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Master's Message
May 2006
Dear Brethren,
Today we live in a world where information is available to us in a way no one could ever imagine in past generations. The answer to our questions is only a “mouse click” away. A good thing? Sometimes, a bad thing at others! With information comes misinformation. Recently, while surfing the information superhighway, I came across an anti-Masonic website. It was not the first time that I accessed such a site, and I am sure that many of my Brethren have seen the same. Should I have just ignored it and went on about my business on the computer? Probably, but I did not. I chose to open it. Why? Perhaps it was morbid curiosity, or a need to hear what our detractors are saying about us. Freemasonry has often been accused of being a pseudo-religion, and the site that I viewed declared our fraternity as a “religion of indifference.” The fact that the rule and guide for our faith and practice can be one of many verses, and necessarily the Christian bible leads this group to come to this conclusion. Is this religious indifference or religious tolerance? It is made very clear to the Brethren that a Mason must believe in a Supreme Being to truly be a Master Mason. We are encouraged to support our own particular faith, and be true to our own religious beliefs. That is religious tolerance. It we were an organization of religious indifference, the Holy Book on our Altar and our Obligations would be meaningless.
Remember Brethren, with information comes misinformation. While the modes of recognition, signs and text of our rituals can be found on the internet, the true “mysteries of Freemasonry are safely lodged in the repository of faithful breasts.” Freemasonry comes from the heart.
Fraternally,
James T. Lind
Worshipful Master
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