X-Rated Freemasonry

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

Freemasons — those never kiss-and-tell pillars of society always adhere to the values of ethics and high-morals, observing the promises of their obligations. Well... almost always. There have been instances where society, depending upon the social mores of the day, may have judged Brethren harshly for "crossing the line." Some of those occasions by today's standards may seem as tame as a sleeping kitten while others might raise the eyebrows of the most iniquitous among us. Read on, and judge for yourself.

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American Gothic
Brother Grant Wood (1892-1942), of Mount Hermon Lodge 263, Cedar Rapids, painted the acclaimed "American Gothic." Released in 1930, the painting shocked many when Wood said it was a portrait of a married couple. The scene depicts an elderly man holding a pitchfork standing next to a much younger woman. The age difference caused the scandal, so Wood eventually said the woman represented the man's daughter. He would, in fact, change that story and say she was his wife, depending on how he perceived the audience would react.

Four Too Many

Brother Tom Mix, a member of Utopia Lodge 537 of Los Angeles was one of the earliest film superstars. In an era where moviegoers were unaccustomed to some of the antics of Hollywood actors, they were shocked at what one might call his practice of "serial monogamy." Mix had five wives — at a time when that number was considered just about four too many.

Bare Facts

After visiting the Soviet Union Brother Will Rogers wrote a book entitled, "There's Not A Bathing Suit In Russia, And Other Bare Facts." Suggestive by the standards of the day, the publisher declined to put the second part of the title on the book's cover.

Stephen Austin's Nemesis
Anthony Butler (1787–1849) was a lawyer, a politician, a diplomat, the ward and friend of Brother Andrew Jackson and, yes, a Freemason. Jackson appointed Butler his secret agent in a surreptitious plan to purchase Texas for the United States. Upon arriving in Texas, Butler crossed swords with Brother Stephen F. Austin who was establishing colonies there. While there, Butler became interested in and began courting the daughter of a prominent Mexican family. Austin was a friend of the family. Upon hearing what Butler was up to, he exposed him as a man who had a wife and three children back in the US., thwarting the plan to purchase Texas and fueling a lifetime of animosity between the two Masonic Brothers.

The Bestseller
Charles P. "Chic" Sale (1885-1936), Urbana Lodge 157 (IL), was an actor and humorist in vaudeville and a character actor in movies. He never achieved a great amount of fame, however, until he became an author and published "The Specialist." The book sold 200,000 copies in three months and went on to be a million-seller. Its subject: outhouses. Considered risqué for its time, the book was nearly banned, but Brother Sale chose his words just carefully enough to avoid having it censored.

A One-Glove Striptease

Glenn Ford, a member of Riviera Lodge 780 in Pacific Palisades, California, got his big break when Humphrey Bogart turned down the role of Johnny Farrell in the 1946 blockbuster, "Gilda." In one scene his co-star, Rita Hayworth, was to take swing at him. She misjudged the distance between them and broke Ford's jaw. That was only the beginning of the scandal the film generated. In it, Hayworth performed a strip-tease in which she removed nothing more than one glove. That and a rumored affair between the two co-stars nearly caused censors to ban the movie.

Sin-Suffer-Repent

Brother Henry Lieferant (1892-1968), Lodge unknown, was a Polish-born and educated immigrant to the US who became a prolific author with several books and magazine articles to his credit. As Editor-in-chief of "True Story" magazine, he was responsible for its rise to popularity — and reputation as an "off color" magazine — when he developed the story format whereby a heroine "violates standards of behavior, suffers as a consequence, learns her lesson and resolves to live in light of it, unembittered by her pain." "True Story" magazine still survives using Brother Lieferant's tried-and-true, if not slightly salacious format known as "sin-suffer-repent."

Panty Raid
A Grand Lodge of California account from the mid-1960s describes a crime in which a Brother had been convicted of the theft of clothing, including 181 pairs of women's undergarments. The official police report described the incident as a "panty raid," stemming from the popular (and self-explanatory) hi-jinx occurring on college campuses at the time. The Brother came up on Masonic charges. In order to distinguish his serious crime from some youthful indiscretion, the Grand Lodge of California Proceedings for that year included the following: "We do not wish to be misunderstood as overemphasizing the gravity of that specification against the accused in which he is charged with a ‘panty raid.' Indulgence in such conduct by boys of college age for the purpose of displaying either skill or courage, if that be the purpose, differs from the conduct of the accused here, in that the theft of 181 pairs of ladies pants is not merely a playful prank."

Unchristian Conduct
The Presbyterian Church in 1831, sanctioned Nathaniel Beverley Tucker (1784-1851), second Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, for shocking "unchristian conduct." Certain parties, it seems, claimed he "partook of the amusement of dancing" on three occasions. There is no record of any action taken against him, but shortly thereafter MWB Tucker became an Episcopalian.

Keeping It In the Family
Brother Will Rogers asked his wife Betty to marry him in 1906. Betty, apprehensive about a life in show business, turned him down. A year and a half later the persistent Rogers changed her mind and they married. In the meantime`, Rogers dated every one of Betty's six sisters.

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Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said of obscenity, "I can't define it... but I know it when I see it." That might apply to each of these little scenarios. As you form your opinion about their appropriateness, you might do well to drag your Bible off the shelf and read Matthew 7:1-3; And, while you're at it, ask yourself if the title of the article piqued your interest.

Note: Many of the accounts above are excerpted from Brother Harrison's book, "Freemasons: Tales From the Craft."

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

Social Media Is Killing Freemasonry?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Robert H. Johnson

“I think you ought to think about that…” That’s what he said to me after the meeting. I guess I should explain. After a meeting one night, I was talking to one of my mentors after I took a rather silly photo with another brother. The mentor said, “You know, I think you might want to slow down on this internet posting.”

