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Brother Richard Dreyfuss

cacarter

Premium Member
Wasn't it President Cleveland, back when he was an officer during the Civil War who received his degrees on consecutive days? I would have to doubt that much memory work was done with him, but I could be wrong. Today, we celebrate the fact that he was a Brother and advertise that fact to the public.

If Brother Dreyfuss took his degrees, rather than being made a Mason at sight, how is that any different from Brother Cleveland?
 

choppersteve03

Premium Member
i dont agree with the at sight deal, but i am the product of almost conscutive degrees i did mine all in about six months time.
 

tom268

Registered User
Such occasions brings up the question in me, which light is shining on whom here? Is it the masonic light shining on the new brother? How could it, if he has no further connection/time to work with it? Or is it more the light of a celeb shining on the Grand Lodge?

I hope, that such in-promtu elevations will be the most exotic events in modern masonic history. Otherwise, the celebs have to duck and cover to avoid the lightbeams of over-jealous Grand Masters, competing to collect more celebs than the neigbor.
 
D

Dion

Guest
W.C. Fields was made at sight. So was William Howard Taft (prior to his becoming President of the United States).

Manly P. Hall was coroneted a 33rd, yet had never been raised an MM.

Go figure.
 

cemab4y

Premium Member
I was there. I personally witnessed the entire process. Now Some jurisdictions have "One-Day classes", where the entire Craft degrees are presented in one day. I do not wish to debate the merits of ODCs. During WW2, some Grand Lodges operated around the clock, cranking out new Master Masons who were being deployed to combat. Brother Dreyfuss is just as much a Mason, as anyone who took three months to complete the degrees.

I suggest that you visit this link, to learn about Brother Dreyfuss' new initiative to re-introduce civics and government studies in schools. See:

The Dreyfuss Initiative
 

Pscyclepath

Premium Member
The process of making a person a Mason "at sight" is very much the same thing as the one-day workshops. The candidate is taken through the ritual for each of the three degrees sequentially, back-to-back, and does not have to pass the proficiency exam or wait any period of time betweenth degrees. It's unclear whether he has to go back and learn those lectures afterward, but since the proficiency lectures are a big part of the way that you convince an heretofore unknown brother that you're a Mason too (modes of recognition), it would indeed behoove him to do so.

In most jurisdictions, only the Grand Master of Masons in that jurisdiction has the authority to make anyone a Mason at sight. Here in Arkansas, the by-laws of the Grand Lodge recognize that the GM has that power, but state clearly that it believes that we have sufficient "material" to meet our needs by making Masons the old-fashioned way, and admonishes the GM that he should use that power only under super-exceptional circumstances. In reading Roberts' Brother Truman, it was noted that MW Harry Truman of the Grand Lodge of Missouri was strongly opposed to the practice of making Masons at sight because he felt they didn't get the necessary background and education in what being a Mason is all about.

Douglas MacArthur was made a Mason at sight in the late 1930s by the Grand Master of Masons in the Phillippines, based partially in that his father was a Mason and maybe a little more that he was the "generalissimo" of the Phillipine armed forces at the time.

A number of jurisdictions do not place a time limit between the degrees. For example, Brother Lewis Armistead (of Gettysburg fame) took his EA degree shortly after entering the Army, but came back some 8 years later and demonstrated his EA proficiency, then received his Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees on the same evening in his new lodge. (Halleran, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War)

I received my degrees in fairly short order, in successive months, but I didn't miss any of the practice nights, either, and spent a lot of time getting mentored by the senior brethren. Not all of the education is contained in the ritual, so one of these "made-at-sight" guys is going to have a lot of homework & mentoring before him in order to catch up with where he ought to be with his new status.
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
Can't say for sure ... But I think the first reaction of the brothers at my lodge was to chunk rocks when I showed up the first time.

Good thing there isn't a major league arm among the lot!

I'd be pretty hard to run off now that I have a key. I mean, clue!

:blush:
 

promason

Registered User
I definitely know Masonry is an incredible divine gift and blessing,God Bless Masonry and God Bless Masons for the great service they provided to humanity throughout history and continue to provide with nobless and generosity
 
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