There oughta be a law

First, some background:

Back on April 1 of this year (note that date), I ran an article purporting to be a news clipping from the (now long defunct) Hartford Times about the proposed merger between the Grand Lodges of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The article explained that the reasoning is that our small states had too many Grand Lodge officers covering too few districts, and we needed to consolidate our resources. Masonic Education would be handled by videos made for Youtube, and both states would now be referred to as the Grand Lodge of Southern New England. To add to the verisimilitude, I created a website using the WordPress free blogging platform.

The Grand Lodge of Connecticut web site posted the article and linked to the new GL-SNE site for the day. Some of the brothers, both in and out of Connecticut fell for the joke (for which I wrote about a little while later), and everybody had a good laugh. “Oh, that Tom, what a joker,” etc, etc., and a week later (this being the internet and all) we forgot all about it and were now into The Next Big Thing, which probably involved the story about how a nun, a rabbi, and Chris Hodapp walked into a bar, and asked for a… well, as I said, this is the internet and even that is old news now. I  pretty much forgot the Grand Lodge of Southern New England.

Until a few weeks ago.

Somebody forwarded to me something that had been forwarded from a friend, which had been in turn forwarded to them.The first forwarder (a brother who is not from Connecticut) wanted to know if this was true, and sent it to another person (also not from Connecticut). Somehow, they managed to figure out how to email a Mason in Connecticut, who thought the incident amusing enough to let me know. I checked, and sure enough, the blog stats showed a spike in readers over the previous several days.

Interestingly, for the next week or so, I continued to see visitors to the GL of SNE “website.” I learned that what had prompted the original question was that a re-print from the article in The Connecticut Freemason had appeared in another newsletter. Some of those readers mistook the prank for an actual new item, and then forwarded that news on to other brothers – and to some internet groups.

The other day, somebody else emailed me with another twist. Someone had posted to yet another group — an email list — the explanation for the merger.

The main reason the Rhode Island merged with Connecticut is that they were loosing members and they could not afford to keep a grand lodge going in there state. They were running out of money at an alarming rate to say the least.

Oh dear.

For perspective, the original prank simply stated “Citing a budget shortfall due to a lack of membership and the bad economy.”

Anyway, the next few days saw even more spikes in the visitor counts, and several friends were kind enough to email snippets of some of the conversations of various lists to me.  One of the people who had passed it along to several other groups was finally clued into the hoax. Apparently, he later admitted to falling for:

sadly it is a sick hoax written by a Brother as a April fools joke

Maybe I have become inured to the members of Friendship Lodge, but where I come from, a “sick” joke generally involves bodily functions, medical attention, and quantities of alcohol.

What another person wrote, though, underlines what is not only a problem in the fraternity, it’s also a problem that we see frequently in society overall.

Saw the rest of the posts but FYI this appeared in the May issue of the Conn. Freemason along with the disclaimer by the author as a separate article. Interesting that Conn. GL was totally silent & let confusion reign.

Maybe I’m reading too much into that last sentence, but it seems to belie the too-common attitude of “I don’t like what that person is doing. Let’s get somebody in charge to stop it.”

You see, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut was silent because, quite simply, the overwhelming majority of the members thought it was a funny joke — even those who fell for it. I wrote a follow-up article about those who were inclined to take the bait, and in it, I questioned why those people let their imaginations overtake their critical thinking skills. I mean, in the Masonic world, especially in the US, that would be big news. You can’t really imagine something that big happening without months of rumors and gossip beforehand.

But here’s where this whole situation pins the needle on the irony meter: Despite the fact that the only news reports of this merger were on my blog, despite the fact that the news item did not actually make any newspapers (and the Hartford Times has been closed since the mid-1970s), and despite the fact that no other Grand Lodge has sent out any kinds of notices to members, advising them of, for example, their status with regard to visitation, none of the people who passed on those rumors (nor those who considered it to be a sick joke) bothered to contact me. Not one.

So, why does this ping the irony meter? Because most of those brothers who passed this around — three months after the fact — were members of research lodges or education email lists.

Doesn’t the concept of “research” imply that one needs to do at least a minimum amount of legwork to determine the veracity of a concept?

Now, I’m not trying to poke fun at any of them. Just the fact that they are using the internet at all should probably be applauded. But perhaps I live so much of my life online that spending five minutes on Google to check something new has become second nature to me, and so I’m a bit embarrassed for those brothers who simply passed around the news, embellishing a little as they went.

