I'm sorry, but I don't agree.
Awesome!
We know that the story used today is not as it was originally. We also must admit that we don't know what the original story was. If we don't know what the story was, how can we say that it is a fabricated morality play?
Evidence...
Even assuming that it is (and I certainly agree that is the most likely case) how can we say what system of morality was being taught?
We cannot. We can only say that morality was being conveyed through these morality plays.
Many people believe that religion is a set of fabricated stories with the intention of teaching morality. But the moral lessons taught by different religions are not universal.
All the lessons may not be the same, but there are underlying overlaps in the moralities being conveyed.
Further more, even if one accepts that as being the truth, there is a lot more than just morality being taught in holy books.
Yes, but we were discussing Freemasonry, not religions, right?
And to argue that understanding where the stories came from and what they were originally is irrelevant would be similar to saying that it would be okay to go ahead and rewrite the bible with completely different stories provided the moral lessons remained the same.
I love the nature of your hyperbole. Although it is interesting and entertaining, it has nothing to do with what I posted. You've taken this in your own direction and for God know what reason. I know that you see relevance in your statement. I do not see it as being an equitable statement.
The lessons taught in Freemasonry are encoded in the symbols and allegories. We study them in order to decode them. But as the code is changed, pieces of it are lost. Maybe the information taught is still completely intact, maybe it's not. We have no way to know that without knowing what it originally looked like.
Yup, but so what? We have what we have today and it is a result of a lot of script re-writes over the years, all reflecting the times and interests of those in past eras.
It is perhaps why we have many leaving the Craft after experiencing them. It is not pertinent to them so they leave.