Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Florida BREAKING NEWS

Brothers, Sisters and Friends Around the World:

This has just come to my attention from Tim Bryce, who we all know as a reliable source of information via his Yahoo Group that he has it from a reliable source that last Monday, Florida's Prince Hall Grand Lodge has recognized the Grand Lodge of Florida (unilaterally). I offer this in the sincere hope that it is correct. I will post more as I hear it.

Below is the passed resolution which is being sent to the Grand Master of Florida prior to the upcoming Grand Communications:

Whereas, The Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge Most Ancient & Honorable Fraternity Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliated of Florida; Belize, Central America Jurisdiction, Incorporated is a regular Grand Lodge originating from African Lodge No 459, which is descendant from the United Grand Lodge of England, and is the sole and supreme Masonic authority over its constituents and Jurisdictions; and

Whereas, the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM is a regular Grand lodge and descendant from the United Grand Lodge of England and is the sole and supreme Masonic authority over its constituents and Jurisdictions; and

Whereas, both Grand Lodges have and shall by mutual consent and amity administer its own affairs and maintain independent autonomy within its respective jurisdictions;

Therefore, be it resolved that The Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge Most Ancient & Honorable Fraternity Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliated of Florida; Belize, Central America Incorporated hereby recognizes the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM and provides it as full and complete recognition as may be reciprocated by said Grand Lodge;

Be it further resolved that The Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge Most Ancient & Honorable Fraternity Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliated of Florida; Belize, Central America, incorporated hereby recognizes, and will as of this date recognize without further Grand Lodge vote, each Grand Lodge that does not state that it does not want to be recognized by our Grand Lodge, and that is recognized, and continues to be recognized, by any sister Prince Hall Affiliated Grand Lodge, and/or the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM, and/or the United Grand Lodge of England as long as our sister Prince Hall Affiliated Grand Lodge and/or the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM does not object to our recognizing said Grand Lodge(s);

This recognition by The Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge Most Ancient & Honorable Fraternity Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliated of Florida; Belize, Central America, Incorporated of a Grand Lodge in another jurisdiction will be to the same extent as the recognition by any Prince Hall Grand Lodge that is in amity with it.

Sounds like an interesting Grand Communications is coming up in Florida! May they make the right choice and accept the hand they are being offered in brotherly love.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us!

Why Regularity

I have seen, and been party to discussions on Masonic Regularity for some time now, and this issue never serves but to stimulate... and, frankly, to disappoint.

It disappoints because intellectual energy is rarely, if ever, brought to the table on the issue. It is, rather, one of viscera, emotion and contention. This is silly on several levels, mostly because those of us discussing it have very little to do with changing it, and worse, most have very little or no understanding of it's whys and wherefores. We even have some women weighing in on the issue, claiming that because their group tells them they are regular masons, that therefore, they are... ignoring, of course, what regular means in a masonic context.

For the most part, the ones disparaging regularity are masons who are not regular masons. This is not particularly unusual or difficult to understand. These men, and, yes, women, desire to be considered as regular masons, to be brought into the embrace of "Universal" Freemasonry (a term whipped up by non regular masons as a way of easing a change and by redefining masonry) but one that has no real or substantive meaning as other than a PC attempt at redefining words, specifically in this case, regularity.

I also want to start off, in an attempt at full disclosure, at stating my position. Lets start with what I have already written:

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Are There Women Masons?

Thursday, September 20, 2007
Regularity Vs. Recognition

Sunday, October 14, 2007
Of Masonic Regularity

Friday, November 2, 2007
A Broom Named Harmony

Thursday, November 15, 2007
Acknowledgment Vs. Recognition

I have come to believe a number of things:

1. Clandestine does not equal evil or necessarily non mason or "has no value".
   
2. Irregular means simply what it says: non regular PRACTICE, not irregular or non mason.
3. Women can be just as good a mason as a man can.
4. The concept and practice of Regularity exists for a good reason.
5. The concept and practice of Regularity has been... misused for political reasons.
6. A Regular mason can learn from a non regular mason, and VICE VERSA.
7. Here is the single most important lesson I have learned about the whole Regularity issue: BETWEEN MASONS, UNLESS WE ARE PLANNING ON OPENING A TYLED LODGE SESSION, REGULARITY DOES NOT MATTER.