The other thing that I don’t understand is why some of those brothers — the ones who were hipped to the hoax — couldn’t be bothered to drop me an email (being an attention hound, I’m not that difficult to find) to discuss their disappointment or dismay with the prank. A Facebook friend passed this on:

The substance has been passed, as fact, pretty much around the Masonic world and is will provide anit Masons great material to note how Masonry is declining

You would think that if somebody had that much of a concern, they might want to drop me a line and discuss it. In fact, I’m often disappointed to discover that despite our Masonic admonishment to “whisper good counsel in the ear,” too many of us find it much more convenient to rant and rail against something (or someone) with which we take issue.  I wonder if we can make a law about that?

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Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

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20 Years of Mutual Recognition – Part 7

The following article by RW Carl Ek is reprinted from the July/August 2009 issue of The Connecticut Freemasons publication, which is running a series of articles celebrating the 20th anniversary of our mutual recognition. Read other articles in this series: 20 Years.

Reflections on Recognition, 20 Years Later

The Votes are Tallied

by Carl G. Ek

(Editor’s note: in the span of several months in mid-1989, the Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Connecticut and the Grand Lodge, F. & A.M., Prince Hall Affiliates, of Connecticut, Inc. crafted an agreement that changed how Masonry operated, not just in Connecticut, but worldwide. In our first six installments, MWPGM Gail Linnell Smith presented the resolution proposing mutual recognition and Connecticut Masons and Prince Hall Grand Lodge leaders enthusiastically supported this proposal. How would the craft vote? A series of stories will appear in Connecticut Freemasons this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of mutual recognition.)

Dateline: Cromwell, Connecticut, October 14, 1989. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge met in annual communication, and voted on the recognition resolution first. In the parlance of sports, the vote was a slamdunk, with only one member voting in the negative.

That brother later approached then Prince Hall Grand Master Lewis Myrick, Sr., asking to change his vote. “Hell no!” replied the Grand Master. “That’s how you voted, and that’s how it stays.”

With the requirement of  ‘all or nothing,’ it was Prince Hall’s turn to wait to see if the A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodge would likewise approve mutual recognition at their special communication, being held at Sheehan High School in Wallingford.

As it became clear that the special Prince Hall Recognition Committee chaired by Grand Senior Deacon Kenneth B. Hawkins, Sr., would report favorably on the plan, brothers who may not have been in favor carefully attempted to have influence on the decision.

A Past Grand Master approached MW Gail N. Smith to suggest that given the magnitude of the proposed change, some brothers might desire a written, private ballot to express their feelings. Bro. Smith agreed that he was correct – thinking that some would use ‘privacy’ as an excuse to retain the status quo while not appearing to be racially motivated. Still, Grand Master Smith directed Grand Secretary and MWPGM R. Stanley Harrison to prepare paper ballots for the recognition vote – knowing that they would never be used.

As some in Prince Hall Masonry feared being overwhelmed by the much larger A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodge, so some A.F. & A.M. Masons expressed a concern that their meetings might be visited by large groups of Prince Hall Masons. Why, others asked, would that be a problem? Lodges that ‘blitz’ might arrive unannounced at a visited lodge with 10, 20, even 30 members (and, politely, with a large quantity of refreshments). Why would a visit from a Prince Hall delegation make any difference to the visited lodge? Unless, of course, there were other, unspoken, considerations….

Then Senior Grand Warden of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Michael Bivans focused on some of those concerns while speaking to Compass Lodge No. 9, Wallingford in the weeks leading up to the votes. RW Mike had been invited by Compass WM Charles Rogers to speak to his lodge to give a history of Prince Hall Masonry. After his formal presentation, Mike responded to a question about visitation between jurisdictions.

“Do all of your (A.F.& A.M.) members show up at your meetings? Of course not,” Mike answered his own question, looking at vacant seats in the nearly full lodge room. “And do all of my (P.H.A.) members show up at all of our meetings? Same thing. So what makes anybody think that when we approve mutual recognition, all of ‘your’ members are going to start going to ‘our’ meetings, and all of ‘our’ members are going to going to start to ‘your’ meetings? Won’t happen,” he concluded. History has proven him correct.

From Prince Hall Recognition

Image: MW Lew Myrick and RW Carl G. Ek, Worshipful Master. Unity Lodge No. 148, New Britain, at the Recognition Table Lodge. MW Myrick was protagonist for recognition twenty year ago, and RW Ek is the author of this series.

