textfiles/magazines/STB/stb-1935-11.txt

SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.XIII   November, 1935   No.11

UNIVERSALITY

by;  Unknown

The initiate is taught. <20>via<69> ritual and information given by fellow 
members, that Masonry is a universal Fraternity, world wide in its 
ramifications, admitting to its privileges worthy men of every 
country, sect and opinion, and providing a Fraternal intercourse 
based on common ideals which extend to all men, in all lands.
How far from the fact of this beautiful conception is well known to 
all who have occasion to study Freemasonry in its international 
aspects.  Only occasionally does the average Mason come in contact 
with the absence of universality; then it is usually with something 
of a shock that he learns that while his brother from a neighboring 
state may visit and hold Masonic intercourse with a certain foreign 
Lodge and brother, he is forbidden the same privilege, <20>vice versa.<2E>
Neither the prophet nor son of a prophet, this Bulletin can not state 
with any authority that a genuinely universal Craft may not be 
developed at some time in the future.  But it can be said without 
fear of contradiction that while diverse peoples hold diverse ideas 
as to what constitutes Freemasonry, a genuinely universal Fraternity, 
without bars or restrictions of any kind, is not likely soon to come 
into being.
According to the theory, ass man initiated, passed and raised in any 
legitimate Grand Lodge in the United States (of which there are 
forty-nine) has the <20>right of visitation<6F> into any symbolic Lodge in 
the world, and may and should recognize his brother Mason regardless 
of race, creed or religion.
But according to the facts, in some Grand Jurisdictions Masons are 
expressly forbidden to visit the Lodges of certain other Grand 
Lodges; in other Jurisdictions they may visit the Lodges of all Grand 
Lodges from which recognition has not been specifically withheld by 
their own Grand Lodge.  Put another way, some Grand Jurisdictions 
warn:  <20>You can visit only the Lodges of Grand Jurisdictions we 
recognize and with which we have Fraternal relations,: while others 
say<EFBFBD>  <20>You may visit Lodges in all Grand Jurisdictions of the world 
except those we have expressly forbidden you to visit.<2E>
In neither class, of course, is there <20>real<61> universality.
These pages are not to be taken as an argument that there <20>should<6C> be 
universality in the full meaning of the word.  It is impossible for 
the majority of Masons, Lodges and Grand Lodges to admit that certain 
other Grand Lodges and their brethren are Masonic, because of a 
fundamental difference of opinion as to what Masonry really is.
The classic instance, of course, is the Grand Orient of France, from 
which the large majority of English speaking Grand Lodges have 
withdrawn recognition.
In 1877 the Grand Orient of France eliminated from its constitutions 
the following:
<EFBFBD>Freemasonry has for its principles the existence of God, the 
immortality of the soul and the solidarity of mankind.
<EFBFBD>In place, it adopted:
<EFBFBD>Whereas Freemasonry is not a religion and has therefore no doctrine 
or dogma to affirm in its Constitution, this assembly has decided and 
decreed that the second paragraph of Article 1 of the Constitution, 
(quoted above) shall be erased and that for the words of said article 
the following shall be substituted:
<EFBFBD>Being an Institution essentially philanthropic, philosophic and 
progressive; Freemasonry has for its object, search after truth, 
study of universal morality, science and art; and the practice of 
benevolence.  It has for principles absolute liberty of conscious and 
human solidarity.  It excludes no person on account of his belief and 
its motto is <20>Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.,<2C>
New rituals were adopted from which all mention of God, a Supreme 
Architect, a Great Ruler of the Universe were deleted; and the Volume 
of Sacred Law was removed from the altar.
