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                  the philalethes lecture

                  WHERE ARE WE NOW? - II
                  by Cabell F. Cobbs, MPS

In the first section of his lecture, Brother Cobbs analyzed the decline in
Masonic membership and described some of the things others have suggested
for increasing and retaining membership in our modern society. He also
analyzed certain trends in today 's life-style that may discourage Masonic
membership. This section of the lecture gives his thoughts about how to
make that reversal.

                 "Let's Try Freemasonry."

We must not now bow to pressures exerted upon the Craft by panicky leaders
of other bodies and abandon the basic principles by which our Gentle Craft
has been governed for so many centuries. What has sustained us well
through untold centuries should not be cast aside. In that way lies our
ultimate destruction as a unique moral force. We teach that Masons are
linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affection: in many
instances, a "three-fold cord that is not easily broken." That tie has its
genesis in the personally shared initiatory experience.

Psychologists have long realized that the common performance of a series
of ritualistic steps, formal in nature or otherwise, lays the foundation
for a bonding that does not otherwise exist. It bands men together in a
fashion similar to those who belong to elite military bodies such as the
British Commandos, Navy Seals, United States Marines, and Army Green
Berets, all of whom undergo stringent training designed to make each
member function as a part, as it were, of a larger whole. In the same way,
the mystery building in the three degree ceremonies builds, or should
build, to a climax, in the second section of the Master's Degree when the
initiate undergoes an experience that he will never forget--one which will
bind him tightly to every member in his lodge. Sitting in a bleacher seat
does teach the lesson found on Third Base and beyond.

It was common participation in the initiatory experience that caused the
Mohawk chieftain, Joseph Brant, during the Revolutionary War, to kick the
brands from the feet of his white Masonic brother being burned at the
stake and to restore him to his companions. It is the tie between brethren
built on that individual ritualistic foundation which caused countless
brethren in the Civil War to disregard their political allegiances and to
grant aid and assistance to their wounded Masonic brethren on the enemy
side. It is such a tie that led European Masons to risk their lives before
and during World War II to save their persecuted brethren. And that tie
will not be built by watching an exemplar receive the degrees in an
auditorium.

Certainly, we can get members that way; we can also increase our rolls by
advertising in the pulp magazines as do the California Rosicrucians
(AMORC). Just as softball teams, bowling alleys, and touring bus trips do
not make church members into Christians, so also mass initiation does not
make Masons. Adding members instead of Masons should not be our goal.
Does this mean that there is nothing we can do but to sit back, and, in
some vague way, hope that things will get better? Of course not.
Freemasonry is simply not meant for everyone. Our phenomenal growth
largely occurred in the World War II and post-World War II period. It is
losses from those new highs that we are now suffering--principally, I
suggest, from death. They are unlikely to be replaced until the moral
pendulum inevitably begins its swing back to stable families and a renewal
of interest in spirituality and morality. We are, after all is said and
done, a religious institution. In short, and in Most Worshipful [Dwight L.
] Smith's words, "Let's try Freemasonry." (20)


            "Remember What We Are - Freemasons"

I suggest that we might start by considering what we are--Freemasons--not
a religion, not a service club, not a civic organization, not something
designed for "togetherness, " "bigness, " or any other of the crass aims
that have been trumpeted so hard in twentieth-century America. Our mission
is, as it has been for hundreds of years, to take the individual man of
good character and mold him into God's pattern of morality. Thus we build
our symbolic Temples in the hearts of men. We were once bound together as
brothers by a mystic tie so strong that it overcame the savage instincts
of the Indian enemy and the wartime adversary. We can see that tie once
more renewed and strengthened if we but give our brethren the knowledge on
which it is based.

