Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Shame on Georgia!

First off, I needed to take a little break. The full weight of being alone after 2 years of constant companionship hit me, so I stepped back from a great deal of my obligations. I needed to breath and actually re-asses where I am and where I need to go. It's been hard, but life marches on, and so I find myself back in the fight, swinging as best I can. So I'm sorry that I disappeared for a while, but it needed to happen, otherwise I may very well might've gone crazy. Now I find myself fighting off a cold, two weeks before I need to go compete for some debate teams I belong to. Ah well, such is life.

But as some of you may know, I am a Freemason. I adore the Fraternity, and I have near maniacal devotion to it because it saved me from myself. But that's not the point of today's post. Today's post is about the bigotry and nonsense coming from the Grand Lodges of Georgia and Tennessee. Now, to preface, in the U.S., there are 50 some odd Grand Lodges (State-wide governing bodies), and each one is autonomous and able to make it's own decisions. With that being said, let's jump in.

Freemasonry is supposed to take good men and make them better through philosophical studies, and, for the most part, it does. I've met so many remarkable men through my involvement; I can unequivocally say that I have become a better person because of the lessons I have learned. However, there seems to be those in other Grand Jurisdictions who think that being gay is akin to being a serial rapist or murderer, because they have banned outright the membership of gay men.

Ok, I concede that is a little unfair. However, the salient point is that they think that gay men are morally bankrupt, sexually devious individuals that cannot be trusted. Now I, admittedly, don't really pay attention to such claims anymore, mainly because I know that I am more moral then those people in Georgia and Tennessee because I forgive them for their ignorance. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit idly by and watch them ban gay men from pursuing light.

And that's what I wished that they realized. We're supposed to be enlightened individuals. Not individuals who use a centuries old Fraternity as a glorified dinner club or as a means of peddling their specific religious beliefs. To be frank, I somewhat admire them for sticking up for their beliefs, but at the same time, I am angry and full of contempt that they think that being gay is grounds for banning men from joining. The actions of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee and Georgia, honestly, demonstrate to me that these are men who are Masons in name only.

This means that they are not true Freemasons. They enjoy having their dues card, going to business meetings, performing ritual work, etc. They do not enjoy viewing all men as being equal. They have hijacked the world's oldest, largest, and most esteemed Fraternity to be a show horse for Christian beliefs.

Now, before you get your panties in a bind, I have no problem with Christianity. But in Freemasonry, there is no central religion. There is no one definition or right answer as to what god is, and we are not even allowed to discuss religious matters in Lodge. That being said, Georgia and Tennessee have forgotten this, and I wish that those who are behind these invidious policies would simply leave. I wish them no ill-will, but they have, as I have said, hijacked my beloved Fraternity to meet their own ends.

So to any gay Freemasons in those Grand Jurisdictions, please don't leave. Make like the Dixie Dems after the Civil War. Move into positions of power, and change things. Don't leave. And, as trite as it is, be the change you want to see. We cannot survive this storm unless those who are targeted by this legislation move upward and not out. But, I've got to jet. Stay humble, don't stumble, and I'll talk to you again soon.

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