increased public awareness and become more user
friendly by the simple act of posting a sign listing meeting times and other
relevant information.

Recently, while walking through the historic district of one of our southern
cities, I came upon a beautiful Masonic Lodge building. As with many of our
Lodge Halls, its architecture stood out, creating great interest for an
architectural buff, such as myself. I went up to the door and rang the bell.
No answer. There was no posted notice of meetings or any indication how I, a
traveling Mason, may visit.

In the small Virginia town near my mountain cabin, there is a historic old
Lodge I have been curious about for years. Finally, after several years, I
met a local Mason who told me about the scheduled times of meetings.

These incidents led me to realize how difficult it is to travel as a Mason
around our country. In town after town, we pass by many Masonic Lodges and
Temples. But often they give no indication of when a traveling Brother may
attend meetings or, much less, how an aspirant interested in Masonry may seek
membership. Our historic Masonic buildings are among our best advertisements
for the Craft. But, alas, the locked up Lodge Hall seems to prevail.

Yes, I know we are supposed to call our Grand Lodge office, where someone
will look up times of meetings for us. I also realize most of our Lodges and
Temples cannot afford to have resident caretakers available to show visiting
Masons around. Yet each of them could at least have a posted sign with times
of meetings, the phone number of the Lodge Secretary and, more importantly, a
number to call for outsiders seeking membership information about the Craft.

Because of our historically autonomous Grand Lodges, the national Masonic
network, unfortunately, is not very user friendly. To many, our membership
is invisible, with few points of access. And in places where there is no
access at the Temple or Lodge Hall, or any clue on how to find us, there is
no access at all. Some of our Temples even look like fortresses, with great
bronze doors and no windows. This seems to send out an unintended message of
No Access.

Lodges in some towns are becoming aware of this lack of public access and are
posting signs at the entrances to town, along with Kiwanis and Rotary,
stating places and times for Masonic meetings. A national Masonic directory
of Lodge locations, meeting times and telephone numbers is sorely needed. A
Masonic directory data bank on Prodigy or CompuServe might also communicate
our whereabouts.

But a simple sign on each Temple or Lodge telling who to call or when to
attend or, most importantly, how to join would be a great improvement.    s

Gary T. Scott is Regional Historian, National Capital Region, National Park
Service, and is actively involved in the care and preservation of the outdoor
monuments and statuary of Washington, DC. He is Junior Warden, Naval Lodge
No. 4 in the District of Columbia and served on the DC Grand Masters
committee for the reenactment of the laying of the cornerstone of the U.S.
Capitol.



Fundamentalism, Freemasonry, And The Southern Baptist Convention Today

To place recent attacks on Freemasonry in perspective, it is necessary to
understand fundamentalism, a mindset taking root in America and around the
world.

Fundamentalism has become a household word since the late Ayatollah
Khomeinis rise to power in Iran in 1979. News reports of the 444-day
captivity of the American hostages and the orchestrated demonstrations with
chants of Death to America are etched indelibly in our minds. 

In the same year, 1979, fundamentalists began their successful takeover of
the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention. I do not want to make a
connection between Khomeinis rise to power and the dramatic change in
direction in the Southern Baptist Convention, except that both reflect a
worldwide eruption of a fundamentalist mindset.

We can also speak of Catholic fundamentalists, Hindu fundamentalists, even
Jewish fundamentalists. Within American Protestantism, one finds
fundamentalist Presbyterians, Methodists, Pentecostalists, Lutherans, and so
forth, as well as Baptists. However, I want to limit my remarks today to the
fundamentalist movement in the Southern Baptist Convention and its current
attack on Freemasonry.     

Fundamentalism is primarily a 20th century phenomenon; it is not a return to
the faith of the first Christians as fundamentalists want us to believe.
Instead, it is a reaction to the dozens of critical American issues today:
the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, the Civil Rights Bill, the
withdrawal of our forces from Vietnam, the threat of nuclear war, the drug
culture, the environmental awakening, the alleged death of God, the Beatles
and Elvis Presley, immigration, television violence, the misdeeds of certain
television evangelists, and the rise of movements from homosexual rights to
womens rights.

Fundamentalism appeals to individuals frustrated with and alienated from
society. Southern Baptist mega-churches, for instance, attract a membership
dissatisfied with and fright- ened of the urban setting. In many ways, these
mega-churches, with their sports facilities, extensive entertainment
programs, family worship, and private schools function as modern monasteries
where people can escape from the Satanic world into a heaven on earth and
isolate themselves, even for a little while, from complex social changes.

Given this environment, fundamentalism succumbs easily and regularly to the
cult of personality. Tele- vision evangelists Kenneth Copeland, Pat
Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Charles Stanley promise simple solutions and
have followings as dedicated as those who follow Michael Jackson or a daytime
soap opera. Consequently from the 1980s, mega-church pastors were elected to
the office of the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and
continually invited to speak at convention meetings to draw a crowd. This is
done in spite of the fact that most Southern Baptist churches have fewer than
300 members and do not have the financial resources or talent among members
to put on the more expensive and varied programs of the mega-churches.

With pastors of the mega-churches held up as the ideal, it is not surprising
that some have assumed almost unquestioned authority. W. A. Criswell, pastor
emeritus of the First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, recently told a group of
pastors in Mississippi that The man of God who is the pastor of the church
is the ruler. He said he told the leaders of First Baptist Church that The
pulpit is mine and I preach what God puts on my mind, and the staff is mine
and I run the church. He claimed the authority of God gave him authority as
ruler of the church; They can quarrel with God over that, not me. Control
is an integral aspect of fundamentalism and doctrinal agreement is required.
The latter is enforced by an authoritarian leadership using threats of Gods
judgment against all who waver from the prescribed, narrow path.

This mindset reminds me of a Mormon saying, When the prophet speaks, the
thinking is done, or the Catholic saying, Pray, pay and obey. It also
reminds me of a bumper sticker sometimes seen on cars in the South. It reads
The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it,as if ones head is
useful only as a convenient place to carry ones hat.

The fundamentalist point of view is essentially an alien mindset which has
been imported into the Southern Baptist Convention by forces outside the
convention. Baptists can historically trace their origin to dissenters who
separated themselves from the Church of England or Anglican Church in 1606
and fled to Holland seeking religious liberty to worship God as they pleased.
Traditionally, Baptists have been strong supporters of what are also Masonic
ideals: religious liberty, the separation of church and state, and the
priesthood of all believers which held that each person can approach God as
he or she desires.

These Baptist distinctives are the very ones attacked by Pope Leo XIII in his
1884 encyclical Humanum Genus attacking Freemasonry. Each of these Baptist
distinctives have been publicly criticized or openly attacked by
fundamentalists since 1979. The Southern Baptist Convention in 1988, for
instance, approved a resolution questioning the priesthood of all believers
and the autonomy of local churches.

The priesthood of all believers concept also holds that no individual speaks
for all Baptists. Even when the convention president makes a statement, it is
not binding on any Southern Baptist. 

It is strange, therefore, to hear anti-Masonic Southern Baptists argue that
Albert Pike and other Masonic writers are embraced by all Masons as
authorities. In my opinion, they know what they are saying is not true, but
it works. Believing the end justifies the means leads some anti-Masons to
change history, use literary license, and create misleading statements to
arrive at their goal to condemn Masonry.

Most anti-Masons begin with the idea that Freemasonry is an anti-Christian
religion. Their arguments are made to arrive at that conclusion. Truth is
important to fundamentalists if it agrees with their understanding of what
truth should be. If truth does not agree with their worldview, it cannot
possibly be truth.

In my study of Freemasonry, I referred to the 1921 decision by the Supreme
Court of Nebraska that Freemasonry was not a religion. Not considering that
he might be wrong, John Ankerberg countered that the Supreme Court was simply
wrong.

Compromise or even negotiation is not a fundamentalist characteristic. Its
aim is nothing less than the unconditional surrender or total destruction of
its perceived enemy. One side or the other must win. It is customary for
fundamentalists to attack their opponents by casting personal aspersions, by
exaggeration, and by engaging in scare tactics.

