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aedifico42| Can we?…or…Must we?

Posted at: 10:48 pm

I was disturbed recently to hear about the following conversation (all of this, by the way is hearsay from an incredibly reliable source)…
Mason 1: Now that Obama won, and since our jurisdiction has regular relations with our Prince Hall brothers…do we have to hang his picture in our Lodge?
Mason 2: I’m not certain…I mean…he IS the President-Elect…but I still am not certain.

Then Mason #3 steps-in and answers the question…

Mason 3: The “Obama is a Mason” myth comes from a photo in a popular weekly news magazine which showed a pair of African American hands holding the seal of the President of the United States. The hands had on them a ring. The ring had a Square and Compasses. Nobody knows whether or not it was Obama’s hands, or if the man holding the Seal is even a Mason…it doesn’t matter. I mean…don’t you think we would be hearing from his Lodge if he WAS a Mason? What a shot in the arm for the fraternity! Yet another Mason in the White House!

Ok…Snap. Back to reality.

The question had nothing to do with Obama or the Masonic Presidency. It was about bigotry. The way the question was asked betrays the attitude behind the question.

Instead of asking “Can we…” the questioner asked “Must we…” It was as if hanging that photo would be a chore…worse yet, an eyesore he wanted to avoid. To be certain…the “Can we…” would be asked and answered if the election results were different…especially in Arizona!

Alas, we still have bigotry and racism in our Craft. Those “Brothers” need not extend their hand to me or any Man in my Lodge. I am not shy about telling bigots where to get-off…especially those who hide their bigotry in my Freemasonry.

The problem we have is the preception that we are still mostly bigots, and that Freemasonry is a White association. I just laugh when I see the faces on some of these people when they walk-into our Lodge and see the diversity. We reflect our community with pride…not with apprehension.

To be certain, there are those who choose to remain separate from ‘Mainstream’ Freemasonry. Our Brothers of the Prince Hall tradition will probably never surrender their independence…neither will they ever discourage a white man to join.

What I am getting-at is simple. Just because most Americans feel a certain way, does not mean that all Americans do. And don’t pretend that I am saying that a disagreement with policy or ideals means you are a bigot…it is never that simple. We each vote our own way for our own reasons. I know plenty of fair-minded Republicans, and I’ve known a few idiot-bigot Democrats. But let’s be honest, shall we? We all know men who are stupid enough to vote against a man just because of his race…political bent be damned.

We, however, should be better than that. We are bigger than that. We must be strong enough to not let the side comments and whispered ugliness survive. Tell them what you think when you hear the jokes or the innuendo. Race is still an important part of our culture because we have yet to get past it as a society. We are part of that world, no matter how much higher our Masonic Teachings would elevate us. Attack the problem by attacking the attitude head-on.

Who knows…perhaps one day we will elect another Mason to the White House.

I just hope he’s as good as we’d expect him to be…and that each of us is at least as good as we’d expect him to be before we judge him.

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