🚀 go-pugleaf

Earlier CATYRON@AOL.COM  said this to RON BOUTWELL about Re: Lost
Messages:


C>In article <79.763.975.0C9380ED@indy.com>, ed.bloom@indy.com (Ed
C>Bloom) writes about gay masons and the potential for discord. I sent
C>a reply to this thread, noting the brotherhood of Masons should
C>extend beyond mere genetic differences such as ethnicity, skin
C>pigment, or sexual preference. I used the example of my Jewish
C>grandfather, a Mason, who told me that his fellow Masons in Germany
C>had helped him and my grandmother escape from the Nazis but that he
C>felt Masons in America were racially prejuduced compared to those he
C>knew in Europe, because in New York City at that time (the 1950s),
C>they were not welcoming to Jewish members. This message was not
C>posted. I wonder if the moderater thought i was expressing
C>anti-Masonic thought?

Nooooo!  Not at all.  The message simply got lost I assure you.  Your
grandfather was right.  MASONRY (in the US)  HAS HAD SOME VERY DIFFICULT
TIMES WITH REGARD TO PREDUDICE.  I'm sure nobody being honest
will deny this.  However, it should be noted that this is not an exclusive
Masonic problem.  This nation went through a civil war fought over that very
topic.  The aftermath of that war left practically every organization racially
polarized including many companies.  Many of these organizations are
still having this problem (including Masonry).  Your grandfather's observation
was accurate.  However, had he been an Elk, Moose, Rotary or
member of the US Military, he would have seen the same problems there.
This is no excuse for Masonry however, Masonry has always (as a
matter of policy) held predudice in disdain.  It is clearly non-Masonic to be
predudice in any way.  We as American Masons fell short or our own ideals.
However, I am glad to say, this is turning around noticably day after day.
There are still "old Masonic fossils" that want to preserve this nonsense,
but their own mortality alone has doomed their cause to fail.  I know very
few Masons below the age of 45 that would advocate predudice as a Masonic
practice.  So few in fact, they are often afraid to express their character
 flaws.


C> In Arthur Edward Waite's
C>Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, mention is made of the "Co-Masons" who
C>initiated women at least through the blue degrees (i think as part of
C>their statement of support for the female suffrage movement) and who,
C>he wrote, were active in Australia, although they were no longer
C>ecognized by the regular lodges in the U.S. or U.K. His book was
C>written in the 1920s, i believe, so my question is, does Co-Masonry
C>still survive in Australia?ue to post this message until i receive
C>confirmation that you have received it.

I do not know.  There are several Masons here from Australia though
that I'm sure do know the answer to your question.  I do know these
Co-Masonic lodges exist in Canada and France.  I believe there are
some I have heard of in the Western US as well.

Ron Boutwell
Indianapolis, Indiana


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 * CmpQwk 1.30 #648 * Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.