Texe Marrs claims Masons were involved in the assassination of President John
Kennedy. James Larry Holly says that a Mason becomes a god as he rises
through the Degrees of Freemasonry and that Masons are worshippers of Satan.
Anti-Masons create Satanic figures to keep the faithful faithful. Holly, for
example, says Lucifer is the god of the Lodge and that all worship in the
Lodge is the worship of Satan himself. Fun- damentalists have referred to
those who reject the fundamentalist mindset as liberals, infidels, and
skunks.

There is a fine line between fundamentalism and toxic faith. Stephen
Arterburn and Jack Felton, in Toxic Faith: Understanding and Overcoming
Religious Addiction, say faith becomes toxic when individuals use God or
religion for profit, power, pleasure, and/or prestige. They argue that toxic
faith is abusive and manipulative. It reduces family and friends to
insignificance as the individual is himself controlled by toxic faith.
Certainly, the majority of fundamentalists could not be accused of practicing
a toxic faith. However, a few persons who succumb to toxic faith can hold an
entire denomination hostage and terrorize individuals who become their
targets.

I once heard a fundamentalist pastor brag about how many so-called liberals
left his church after he came; only those who were truly committed to God
remained. Another fundamentalist said it would not matter if 500,000 Southern
Baptists left the denomination. Holly, who believes Freemasonry is a
heretical anti-Christian religion, argues that the Southern Baptist
Convention will not experience revival unless it condemns the Fraternity and
expels Masons from all leadership roles in Southern Baptist churches and
convention agencies.

To a significant number of fundamentalists, it is necessary to accomplish
this purification of the church, if not the whole world, as soon as
possible because the Second Coming of Christ is anticipated in the very near
future. Thus, biblical prophecies are marshalled to bolster millennial
thinking and to prove the last days are upon us. What better place to start
this purification than with Freemasonry, Satans supposed armed camp within
the church itself?

Best estimates are that 20 percent of Southern Baptists are true
fundamentalists; another 20 percent are moderate conservatives, while 60
percent in the middle are classical conservatives who have always made up the
largest portion of Southern Baptists. The fundamentalists were able to take
over the convention because they were well-organized, made use of popular
pastors to draw people to their meetings, and convinced the classical
conservatives that the time was drawing short to prepare for Christs return.
To be sure, not all funda- mentalists are anti-Masons, but history shows they
are easily persuaded with emotionally charged rhetoric.

After twelve years of fundamentalist victories in the denomination, moderate
and some conservative Southern Baptists formed their own organization, the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, in 1991. The fellowship has remained within
the Southern Baptist Convention and acts as an avenue through which
individuals dissatisfied with the fundamentalist leadership can support
mission causes defunded by the convention. Cecil Sherman, coordinator of the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, summarized his feelings about why the
moderate movement failed: 

Moderates did not have enough moral energy to win. We could not bring
ourselves to use moral language to describe our cause. Truth was butchered.
We said nothing. Good people were defamed. We were silent. Baptist principles
were mangled and Baptist history was replaced, rewritten. All the while,
teachers who could have written about the problems in calling the Bible
inerrant, did not. And preachers who could have called us to arms said
nothing. The want of moral energy was the undoing of the moderate movement.

People like James Larry Holly and John Ankerberg are using the same strategy
to attack Freemasonry which was used in the takeover of the Southern Baptist
Convention. I urge you to study the fundamentalist mindset to learn why men
like Holly and Ankerberg are intent on condemning Free- masonry. I also urge
you to study the moderate response, or lack of it, over the past 15 years
before the Holly-Ankerberg fundamentalist mindset succeeds in its holy war
against Free- masonry. If Freemasons do not rise to the occasion, I believe
you will end up like the moderates in my denomination. The choice is yours.
s

Gary Leazer 

P.O. Box 870523, Stone Mountain, Georgia  30087-0014

FTo place recent attacks on Freemasonry in perspective, it is necessary to
understand fundamentalism, a mindset taking root in America and around the
world.

undamentalism has become a household word since the late Ayatollah Khomeinis
rise to power in Iran in 1979. News reports of the 444-day captivity of the
American hostages and the orchestrated demonstrations with chants of Death
to America are etched indelibly in our minds. 

In the same year, 1979, fundamentalists began their successful takeover of
the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention. I do not want to make a
connection between Khomeinis rise to power and the dramatic change in
direction in the Southern Baptist Convention, except that both reflect a
worldwide eruption of a fundamentalist mindset.

We can also speak of Catholic fundamentalists, Hindu fundamentalists, even
Jewish fundamentalists. Within American Protestantism, one finds
fundamentalist Presbyterians, Methodists, Pentecostalists, Lutherans, and so
forth, as well as Baptists. However, I want to limit my remarks today to the
fundamentalist movement in the Southern Baptist Convention and its current
attack on Freemasonry.     

Fundamentalism is primarily a 20th century phenomenon; it is not a return to
the faith of the first Christians as fundamentalists want us to believe.
Instead, it is a reaction to the dozens of critical American issues today:
the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, the Civil Rights Bill, the
withdrawal of our forces from Vietnam, the threat of nuclear war, the drug
culture, the environmental awakening, the alleged death of God, the Beatles
and Elvis Presley, immigration, television violence, the misdeeds of certain
television evangelists, and the rise of movements from homosexual rights to
womens rights.

Fundamentalism appeals to individuals frustrated with and alienated from
society. Southern Baptist mega-churches, for instance, attract a membership
dissatisfied with and fright- ened of the urban setting. In many ways, these
mega-churches, with their sports facilities, extensive entertainment
programs, family worship, and private schools function as modern monasteries
where people can escape from the Satanic world into a heaven on earth and
isolate themselves, even for a little while, from complex social changes.

Given this environment, fundamentalism succumbs easily and regularly to the
cult of personality. Tele- vision evangelists Kenneth Copeland, Pat
Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Charles Stanley promise simple solutions and
have followings as dedicated as those who follow Michael Jackson or a daytime
soap opera. Consequently from the 1980s, mega-church pastors were elected to
the office of the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and
continually invited to speak at convention meetings to draw a crowd. This is
done in spite of the fact that most Southern Baptist churches have fewer than
300 members and do not have the financial resources or talent among members
to put on the more expensive and varied programs of the mega-churches.

With pastors of the mega-churches held up as the ideal, it is not surprising
that some have assumed almost unquestioned authority. W. A. Criswell, pastor
emeritus of the First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, recently told a group of
pastors in Mississippi that The man of God who is the pastor of the church
is the ruler. He said he told the leaders of First Baptist Church that The
pulpit is mine and I preach what God puts on my mind, and the staff is mine
and I run the church. He claimed the authority of God gave him authority as
ruler of the church; They can quarrel with God over that, not me. Control
is an integral aspect of fundamentalism and doctrinal agreement is required.
The latter is enforced by an authoritarian leadership using threats of Gods
judgment against all who waver from the prescribed, narrow path.

This mindset reminds me of a Mormon saying, When the prophet speaks, the
thinking is done, or the Catholic saying, Pray, pay and obey. It also
reminds me of a bumper sticker sometimes seen on cars in the South. It reads
The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it,as if ones head is
useful only as a convenient place to carry ones hat.

The fundamentalist point of view is essentially an alien mindset which has
been imported into the Southern Baptist Convention by forces outside the
convention. Baptists can historically trace their origin to dissenters who
separated themselves from the Church of England or Anglican Church in 1606
and fled to Holland seeking religious liberty to worship God as they pleased.
Traditionally, Baptists have been strong supporters of what are also Masonic
ideals: religious liberty, the separation of church and state, and the
priesthood of all believers which held that each person can approach God as
he or she desires.

These Baptist distinctives are the very ones attacked by Pope Leo XIII in his
1884 encyclical Humanum Genus attacking Freemasonry. Each of these Baptist
distinctives have been publicly criticized or openly attacked by
fundamentalists since 1979. The Southern Baptist Convention in 1988, for
instance, approved a resolution questioning the priesthood of all believers
and the autonomy of local churches.

The priesthood of all believers concept also holds that no individual speaks
for all Baptists. Even when the convention president makes a statement, it is
not binding on any Southern Baptist. 

