Banned Masonic Education

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

Not too long ago, let’s call it nine years. It was, at least in my Masonic experience, impossible to get Masonic Education within a Lodge. Granted, over the years, I was able to work diligently to change the direction of my Lodge so that we could get some Masonic Education at every meeting. The evolution of going from just a business meeting— a bad one, to a meeting rife with Education has a series of development stages. I’ll outline the stages in another post.

What I want to express in this piece is the recent frustration that I had experienced. One that had not reared its head in several years. Looking back on my Masonic involvement, there were several times where I would bring about a proposal for Masonic Education at a meeting and I would be met with disinterest. As I pushed on, because as we know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, I found myself pushing even harder out of necessity to be heard. This is because there were members who felt vehemently that Masonic Education was of no interest, and took too much time for a stated meeting.

I would assume that many of you reading this have seen this happen, or have experienced it firsthand. You might attempt to read a five minute MSA bulletin, and halfway through it, you’re already getting eye rolls, yawns, and people tapping the faces of their watch. As much as to say, “Hurry up, Bro.” You push on, planning perhaps a Festive Board night, blending the social aspect, with toasts and intellectual responses. In this, you think, “This should fire on all cylinders. It’s social for those non-intellectuals and intellectual for those who are looking for some discourse.” The Festive Board probably goes wonderfully. But it was not without its headaches and pushback. Over the years, the responses of the toasts are dropped, and now the Festive Board is just an annual Lodge spaghetti dinner. The lazy got their way.

But what about the Internet. What about the sharing of educational content in various groups within social networking sites? Something can be posted, and people can react to it or comment on it. It’s not a Lodge, and it’s passive. You can scroll past it if you’re not interested. Education is available to the masses at the click of a mouse. One would never think you would find opposition to the presentation of Masonic Education in an online forum. But that’s just what happened to me recently.

Whenever a particularly interesting Midnight Freemason article comes out, or a relevant episode of a Masonic podcast or an excellent Masonic Education presentation becomes available, I typically will share it. I bounce from Grand Lodge Facebook group to Grand Lodge Facebook group sharing all I can. Recently, however, I was banned from a Grand Lodge Facebook group because of what I posted, a link to a Masonic convention to see Brother Steven L Harrison 33°. I can only assume that this post interrupted the standard stream of generic Masonic postings. You know the kind. If there was a word that meant Meme and Platitude...Platimeme? Anyway, God forbid that Freemasonry be interesting.

If being banned wasn’t enough, the Brother who reported the content, had it deleted, and me banned from the page, decided to send me a message, and interrogate me over my motives for sharing the content. It was something else. 

So, my Brothers, there is no letting down your guard. If you’re going to fight for Masonic Education, never put away your sword. I plan to attempt to rejoin that Facebook group and post even more Masonic Education than ever before.

In an age where the movers and shakers in this Fraternity are also the ones who demand education, my toast tonight are three Latin words – Ut vox populi.

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry" and is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.

Clash of the Titans

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

I've written a few articles here on the Midnight Freemasons blog about an incredible Brother who, in my opinion, was the 20th century's "Mason of the century." Most Worshipful Brother Ray V. Denslow was General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter during the WWII years. He was the founder of the Royal Arch Mason magazine and served as its editor and publisher from 1942 until his death in 1960, at which time his son William, author of 10,000 Famous Freemasons, took over. Ray Denslow was also the world's foremost authority on international Freemasonry, and published the only complete account of the near-destruction of the Craft in Europe in the years leading up to WWII and its reconstruction following the war.

Those accomplishments are only the tip of the iceberg in Brother Denslow's Masonic resume. He was almost certainly the most famous Freemason in the world at the time, with the single exception of his good friend Harry Truman.

The shortcomings of each of us are borne out in the fact that our rough ashlars will remain so. We as Freemasons work daily toward the goal of the perfect ashlar, which seems always to lie just outside our grasp. The same was true even of a Mason of the stature of Ray Denslow. Immersed in human frailties, he had his share of doubts, conflicts, and battles… and one of those battles went supernova when the two most powerful Freemasons in the country went head-to-head. Their feud lasted for years, in an ugly fight in which Denslow was ultimately stripped of the 33°.

Denslow documents this brutal hostility in his memoirs, albeit from his own point of view; but he lays out the facts objectively enough that we can see both sides of the story. This account is spread over many pages as he tells of issues that cropped up over time. As a result, reading the books, it is difficult to see the intense impact of the story.

So I decided to take each of those incidents and compile them into an article. I intended it for the Freemason magazine here in Missouri and instead of just submitting it, I met personally with the editor and told him, "This is hot stuff. If you review it and decide it shouldn't go into the magazine, I will understand." So the editor reviewed and accepted the story. It was destined to be published for all the world to see.

A couple weeks later, I got a friendly phone call from the Grand Master. He said he liked the article. Then he said, "Steve… Steve… you know we can't publish this." I knew. And just as I had told the editor, I understood.

So I went to work on a revision. I toned some things down and threw in the standard disclaimer saying the article did not necessarily reflect the views of the Grand Lodge, the Missouri Lodge of Research, the Grand Line officers, the magazine, God or any individuals living or dead. By this time there was a new Grand Master. I met with him. He reviewed the article and gave it his blessing to be published. So the on-again-off-again publication of this hot potato was on again.

Then, I met with the Denslows themselves – Ray's granddaughter and grandson, and we talked about the issue. Not surprisingly, they saw things from Ray's point of view. I realized the publication of the article might embarrass or even alienate them after they had been so good in working with me as I edited his memoirs… and I didn't want that. In addition, let's face it, the whole episode was not Freemasonry's finest hour. So I called the new Grand Master and we once again decided not to publish the article. It's not like the story has never been told. I've just never heard it told correctly or completely.

So what to do with this thing? Well, here's what we're going to do. This September at Chicago Masonicon, I'll lay out the whole grisly story. What Denslow did that so offended the Scottish Rite that it yanked his 33°. Who his great and powerful nemesis was, and how this clash of the titans came to its imperfect resolution. I won't publish it, but at that meeting we'll sit down and talk about it… just you and me.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.