For some, the above will be unbelievable or heretical, or both. I am a regular mason, I am proud of being a regular mason. I am a fifth generation regular mason, so the choice of obedience I would choose what never in question. Further, I do not feel it is necessary for regular masonry to extend regularity (what is often called amity, that is intervisitation) to any lodge that is not regular.

I am think that a type of recognition could be established, where the Regular, George Washington Grand Lodges (and hopefully Prince Hall Grand Lodges) could acknowledge that there is other types of freemasonry in existence, that they are not de facto fraudulent or "bad" prima facie, and that while we will not have "Masonic Communication" as it is styled in Freemasonry, that we can, at the very least, treat each other as brethren.

Perhaps an acknowledgment along the style of the United Grand Lodge of England, which recently noted that:

"There exist in England and Wales at least two Grand Lodges solely for women. Except that these bodies admit women, they are, so far as can be ascertained, otherwise regular in their practice. There is also one which admits both men and women to membership. They are not recognised by this Grand Lodge and intervisitation may not take place. There are, however, discussions from time to time with the women's Grand Lodges on matters of mutual concern. Brethren are therefore free to explain to non-Masons, if asked, that Freemasonry is not confined to men (even though this Grand Lodge does not itself admit women). Further information about these bodies may be obtained by writing to the Grand Secretary.

"The Board is also aware that there exist other bodies not directly imitative of pure antient Masonry, but which by implication introduce Freemasonry, such as the Order of the Eastern Star. Membership of such bodies, attendance at their meetings, or participation in their ceremonies is incompatible with membership of this Grand Lodge".

Grand Lodge News” of the UGLE following the 10 March 1999 Quarterly Communication of UGLE.

Now that I have detailed my personal position on the issue, I want to delve into the accusations that have been leveled against Regular "Anglo" (to note a derisive term lately coined by a famous anti-regular freemason brother) or what I prefer to call, when speaking of non Prince Hall Regular Grand Lodges, George Washington Grand Lodges.

His claim has been that Regular Freemasonry does not "allow" its brethren to attend clandestine lodges. On the surface, this is true. After all, every George Washington Grand Lode has a book called Lodge's Masonic in its lodges that it uses to, in part, define what lodges can be visited and which should NOT be visited. It is also true that if a brother does visit one of these lodges that he stands in danger of facing masonic charges and expulsion from Regular Freemasonry.

Yet, that is a choice that every brother CHOOSES to follow. Any man can attend a clandestine lodge (though, frankly WHY he would do so is beyond me), but as with everything in life, there are consequences to actions. An oath is an oath, after all.

The corollary to the claim that Regular Masons cannot visit non regular lodges is that no Regular Mason can even TALK to a non regular mason. This is, certainly, incorrect. This very blog is read by Regular Masons around the world, by non regular masons, and by non masons. If I could not talk to or communicate with non regular and non masons, this very blog would be impossible.

Regular Masons are free, as are all men, to seek knowledge where they can find it, and claims to the contrary are... well, less than intellectually honest. As a Regular Mason, my only restriction is that I cannot (WILL NOT) sit in a tyled session in a non regular lodge of masons. Mostly because I swore not to, but in a larger sense because I swore not to, and see no reason at all to violate my obligation.

What is this "Universal" Freemasonry then?

Truthfully, its an attempt to redefine Freemasonry into something other than what it is. There are, really, four types of Freemasonry. Regular Freemasonry, that is essentially, lodges who can trace the provenance of their charters to grand lodges that were formed in a manner consistent with traditions all the way back to that tavern in June of 1717. Primarily, that is, for, of course, there are exceptions, but as is usually true, the exceptions prove the rule.