Remembering our original purposes, let us reinstitute our social
practices, with Masonic feasts being held on a quarterly basis, offering
wine and other refreshments. These were eliminated by puritanical
nineteenth-century legislation which paralleled similar movements in the
civil sphere. We were born in taverns. Use of refreshments has proven no
handicap at Philalethes assemblies or those other organizations which
still have periodic dinners. They remain a common feature of British lodge
communications. The practice would go far in brightening the image of the
Craft and might well include "friends" or guests; and place us once more
in the mainstream of American thought. Those who do not imbibe will be
free to abstain. The danger lies in excess, but that can be controlled by
existing disciplinary means. (21)

         "Public Perception and Masonic Ignorance

There is much that can likewise be done inside the Craft and respect to
public perception of our nature and practices. Our own membership and
leaders are woefully ignorant of our nature and practices. Our own
membership and leaders are woefully ignorant of our history, background,
and indeed, the very nature of lodge work. When questioned by a profane,
they frequently don't know the answer but, rather than admit it, fall back
on secrecy as a motive for not discussing the Craft. As so many of us have
contended for so many years, Masonic education is the answer. It should be
carried out extensively and taught to all brethren, particularly those who
are newcomers to the Craft.

Catechisms are not enough, nor are lectures and speeches. We must move
with the times. Audio-visual aids are essential to any education program.
Even the showing of a simple videotape, such as The Freemasons, published
by the Grand Lodge of England in 1987, will do much to inform the average
brother.

Other educational materials and resources are abundant. Research lodges
abound. The Philalethes magazine should be made available in every lodge.
Any regular lodge can become a member of the Quatuor Coronati Correspon-
dence Circle or the Southern California Research Lodge. Similar research
organizations exist in every Grand Jurisdiction. They should follow
Southern California's example and play a real role in Masonic education.
At the very least, our brethren should be taught that we are not a secret
society; that the only secrets we possess are related to our ritual and
modes of recognition; that we are not a religion or substitute for a
religion, but believe unreservedly in the toleration of all religious
faiths; and in the event someone asks them something about the Craft which
they do not know, to admit it and say they'll try to find out. In short,
let us set our Craft to work.

               "Improving Public Perception"

This would go far in eliminating misconceptions in and out of the Order.
It should not be forgotten that the Task Force polls established that the
great majority of American males know very little or nothing about
Freemasonry. Neither do most Masons. To this one must add the
misconceptions generated by a minority of religious fanatics who regard
and teach that we are anti-Christian, if not Satanic. Here, indeed is a
need for effective public education.

To achieve this objective, I believe it is necessary to organize a
national public relations campaign. This will require leaders who are able
to place the interests of the Craft as a whole above squabbles over
jurisdiction and authority. It should be made the responsibility of an ad
hoc committee under the aegis of the Conference of Grand Masters of North
America. This would avoid the sometimes-parochial concerns of the
appendant bodies (although they should be equally represented), and insure
a truly national effort. Financing can be provided by voluntary, scaled
assessment of each body, or by each agreeing to assess its members
especially for this purpose. The body would function under the leadership
of personnel experienced in public relations, with the objective of
developing professional video and similar releases on the history, nature,
and functions of the Craft, for national dissemination. (22)  Provision
would be made for the use of public television facilities and the purchase
of necessary air time. Museum displays might be made available on the
local level to demonstrate our role in American history. (23)

In addition, Grand Lodges would agree to buy additional commercial
advertising space on local stations and in local newspapers for the
purpose of spreading the Masonic story and combating the false image many
have of our Craft.

Understandably, this campaign will be expensive but, again, the media are
the message. Our enemies are aware of this and make use of their resources
to denigrate us wherever possible. Lacking such an effort on our part, I
see little hope of publishing our real. story to the American public or to
stabilizing our losses. (24)
          "Feminism, Racism, and Other Problems."

We can likewise attempt to address the problems created by the role of the
female partner in modern society by the institution and practice of
Ladies' Nights at which a social hour and dinner might be followed by
dancing or other entertainment suitable to the community or area in which
the lodge is located. If we practice "togetherness" wherever we can within
the limits of our present institution, and explain the historic reasons
for our tradition, we will go far in eliminating the antipathy which many
wives might otherwise feel toward our all-male organization. Of course, we
will not satisfy every woman, but Freemasonry will never satisfy everyone,
nor can it do so.

We must face up to the problem of racism in many of our Grand Jurisdic-
tions . Not only is a black petitioner likely to be rejected in many
states, but the black organization comparable to our Craft--Prince Hall
Masonry--is recognized by only a handful of Grand Lodges, although its
history, its antecedents, and practices establish the regularity of its
Freemasonry beyond question. Every sort of attack is leveled in an attempt
to degrade these fine Masonic bodies but, in the end it comes down to a
question of race.