It is strange, therefore, to hear anti-Masonic Southern Baptists argue that
Albert Pike and other Masonic writers are embraced by all Masons as
authorities. In my opinion, they know what they are saying is not true, but
it works. Believing the end justifies the means leads some anti-Masons to
change history, use literary license, and create misleading statements to
arrive at their goal to condemn Masonry.

Most anti-Masons begin with the idea that Freemasonry is an anti-Christian
religion. Their arguments are made to arrive at that conclusion. Truth is
important to fundamentalists if it agrees with their understanding of what
truth should be. If truth does not agree with their worldview, it cannot
possibly be truth.

In my study of Freemasonry, I referred to the 1921 decision by the Supreme
Court of Nebraska that Freemasonry was not a religion. Not considering that
he might be wrong, John Ankerberg countered that the Supreme Court was simply
wrong.

Compromise or even negotiation is not a fundamentalist characteristic. Its
aim is nothing less than the unconditional surrender or total destruction of
its perceived enemy. One side or the other must win. It is customary for
fundamentalists to attack their opponents by casting personal aspersions, by
exaggeration, and by engaging in scare tactics.

Texe Marrs claims Masons were involved in the assassination of President John
Kennedy. James Larry Holly says that a Mason becomes a god as he rises
through the Degrees of Freemasonry and that Masons are worshippers of Satan.
Anti-Masons create Satanic figures to keep the faithful faithful. Holly, for
example, says Lucifer is the god of the Lodge and that all worship in the
Lodge is the worship of Satan himself. Fun- damentalists have referred to
those who reject the fundamentalist mindset as liberals, infidels, and
skunks.

There is a fine line between fundamentalism and toxic faith. Stephen
Arterburn and Jack Felton, in Toxic Faith: Understanding and Overcoming
Religious Addiction, say faith becomes toxic when individuals use God or
religion for profit, power, pleasure, and/or prestige. They argue that toxic
faith is abusive and manipulative. It reduces family and friends to
insignificance as the individual is himself controlled by toxic faith.
Certainly, the majority of fundamentalists could not be accused of practicing
a toxic faith. However, a few persons who succumb to toxic faith can hold an
entire denomination hostage and terrorize individuals who become their
targets.

I once heard a fundamentalist pastor brag about how many so-called liberals
left his church after he came; only those who were truly committed to God
remained. Another fundamentalist said it would not matter if 500,000 Southern
Baptists left the denomination. Holly, who believes Freemasonry is a
heretical anti-Christian religion, argues that the Southern Baptist
Convention will not experience revival unless it condemns the Fraternity and
expels Masons from all leadership roles in Southern Baptist churches and
convention agencies.

To a significant number of fundamentalists, it is necessary to accomplish
this purification of the church, if not the whole world, as soon as
possible because the Second Coming of Christ is anticipated in the very near
future. Thus, biblical prophecies are marshalled to bolster millennial
thinking and to prove the last days are upon us. What better place to start
this purification than with Freemasonry, Satans supposed armed camp within
the church itself?

Best estimates are that 20 percent of Southern Baptists are true
fundamentalists; another 20 percent are moderate conservatives, while 60
percent in the middle are classical conservatives who have always made up the
largest portion of Southern Baptists. The fundamentalists were able to take
over the convention because they were well-organized, made use of popular
pastors to draw people to their meetings, and convinced the classical
conservatives that the time was drawing short to prepare for Christs return.
To be sure, not all funda- mentalists are anti-Masons, but history shows they
are easily persuaded with emotionally charged rhetoric.

After twelve years of fundamentalist victories in the denomination, moderate
and some conservative Southern Baptists formed their own organization, the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, in 1991. The fellowship has remained within
the Southern Baptist Convention and acts as an avenue through which
individuals dissatisfied with the fundamentalist leadership can support
mission causes defunded by the convention. Cecil Sherman, coordinator of the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, summarized his feelings about why the
moderate movement failed: 

Moderates did not have enough moral energy to win. We could not bring
ourselves to use moral language to describe our cause. Truth was butchered.
We said nothing. Good people were defamed. We were silent. Baptist principles
were mangled and Baptist history was replaced, rewritten. All the while,
teachers who could have written about the problems in calling the Bible
inerrant, did not. And preachers who could have called us to arms said
nothing. The want of moral energy was the undoing of the moderate movement.

People like James Larry Holly and John Ankerberg are using the same strategy
to attack Freemasonry which was used in the takeover of the Southern Baptist
Convention. I urge you to study the fundamentalist mindset to learn why men
like Holly and Ankerberg are intent on condemning Free- masonry. I also urge
you to study the moderate response, or lack of it, over the past 15 years
before the Holly-Ankerberg fundamentalist mindset succeeds in its holy war
against Free- masonry. If Freemasons do not rise to the occasion, I believe
you will end up like the moderates in my denomination. The choice is yours.
s

Editors Note: This article is a shortened version of a presentation given at
the 1994 Scottish Rite Sectors Workshops, S\J\, in Baltimore, Maryland; San
Antonio, Texas; and Irvine, California. The presentation, in turn, is a
condensation of a chapter in Dr. Leazers soon-to-be-published book on
fundamentalism and Freemasonry.

Gary Leazer

served over 14 years on the staff of the Interfaith Witness Department of the
Southern Baptist Home Mission Board before his involuntary resignation in
October 1993. His primary responsibilities included research, writing, and
conferencing in 40 states and 4 foreign countries on interfaith issues.
Leazer conducted the primary research and wrote the original study on
Freemasonry for the Southern Baptist Convention. Leazer and his wife have two
children. Freemasonry is an association for the cultivation of intellectual
philosophy, for the propagation of moral and religious sentiment, and for the
exercise of charity and the encouragement of human love.


