Tough, but Crucial Conversations

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Kevin Homan

Before the early hours of December 4, 2024, had you asked the average American who Brian Thompson or United Healthcare was you would have probably gotten a quizzical look back in return. Now, you can hardly escape a day on social media without seeing a meme, or praise for Luigi Mangione or Thompson. In typical American fashion, the division was immediate, and it is stark. Much like school shootings, “now is not the time to be politicizing” these acts. Thoughts and prayers must be with the family of the victim.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. Mr. Thompson’s murder is a tragedy. A wife lost her husband, and children lost their father. One man allegedly murdered another man. Any way you slice it that is a tragedy. While it is still early, and we only have the alleged gunman’s writings to go on, one cannot immediately think of the current state of the American insurance system and not admit our system is broken.

A week or two before our election, I was walking my daughter to school when she asked one of our neighbors who was out walking their dog who she had voted for. She responded in typical American fashion, “Who we vote for is private”. I,of course, immediately thought of the Masonic prohibition of speaking of religion and politics within the tyled space of the Lodge, which we frequently conflate to include just about everywhere else. I’m not claiming we should be having these conversations in Lodge, we shouldn’t be. What I am claiming is as a fraternity, and as a society, we need to stop hiding behind this idea we can’t have difficult conversations, conversations that NEED to be had mind you in the aftermath of a tragedy. Quite the opposite, the immediate aftermath of tragedies like this is the BEST time to have these conversations. Otherwise, in our frantic media cycle, we forget and move on to the next squirrel that takes up the airwaves.

The sad reality today is, that we do not discuss political or religious topics as Masons because it will cause disharmony, but because a majority of Masons cannot subdue their passions and debate rationally. Instead of being the example to society we claim to be, I see a majority of Masons making uninformed and abhorrent statements. Instead of engaging in civil discourse, and being the light in the darkness, I have witnessed Masons call Masonic widows’ groomers.

This country deserves, no NEEDS to discuss the state of the insurance industry and how it puts profit before the health of its customers. This country NEEDS to discuss meaningfully why school shootings continue to happen. This country needs to meaningfully discuss the border crisis and how we can best plan to solve it in a way that adequately addresses everyone’s needs. There was a time when Masonry had the courage and the ability to lead the rational discourse, and needed to thoughtfully solve problems such as these. But no more. No more, because our membership is just as polarized as the country, despite our ritual saying we are different. Despite us saying we are different, we are no different than society. Brethren, we are not better. By and large, we cannot subdue our passions, and by and large we’ve lost the stomach to be the change society needs. If you doubt what I’m saying, I encourage you to look closely at what you’re fellow Brethren are saying online.

This is the state of the fraternity, all because we’re afraid to have tough conversations. We’re afraid of this because, despite our claim of being able to subdue our passions, we can’t subdue our passions. We are afraid to have tough conversations because we’re afraid of what it might reveal about ourselves.

How do we once again become the organization we tell ourselves it is? How are we truly going to become the light to society we continually tell ourselves we are?

Brother Homan has been a Freemason for 18 years as a member of Olive Branch Lodge in Leesburg VA. He is also a member of multiple Appendant Bodies. Masonically, Kevin is interested in education, currently serving as his Lodge's Education Officer as well as a Regional Provost on the Grand Lodge Committee on Education. Outside of Masonry Kevin is either transporting his children to their various activities or can be found at the track in his 1997 Mazda Miata.

Are We Looking at Our Own Jedi Moment?

by midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Kevin Homan, PM

I was lucky this last year that I got the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s off so it was nice to spend the week with my family and not have any work to worry about. On the Tuesday after Christmas we went out and watched Coco as a family. My wife and I both made the mistake of chopping onions towards the end of the movie, and while its a wonderful movie, Coco isn’t the particular movie I’m talking about (but seriously go see it). I am, of course, referencing Star Wars here, as several days later my son and I finally went out and saw The Last Jedi. The movie seems to be polarizing to Star Wars fans, some liking the movie, others not. I happened to very much enjoy the movie, and while no movie is perfect, I found it very enjoyable and feel it really furthered the lore of the Star Wars universe. I also, a day later, found myself thinking about the movie, its relation to the Prequels (more on that shortly), and the relation between Freemasonry and the fictional Jedi Order.

