by Midnight Freemason Contributor
R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley
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| It's not their problem, it's yours. And it's called resentment. |
When Todd Creason and I wrote an article about Quick Masonry, we expected that it would attract some interest, but the amount of discussion it generated on Facebook and elsewhere took us by surprise. The comments mostly fell along the lines we had talked about: Blue Lightnings/One-Day Classes versus traditional degrees (there wasn’t much talk about the short-form catechism). Most of the commenters preferred—strongly—traditional degrees. As it happens, so do Todd and I. However, some of the commenters went so far as to disparage the Brethren who, for whatever reason, took the Quick Masonry route, going so far as to calling them “McMasons.” (McMason defined - here) I realized, on reading those comments, that we had not addressed that point in our original piece, so I decided, with Todd’s encouragement, to write a follow up.
The criticisms of Masons who were products of one-day
classes or Blue Lightnings were generally focused either on their experience
(“they’re not getting what they should”) or their person (“they’re not real
Masons”). The former is reasonable, and is really not a criticism of the
Brothers who went the non-traditional route, but of the Craft itself for
allowing a “weakening” of the experience of becoming a Master Mason. The latter,
however, is not reasonable. It is a criticism of men who, in good faith (as we
must presume), became Masons according to the rules promulgated by their Grand
Lodges. To say that they are not real Masons is not only to dishonor them: it
is to dishonor Masonry itself. It says nothing bad about the criticized, and
nothing good about the critic.
Worshipful Brother Robert Johnson, editor of the Midnight
Freemasons, tells me he hears “McMason” a lot, and shared with me an excerpt
from a fairly typical email he received: "I don't understand how we can
just give away Masonry for a check. I had to work for 4 months to become a
Master Mason. What have they done? Nothing. It like working and getting paid,
and then your boss hands over another paycheck to a guy who shows up and has
never worked before." (Matthew
20: 1-16 might be instructive here.) Brethren who talk this way are not
just denouncing their new Brother; they are not just vilifying their Grand
Lodge for its willingness to bring Masonry to men who might otherwise be unable
to receive their degrees; they are setting themselves up as arbiters of what a
Mason is, as if they themselves are on some Masonic pedestal to which these
“inadequate” Brethren must aspire. I have no doubt that it is well meaning, and
comes from a love of Freemasonry, but it does no one any good.
What happened to meeting on the level? The Mason who is
raised in a Blue Lightning isn’t buying Masonry, and the traditionally-raised Mason
loses nothing by that Blue Lightning. The
moment they’re raised, they have before them the world of the Craft, and it’s
up to each of them to embrace it.
Brethren, please stop criticizing your Blue Lightning
Brethren, and, if you’re able, teach that Brother who you think didn’t get what
he should have. Become his mentor. Be an example of what our gentle Craft can
be. Be his Brother. But don’t think you earned Masonry and he
didn’t. Masonry is a gift, and we need
to treat it as such.
~MHS
R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley
serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership
Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the
Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and
Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City
Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He currently serves
the Valley of Danville, AASR, as Most Wise Master of the George E.
Burow Chapter of Rose Croix; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge
of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied
Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars
of Lebanon. The author of several articles on British history, he
teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at:
m.h.shirley@gmail.com