In Texas, the Holy Bible is used as our volume of sacred law and furniture of the lodge. If a candidate is a Hindu, Islam, Jewish, etc. what accommodations can be made, if any, under the laws of the Grand Lodge of Texas as far as degree work is concerned?
So far in GLofTX I have been at degrees where the candidate obligated on Holy Bible (KJV), Bagavat Gita and Koran.
For all three degrees?
why do you wonder about that? that book is not a holy book. even when swearing a witness in in court a bible is used, public officials take their oath on the bible, not the penal code......I often wondered about using the Penal Law of the host State?
why do you wonder about that? that book is not a holy book. even when swearing a witness in in court a bible is used, public officials take their oath on the bible, not the penal code......
Cool. Here, we never use the word Bible in our Craft Degree or Open Close etc - it's always VSL... we did make one change though a few years ago, changing "the volume of the scared law' into " your volume of the sacred law" ; one of the few tinkerings which really did make sense to me.Not that I would EVER drag a thread, kicking & screaming, back to its original purpose, but herein lies the answer to the OP's question:
Art. 397. (434). Religious Belief.
A firm belief in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures is indispensably necessary before a candidate can be initiated, but this Grand Lodge does not presume to prescribe any canonical books or what part thereof are inspired. It is the policy of
this Grand Lodge to permit a candidate whose religious persuasion is based upon other than the Holy Bible to be obligated upon the book of his chosen faith, and same may be situated upon the Altar in front of the Holy Bible (italics mine) during the conferral of the three degrees of Masonry. In which event, all esoteric references to “The Holy Bible” during the conferral of the degree(s) and the lessons appropriate thereto shall be substituted with “The Book of your (my) Faith.” (Revised 1995)
For all three degrees?
......If you are dedicated, you go with the flow. What you believe, is what you put in your heart and on your lips.
So what if a candidate professes to having "Faith" in America, i.e., the "Law" of the Land? Since "religion" has no part in our ritual, only "Faith" and. "Belief", the book used may become moot and one-size-fits-all could be in order. Couldn't it? The Craft is by notion, liberal and accepting. I am sure there are adherents of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, lurking near the Julia Childs tome. Not to make light of it but the Craft has evolved. Until 1716, Jews were not admitted into the Craft.
Interesting. In Singapore the lodges have nine(9) different VSLs on the altar. I attended a lodge in WashDC and they did a FC degree. The brother was obligated on the Holy Qu'Ran.