FILED UNDER: When you’re Symbolically Ignorant and Humor Challenged

(Sometimes situations are put before me as gifts from God. This discourse gem is based upon an actual interaction between two Brothers…)

Brother (An actual administrator in a Masonic Facebook Group posts this within the group):  A member of this page sent me this meme and I blocked him. Gentlemen if you’re using language like “whore” I personally don’t believe you’re deserving to be a Mason. How about strive to be part of the solution, not be part of the problem....

Coach: And we’ll not mention any irony or hypocrisy related to the fact that you're posting this objectionable meme here for others to see the very thing that you find distasteful and do not want to see yourself. Who's the problem here?

Brother: Right, though as the admin of this page, I’m just calling the crap out.

Coach: Yes, a public condemnation of a privately shared piece coupled with your use of another offensive expletive within your justification is equally ironic and hypocritical. You have an interesting moral code Bro.

Brother: I see absolutely nothing hypocritical in my post, maybe you enjoyed the meme and don’t see anything wrong with it. Calling something crap that is crap has nothing to do with morals.

Coach: My enjoyment or judgement of the meme is not the issue here Bro. It is clear that you don’t see what I am pointing out to you. Let me spell it out... You admittedly blocked a Brother for using what you judge to be an offensive word within something he found humorous, yet you use an offensive expletive to label his efforts to share from his heart.  Furthermore, you reposted it and used these expletives in your repost, thus subjecting others to them as well, even though you find it objectionable. Yes, there are morals in question here.

Brother: Calling a meme crap and calling female a whore are not even in the same ballpark, but you need to hear your right then so be it.

Coach: Your comparison is a red herring argument Bro. Both words are offensive expletives. And being right is also a red herring argument. You believe you're justified in judging and condemning, but are passionately indignant at 1) a fictitious bear who judged and condemned a female and 2) what is being pointed out as hypocrisy. Yes. Your morals are clear for all to see. You’re revealing your soul.

Brother: Remind me your choice of words when your daughter is called a whore.

Coach: Your response is a straw man argument Bro. If my daughter was caught breaking and entering, violating the sanctity of a family's safe place, their furniture, their food reserves and taking up residence where she didn't belong, being called a "whore" would be the least of her problems. It's not about me wanting to be right Bro. It's about your inability to see who you are choosing to be in this matter and what you are about.

Brother: But it’s not straw man at all.

Coach: Actually, it is.

Brother: I’m defending females!

Coach: You're now putting yet another straw man argument to defend your previous straw man argument. You're not defending females; you're defending yourself and your behavior!

Brother: I called it crap.

Coach: Yes. And the irony of your responses displayed the hypocrisy of your value system. It's obvious.

Brother: You took the path of connecting my choice of words to define that meme to be at the same level as the meme.

Coach: You're the one who put a pejorative definition upon the meme's word; not me. There's a huge difference between define your choice of words and merely pointed obvious things out.

Brother:  Now you’re questioning my morals, you know nothing about me.

Coach: Actually, I’m not questioning them; I’m seeing them and pointing them out as well and for you to see. And from all that you posted herein, I know more than enough.

Brother: To your response, when did anyone’s safe place get broken into?

Coach: Are you seriously telling me that you do you not know to whom[i] the bear was referring and to what she did to that bear's family and home?  Seriously?!

Brother: It sounds like somebody is reading way too far into something,

Coach: Much like you did to that meme, and unfortunately not far enough to grasp the subtle but obvious references to a well-known Folk Tale.

Brother: I’m defending females!

Coach: You're defending ignorance, your position, your poor behavior, your attitude and your lack of awareness; not females. You simply don't see it.

Brother: Brothers should know better than to send distasteful memes.

Coach: Actually, Brothers should be told when they are exhibiting ironic and hypocritical behavior reflecting symbolically ignorance and a lack of humor. Your reposting of the very thing you condemn others for posting is acting out the same behavior that you condemn. I wish you did know better. You would not be posting these things and defending your behavior with righteous indignation.

Brother:  Let’s call the meme distasteful.

Coach: And let’s call your reposting something that you found distasteful, thus subjecting others to the very thing that you found equally distasteful and disgusting, ironic and hypocritical.  

{Coach was summarily blocked and the thread removed/hidden at this point}

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[i] Goldilocks – Notorious for breaking and entering, destroying furniture, depleting food reserves and bedding down without permission of the homeowners.

A Brother Ask... Society Inconsistencies!

A Brother Asks:  If a Master Mason stands firm against bigotry, tyranny, corruption and political correctness and therefore, is disparaged, ostracized and shunned by his fellow Brothers for being steadfast in that conviction; why would he remain a Master Mason?

My Response: The bluntest answer is, "Because it's not about them."  But let me say further that the Character of Hiram Abiff was put forth to you with sincere and calculated purpose to help emphasize that you will continually find yourself alone in life and surrounded by Ruffians at times.  Try as you might, you shall not escape these rogues, ever.  All you can do is deal with them to your best abilities and do what you can to evade them until you can no longer delay the obvious.  Furthermore, the closer you come to completing your Temple, the more aggressive they shall become.