Charleston, West Virginia
Scottish Rite Bulletin

Current Interest
Events continue to show the strengthening of Freemasonry and the Scottish Rite in Hungary. On March 29, 1994, for instance, Ill\ Robert W. Woodward, 33, Deputy of The Supreme Council, 33, S\J\, U.S.A., for the American Military (NATO) Scottish Rite Bodies in Europe, visited the home in Budapest of M\W\ 
Joseph Ferencz, 33, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Hungary. Accompanying Deputy Woodward were: Ill\ Alister Boyd, 33, his Personal Representative; M\W\ Istvan Galambos, 33, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Hungary; R\W\ Kurt Schoof, Deputy Grand Master, United Grand Lodges of Germany; R\W\ George Gatai, 33, Past Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Hungary, and Bro\ Richard F. 
Rigby, 32, K\C\C\H\, stationed at the American Embassy in Budapest.
Aside from the pleasure of sharing warm fraternal fellowship, the visit was made memorable by two events. Deputy Woodward had the honor of presenting M\W\ Ferencz with his Thirty-third Degree cap. Also, that evening everyone attended a Grand Lodge of Hungary meeting and witnessed the election of M\W\ Gyorgy Jobbagyi as Grand Master and R\W\ Istvan Ballo as First Deputy Grand Master.
The following day, Brothers Robert Woodward, Alister Boyd, 
Richard Rigby, Dr. 
Gyorgy Jobbagyi, the new Grand Master, and his First Deputy, Dr. Istvan Ballo, met to discuss reconstituting the Scottish Rite Bodies in Hungary. A beneficial exchange of ideas resulted in the assurance from Brothers Jobbagyi and Ballo that Scottish Rite Masonry will be allowed to return to Hungary as soon as the members of the Grand Lodge of Hungary have time to consider the matter and decide of their own accord to reinstitute the Hungarian Supreme Council.
Peace and harmony prevailed as the Scottish Rite moved closer to its return to Hungary. 
Kansas and Missouri Lodges Lay Cornerstone
On September 12, 1993, Division III of the Kansas Lodge of Research sponsored an impressive Masonic cornerstone ceremony held at the new Leavenworth, Kansas, Medical Center for the $18 million, 208-bed domiciliary to be constructed west of the main hospital.
Since the Center serves six counties in Kansas and fifteen counties in Missouri, a joint cornerstone ceremony was held by the Grand Lodge of Kansas and the Grand Lodge of Missouri. They opened their Grand Lodges in the Masonic Hall of downtown Leavenworth and then proceeded, via a patriotic parade complete with floats and marching units, to the Medical Center for the ceremony.
Recollecting George Washingtons dedication of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol two centuries ago, the ceremony was conducted with great dignity and with the colorful participation of two Knights Templar Honor Guards in full regalia and Honor Guards from the National Sojourners in colonial dress.
James H. Cuer, Director of the Medical Center, spoke at the occasion as did, among others, M\W\ William J. Brown, 33, Grand Master of Masons in Kansas, and then Deputy Grand Master of Missouri, now Grand Master, M\W\ Dale C. Motter, 32, K\C\C\H\
New Citizens Learn About Masonry
For more than twenty years, the Des Moines Scottish Rite Bodies have been represented at ceremonies for new citizens at the Immigration and Naturalization Services Office at the Federal Courthouse in Des Moines.
Services were held three times a year for many years and most recently are held quarterly. The Clerk of the Court notifies the Des Moines Secretary-Registrar in advance of each service and indicates how many new citizens will receive the oath of allegiance.
A Scottish Rite representative is provided an opportunity to address the new citizens concerning Masonry, Scottish Rite, and the duties and privileges of citizenship. At the close of each service, the new citizens are provided with a copy of the Supreme Council publication Dynamic Freedoms. (See page 64 of this issue for a review of Dynamic Freedoms).
At the most recent service, there were two classes of 85 new citizens in each. In the first few years of the Des Moines program, an estimated 250 books per year were provided to new citizens. In the last few years, that number has exceeded 350 annually, and a few times as many as 500 copies of Dynamic Freedoms have been presented.
The Americanism Educational Committee of the Des Moines Bodies is responsible for this continuing project, and members of the committee are always impressed with the enthusiasm of the new citizens. It is an inspiring experience for all involved.
National Sojourners Honor Leavenworth Lodge and Scottish Rite Bodies
On March 10, 1994, Fort Leavenworth Chapter No. 154 of National Sojourners presented the members of Hancock Lodge No. 311 and the Armed Forces Scottish Rite Bodies of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a replica of the Friend to Friend monument erected in 1993 by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania at the entrance to Gettysburg National Cemetery Annex in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The monument depicts Bro\ (Captain) Henry Bingham, Aide to Bro\ (General) Winfield Scott Hancock, Union Army, during the assault on Cemetery Ridge at the battle of Gettysburg, as he offers Masonic assistance to a wounded Brother, Brigadier General Lewis Armistead of the Confederate States Army.
This presentation is particularly appropriate as Hancock Lodge No. 311 is named in honor of Bro\ Winfield Scott Hancock.
Ill\ Clark S. Shoaff, 33, 1925-1994
With deep sorrow we note the passing on April 22, 1994, of Ill\ Clark Stuart Shoaff, 33, retired special agent of the FBI and Curator of the J. Edgar Hoover Law Enforcement Museum in the House of the Temple, Washington, DC. In tribute to this good man and Mason, family, friends, and Brethren attended a Masonic memorial service conducted by Ill\ Reynold J. Matthews, 33, Grand Archivist of The Supreme Council, 33, acting for Wor\ Bro\ Woodrow W. McCreary, 32, Master of Ill\ Bro\ Shoaffs Lodge, Fort Hunt Daytime Lodge No. 353, Alexandria, Virginia. The memorial service was held in a funeral home located next-door to the Alexandria, Virginia, Scottish Rite Temple.
Masonic dignitaries participating, among others, in the service and offering their condolences to Ill\ Shoaffs family and beloved wife, Marilyn, were Sov\Gr\Cmdr\ C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33; Ill\ W. Gene Sizemore, 33, G\C\, Grand Executive Director; Ill\ John W. Boettjer, 33, G\C\, Managing Editor, Scottish Rite Journal; Ill\ Martin D. Carlin, 33, G\C\, Personal Representative and Secretary, District of Columbia Scottish Rite Bodies; and Walter S. Downs, 33, G\C\, Personal Representative and Secretary, Alexandria, Virginia, Scottish Rite Bodies. A morning funeral service was held the following day, April 26, at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria, followed by interment at Quantico National Cemetery.
Ill\ Shoaff was born in Painesville, Ohio, on July 2, 1925. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he graduated from the College of Wooster in Ohio and later received Masters Degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California and in library science from Catholic University, Washington, DC.
He began his career with the FBI in 1949, serving in field offices in San Francisco, Cleveland, and Los Angeles before joining the Washington, DC, field office in 1955. Since 1960, Ill\ Shoaff served as supervisor both in the field office of our nations capital and at FBI Headquarters where he was a member of the intelligence, inspection, and training division. In 1972, he joined the faculty of the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia, where he served as a unit chief in the learning resource center. 
After retirement from the FBI in 1976, Ill\ Shoaff developed courses at the University of Virginia and taught criminal justice classes at Northern Virginia Community College prior to becoming, in 1988, curator of the J. Edgar Hoover Law Enforcement Museum in the House of the Temple, Washington, DC. In this capacity, he worked diligently and creatively, while also lending his expertise to a number of related historical projects, Masonic programs, and the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI.
In recognition of his lifetime of outstanding service to the FBI, America, Freemasonry and the Scottish Rite, Ill\ Shoaff was invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor in 1989 and coroneted an Inspector General Honorary in 1991. Raised a Master Mason in Ebenezer Lodge No. 33, of Wooster, Ohio, Ill\ Shoaff was also a member of the Fort Hunt Daytime Lodge and Kena Shrine Temple.
All who knew this kind and good man will miss his gracious presence. Masons, in particular, must mourn the loss of so dedicated and talented a Scottish Rite Brother. 
Capital Visit
On March 14, 1994, during a visit to Washington, DC, Bro\ Eugene A. Hayes III, 32, President of the Scottish Rite Childrens Medical Center Foundation of Atlanta, Georgia, and Lillian Campbell, the Foundations Vice President of Fundraising and Community Relations, conferred with Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33, about recent developments in the Georgia Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Program.
Begun in 1915 when the Scottish Rite donated $5,000 to a group of women to establish the Scottish Rite Convalescent Center for Children, todays Scottish Rite Childrens Medical Center has developed into one of the largest and finest childrens hospitals in America. It is equipped to treat many facets of childrens medical needs and includes a Language and Speech Center. Though the Center is an independent Georgia corporation, the name Scottish Rite has always been associated with the facility, and its board of directors has always had Masons among its members.
Bro\ Hayes and Ms. Campbell took the opportunity of their visit with the Grand Commander to also tour the House of the Temple and to confer with Dr. John W. Boettjer, 33, G\C\, Managing Editor, Scottish Rite Journal. In addition, they visited the Washington, DC, Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders and observed an actual session in progress.
Minnesota Valley 
Honors World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Donald Eugene Rudolph, 32, one of two surviving recipients in Minnesota of the Congressional Medal of Honor from World War II, was honored at the weekly dinner meeting of the Scottish Rite Bodies in the Valley of Duluth on Thursday, March 10, 1994. He was cited for his outstanding heroism, superb courage, and leadership while serving as a Second Lieutenant (battlefield commission) in Company E, 20th Infantry, 6th Infantry Division in Munoz, Luzon, Philippine Islands on February 5, 1945.
Brother Rudolph resides in Bovey, Minnesota, on one of Minnesotas Iron Ranges, and is a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies in the Valley of Minneapolis.
Participating in the honors ceremony, in addition to Valley of Duluth officers, were Ill\ Daniel F. Levenduski, 33, Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Minnesota, representing our Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill\ C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33, and Major General (Ret.) Edward A. Waldon, 32, K\C\C\H\, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Minnesota. Also present at the honors evening were several close friends of Brother Rudolph including Mr. Mike Collalio, the second surviving recipient in Minnesota of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and Brother Gary D. Nelson, Worshipful Master of Itasca Lodge No. 208 A\F\&A\M\, Brother Rudolphs home Lodge.
Speaking on the background and significance of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Past Grand Master Waldon, citing Brother Rudolphs continuing active interest in Masonry, pointed out men who were courageous in battle were usually men of conscience in peacetime. Then, Ill\ Levenduski presented Brother Rudolph with a Certificate of Honor on behalf of The Supreme Council, 33, and quoted from a letter to Ill\ Levenduski from Sovereign Grand Commander Kleinknecht: . . . please give Bro\ Rudolph my personal greetings and let him know how grateful I am for his many years of faithful service to the Scottish Rite.
Copies of the Citation for Brother Rudolph, issued by then President, Ill\ Harry S. Truman, 33, were a part of the place settings at the dinner. Each read, in part: Through his outstanding heroism, superb courage, and leadership, and complete disregard for his own safety, 2d Lt. Rudolph cleared a path for an advance which culminated in one of the most decisive victories of the Philippine campaign.
Special Reunions 
Benefit Freemasonry
The May 1994 Scottish Rite Journal included articles by M\W\ 
Joseph C. Fowler, 33, of Florida, and M\W\ E. Dean Osborn, 33, of Kansas, discussing their recent successes from accelerated membership procedures. These recent experiences with one-day Reunions, together with those recorded earlier by the Grand Lodge of Washington, DC, in 1992, provide impressive statistics worthy of reporting to the Journals readers. 
The November 1992 one-day Grand Masters Class, conducted by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, raised 114 Master Masons with an average age of 30. Of the Class, 75% were college graduates; 75% are attending Lodge on a regular basis; 25% are Lodge officers; and next year three Brethren will be Masters of their Lodges. Regarding profession and Masonic background, 30% are lawyers, 20% are Senior DeMolays, and more than 30% are sons of Master Masons. Almost 50% have gone on to join the Scottish Rite. 
In Wichita, Kansas, Albert Pike Lodge No. 303, raised 141 new Master Masons in 1993, 74 of them on December 4. The average age was 43 with 75% categorized as professionals such as bankers, attorneys, teachers, doctors, managers, chief executive officers, police officers, and the like. Then, in Kansas City, Kansas, 195 new Master Masons were raised on February 12. Again, the average age, 43, was relatively young with a similar mix of professions as experienced in Wichita in December.
As reported in the May Journal, 820 Master Masons were raised in a statewide one-day class format on March 26, 1994, in Tampas magnificent Egypt Shrine Temple. In this instance, the average age was 45. Very detailed demographic information was recorded with more than 230 occupation codes used. Of these 820 new Florida Master Masons, 25% of the members of the Class fell into 10 occupation codes.
These, in descending numbers with the highest being sheriffs and law enforcement officers, included men in insurance/securities/real estate, law, the military, electronics, education, transportation, sales, management, and public administration. Many of these new Master Masons have already gone on to become members of Appendant Bodies including the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and the Shrine.
Clearly, special Reunions can build cooperation between all branches of Freemasonry and result in not only additional members for our Fraternity but also a renewed dedication by present Brethren to our beloved Craft. 
Club Honors Students
Talented students seldom lack recognition, but those with learning disabilities often are overlooked despite their personal achievements. To correct this situation, the Albert Pike Scottish Rite Club of the Valley of Louisville, Kentucky, recently established a Henry County Student Recognition Program. At a dinner on April 15, 1994, for instance, 12 secondary school learning-disabled children were honored for their academic achievements. In his remarks at the dinner, Ill\ Roland T. Stayton, 33, Personal Representative in the Valley of Louisville, challenged the honored students not to limit themselves. Ill\ John E. Moyers, 33, S\G\I\G\ in Kentucky, congratulated the students and thanked the Albert Pike Club for raising funds for the program from local businesses. Ill\ Stayton also congratulated Bro\ Harold Smith, 32, Club President, and Bro\ Kenneth Williamson, 32, Club Secretary, for this fine civic program which is modeled on a similar effort initiated by the Bullitt County Scott
ish Rite Club several years ago.
To Your Health
Citrus, Ponce De Leons
Fountain of Youth
Al Roth, 32
5660 Griffin Road
Fort Lauderdale, Florida  33314-4537
An octogenarian Brother credits his good health to the many benefits of citrus juices.
Since I have a vested interest in a 
Florida citrus grove, the charge might be made that I am biased in favor of citrus as a health food. On the other hand, I am now a spry 84, and I truly credit my longevity to citrus. I eat it several times a day, every day of the yearand never get tired of it. Also, both according to tradition and modern science, citrus contains an abundance of many of the elements considered essential to good health. Consider the following.
Citrus scientists recently discovered that red grapefruits (like Ruby Red, Red Blush, and Flame Ruby) contain twice the amount of beta carotene of other citrus. Beta carotene helps reduce cholesterol and so keeps arteries free of plaque, thus lowering the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Also, beta carotene is supposed to lower the risk of throat, mouth, lung, stomach, and colon cancer.
Along with the orange, grapefruit is one of the richest food sources of vitamin C available. Grapefruit provides 130% of the U.S. RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of vitamin C in one eight-ounce glass of grapefruit juice, and 95% in half a grapefruit. Grapefruit also represents a source of soluble fiber. Grapefruit or orange juice, before or after physical activity, is a natural replenisher that revitalizes the body by replacing fluids and nutrients like potassium which helps prevent dehydration.
Similarly, an eight-ounce glass of orange juice contains more than 150% of the U.S. RDA of vitamin C. Vitamin C cannot be made by the body, nor can it be stored for any length of time, so it is important to receive a sufficient amount daily. Citrus should be part of  a daily diet, especially for the elderly who have a greater need for vitamin C. Other scientific claims for this essential vitamin include its benefits for skin, burns, ulcers, fevers, gingivitis, the liver, and to ward off colds and arthritis.
According to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), orange juice is a good source of potassium which releases energy from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. This mineral also helps keep the water balance in body cells. Orange juice also contains folic acid, one of the B-vitamins which is important for the growth of body cells and is particularly important for preventing anemia in women.
Citrus is a good source of magnesium, thiamine, niacin, riboflavinall elements essential to good health. Aside from important nutrients, orange juice also helps the body absorb more iron from non-fat protein sources such as cereals, bread, beans, grains, and leafy vegetables. Oranges contain pectin and hesperidin which are blood coagulants that promote healing.
Best of all, citrus is quite low in calories and naturally sodium and fat free! No wonder some call citrus Ponce De Leons Fountain of Youth! 
Go on. Have a fresh orange or grapefruit. Even if it is not from my Florida orchard, you can be sure you will be eating one of the best foods possible. Enjoy your citrus knowing how beneficial it is to your health!  s
Albert Roth
was born in Philadelphia in 1910. In 1957, after many occupations, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of owning a Florida citrus grove. A member of the Miami S. R. Bodies and Mahi Shrine Temple, he has been a Miami Beach Scout Commissioner and served on the National Brotherhood Board of Reform Temples. He is the author of Great Lights, Time of My Life, and The Citrus Story (revised second edition 1994) from which this article was extracted.
The making of an American begins at that point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land.

