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          THE POWER AND ACTION OF ONE MAN. . .or:
         The Continuing Tyranny of the Ballot Box

                  by William N. Wine, MPS

[The following is a letter posted to Ken, a Master Mason and member of the
Masonry Forum on the CompuServe computer network. It was in response to a
problem Ken was having with respect to a comment his brother-in-law
received from a member of his lodge. The member informed Ken's brother-in-
law, who was seeking admission, that he need not bother putting in an
application for the degrees of Masonry. Ken's brother-in-law is black. He
was assured that if the petition came to a ballot, he would be black-
balled.] 
My apologies for getting into the thread of this rather late. Perhaps,
however, it has been for the best. I have now been able to closely review
21 excellent replies responding to your message submitted only 24 hours
ago. I have been asked to search my heart and respond with whatever good
counsel can offer.

You mentioned being hurt by the comment made to your brother-in-law, as
well you should. Comments like these should not be permitted in our
Universal Masonic Brotherhood. I, too, was hurt to learn that you have
chosen to withdraw from actively supporting your Blue Lodge or any other
based upon the comment made by one individual. I hesitate to assume that
the brother who made the remark is a "worthy" brother Master Mason. Far,
far too often I have seen brothers leave the Craft because of a comment or
an action by one individual. Unfortunately, some brothers know not what
they say on occasion nor have any idea as to what damage their comment or
action might cause. In your situation, a loose comment not only prevented
what might be a very qualified candidate from joining the Craft, but also
has diverted a brother, namely you, from gaining further light in Masonry.
How sad it is that yours is not an isolated case. It is one that hits very
close to home.

In the Korean conflict, my father, an infantryman, was part of a group
captured by the North Koreans and held as prisoners. One night while being
transferred to another POW camp, he, along with the others, was attacked
by "friendly fire" while crossing a bridge. Night bombings of strategic
locations were not unusual. My father was one of two out of a few hundred
who barely survived. Fortunately, he was left for dead or nearly so. A few
days later, after the area was reclaimed by US forces, he was discovered
by a US Army medical unit, which rushed him to a field hospital.

Following a year in various hospitals, he was finally well enough to come
home to his family and a new life, but not without a mobility loss of 30
percent in one arm.

Now a purple-heart veteran, my father was interested in joining a Masonic
lodge. A number of his military buddies were doing this at that time, and
he wanted to be a part of whatever they were joining. This was in the
early 1950's. Following the reading of his petition, a member of the lodge
remembered the newspaper articles of my father's capture. He refused to
believe that my father, Lawrence Wine, was anything less than an enemy spy
or at the very least, a Communist. Without any further investigation, this
man black-balled my father from the lodge. It was many years before this
truth came to light.

My father felt that Freemasonry had turned its back on him; that
regardless of the sacrifice he had made for his country, he was
unqualified and unfit to be considered for Masonic membership. Twelve
years later, he, having moved his family to another city, gathered the
courage to make another attempt. This time he was successful. One man,
just one man, kept my father from enjoying Masonic Light for 12 years!
Twelve Years.


Without my father's courage, my brother and I would not have been in
DeMolay or members of the Masonic Fraternity; we would not have served as
officers of the Order of DeMolay on local and jurisdictional levels. My
mother and father would not have been the matron and patron of the Eastern
Star Chapter. My father would not have served as master of his lodge, nor
would I have served twice as master of the same lodge, in which I also
have served as officer's coach for 11 years. I would not be employed in
the fine profession that I am in nor would I have had the great pleasure
of sharing my Masonic experience with the brethren of this forum I would
not have had the opportunity of meeting countless other great brothers in
my Masonic travels.

There and so many other things my family was nearly denied by the action
of one man. The action of one man and one black cube in one evening nearly
changed the future course of one entire family for all time!

So please, my brother, be at peace. have the courage and wisdom to realize
that the actions and opinions of one man or a few do not always reflect
those of the many. Do not allow the action of one man to deprive you of
your journey toward greater Masonic Light. And, as it has been mentioned,
if at all possible, convince your brother-in-law that there are brethren
within the fraternity who take a very dim view of those who are blinded by
the Light and fail to recognize the Universality of our Brotherhood.

Perhaps your brother-in-law will need some of the courage my father
displayed. I pray that he will make the attempt, and that in so doing,he
will be successful. I also pray that you and your brother-in-law will be
able to share many years of pleasurable membership together in our
ancient, honorable, and "universal" fraternity.







                            oOo

- The number of words in the questions and answers, opening and closing,
floor work and lectures of all three Virginia Masonic Degrees is reported
to be 31,951. Do you know how many words there are in your Jurisdiction's
Work?