I do. I am a voting member of Grand Lodge and the Chair of Grand Lodge Education for the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Colorado.
The Grand Secretary and the Assistant Grand Secretary for instance created an unauthorized webpage defaming the Rocky Mountain Masonic Conference that would occur in Colorado and encourage people not to attend. There campaign to ask people not to come and not support the conference while it was in Colorado was successful enough that attendance was cut in half initially.
After we contacted the various Grand Lodges, we recovered some of the numbers, but unable to meet contractual deadlines for the numbers THOUSANDS of dollars were taken from the GL of Colorado budget to cover the cost that otherwise would have been covered through registrations.
The defaming nature of the statements was eventually removed by order of the GM in Montana.
Reid, the GS of Montana, also tried to rally the Conference of Grand Secretaries against Colorado speakers at the Conference and created an embarrassing situation for some when he stood up and made a big deal out of refusing to listen.
The Assistant GS called Colorado's Masonic educational programs several names and has implied that we are boarding on irregular Masonry because we allow Traditional Observance lodges in the state. He believes we are creating a Masonic religion. Very tin foil hat type accusations, but they were enough to cause concern and our GM reached out to ask it to stop.
We allow traditional observance lodges in CT too.....we are not irregular by any means....I don't understand the BS that some people strum up in the name of...what?....drama?.....
Or as I originally stated a lonnnng time ago, there will be those that will contest the formation of these types of lodges, fearing the loss of control!
If Masonry is transmitted solely by word of mouth, then how can there be any records of "traditional observance" that differs from how things are done currently? It is that simple. If it is truly all by word of mouth, then what is currently done is the only way it can be done--if everything truly is 100% solely by word of mouth.
While that may hold true with regards to the actual wording of the ritual there are plenty of things in masonry that have changed. When you look at old pictures you'd see brethren meeting dressed in their finest outfit, drinking allowed in lodge and I'm certain they didn't have electricity. Those all differ from how things are done today.
I decided to read through these posts again after reading the letter. I felt the Brother Porter's sagacity in this post was worth the second post of it. May the Brothers in Montana flourish from the shadows of these incidents...This issue is a bigger issue than the limited comments on this forum would allow and I think the Brethren are trying to post their support on one side of the issue or another without providing too much that would be improper.The Grand Lodge of Colorado was saddened to see the Grand Master removed and had suffered great harm at the hands of the secretary and his son in this and I don't believe Montana has seen the last of what will be a tumultuous road for them.They have my prayers and my thoughts our with the Brethren. 911 if you are looking for a Fraternity that has no hiccups, obstacles, or occasional frustration, you need to find one without human beings...and Masonry is full of them.We fail, we succeed, we rise and we fall. It is part of life and thus part of the Fraternity. But it is full with some of the greatest men in the world and some of the best experiences of my life have been Masonic.It is likely the wonderful men and the great experiences that make the negative ones stand out. So much so, we as a Fraternity don't even want to hear about them they are so hard to take.But that does not mean the Craft is not worthy.I would also provide that if you are the same Loose Tek 911 that posted:Goin away « PSYCHOTIK and you are in fact heading back to prison...then the Fraternity should be the last thing on your mind.
I'm sorry it took 9 years to respond to this, but you were absolutely right about what you said. Thank you.Re: 911
This issue is a bigger issue than the limited comments on this forum would allow and I think the Brethren are trying to post their support on one side of the issue or another without providing too much that would be improper.
The Grand Lodge of Colorado was saddened to see the Grand Master removed and had suffered great harm at the hands of the secretary and his son in this and I don't believe Montana has seen the last of what will be a tumultuous road for them.
They have my prayers and my thoughts our with the Brethren.
911 if you are looking for a Fraternity that has no hiccups, obstacles, or occasional frustration, you need to find one without human beings...and Masonry is full of them.
We fail, we succeed, we rise and we fall. It is part of life and thus part of the Fraternity. But it is full with some of the greatest men in the world and some of the best experiences of my life have been Masonic.
It is likely the wonderful men and the great experiences that make the negative ones stand out. So much so, we as a Fraternity don't even want to hear about them they are so hard to take.
But that does not mean the Craft is not worthy.
I would also provide that if you are the same Loose Tek 911 that posted:
Goin away « PSYCHOTIK and you are in fact heading back to prison...then the Fraternity should be the last thing on your mind.