Dateline: Wallingford, Connecticut, October 14, 1989. The Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. special communication being held at Sheehan High School had several items on the agenda, most of which were disposed of as preludes to what everyone understood to be the main topic of business. Brothers learned about plans for the next inspection cycle and filled out a questionnaire concerning the then-Grand Lodge quarterly publication, Connecticut Square and Compasses.

The questionnaires filled out and collected, Grand Master Gail Nelson Smith announced, “We will now take up the Prince Hall Recognition…” and stated that there could be no amendments to the resolution since it was the same resolution being acted upon – at the same time – by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge. After opening remarks, Bro. Smith asked subcommittee chairman Hawkins to read the recommendations of his group.

Issues of Masonic legitimacy of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, the ’sovereignty issue’ of only one Grand Lodge per jurisdiction, and the potential for other Grand Lodges to withdraw Masonic recognition from Connecticut should the vote be in the affirmative were discussed. The first two were simple to resolve; as to the last, the report stated, “… we have no control over their actions, and our vote must not be influenced by what might happen, but rather what is prudent in this Grand Jurisdiction.”

Past Grand Master Morris I. Budkofsky, chairman of the Fraternal Relations Committee, reported complete satisfaction with the legitimacy of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge and recommended that approval of “Fraternal Recognition, including rights of visitation, be granted…” The original motion was reread and opportunities for remarks allowed.

Grand Master Smith then asked those in favor of the resolution to stand, be counted, and those opposed to stand. The final tally was not recorded in the Grand Lodge Proceedings except to say that “a large majority” had approved the resolution at the historic communication of the Grand Lodge.

Bro. Smith then reported – to great applause – the Prince Hall Grand Lodge’s vote of approval and concluded the agenda of his own session. Thereafter, Bros. Smith and Hawkins made a short drive to close a centuries-old gap in Masonic brotherhood, becoming the first A.F.& A.M. Masons to be formally received into the tiled Prince Hall Grand Lodge session.

Joint news releases would spread word of the good work publicly, but the pre-Internet Masonic grapevine spread the word faster, that recognition was reality. Response would be rapid….

To be continued…

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Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

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The Numbers

The Numbers

I know that bloggers always start off saying things like “I write for myself, and I don’t care how many readers I get,” but those of us who are fortunate enough to develop a readership find that we want to publish things worth reading, in terms of both content and writing style. I’m very pleased that some of you think my efforts are worth your time and trouble to return here in hopes of possibly seeing something worth reading, and I hope to continue.

I like to joke that I only have 27 readers from my own state of Connecticut, but recent numbers show that perhaps I’m not that far off. Each month, we post a survey on our Grand Lodge website, and we report the responses in the next issue of The Connecticut Freemason publication. Our last poll was based on our curiosity about those in Connecticut who actually do read blogs by Masons. The question and responses are as follows:

Do you read Masonic blogs?

Response	Number	Percentage
Yes, regularly	25	24
Yes, sometimes	40	39
No, don’t know what they are	20	19
No	19	18

Personally, I’m a bit surprised that there was not a category for “Yes, but only when Tom whines and makes me feel guilty”, but perhaps the CT Freemason writers were being kind.

This poll comes along when a few of my online brothers have been wondering about the seeming slowdown in the blogging world. A while ago I read that the typical blog lasts for three to six months, after which the writer runs out of ideas, time, or motivation. I think that a lot of Masons start blogging when they just have joined or are about to join, and accordingly, there’s a lot to write about because joining is new and exciting. There are all those thoughts running through one’s head, there’s the questioning, the investigating, the wondering aloud. And then there’s the petitioning, the investigating committee, and meeting new people. And after that, there is the getting prepped for the initiation and raising. Whoo hoo! Fun and exciting times, indeed.

After the raising, of course, there are a lot of meetings, reading of minutes, and discussions on fixing the roof or replacing the coffee maker. Excitement? Not so much. And that means, of course, less material to write about, and less motivation to write. It’s not that there is nothing interesting anymore, it’s just that one moves from the unknown to the known. It’s kind of like when Ross and Rachel finally got together; the culmination is always less interesting than the events leading up to it. Simply put, the early part of becoming a Mason – like becoming anything – is a process. Something new and different is happening in your life; but we need to remember that things that are happening are more interesting than things that are not happening.

And that is why, as 3M noted, that blogging can be difficult – we’ve already used up the good stuff.

Or have we?