No man was excluded from the Lodges of the Grand Orient of France 
<EFBFBD>because<EFBFBD> he believed n God, but neither was any man <20>required to 
believe in God.
It was this which brought down upon the Grand Orient the withdrawal 
of Fraternal recognition by practically all English speaking Grand 
Lodges.
It seems only fair to clarify the position of the Grand Orient by 
quoting a few words said in defense of this revolutionary action, by 
one of its officials:
The Grand Orient of France, while it respects all philosophical 
beliefs, insists upon an absolute liberty of belief.  This does not 
mean that we banish from our Lodges the belief in God.  The United 
Grand Lodge of England, on the contrary, desires to make a belief in 
God in some manner compulsory.  The Grand Orient of France is much 
more liberal, since in proclaiming the absolute liberty to believe or 
not to believe in God, and by so doing desires to respect its members 
in their convictions, their doctrines and their beliefs.<2E>
English speaking Freemasonry is universal in its insistence upon a 
belief in a G.A.O.T.U.; the presence of a Volume of Sacred Law upon 
the Altar as indispensable to a Lodge at work; the division of 
Ancient Craft Masonry into three degrees; secrecy; the legend of the 
Third Degree, that Masons can be made of men only.  Let any Grand 
Lodge try to introduce a fourth degree or cut the list to two, remove 
the Holy Book, fail to require initiates to state a belief in Deity, 
make the ritual and the meetings public, substitute another subject 
for the Hiramic Legend or initiate a woman; and every English 
speaking Grand Lodge would immediately withdraw recognition, just as 
recognition of the Grand Orient of France was withdrawn by 
practically every Anglo Saxon Lodge in the world when that body 
declared for freedom to believe or not to believe; and the Volume of 
Sacred Law was not necessary.  The Grand Orient of France became, to 
those Grand Lodges which would have none of it, no longer a Masonic 
body.
Today a number of other matters are concerned in <20>recognition<6F> of one 
Grand Lodge by another; other hurdles to get over before 
<EFBFBD>universality<EFBFBD> is practiced as between any two Grand Lodges.  
Important as many of these are, however, failure to recognize Grand A 
by Grand Lodge B because Grand Lodge A does not conform to all the 
requirements, does not necessarily mean that Grand Lodge B declares 
Grand Lodge A without pale, unMasonic, outlawed.  It but sets forth 
that Grand Lodge B does not yet know, is not yet satisfied, whether 
or not Grand Lodge A fulfills all those conditions as well as 
practices all those principles which Grand Lodge B demands of those 
Grand Lodges it is willing to recognize.
If these additional requirements were all alike for all Grand Lodges, 
the Masonic world would be so much nearer the ideal of universality.  
They have grown more and more alike as the years have gone by, but 
the several Grand Lodges of this nation are not entirely of one mind 
as to what they demand of a foreign Grand Lodge before recognition 
can be extended.  Indeed, a number of American Grand Lodges have <20>no<6E> 
standards of recognition whatever; such usually consider each case on 
its merits, and generally blindly follow the report of the committee 
on Foreign Correspondence.
This results in certain anomalies; a Committee composed of brethren 
of very broad and liberal tendencies, for instance, will recommend 
recognition of a Grand Lodge which another committee, composed of 
brethren with very strict ideas, would have none of.  Hence it is not 
infrequent that two neighboring Jurisdictions will differ, one 
recognizing a certain foreign Grand Lodge, and another refusing that 
recognition.
Standards of recognition of the Grand Lodges of the United States 
which have such instruments follow fairly well in principle, often in 
words also, the standards set up by New York and Massachusetts.  
These are given herewith:
MASSACHUSETTS