James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son, 1955
My Ten Years                       
            in Africa
A Brothers Masonic travels in England, Africa, and America provide him with a treasury of happy memories.
Albert L. Smith, 32
9360 N. Blackstone #274
Fresno, California  93720
My story is not 
so much a travel story as it is a tale of a Mason who has travelled. I was initiated in 1945 in Borough Lodge No. 424 in the province of Durham in the North of England. It was wartime, and because of the availability of candidates, I went through the first, second and third Degrees in three months. Within a few years, I joined the ladder that leads to the Masters Chair.
In England it takes much longer to climb the ladder, and by 1961, I had finally reached the position of Inner Guarda position we dont have here in California, but which is the first step inside the Lodge in England. At that time, I  was working at Newcastle University in the Engineering Department and was asked if I would go out to Sierra Leone, West Africa, to help develop the Engineering Department at Fourah Bay College which eventually would become the University of Sierra Leone. My contract was to last two years, but I was there for ten.
I had only been in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, for a few days when a gentleman called at my office and invited me to visit his Lodge which was held under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England. The only stipulation was a dinner jacket, the normal dress of the Brethren when in Lodge. Fortunately, I had the necessary garment, so I was able to attend Rokell Lodge No. 2798.
The ceremony was the same as performed in England. I visited practically every month and was seriously thinking of affiliating when I was informed that the Masons on the staff of the college were forming their own Lodge under the Grand Lodge of Scotland. This eventually happened, and I became a member of Lodge Mount  Aureol No. 1612.
Most of the Lodges in Sierra Leone were integrated, and many of the local Africans were very keen Masons. The Lodges met once a month in the evening and, after the ceremony, retired to a banquet where there were many toasts and much talk.
In 1969, I had the privilege of visiting Nairobi, Kenya, for three months, and the head of Nairobi University was a former Brother from Sierra Leone. He invited me to visit a Lodge in Nairobi where he was occupying the Masters Chair. I dont remember the name or number of the Lodge now, but I had a wonderful evening.
I returned to Sierra Leone after also visiting Lodges in Uganda and Tanzania. In 1971, I met a lady from Fresno, California, who was visiting the University, and we were married in 1992. We returned to Fresno where I joined Fresno Lodge No. 247 and followed by joining the Scottish and York Rite Bodies of Fresno.
I must say that in all my travels, and I have travelled extensively since coming to the States, I have found friends and Brothers in every part of the world. In particular, I will never forget my ten years in Africa.     s
Albert L. Smith
was born in England and served in the British Army during World War II. He was raised in Borough Lodge No. 424, Gateshead, England, in 1945, and went to Sierra Leone, West Africa, to teach in the Engineering Dept. at Fourah Bay College University in 1961. He affiliated with Lodge Mount Aureol No. 1612, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1967 and Fresno Lodge No. 247, Fresno, CA, in 1972. Bro\ Smith has been a member of the Fresno Scottish Rite Bodies since 1984, and his hobbies are photography and singing in the Fresno Scottish Rite Choir.
Epigrams and Maybegrins