Another type of freemasonry are the "Grand Orients". Then there are the women's and co-ed obediences. I group them together since both involve women in lodges. Their origins cannot be regular as by masonic tradition, noted in Anderson's Constitution, only men can be masons. That was certainly a tradition, and is certainly one that the Regular Lodges should be and are free to maintain, there is absolutely no reason why women can't create their own lodges and "be masons".

Then there is plain out fraudulent freemasonry, frauds like the American Masonic Federation of the early 20th century that engendered the creation of Mail Fraud laws, and a long list of masonic frauds you can find here.

From the very beginning there have been pretenders to Freemasonry, which is why the whole issue of Regularity was created. Antients vs Moderns, fake lodges, money pits, cons and worse have tried to follow on the coat tails of the honorable reputation that Freemasonry has garnered, and Regularity has been a way of minimizing these crooks and worse.

The problem is, the issue is one that is complex and convoluted, even the Grand Lodges have a hard time with it. As a result of this lack of clarity, non regular masons have been able to cloud the issue further by making bald assertions, most often based on their own lack of understanding of the complexities, and in some, few cases, deliberately to forward their own agendas.

As Freemasons, we have manifold obligations. We must obey the Master of our Lodge, and the Grand Master and his representatives. We must, also, obey our consciences. So, what does that mean to the brethren? I can only answer that by what it means to me:

When a man, or a woman, approaches me and identifies themselves as a Freemason, I will acknowledge them as such.

Nice words... what does that REALLY mean? It means that I acknowledge anyone that claims to be a mason as a mason, I will render them the same aid and assistance that I would render to any man that I know is a Regular Mason. I will NOT share or discuss the items my Grand Lodge has declared are the secrets of Freemasonry, nor the rituals or what goes on in my lodge meetings.

And, of course, I will not attend ANY lodge that I do not know for sure is a Regular Lodge as defined by my grand lodge and the Lodge's Masonic list. This means I have attended Prince Hall Lodges and lodges all over the United States.

None of this keeps me from studying other lodge systems or learning from non regular masons, nor from teaching non regular masons, within the constraints defined by my Grand Lodge.

I am a Regular Mason, but love all my brethren, withersoever dispersed around the globe.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us (ALL).

Acknowledgement Vs. Recognition

On Thursday, September 20, 2007, I wrote the article, Regularity vs. Recognition, discussing how we should all recognize each other as Masons, regardless of what lodge/Grand Lodge we were raised in. I want to modify my position slightly here. Recognition is a Masonic term and carries with it definitive meanings.

At this point, I would like to state that all masons should ACKNOWLEDGE each other as masons, men, women, co-masonic, regular, irregular, clandestine, whatever. If someone claims to be a mason, regardless of provenance, I plan on acknowledging them as a type of Mason. I won't invite them to lodge, or sit in lodge with them, because that is a matter of Masonic jurisprudence and my obligation.

How can we NOT acknowledge a man as a Mason when he makes the claim? What difference does it make to our obligation, and truth to tell, our obligation can be argued to REQUIRE us to acknowledge someone a mason just based on the claim. So while I cannot recognize a woman or a co-mason as a regular mason, I am firmly of the opinion that I can acknowledge these brothers and sisters as types of masons.

It seems the Masonic thing to do.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brother love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.

What's Wrong with this Picture??

So, what is wrong with this picture. Its a white and blue map of the United States. It’s not a Democrat/Republican white state blue state map. No, this map shows a deeper divide, one that should not exist among Masons. The blue states in this map represent states where the Mainstream Grand Lodges have at least recognized that Prince Hall Masonry is regular masonry. Most of these states have also instituted some kind of mutual intervisitation.

