I like Doug's "acceptable range" of interpretation
. However, while Ps get Degrees , I'd always rather get and A+ than just a Pass...(Ps get Degrees- how true, in some lodges Fails seem to get Degrees, or you get the Degree before even sitting the exam!)
I read this thread the other day and have come back to it several times. I keep having different reactions to the meme, initially I did not like it, but its growing on me each time come in there to critique it, but still see it as faulted- it's certainly something interesting to talk about.
Naturally I will use your terms Coach such as "freemasonic" and "masonry" as you apply them, but might slip into Freemasonry as Masonry - as I don't always apply the same distinction you do, but appreciate it. In the sense you use the words, Freemasonry needs to get as close to Masonry as it possibly can.. Like a Church (engaging in collective worship) cannot exist without something like a Parish, so Masonry and Freemasonry are co-dependent, but again, using your nomenclature, Freemasonry can't exist without Masonry and vice versa (okay, I'm going off topic, but it does go to the post - esp the comment off site).
Let's first note that the post on Building Builders says;
First Degree "This Degree is a Freemasonic Degree; not a Masonic one."
Second Degree " As pointed out before, this Degree is also a Freemasonic Degree; not a Masonic one."
Third Degree "The second Degree is symbolic of the Work adults must engage in to set the stage for moving into Age. In this respect they must Raise their Perfected Ashlars by climbing the Winding Stairs"
Let's infer that the Third Degree is claimed as the sole Masonic one, or is it too only Freemasonic ?
If we want Masonry, why bother with the other two degrees if they are just Freemasonic? Coach, are you saying Freemasonic activity is
critical to Masonry ?
(Actually I am sure you would say Freemasonry is critical to Masonry).
A few years ago, listened to a first time WM "wisely and knowingly" explained to a younger bro how "The First Degree is about birth, the Second how you live your life, and the Third how it ends". It's a lovely simplistic and easily communicated interpretation, and while as a veneer it might have some merit, even at that level it fails. It's a primary school description of a deeply intellectual profession.
I don't buy the Birth-Life-Afterlife/Resurrection interpretation of Degrees, esp in relation to the Third Degree. There is no "resurrection" in Freemasonry, and if there is any "salvation" is more about being honourable in this life - it certainly does not guarantee anything in the next life as most (all?) religious do. Each of the Degrees should mark a new beginning and a new phase, and as a Master Mason, all three need to be applied in our journeys. Degrees are less the sign posts on a road, but rather the water you swim in. Now the meme does only talk about being "symbolically raised to a new life in brotherhood" - but that's also true of the First Degree (here, knowing many USA lodges open on the Third and EA's are often not regarded as full members - they are here). The meme just talks about what might be blatantly obvious on first simplistic and superficial view
In the third degree retrospect (and I wont be quoting a lot of ritual here), we're told about the connection of our whole system and the relative dependence of its several parts. For me, this means the three degrees are an interlinked system, and I think you would agree Coach, and that they are progressive, but they are also accumulative. I think we'd be on the same page, but..
I think all three degrees are "Masonic".
I think the First Degree has as much to do with being "raised to a new life" as the Third - its just way more obvious in the Third Degree. I think that new life is about our understanding and conduct in the here and now, and nothing to do with after we die. That's defined by the brothers religion and not Freemasonry. Likewise, I think the Third Degree has a lot to do about "Birth" (change) claimed as the focus in the First, but again, its just more obvious in the First than in the Third - and all these elements are in all the second degree. Again, "the connection of our whole system".
" The Blue Lodge Degrees symbolize the life of men, what to expect and what is expected should they want better. These Degrees don't require them to do anything other than make promises. "
Putting aside the fact that promises are a very serious business, reducing the degrees to that is not correct. For instance, on a simply practical level, they actually need to turn up, that's more than just a promise. In most places, they seem to have to answer a scripted Q & A - in some places they have to wait a year, attend lodge, present papers, and get the approval of a Master or other officer to endorse their advancement. In these things, there are more that just making promises.
I think all degree call a man to self examination, and after that examination seek to improve himself, particularly his character as born out by his thinking and his actions - what can be more masonic than that ?