Some folks are most trying when they aint trying.

The only failure that really counts against anyones character is the failure to try.

The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down others, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.
America, The Place To Be
Barbara Anne Clark
Clay-Battelle High School
Blacksville, West Virginia
The challenge of being an American is this: we lead the world in all things and must live up to the standards we have set.

It happens to me each time Im standing at a football game. I dont seem to have much control over it, so its hard for me to explain. I always know its going to happen; I always check my uniform and the way I look; and Im always ready when it begins. Sometimes I think to myself, This time I wont let it happen. But it happens anywayevery single time.
I dont think its the music. Ive heard better compositions. I dont think its the singer whos singing it at the time. They all have to struggle to make it sound right. It must be the words, but, then again, I dont identify with all the phrases and terms in it.
When The Star-Spangled Banner first begins playing, Im usually aware of the people around me and what theyre doing. As the song continues, especially if its being performed well, I lose track of the crowd. I lose myself in the song and all it stands for. The hairs begin to stand up on my arm. I catch myself straightening my back proudly. I gaze at the flag, and a wonderful sense of pride in my country overtakes me.
By the end of the song, I have goose bumps all over meand, lets face it, musically, its not the greatest song in the world! I feel good about myself after the national anthem is over and the crowd cheers, and for many years I havent understood why this one song has the power it has over me.
Now, its clear. It isnt the words or the rhythm or the harmony or the singers voice. Its the combination of hearing all those things, watching the flag billowing and snapping in the wind, and being proud to be an American! Thats what causes the goose bumps!
America is a dream country. Its a country that has anything and everything any human being could ever imagine wanting. Its a country that somehow moti- vates its citizens to be the best. Its a country that has time for its people. Its a country that is willing to do whatever is necessary to guarantee the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its citizens.
In many recent world events, the trend seems to be for Communist-controlled countries to move toward democratic freedom. The crumbling of the wall between East and West Germany is certainly representative of Europes future. Will these newly organized governments model themselves along the lines of America? The light of freedom is beginning to shine as well for other Communist-controlled Europeans. Is it possible that those citizens dreaming of freedom from government control, dreaming of having a voice in their governments, are comparing their dreams to what they envision America to be?
These world events, and many others, present Americans with a challenge. To be an American is a responsibility. The rest of the world watches us. They may be waiting to see if well fall apart when a public figure is found with his hand in the cookie jar. They may believe we have too many drug addicts and that poverty and the homeless will surely destroy us. They point out the disturbing statistics of violent crime in America. But they keep emulating us, dont they? They still use the American lifestyle as the one they want to achieve.
Its fairly simple to support these statements. A quick check into athletic competition at world events verifies that Americans are tough to beat and theyre almost always on top. And, when it happens, nothing appears quite as satisfying to others as beating the American athletes. 
Watching the news confirms that events occurring in the farthest reaches of the world can be controlled or directed by American help, or intervention, or advice. On Wall Street, the economy of the world passes by on a computerized display causing American brokers to buy and sell and affect markets in every country. The American dollar is the standard for judging the value of foreign currencies.
America is everywhere. It cant be avoided. Its on the football field when everyone stands at attention to hear the national anthem. Its with the President. Its at the Vietnam War Memorial; just go there and try not to get goose bumps! Its in Japan where speaking, dressing, and acting American are the in things to do. Its in Russia where they talk with envy about American department stores and their lack of lines! Its in England, where they often point out proudly that their country is our mother country.
Freedom is not free, not ever. There are requirements for freedom and standards that must be maintained. Oh sure, some Americans dont feel the goose bumps, and some of them live in horrible conditions that dont allow them to focus on being proud Americans. Thats all part of the challenge of being an American. We have to constantly be prepared to remedy these things. Without a doubt, we have some of the most serious problems in the world. But, we also have the most intelligent, creative population in the world.
Americans will move into the future, and I predict we will move there in the lead. Well be the world leaders. We wouldnt settle for anything less!
America is a dream country. Its my country. Its your country. Its the country where all things are pos- sible, and the skys the limit. Its a country of optimists and pessimists, of successes and failures. More importantly, though, its a country of doers, and we accomplish a great many things.
The American dream? Oh, yes, its still alive and well. Just go for it!     s


Editors Note: This essay is the 1990 Grand Prize Winner of 1,100 essays submitted in six Valleys participating in the 1989-90 West Virginia Scottish Rite Conference Americanism-Patriotism Essay Contest sponsored by the Valley of Morgantown, West Virginia, and open to public high school juniors and seniors from five West Virginia counties. In this dynamic program, each Valley recognizes its winners at a public banquet or school assembly. Cash awards, ranging from $400 to $50, are given in five categories, each school receiving an amount equal to half of what the winner receives. Also, all winners are awarded engraved plaques, and all participants receive certificates of merit. Congratulations to the West Virginia Brethren for such an outstanding and effective annual program!
My Life

Nicholas Filip, 33
Grand Master of the
Grand  Lodge of Romania
St. Lirei 12, ap. 6, Bucharest
Romania   7000

