- Who are we to say that other humans are not our brothers?
Indeed brother James.... I strongly agree... I pretty much stay out of this section and you have summed up my feelings well in the above as to why I often skip this thread. Things said on "regularity" often grate on my sense of justice and equality because they indirectly or directly value others traditions as of less value or of less merit than mine ("the majority").
Mind you, I do like reading about the divide(s) because of its history, we should always seek understanding and light, but all this talk of clandestine and irregular, "not a real mason" gets to me.... it sort of feels like one Christian condemning another because they are of a different denomination... at the end of the day, yes there are distinctions, but arent Catholics and the many types of Protestants all still Christians when you step away from the detail ? ?
(and sure, there are folks out there selling degrees, but that's a different story, as are gangs and quasi criminal groups calling themselves "Freemasons"..... just as there are "regular" GLs out there who have a long history of doing that I regard as the wrong thing - '"Regular" Prince Hall once did not get the acceptance it does now on boards, and sometimes the solution offered to the problem was for Prince Hall GLs to give up their traditions and join anther GL so they could regarded as "regular"... LOL... like I would want to do that if I was a PHFM... and didn't i read recently in here of a GL excluding gay brethren they initiated and accepted as part of the fraternity ? GL's are far from infallible.... just as we a good masons need to be open to others and acknowledge we are only fallible humans)
I recognise many of these clandestine/irregular etc as Freemasons, even if they dont observe the same landmarks - they are just Freemasons of a different ilk... Freemasonry puts so many other differences aside, why not this one ? I dont reject Anglicans because they are not of my Church, just a I dont reject a Muslim because they are not of my faith...doing such is called
prejudice ... a lot of Freemasons seem prejudiced against people from different masonic traditions...
Such are the Honourable Order of Freemasons - they work very close to the same ritual as I do with one exception - it is only for woman...
This 1933 movies is interesting
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/honourable-fraternity-of-ancient-freemasons/query/Sash
At the end of the day, it's my GL which regulates what is "regular" but Bro Karen Kidd helped me ultimately understand the sovereignty of a GL, as Karen said
Bro Karen Kidd said:
"This (her initiation) all occurred within my jurisdiction which, like all Masonic jurisdictions, claims no binding authority over the Freemasons in any other jurisdiction...... this means a Brother is Regular by virtue of being so recognized within his/her own jurisdiction. No Brother upon the Earth requires recognition by any other jurisdiction to be Regular. Each Brother is as Regular within their own jurisdiction as any other Brother is Regular within their own jurisdiction
I may not be able to sit in lodge with her, but that does not make her any less of a mason than I, after all, don't we believe in equality ?
It is worth reading and reflecting on her paper... "I am Regular" which won UGLE's internet paper competition in 2008. I recommend you read it,
it is here She changed my thinking and hence my words and actions... a core process in being a good Freemason in my view... For those who have been on web for a while, they will know of her, they may have even spoken to her in places like T3Ps (sadly gone now). I am richer for having engaged with Bro Karen and men and woman from other masonic traditions..
Again
- Who are we to say that other humans are not our brothers?.
Not I brother James... not I...
Yes, all masons need an understanding of "regularity", esp if they are bound to observe it through their Jurisdiction's Constitution and Obligation, but surely Freemasonry calls upon us to respect others, even if they are slightly different. Cowans seem to get more respect on some boards than Freemasons who are not in amity with us.
I often feel hostility from some regular Freemasons is born of insecurity....
At the end of the day I am happy I joined a
regular fraternity, and I enjoy the fraternal aspects of my regular GL, but that does not make the traditions of Le Droit Humain or other Co-Freemasonry etc etc etc of any less value than the path I follow..