The ritual of the Grand Lodge of California, in the first degree, speaking of Brotherly Love states:

By the exercise of brotherly love, we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family, the high and low, the rich and the poor, who, as created by one almighty parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and protect each other. On this principle, Masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion, and causes true friendship to exist among those who might otherwise remain at a perpetual distance.

This is pretty typical of the teaching in all grand lodges, and that is what makes the map above so wrong. You see, the states in red are those states that do not recognized that Prince Hall Masonry is FULLY REGULAR MASONRY. In some cases, for instance North Carolina, the issue has come up at their Grand Communication and received a majority vote, but has yet to receive the supermajority that Masonic tradition requires for changes to be implemented.

It is not the intention of the author to hold any one Grand Lodge, any brother, or any group of men up to ridicule, but to question a status that is simply unmasonic and untenable in this day and age. One of the Grand Lodges that, as of this writing, December 10, 2006, still do not recognize the legitimacy of Prince Hall Masonry stated, as recently as 1990 and upheld this in 1991:

… Grand Lodge adopted a resolution that included: "...the Grand Lodge of xxx ... has always considered ... Prince Hall affiliate, to be totally irregular and clandestine, having absolutely no Masonic authority, and the members thereof not to be Masons ... the Grand Lodge of xxx ... most strongly disapprove and condemn in the strongest terms available that action of any other Grand Lodge that may hereafter extend fraternal recognition to any Prince Hall affiliate organization at any time and anywhere located ... any contact or communication whatsoever between a xxx Mason ... and any Lodge under the jurisdiction of any Grand Lodge that does now or may hereafter make any fraternal recognition of any Prince Hall affiliate organization, or between a member of any Lodge under the jurisdiction of such a Grand Lodge ... shall be cleared through the ... Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of xxx ... and approved by the Grand Master of Masons in xxx, on a case-by-case basis."

So, you are a Mason as long as you are white… according to this Grand Lodge. Some of these Grand Lodges make the, weak, argument that Prince Hall is not regular Masonry because of its provenance. However, a cursory, or in-depth review of the facts of the matter show the Prince Hall Grand Lodges to predate the antecedents of most existing grand lodges today, AND their original charter was issued by the Grand Lodge of England, a charter still on display at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts once per year.

Then, as we look at the map, we see among the states that do not recognize the legitimacy of the Prince Hall Masonry to be many of those that were members of the Confederacy, where a war was fought, in part, to end slavery. Is this a coincidence? This author will not go so far as to stipulate cause and effect, but a brother has to wonder why all the Grand Lodges of those states, including most recently (this year) the Grand Lodge of Texas, recognize the legitimacy of Prince Hall Masonry, and only the southern states, do not.

This situation needs to be remedied, but how can it be fixed from outside, and more importantly, should it? Each grand lodge is sovereign unto itself. This was settled in the late 1700’s when Wr. George Washington was offered the position of Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of the United States, and rejected the idea. The whole concept of a single, overarching United Grand Lodge of the United States died, though it is occasionally revisited, never very seriously. As American’s, we value our independence.

The whole idea of territorial sovereignty is a new one, created, it seems, out of whole cloth. The rationale for it was to deal with Prince Hall Lodges. It gave the “Mainstream” grand lodge a way to consider a Prince Hall Lodge as clandestine and irregular for violating its territorial sovereignty. This left African American men on the horns of a dilemma: They could not join a mainstream lodge because of racism, but if they joined a “black” lodge, they would be treated as clandestine and irregular, that is, not recognized as regular Masons, by their brother Masons. Their choice was one of: Give up Freemasonry or be an “irregular” Mason. Tough choice. Thankfully, many men chose to be considered irregular and to pursue Freemasonry anyway.

Territorial Sovereignty is ingrained in freemasonry today, at least in the United States, and it is unlikely that it can be addressed simply or easily. There is, however, a recent example of other grand lodges influencing the behavior of another grand lodge using recognition.