M\W\  Filip tells of the 
Communist persecution of
Freemasons after World War II and the recent rebirth of the Craft in his homeland where the Grand Lodge of Romania was reconstituted in Bucharest on January 24, 1993. 
Iwas born on September 2, 
1914, in Bucharest, Romania.
During my young adult life, I completed my studies with three Masters Degrees in Literature, Philosophy, and Law. By profession I was a lawyer.
I worked as a trial lawyer in the capital of Romania. In public life I was a declared enemy of Communism. After the end of World War II, a Communist government was installed illegally by violence and fraud. Because I was a prominent intellectual, I was warned by the state authorities to change my social and political attitudes.
In the summer of 1949, I was raised a Master Mason, having been prepared for more than a year. I was never a member of any political party. The secret police knew I was a Mason. I was the defense lawyer for various prominent Masons, for example, in the famous trial regarding the credit of the miners.
One night I was arrested and locked in an underground cell beneath the Ministry of the Interior. I was beaten and cruelly tortured. My life was saved by Vasilescu Albu, the former Romanian ambassador to Moscow, who was held prisoner in the same cell as mine. During the interrogations, I was accused of crimes that had been fabricateddeeds which I never committed.
Another parallel investigation focused on my Masonic membership. Who initiated me? Why did I join Freemasonry? Who were the members of my Lodge? What relationship did Masons have with foreign countries? The official persecution of Masonry had just begun. I was transferred to the prison Malmaison (House of  Evil), the most infamous and sinister prison where spies were kept in detention, a place reserved for the enemies of Communism. Then I was transferred to Aludd in the region of Zarca, where some former prominent politicians and celebrities had been buried alive. I was chained to a wall and received 150 grams of flour a day with half a cup of water. Practically speaking, the Communists tried to kill me. Soon, I weighed less than 90 pounds and smelled like a corpse.
When I begged for a trial, I was told the dead are not taken to court. Stalin Ionescu, a Masonic Brother and coprisoner, managed to smuggle me something to eat once in a while. He would throw it through my window. The hell of interrogation continued diabolically. In this infamous prison, they crushed my fingers, breaking them repeatedly by stepping on them with heavy boots. Later, I was transferred to the concentration camp at Ghencia where barbed wire, starvation, and misery were the order of every day.
One day, I was called by a military officer and informed I was to be interned for 72 months and condemned to forced labor. This was my entire trial. During the course of my captivity, I was transferred to the extermination concentration camp in Bicaz, then back to Ghencia, to Borze and, finally, to Onesti. Then I returned home.
My fortune and possessions were gone, my children starving, my wife in total despair. I engaged in manual labor with a shovel. Afterwards, they allowed me to work in brick factories where I prepared clay for firing. 
Then I found some menial work in Bucharest where I came in secret contact with a few of the surviving Masonic Brethren. Freemasonry had continued to exist here and there secretly throughout Romanian territory. We kept the columns raised and straight. In our daily lives, Masonry continued, though secretly.
On December 22, 1989, the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown by the Council of National Salvation. Some time later, the first Masonic triangle was reunited with some of the surviving Brethren. This group became the George Washington Lodge, the Mother Lodge of Romania. On an improvised altar, there was again united the Bible, Square, and Compasses. The three lights were lit, and the aprons were makeshift, but we re-entered Masonic history.
I believe in God with an unshakable strength. I know the soul is immortal. What I did not know in those dramatic moments of apprehension and joy was that the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of California, represented by those two great Masons, Ill\ Douglas Lemons, 33, S\G\I\G\ in California, and Ill\ Arnold Hermann, 33, was directing its brotherly attention toward the far-away land of Romania. Without them we never would have succeeded.
When I arrived in California in the spring of 1990, the past and future were bound together with hope. Masonry in Romania started below zero. Today we work regularly in five Lodges in the capital and nine Lodges in provincial cities.
In every Lodge I visit throughout the country, we have the following custom: after the Lodge is opened and the work begins, we pray to God, the Great Architect of the Universe. We then raise to Him, through our prayers, our gratitude to America, the Grand Master of California, and Ill\ Brothers Lemons, Hermann, and C. Fred Kleinknecht. These American Brothers were, and are, the flame and the oil which burns in the lamp illuminating our Masonic path in Romania. 
May God receive my prayers and bless you all and your families.     s
In Support of the Star-Bangled Banner
Don Lavender, 33
2913-49th Street
Des Moines, Iowa  50310-2550
Some find fault with our national anthem, but to those who have fought for America, no other song can replace the inspiration and beauty elicited by The Star-Spangled Banner.
With regularity, someone at-
tacks our national anthem, 
The Star-Spangled Banner, through editorials or letters to the editor. Their primary complaints are that it is difficult to sing, it is about war, and the medody is derived from an old drinking song.
None of these things have changed since the U. S. War Department endorsed The Star-Spangled Banner in 1904 and since it was declared as our national anthem by act of Congress in 1931.
It can be sung without too much difficulty if played in a key compatible for most people. The fact that the tune may have been inherited from a less than auspicious source is of little concern to the average individual.
To the several million who fought in World War II or battles since, The Star-Spangled Banner means a lot. Many were the times, as the band played, they stood at attention with a snappy salute and perhaps even a tear in the eye. An observer might have seen their lips moving as they heard the words.
Those who have not experienced the din of battle may be no less patriotic, but there is no way they can share the feeling, the overwhelming satisfaction, of having fought and won. In the minds of veterans, the memories of their effort and of those they left behind in battles at sea, in the air or in the field, are all entwined in the folds of our flag.
Nothing is more symbolic than our flag. The story of its survival at Fort McHenry is beautifully demonstrated in the words of The Star-Spangled Banner. To celebrate survival in the cause of a great ideal is the primary purpose of the song, and that is its message. It does not glorify war, as the critics imply.
Few images can be more moving to the men and women of our Armed Forces than Old Glory waving Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave.
General Douglas MacArthur, 33, once said: It appears inevitable during a nations struggle for survival that the most stirring poetry should be born of battle. And when that poetry, set to music, is dedicated to a flag still standing after battle, it also appears inevitable that that song must live on forever. I have personally known moments of anxiety such as must have been felt by Francis Scott Key, and I, too, have been greatly inspired by the sight of our flag still standing after battle. And I have known emotions that can best be expressed through music. Of such things, history is made.
If there are those who do not share General MacArthurs feeling or who would prefer to express their patriotism through some other tune, let them wait until the many who associate The Star-Spangled Banner with our nations victories have passed on. Those veterans who love it have earned the right to keep it until their dying day.     s

Don Lavender
is a former Secretary Registrar (1974-79) of the Des Moines, Iowa Scottish Rite Bodies. He is retired from the City of Des Moines Engineering Department, and he enjoys hobbies of instrument music and photography.
PERSPECTIVES
AND REflections
The Part Which Is Not Mortal
Freemasonry simply repeats the truth that there is a spark in all humans which is not mortal, does not die, and is the gift of the Deity.
Jim Tresner, 33, P.O. Box 70, Guthrie, Oklahoma  73044-0070
This series of articles deals with the most common charges of those who  make themselves the enemies of Freemasonry. They represent the thoughts of the writer, not the Official Pronouncements of Masonry. But I do hope that those Brethren and non-Masons who may have wondered if there isnt just a little fire somewhere producing all that anti-Masonic smoke, will find that smoke is sometimes produced not by a fire, but by a smoke bomb.
ANTI-MASONS are fond of discovering the hidden Masonic doctrine of immortalitya task which requires considerable creativity, since there is no such doctrine.
The Ritualthe closest thing Masonry has to an authoritative pronouncement on any topicmakes clear where the Mason is to find the pathway to immortality. Masonry, therefore, opens this Book upon its altar with a command to each of its votaries that he diligently study therein to learn the way to Eternal Life.*
Thats pretty straightforward. Masonry teaches the immortality of the individual soul, but refers each Mason to the Sacred Book (and to his own house of worship) to learn what immortality is and how it is to be achieved.
But the anti-Masons, determined to discover something hidden behind that simple position, have developed what they claim to be the true Masonic teachings on immortality.

(a)Anti-Masons claim that Masonry teaches salvation by good works.
(b)Anti-Masons claim that Masonry teaches Universalism.
(c)Anti-Masons claim that Masons believe men and women are capable of evolving into gods themselves.