Shortly before he said that, I had made mention that this picture would be all over the web by morning. I was joking of course, but it had an effect on my mentor. He went on, “You know the issue with your Entered Apprentices getting accosted by this clandestine lodge and things of that nature, it bothers me a great deal.” I asked him “How so? I didn’t cause that confrontation, I just wrote about it.” I was of course referring to the incident which took place last month. You can read about it here.

My mentor said, “You did cause that confrontation. You took a picture with the new EA and posted it on our Facebook Page.” “I guess I did, didn’t I?” I replied. I thought about it for a moment and I also thought about how many of these types of photos were indeed out there, pictures of new candidates, new Master Masons, etc. Heck, even the Grand Lodge of Illinois had a picture of someone taking their obligation right on the web and on the cover of its magazine. So how was this any different and how was this particular case an issue?

My mentor once again continued, “I know we do some silly things sometimes and I know we are all human, but do we want to show those things to the public? Do we want to be associated with the same type antics that biker clubs have and that sort of thing? We’re supposed to be this classy organization and yet it only takes one screw up, one photo or one person to get the wrong idea and it hurts the entire fraternity.”

He talked about a few other things, mostly about what personal information we as masons share on social media outlets. Personal family stories or anecdotes, and he asked if ultimately those things could have a potential to hurt the fraternity. It really made me think. Do I post too much? Should we be posting photos of our new Brothers, Fellows and Masters? Should we share images of our events?

After thinking about this, I realize that I just don’t know. I probably will be more selective about what I share on social media platforms. There is a Social Media Code of Conduct for Freemasons in some states, but Illinois isn’t one of them. I don’t think, however what we are talking about here is necessarily the issues to which that document is supposed to govern.

When we share these kinds of candid lodge photos, do we run a chance of someone getting the wrong impression and going after the fraternity for the wrong reasons? Are we playing Russian roulette? Should we guard the candid shots from finding their way to web?

~RHJ

Bro. Robert Johnson, 32°is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the First North-East District of Illinois. He is the Master of Waukegan Lodge No. 78 and Education officer for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He is also a member of the York Rite bodies Royal Arch, Cryptic Council, Knights Templar, AMD, The Illinois Lodge of Research and a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago as well as a charter member of the Society of King Solomon, a charity organization run by the Grand Lodge of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focus on topics relating to Freemasonry. In addition, he produces video shorts focusing on driving interest in the Fraternity and writes original Masonic papers from time to time. He is also a cohost of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of three. He works full time in the safety industry and is also a photographer on the side as well as an avid home brewer. He is currently working on a book of Masonic essays.

A Sad Thing

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

Not long after becoming a Master Mason I went to a Third Degree ceremony at my Lodge.  As I stood in line for coffee I heard two men behind me, not from my Lodge, have the following conversation:

Joe: "Well, I hear So-And-So Lodge over in Whatever-Town just initiated an African American.*

Frank: "Oh, so he's both a brothaaaah and a Brother."

Joe: "He ain't my Brother."

*For the record, Joe did not say "African American."

I was stunned.

It was as close as I have ever come to an out of body experience.  Yes, I should have said something.  Yes, I should have taken a stand; but in my mind, I wasn't even there anymore.  I couldn't be there.  I don't associate with that.  It couldn't be happening.

Unfortunately, it did happen.  I came to hope it was an isolated event.  I found out it wasn't.  Not often but every now and then I'd go to a function where someone would make an offhand remark, a quip, tell an inappropriate joke, some of them having a purposeful intent, some without a clue they've said anything unsuitable.

I could go on with examples but the question that comes up is, "What does a guy do?"  I have learned bigots don't change.  They're dug in and any opposition just makes them dig in more. 

When I was in college supporting the seemingly ubiquitous civil rights movement, if you had asked, "Way in the future, say in the year 2015, do you think things will improve significantly," my naïve answer would probably have sounded like a chorus of Crystal Blue Persuasion: "In every nation there'll be peace and good, brotherhood..."

Wow.  Was I ever wrong.

This week, the tipping point came for me in one of my Lodges.  What was passed around on the Lodge's email list was one of those seemingly innocuous little things meant to be funny.   Had that been the end of it I probably would have, like before, let it roll off my back and come away just a little more discouraged about some of our members' levels of ignorance.

Thing is, it didn't stop there.  A poop-storm (you may have a more colorful term) ensued when one of the Brothers had the audacity to suggest it was racist.  The whole thing flamed out in an explosion of profanity that would embarrass the most hard-core longshoreman.  That did it.  I channeled my long-dormant inner tree-hugging-flaming-bleeding-heart-hippie liberal, symbolically ran to my window and did my best Peter Finch imitation:

"I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

I won't spiral into the madness of Finch's portrayal of Howard Beale in Network, but I mean it.

For starters, I am no longer a member of that Lodge.  To be fair, there are Brothers there who found the situation as abhorrent as I did, and they have been supportive. I could have stayed to "fight the good fight" or make change from within.  Aside from the fact it would be a long, if not futile exercise, in this case I wanted to make the statement: I will not be associated with it.

For me, no longer do the offhand remarks, quips and inappropriate jokes get a free ride.  I know for certain the Grand Line officers in my state stand solidly against such bigotry and that will help (See "The Incident" in the Midnight Freemasons blog HERE).

We like to say Freemasonry makes good men better.  We all have shortcomings but by any sane standard the "good men" category excludes racists.  Unfortunately, more than a few have slithered into our fraternity.  It's a sad thing.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33°, is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is the editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine, author of the book Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research and also its Worshipful Master. He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. His latest book, Freemasons: Tales From the Craft, will be released later this year.