To begin, we go all the way back to the Prequels, a VERY sore subject for darn near 99% of Star Wars fandom (I happen to be in that 99%). However, I do think the prequels do get one thing right: the Jedi Order, and the rise of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. Now, it's easy to see the movies and just say “well, Senator/Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine was so powerful, that along with Anakin Skywalker as the most powerful Jedi, they took over the entire galaxy”. That’s all well and good, but it also ignores that the Jedi Order had Jedi who were just as powerful in the Force as Sheev Palpatine. In the Phantom Menace, when Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Master Qui-Gon Jinn first meet Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon instantly can “feel” that Anakin is Force sensitive. Furthermore, mention is made that the Order is able to detect Force sensitive children from birth, so it shouldn’t be too much of a leap to assume that Palpatine at some point should have come across the radar of the Jedi Order, yet he didn’t. Why? Fan theories and even the books have filled in a simple explanation, but the simplest explanation is...the Jedi Order became complacent, and forgot their ways. Their complacency was their downfall, just as it will be Freemasonry’s if we don’t do something about it.

In short, Freemasonry, like any other organization has had its ups, and downs. Our most notable ups would be after World War I, and World War II. With the period after World War II seeing growth in both membership, as well as growth in Masonic buildings. We brought in members, enjoyed lavish buildings and filled our coffers, but largely acted as a men's club and not much else. 

Which brings us to today. Our buildings, which were once opulent, have either been sold or are in need of massively expensive overhauls from years of neglect. Our members are dying off. And year after year, Grand Lodges across the country are losing members in droves instead of adding replacements to keep us alive. What happened? Like the Jedi Order, we became complacent. Lodges deferred Temple repairs and updates at a time when it would have been more affordable and eventually put themselves in a bind, with decreased membership, and income low because dues hadn’t been raised. Lodges either had to sell their property or just let it continue to fester. Lodges that did attempt to raise dues either had a revolt, or the membership outright voted not to increase it. Comfortability in our surroundings led to complacency. We downsized buildings, merged Lodges or just outright closed them altogether. 

The Last Jedi struggles with another theme, that of, "We need a hero." We need a recognizable hero. Initially Rey doesn’t understand this, and the point isn’t hammered home until the very end of the movie (which I won’t spoil here) that it isn’t about Skywalker’s, Solo’s or Akhbar’s. The Last Jedi isn’t about a recognizable name from the past coming out of hiding to save the day. It’s about the future, Rey, and Finn and Poe. The Rebellion (now the Resistance) , the Jedi Order (and the Sith) are now in the hands of Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren. Luke, Leia and the rest did their job, they saved the day once already, but now it's time for a new generation to step up and do the same. 

This topic is something I see Lodges and Masonic organizations struggling with; We (naturally) focus on our generation, our friend groups and peers, when we should be instead, looking forward. This is not to say we should just ignore our peer group and only look to the younger generations to save us. It will take ALL of us to save us. But the point I’m trying to make is that interest in Freemasonry is out there among the millennial generation and we have millennials among our ranks. We need to cater our message to them to get them to come out in greater numbers. Many Lodges and organizations use Facebook, and to a lesser extent, Twitter, which is great and keeps us quickly on the same page, but these efforts need to go further. We need to make sure we don’t skip a generation; We need to bring in the millennials. And eventually the millennials will be who will is running the show and they will need to figure out how to speak to the generations that follow them.

Freemasonry and its future hinges on what we do next. It hinges on us speaking to the next generation, to let them know it's “their time to lead”. If we can’t do that it may be the end of the Republic.

~KH

WB Kevin Homan was Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in August of 2007 at Olive Branch Lodge No. 114 in Leesburg, VA., and since then has like many Masons, involved himself in more and more bodies. In addition to being a Past Master of Olive Branch Lodge, Kevin is a member of Potomac Chapter No. 88, RAM, Piedmont Commandery No. 26 and the Alexandria Scottish Rite Bodies. Additionally Bro Kevin is a member of several of the York Rite invitational Bodies. Bro Homan has been married to his wife Hillary for the past ten years and they have three wonderful (mostly) children. When he’s not doing something with his family or the Lodge Kevin enjoys a good glass of Scotch, the occasional cigar and reading a good book in his office, which “smells of leather-bound books and rich mahogany.