<EFBFBD>Fraternal recognition may be extended to a foreign Grand Lodge when 
(a committee having first considered and reported thereon), it 
appears to the satisfaction of this Grand Lodge:
1.	That the foreign Grand Lodge in question represents a 
substantial unity of the Freemasons of the territory over which 
it assumes jurisdiction; i.e., the Country, Province, or State; 
or else shares such territory Jurisdiction with another Grand 
Lodge by mutual consent.
2.	That it has been lawfully organized by three or more regular 
Lodges, or that it has been legalized by this Grand Lodge, or by 
a Grand Lodge recognized by this Grand Lodge.
3.	That it is an independent self-governing organization, having 
sovereign Masonic authority within its Jurisdiction.
4.	That its ritual is fundamentally in accord with the Ancient 
Landmarks, customs and usages of the Craft.  This involves:

A.	Monotheism;
B.	The Volume of the Sacred Law a part of the furniture of the 
Lodge;
C.	Secrecy;
D.	The Symbolism of the operative art;
E.	The division of Symbolic Masonry into the three adherers of 
Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason;
F.	The Legend of the Third degree;	

5.	That it makes Masons of men only;
6.	That it is non-sectarian and non-political; i.e., that its 
dominant purposes are charitable, benevolent, educational and 
religious.

NEW YORK

Before a recommendation of Fraternal recognition of a foreign Grand 
Body may be submitted, it shall be ascertained by the committee on 
Foreign Correspondence:
I.	That such Grand Body has been formed lawfully by at least three 
just  and duly constituted Lodges, or that it has been legalized 
by charter or other valid act issuing from the Grand Lodge of 
New York or from a Grand Body in fraternal relations with this 
Grand Lodge;
II.	That it is a responsible, independent, self-governing 
organization with sole, undisputed and exclusive authority over 
the Symbolic Lodges of its Jurisdiction, and not in any sense 
whatever subject to, or dividing such authority with, a Supreme 
Council or other Power claiming ritualistic or other supervision 
or control;
III.	That its membership is composed of men exclusively, and 
that it entertains no Masonic relations with Mixed Lodges or 
Bodies admitting women into their fellowship;
IV.	That it adheres in principle to the Ancient Landmarks, 
traditions, customs and usages of the Craft; as set forth in the 
Constitutions adopted by the Grand Lodge of England in 1723;
V.	That it meets in particular the following tests which the Grand 
Lodge of New York considers essential to acceptance of a foreign 
Grand Body into its fellowship;

(1)	Acknowledgment of a belief in God, the Father of men,

(2)	Belief in immortality,

(3)	Presence of the Three Great Lights of Masonry in the 
Lodges while at work, chief among them the Sacred Book of 
Divine Law,

(4)	Exclusion of controversial, political and sectarian 
religious discussions from the Lodges and from all meetings 
held under the auspices of a Lodge.

VI.	While the Grand Lodge of New York claims exclusive Jurisdiction 
in the territory in which it is the Supreme Masonic authority, 
it recognizes that the law of exclusive territorial 
Jurisdiction, while firmly established in the United States and 
many other countries, is not universally accepted and does not 
constitute an Ancient Landmark of the Universal Craft.  To the 
end that no unwarranted impediment may exclude from our 
fellowship such Grand Bodies as are sharing the same territory 
with others by mutual consent, we shall accept such mutual 
consent as entitling the several Grand Bodies included therein 
to Fraternal consideration, providing the applicant for 
recognition does not presume to establish Lodges in, a territory 
occupied by a lawful Grand Lodge, without the expressed assent 
of such Supreme Governing Body.
It is to be noted that all Grand Lodges of the continental United 
States recognize and are in Fraternal relations with all the others.
This state of affairs has not always existed - indeed, the last two 
<EFBFBD>sore spots<74> were removed within the last few years.  But the 
differences which at one time separated some of our Grand Lodges from 
others have all disappeared, been adjusted or are better understood, 
so that peace and harmony prevails Masonically in this Nation.
One United States Grand Lodge, for reasons which to her are wise and 
sufficient, has severed relations with the Grand Lodge of the 
Philippine Islands (as have the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and 
Scotland) but all Grand Lodges in this nation unite in hoping the 
differences can be healed.
The period of rapid spread of Freemasonry from land to land, or 
course, is over, but with new political divisions resulting from a 
remaking of the world<6C>s maps, new Grand Lodges are still coming into 
being, many of them not recognized by many of the older 
Jurisdictions, and as such, not on the <20>visiting list<73> of Masons of 
these obedience.
American Masonic universality exists; it is possible for a Mason from 
any Lodge in the Continental United States (including Alaska) to 
knock upon the door of any other Lodge in the United States 
(including Alaska) and, if he proves himself, and the brethren and 
Master are willing to receive him, visit.  But any United States 
Freemason desiring to visit Lodges abroad is wise if he first 
satisfies himself - which he mat do by reading his current Grand 
Lodge <20>Proceedings<67>, or asking his Grand Secretary - that the Lodge 
or Lodges he proposes to visit owe obedience to a Grand Lodge with 
which his own Grand Lodge is in Fraternal relations.