Part of your challenge is to keep your head about you, being a role model for those who can follow your lead.  Be the best role model you can and enjoy the benefits of the role and the challenges such a role demands.

He Continues: If we are a fraternity of Brothers, Men of Reason, what exactly do we stand for?

 

My Response: The Fraternity shall always espouse principles that the membership can't possible live up to, especially when the organization itself doesn't support what it espouses.   Once again, it's not about them; it's about you and what you can do to better yourself. 

I highly recommend that you turn the question around so you don't drive yourself to despair!  What exactly do YOU stand for?! and once you answer this fully, live it and without reservation from yourself or any expectations of others! 

He Continues: If it is Hope, is not hope reflected in our Faith that reason will prevail through our Charity of preserving Liberty, which would then provide Hope to others?

 

My Response:< chuckle> I hope that you do realize that what you are involved in here is a Theatrical-Based Role-playing society filled with amateur actors, many of which have no clue as to what the scripts actually mean to convey.  Truly my Brother, step out of it, look back at it with fresh eyes, and ask yourself if you want to get upset about something that was intended to entertain and provoke thought toward betterment. What the society espouses is Grand. What it provides is opportunity alone. Make the most of it, but don't expect the society to be more than what it actually is.

He Continues: Is not becoming a better man not our end goal as Master Masons?

My Response: Not if you look at what the society supports. Once again, what the scripts espouse is not what the society supports.  This does not negate what it offers.  It's truly important to separate out what is espoused and what is supported so that you can focus not on what is lacking in the organization, but what is lacking in you!

 

He Continues: Why is it that 'better men' are those that blindly comply to the complacent and bad Masons are those willing to shed light into the shadows that has infested our lodges?

 

My Response: Because labels are not reality. Once again, these Freemasonic Organizations have a vested interest in continuing to provide what they provide.  What you see them labeling as "better men" are merely "better members" who support these organizations toward their intended ends. 

Keep in mind that the end goal of what is espouses is to birth men.  If you are such a birthed man, you need not shed light back into the womb.  Males within the womb are neither mature enough to see the Light within their darkness nor able to use the offered Light to climb out of it.

It is most important to keep in mind that these Lodges have one purpose:  To continue the process of bringing males into them and submerging them in a culture of morality plays all designed to shed Light upon what they can do to improve themselves. 

It is not designed to help them do this improving.  That is left to the individuals to do on their own. 

I challenge you to shed your Light where it will do the most good. And do so brilliantly!

 

He Continues: I have met few men of reason within our beloved fraternity.

My Response: Me too, AND I have met a lot more of these quality men than I would have had I not been a member. Doesn't that tell you something?

He Continues: Those I have met have suffered greatly by the hand of their Brothers.

My Response: Me too and I’m included in this! These are the Ruffian experiences I mentioned before.  The bad news is that you're NOT going to avoid this outside the Society.  The good news is that you've gotten to the point where you now have the awareness of such creatures and their ways and the language and skills to communicate what you're going to face for a lifetime.  You are a lot better off for being exposed to all this than had you never had the opportunity to perpend this in your life.

He Continues: Many no longer attend Lodge; many no longer tolerate the ruffians within our walls. How is it that reason has been chained and political correctness been unleashed?

My Response: The simple blunt response is because Ruffians Rule the Roost, Cowans occupy Support Positions and the Society isn’t what it Pretends to be (a Speculative version of Stonecraft). 

But this response doesn't do service to the real intent of your statement my Brother.  The truth is that you are expecting far more from the organization that it could possibly deliver.  It simply is not designed to do what you expect it to.

If you wish to remain sane in your participation though, go back to the metaphor I shared before: The Lodge is a Womb!  Nothing more.  You cannot expect males within it to be mature; that's the very reason they came through the door; they wanted to mature, even if they didn't know this when they walked through it. 

Sadly, far too many are not mature even after they have walked through the door and stuck around for any length of time, despite their appearance of age.  

 

On the other hand, too few are mature and you can tell them by what these few say and do and how they focus their time.  They stick around and help guide those who have shallow intent and those who have deep intent, according to the desire of each, helping bettering those who wish to invest in themselves as they can.

 

If you wish to stick around also, regardless of the Organizations limitations, there are things you can do to further improve yourself by engaging in what could be a maddening endeavor.  If you try to change anything other than yourself, you're going to become frustrated, bitter and disgruntled. 

However, if you use the roughness of what these experiences offer, you can polish yourself in ways you could not begin to imagine.

Most of all!  If you choose to participate, do so in loving folly and don't let anyone get your goat.

 

F&S,

 

Brother John S. Nagy

 

PS - Keep the friendships of those who don't participate, especially if they are men of quality whom which would enrich your life, as you would enrich theirs.  THE LODGE IS  NOT A BUILDING YOU GO TO; IT IS A GATHERING OF MEN WITH GOOD PURPOSE!

 

PSS - Should you want further support that you can't get inside the Society, I am available, but not for free.