This came in from a list.     Its just food for thought!!!

The public statement by the Grand Masters of the Grand Orient of Italy
and the Regular Grand Lodge of Yugoslavia raises some questions for
me.

As an individual, I am, of course, appalled by what is now taking
place in Kosovo and in Yugoslavia as a whole. My masonic training
supports me in the determination to speak out and take whatever action
I can to bring this conflict to a just and speedy conclusion. My
questions, however, are these: Does my masonic training support me in
speaking out or taking action AS A MASON? And does my masonic
obligation authorize anybody else to issue political declarations on
my behalf?

What particularly prompted these questions is the fact that, because
of the way it is written, it looks as if the statement of the two
Grand Masters is meant to be read as something more than an expression
of the opinion of those two individuals -- more, even, than an
expression of the opinions of their respective Grand Lodges. The
statement of the two Grand Masters purports to speak in the name of
freemasonry. It says, "Freemasonry...refuses and condemns..." And,
in the name of freemasonry, this statement advocates a particular
course of political action -- namely that the present conflict be
resolved within the UN -- which is not uncontroversial.

The fact that this statement purports to speak for "freemasonry" would
give me grave concern even if I agreed with every word it contained.
I am a master mason, and I take my masonic obligation seriously.
However, when I took my obligation as a mason, I do not recall saying
anything which authorized anybody else to make political declarations
on my behalf.

I realize that among masons there are many different views about what
masonry is and about its proper role in the larger society. My own
understanding of the matter is something like this: Masonry is, to
use a familiar phrase, "a peculiar system of morality..." Masonry is
not a political party or a religious sect. It does not take positions
on social issues or support candidates for office. Individual masons
may, and frequently have, taken political positions, held public
office and done all manner of public things. But they do those things,
not as masons expressing the doctrines of masonry. They do them as
individuals -- inspired and sustained, perhaps, by the light of
masonry -- but not AS masons.

This very point was expressed -- with incomparable eloquence -- in a
lecture to the Philalethes Society by Bro. Thomas Jackson, FPS and
Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of PA. I hope I will be forgiven
if I quote some of it below:

=============================================
It Is The Mason As A Man Who Has Impacted History
by Thomas W Jackson FPS

For a considerable number of years I have been wondering how an
organization with as much influence as Freemasonry has had over
several hundred years, could fail to be acknowledged for its
contribution to the development of modern civilization and human
thought. I even developed a talk which I titled "How Can They Ignore
This?" In it, I ask those to whom I am speaking how often they ever
saw Freemasonry presented in a history text. I simply was unable to
comprehend how we could be ignored.

With the exception of organized religion, " Freemasonry probably has
created a greater beneficial impact upon the development of present
day civilization than any other organization which has existed on
Earth, and yet, when you read historical documentation of the
evolution of civilization, Freemasonry is rarely mentioned and, if it
is, it is only peripherally.

Last year, the first World Conference of Grand Masters was held in
Mexico City. Out of that conference came the Charter of Anahuac. The
third item in that Charter presented the need of the Craft in the 21st
Century "to fight against. . .ecological depredation, contamination of
the environment. .against . . ., social instability . . ., and
religious commitments in education, " amongst others.

I have a very serious concern with any proposal that suggests
Freemasonry's involvement in political and/or religious issues, and
item three of the Charter suggests precisely that. There is no way
social and ecological issues can be dealt -with, without involving
politics or religion. This Craft has been able to weather the storms
which wiped out many organizations and even toppled governments
because it stayed above the controversies of religion and politics.

When I present my concerns about the Charter to some Masonic leaders,
the rebuttal I received was that Masonry must have been involved in
political and religious issues in the past. Freemasonry's influence in
the American Revolution was cited as an example. They pointed to the
actions of men like Washington, Franklin, Lafayette, and others, as
Masonic involvement. In addition, Simon Bolivar in South America,
Lajos Kusata in Hungary, Theodore Kolokotronis in Greece, Benito
Juarez in Mexico, amongst many other who contributed so much to the
concept of freedom, were examples of political involvement in other
countries.

And then, for the first time I began to understand why the influence
of Freemasonry is not discussed in history books. We cannot deny the
impact of Washington and so many others in the development of American
freedom; but it was Washington, the man, not Washington the Mason, and
not Freemasonry that made America what it is. This is also true of
Bolivar, Kusata, Kolokotronis, and Jaurez and all of the other great
patriots of their countries.

The philosophical purpose of Freemasonry always has been to develop
the man-to start with good men and make them better, to increase the
intellectual capacity of the individual, and to give the man the
incentive through our lessons to contribute to making the world a
better place to live.

As an ecologist, I have for more than 35 years expressed my views on
ecological issues and on the population explosion; but I speak as a
man, not as a Freemason. My compassionate thought of life might have
been nurtured in a Masonic Lodge, but, when I speak, it is not
Freemasonry speaking. When Washington acted, it was not Freemasonry
acting. Thankfully, Freemasonry has had great influence on many
leaders, but the man influenced does the acting. Thus we read about
the man in history texts, not the organization.
=========end of quotation from Thomas Jackson=================



