dfreybur
Premium Member
I strongly disagree with this, Brother. How would you feel if you're a Christian and were given a Quran? It doesn't align with your own beliefs at all. There's a reason why they're denominated as the VSL in our work. I sincerely hope that brothers there were obligated on the VSL of their own faith otherwise their SO wouldn't be as solemn as they thought it would be.
If I were a member of a religion not in the local majority and the lodge gave me a book of scripture from the local majority religion, I would ponder on that. Masonry admits men who have some religion. We don't ask which religion it is. We are not permitted to discuss religion in our meanings. While my Brothers may well have learned my religion there's no formal mechanism to deal with that. I would be rather impressed that it worked out that way.
If I were a member of a religion not in the local majority and I asked the lodge to be obligated on the book of scripture of my own religion, I'd be impressed they were okay with that (I've been at degrees with Koran or Gita). Should they also go get a copy to present to me, I would be impressed that it worked out that way.
If my obligations were taken in a Muslim majority country I would find it natural and obvious that I be presented with a Koran.
Understand that the physical book on the altar is a symbol of the book that's in the heart of each one of us. For many of us the book in our heart is not the same as the physical one on the altar. The physical one on the altar represents all, but is selected based on local demographics not on the choice of any one of us. Aligning with our beliefs is entirely about the one in our hearts. Never lose track of that.
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