Lets look at each of these in turn.
First, Masonry teaches the importance of doing good in the world. We insist that charity is the chief characteristic of a Mason. But that is a matter of THIS life, not the next one. We are taught to relieve the widow because the widow needs relief, not because the act will earn us some sort of brownie points toward heaven.
We try to make the world better because it is the duty of every human to try and make the world better. We have homes for the aged, hospitals for the afflicted,  language-learning centers for children, and give scholarships to college students all because the elderly need to be housed and cared for, children need to be healed and helped, and our nation needs educated men and women.
The controversy between by faith alone are ye saved and faith without works is dead has raged for centuries, but it is a battle in which Masonry takes no part. Our position is far more simple and even simplistic: Do good because it is good to do good.
Second, some anti-Masons claim that we teach that all men and women will be saved, regardless of their actions or lives or faith. This position is called Universalism. In order to prove this, they quote various writers who happen to be Masons. They do not quote the only prime source Masonic Ritualbecause it simply is not to be found there. It may be true that some Masons and even some Masonic writers believe in Universalism. Some other people do also. But the writings of a Masonic author (including this one) should never be confused with a teaching of the Fraternity.
A publication such as the Scottish Rite Journal or The Northern Light or The Philalethes is not an organ for the statement of dogma; it is a forum for the clash of ideas, for argument and debate. The question is not Did some writer say something which could be interpreted as supporting the doctrine of Universalism? The question is Does Masonry teach Universalism? The clear answer is that it does not.
Third, there is the assertion by some anti-Masons (Deckers book The Question of Freemasonry contains perhaps the most notorious example) that Masonry believes each person is capable of evolving into a god. (Masons, of course, are saying I never encountered that in the Ritual! And we did not, because it is not there.)
Most anti-Masonic writers base this claim on a passage from Manly Palmer Halls book The Lost Keys of Freemasonry. Two primary points should be noted. Hall wrote the book decades before becoming a Mason himself, so he did not write from experience. Further, the charge is based on an extended allegory printed as an appendix to the book in which Hall is describing the changes he believed occurred in the thinking and outlook of a man when he received the Masonic Degrees and suddenly put aside all material ideas and petty concerns. Its like quoting the story of Little Red Ridinghood to prove that wolves can talk.
Masonry, as all Masons know and most anti-Masons refuse to believe, does not offer any plan of salvation. Were a fraternity, not a church. We simply repeat the truth that there is a spark in all humans which is not mortal, does not die, and is the gift of the Deity. Past that, we point the person to the faith he professes and say, Search there for the way to everlasting life.      s   
Jim Tresner
is the Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute and editor of The Oklahoma Mason. A volunteer writer for The Oklahoma Scottish Rite Mason and a video script consultant for the National Masonic Renewal Committee, he is also Director of  the Thirty-third Degree Conferral Team and Director of the Work at the Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
The Murrow Masonic Monitor and Ceremonies (Oklahoma), a publication of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma
Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth and its foundations and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received.
Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest:
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and ask no reward. . . . 
Ignatius Loyola, Prayer, 1548
Remember                                                                  Me?
Some people call me Old 
Glory. Others call me The 
Star-Spangled Banner. Whatever you call me, I am your flag, the flag of the United States of America.
I remember some time ago when people lined up on both sides of the street to watch the parade, and, naturally, I was always there, proudly waving in the breeze.
When your daddy saw me coming, he immediately removed his hat and placed it over his heart. Remember? And you, I remember you standing there straight as a soldier. You didnt have a hat, but you were giving the right salute. 
What happened? Im the same flag. Oh, I may have added a few more stars since you were a boy, and a lot more blood has been shed since those parades long ago.
But I dont feel as proud as I used to. When I come down your street, you just stand there with your hands in your pockets. I may get a small glance, but then you look away.
I see the children running around and shouting. They dont seem to know who I am. I saw one man take off his hat and look around. He didnt see anybody else with his hat off, so he quickly put his back on. Is it a sin to be patriotic? Have you forgotten what I stand for and where Ive been? Anzio, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Guadalcanal, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait.
Take a look at a memorial honor roll some time. Look at the names of those who never came back in order to keep this republic free, one nation under God.
When you salute me, you are actually saluting them.

Sent in by Bro\ Robert H. Curry, 32, San Diego Scottish Rite Bodies, reprinted from the U. S. Armed Forces newspaper Stars and Stripes
 Worth Fighting For
Dr. S. Brent Morris, 33

Book Reviews Editor for
the Scottish Rite Journal

Editors Note:
Publication information has been carefully checked but is subject to change. Before ordering, we recommend you contact the publisher.
World War II was perhaps the biggest
single event affecting the twentieth century. We have not yet today recovered from all of its effects (witness the current turmoil in eastern Europe, the result of Russia divesting itself of territories it gobbled up during and after the war).
Fifty years ago in June 1944, the Allied Forces invaded Normandy on D-Day. It was a bloody battle in a bloody war, but America had decided some things were worth fighting for, and fight we did. From that point forward, the Allies inexorably pressed forward to their ultimate victory.
To commemorate the semi-centennial of this beginning of the Allied victory, we review three books that tie into the theme of something worth fighting for. Good Night Officially presents the Pacific War letters of a destroyer sailor. It gives us a first-hand account by a Brother Mason of the tense, monotonous, and frightening life on a WW II destroyer. US Military Medals 1939 to 1994 is just what the title implies: a complete, illustrated guide to US decorations and service medals during that critical period for the world. Finally, we have a revised version of the Supreme Councils popular Dynamic Freedoms, a book which summarizes many of those things worth fighting for.
Good Night Officially: The Pacific War Letters of a Destroyer Sailor, edited by William M. McBride, 1994. Hardbound, 324 pp., $24.95 + $2.50 S&H, Westview Press, 5500 Central Ave., Boulder, CO 80301-2847, (800) 456-1995.
ro\ James Orville Raines was an 
ordinary sailor on an ordinary 
destroyer on routine missions. His regular letters to his wife, Ray Ellen, from 1942 to 1945 detail the common daily events aboard the U.S.S. 
Howorth. Raines had no reason to 
glorify himself or the Howorth, and, because of his position in the ships office, his letters were sent home uncensored. All of this combines to make his correspondence extraordinary.
Orville Raines was a reporter for the Dallas Morning News when he entered active duty. His training prepared him to be a writer, and his job on the Howorth gave him ample opportunity to write to his recent bride. He wrote about the reconquest of the Philippines, the twenty-four days they spent firing on Iwo Jima, and the invasion of Okinawa. With the permission of Ray Ellen Raines, we are given a glimpse into the daily monotony and momentary horror of war. Deft editing by William McBride trims purely personal matters and provides helpful commentary.
For someone with no knowledge of a ships operations, editor McBride smoothly gives the background to appreciate Rainess writing. McBride also puts the activities of the Howorth into the larger context of the war in the Pacific. Finally, he provides something of a psychological commentary, explaining the numbing pressures on sailors during war and pointing out important nuances of Rainess letters.
Bro\ Raines mentions Freemasonry twice in three years of writing. Once he meets a Brother Mason on board the Howorth and is excited about the opportunity to practice 
Ritual with him. In another place he comments about a sailor who became a Mason, but Raines is surprised that Masonry had so little positive effect on his shipmate.
Despite his many reassurances to Ray Ellen that he was safe and remote from danger, such was not the case. On April 6, 1945, at least six kamikazes attacked the Howorth. The crew shot down three, but one crashed into the face plate of Howorths Mark 37 gun director. Five crew members were instantly killed, and three others were thrown overboard into the Pacific, including Raines. Badly burned and without a life jacket, Bro\ Orville Raines died shortly later in the arms of a fellow sailor.
U.S. Military Medals 1939 to 1994, by Lawrence H. Borts and Col. (Ret.) Frank C. Foster, 1994. Hard- bound, 80 pp., $24.95 + $4.00 S&H, paperbound, $19.95 + $4.00 S&H, MOA Press, 1929 Fairview Rd., Fountain Inn, SC 29644-9137, (803) 862-6449, (803) 862-7495 fax.
his is a specialized book, but in-
dispensable if you need the reference. It provides a comprehensive history and illustrated reference of all U.S. military medals since World War II. It also has complete color ribbon displays in order of precedence for the services, as well as a section of foreign decorations commonly awarded to United States personnel.
Dynamic Freedoms, edited by RADM William G. Sizemore (USN, Ret.), 33, G\C\, 1994 revised edition. Hardbound, 102 pp., $2.00 ($1.60 each in orders of 100 or more) postpaid, Supreme Council, 33, S.J., 1733 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009-3199, (202) 232-3579. Make check payable to: Scottish Rite Foundation, S.J., USA, Inc.
This is the fourth edition of Dynamic Freedoms. Over 600,000 copies have been printed and distributed in the 17 years since it was first published in 1977. This volume preserves some of those ideas worth fighting for, basic principles of decency and government that have guided the United States since its founding.
The book is divided into three sections. The first contains reprints of Our Freedom Documents, including, among others, the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, excerpts from Washingtons Farewell Address, and the Gettysburg Address. These documents have all provided inspiration and guidance in the development of our nation.
The second section is an essay, Free EnterpriseAn American Breakthrough. If there is one word that summarizes the United States, it would be freedom. And not just the usual freedoms in the Bill of Rights. A free economyallowing success as well as failurehas been essential to giving Americans the standard of living we enjoy.
Concluding this fine book is a thought-provoking essay on Separation of Church and State, an essential freedom that is constantly under attack (from both friends and enemies). No one wants to pay for someone elses religion, but it is so seductive to think government should support the right kind of religion. The problem is deciding what is the right kind. This essay keenly demonstrates the history and importance of what is perhaps Americas most distinctive freedom.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Good Will.
Sir Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm, 1948  

