These days we're practically looking for any opportunity to tell potential members everything about the fraternity in hopes of getting a new member.
And the Grand Lodges are the ones doing the push. Everyone talks about 'well, my jurisdiction says I can talk about everything!'. That's great, and your obligation said to follow what was laid down by the GL, but in my opinion, the GL are wrong on this. All of our rituals are done in private with very careful consideration made to keep out anyone who isn't a brother, but then the GL says that none of that is secret except one or two words? Come on, that's BS. If none of the rest was secret, you could have families present at the degree and then give the grips and words in private. Grand Lodges are trying to skirt the intent to advertise and get more members.
Masons of previous generations didn't have this problem. What happened in lodge was for the brothers and the brothers only, therefore, anything taught in lodge was rightfully secret and therefore should not be discussed with those outside.
I'll freely admit to being hypocritical in this and having very open discussions on this forum. Why? Because once again, we've lost our way and it's next to impossible to have these discussions IN lodge anymore, so if someone actually wants to discuss Masonry, it needs to be done wherever possible. So, yes, I take advantage of, what is in my opinion, a serious mistake on the part of the GLs. Honestly, I wish we could go back to having meaningful discussions as the PURPOSE of lodge meetings and keep everything private. But, I doubt we'll ever see those days again.