Admittedly, there is likewise opposition on the black side of Masonry to
such recognition, but no one has ever claimed that racism is restricted to
whites. The practice is not only inconsistent with our teachings of
brotherly love, (25)  but with the indisputable fact that our prospective
petitioners have been reared in an integrated society and have many black
friends and companions. Moreover, these young men are not impressed by
hypocrisy.

There are many similar measures which might be adopted to improve our
public image and expectations for the future. Grand Lodges should not only
suggest cleanup and fix-up of Masonic halls, but should insist that it be
done or the charter surrendered. Masonry must quit stumbling along with an
inadequate financial structure. Dues and degree fees should be increased
to a level commensurate with the value of the work we do. There should be
a return to formal Grand Lodge and lodge charity funds to replace the
current "pass the hat philosophy. " Nothing earns us more good will than
the knowledge that we will never ever fail to sustain a brother overtaken
by calamity.

                       "Conclusion"

Above all, we need leadership--the election in every jurisdiction of real
leaders who are willing to put the interests of the Craft ahead of all
else, and to subordinate the interests of their own jurisdiction to that
of the Craft as a whole. The time is long since past when we can elect as
Grand Masters the good ole boys who have served long but done little. We
must, above all else, recognize our plight is national; our weakness is
too often in our provincialism and fear of national bodies. If we can but
lay aside these strictures on our actions, we can go far in promoting a
true view of the Craft.

Other ideas will easily occur to far more fertile minds than mine, but my
professional experience and my Masonic life have taught me one valuable
consideration: It is the perception rather than the fact which commonly
governs public support. It is most important, therefore that we see to it
that the public perception of our Craft is in fact a realistic
impression.

Where are we now? About as before. Still losing; the new wrinkles are not
working. But we can do something about it, if we have the determination to
take national action to let the public know the magnificent story of our
Craft. We can start, in Brother Smith's words, the practice of
Freemasonry- -standing by the age-old precepts that have served us well
and reinstituting social customs common in Freemasonry everywhere else in
the world.

Wouldn't it be nice for everyone to know what a Mason really is? Wouldn't
it be nice to enjoy your wife's company at frequent Masonic functions all
over your state? Wouldn't it be great to see our gentle Craft once more
become the respected and influential body it should be?

All of these things and more--can, and will become fact--my brethren, if
we but have the will--if we but have the will.


Notes

20.  Smith, "Why this Confusion in the Temple?" p. 128.

21.  In Virginia, we permit the use of wine in table lodges, as toasts
     are a part of the ritual It is generally not used . See Edict dated
     February 15, 1989, Methodical Digest, (Richmond: Grand Lodge of
     Virginia, 1990).

22.  An amateur videotape on the history and meaning of the Royal Arch
     produced at minimal expense in 1993 was distributed to various
     chapters, which showed it in lodges of their respective areas. It
     helped bring an unprecedented number of candidates to regional Royal
     Arch Festivals held that year.

23.  The Archives of our lodges are filled with historic materials which
     demonstrate the Masonic membership of important Americans. For
     example, my own lodge, Staunton No. 13, chartered in 1786, Possesses
     a diploma certifying to the award of the Royal Arch Degree on
     Meriwether Lewis. Fredericksburg Lodge No. 14 records the initiation
     and raising of George Washington, and Alexandria-Washington Lodge
     possesses many mementos of his service as Master. Other possess
     various antiques and item of great interest to the public. Grand
     Lodge Museums are filled with such items, all generally unknown to
     the public, as is Freemason's Hall in Richmond, Virginia,
     continuously used as a Masonic building since its erection in 1786.

24.  Previous public relations efforts have been made on a piecemeal
     These have included billboards, radio and TV announcements, video-
     tapes shown largely to the membership or to small club audiences.
     Few amount to more than bland, non- controversial statements, and
     even fewer have had any real distribution. These uncoordinated
     efforts have not proven effective because they have not reached the
     general public.

25.  "By the exercise of brotherly love, we are taught to regard the
     whole human species as one common family ... who, as children of the
     same Almighty Parent, are sent into the world to aid, support and
     protect each other..."