Strangely enough, this issue comes from the recognition of the Regularity of the Grand Lodge of France (GLdF) by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota. The GLdF is considered clandestine because they have mixed member lodges, women’s lodges, and do not require a profession of a belief in a deity to become a Mason. Almost immediately upon recognizing the regularity of the GLdF, United States Grand Lodges began withdrawing their recognition of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

As Wr. Tim Bryce notes in Recognizing Prince Hall Masonry: To Be or Not To Be?:

…A few years ago the Grand Lodge of Minnesota created a stir in the fraternity when it recognized the GLdF which was considered clandestine by many grand jurisdictions. Consequently, many jurisdictions rescinded their recognition of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota until they finally revoked recognition of France. Using this same logic, if the Dixie jurisdictions truly consider Prince Hall Masonry as clandestine, they should revoke recognition of all grand jurisdictions who recognize Prince Hall (including the UGLE). Failure to do so is hypocrisy. This of course won't happen as the Dixie jurisdictions would face isolation in a remarkably similar fashion as the southern states did in the American Civil War.

If any grand lodge in the United States were to remove its requirement that a candidate acknowledge a faith in god, or allow women as members, the other 50 grand lodges in the United States (AT LEAST) would withdraw their recognition and declare them to be clandestine and irregular in their practice before the ink on the declaration had time to dry. That being the case, and seeing as the use of recognition DOES work, and keeping in mind that we are to WHISPER good counsel and thereby seek to bring about a reformation, perhaps something along the following lines might be offered:

At the Grand Master’s Conference on Regularity, the following resolution might be offered:

Resolved: That Prince Hall Masonry is regular Masonry in all respects, and Resolved: That the exercise of brotherly love requires that we extend the Masonic hand of friendship to all regular brothers;

Be it resolved that all Grand Lodges, whithersoever dispersed around the globe that two years from the date of this resolution that any grand lodge that has not extended and amended their constitutions, codes and rules as necessary to recognize Prince Hall Masonry as regular in ALL respects shall have its intervisitation rights withdrawn.

Be it further resolved that all Grand Lodges, whithersoever
dispersed around the globe that three years from the date of this resolution that any grand lodge that has not extended and amended their constitutions, codes and rules as necessary to recognize Prince Hall Masonry as regular in ALL respects shall have their recognition withdrawn entirely and that/those grand lodges deemed clandestine and irregular.

Be if further resolved that all Grand Lodges, whithersoever dispersed around the globe that four years from the date of this resolution that any grand lodge that has not extended and amended their constitutions, codes and rules as necessary to recognize Prince Hall Masonry as regular in ALL respects will have its lodges offered a new charter under this grand lodge and all members healed and action taken to ensure that good men of color are offered the ability to join the lodge by vacating the use of the SECRET ballot for a period of five years.

This resolution and practice would give the brothers of a grand lodge that does not recognize the regularity of Prince Hall Masonry four years to make the necessary changes so they can be considered regular. As has been noted before: “All it takes for evil to succeed is for men of good will to do NOTHING.” It is time Freemasons stood up and said in a loud and clear voice, NO MORE.

There may be brothers in these grand lodges that have not taken a stand against this practice of ignoring our Prince Hall brothers because they do not know about it, or because there are other issues before them, or because it does not affect them. Its time that we let them know about the issue, that we made it an issue before them, and that we make it affect them. If a man rejects a brother Mason because of the color of his skin, we must take the time to whisper good counsel in his ear.

Its time we stopped waiting on each other. Some GLs have stated they wanted to wait for the Prince Hall Grand Lodge to ASK for recognition. That should not be a condition, as brothers, we should extend unilaterally the hand of friendship. The whole map should be blue, for we are either all brothers before god, or none of us.

By the exercise of brotherly love, the very least we can do is extend our hand to our brothers.

By an extreme coincidence, the Burning Taper published a similar comment today. Please take a moment to read my brother's comment at the Burning Taper.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons, may brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.