Fictional drama features Masonic-ish brotherhood

Recently I watched a new episode of Psych, a comedy-drama on the USA Network. The show is about a young man who pretends to be a psychic investigator. He works for the police as well as on private cases.

This episode, called "Dis-Lodged," focused on a fictional "Monarch" Lodge that had many similarities, and a few humorous differences, to Masonic lodges.

A "tyler" stationed outside the building was a uniformed security guard, who exchanged a complicated and rather silly set of hand gestures with each member as they entered. Inside, in the anteroom, were portraits of famous Monarchs. The first one shown, but not identified, was W. Bro. and U.S. President Harry Truman. Other photographs of famous (in the fictional universe) brothers included many captains of industry and politics.

In the lodgeroom itself, the brothers were milling around, all in purple, hooded robes with grand-lodge-like sashes around their necks which had all sorts of mystical (but not Masonic) symbols on them.

Our hero mimics the elaborate hand gestures he saw someone else give at the door, fakes his way in, and finds on the lodgeroom floor, with disinterested, hooded brothers standing around, the body of a brother lying dead in the floor.

A few days later, the psychic is made a full member. Maybe they had a one-day class.

The Most High Patriarch of the lodge is played by Philip Baker Hall, who also starred as gameshow host and Freemason Jimmy Gator in 1999's epic movie Magnolia. In that movie, we hear him being told, "We met upon the level, and we part upon the square," by a brother just as he is taking the stage.

Spoiler alert: The murderer is revealed at the end of Psych to be a lodge member, a medical doctor who had been skimming funds from the lodge's large donations to various children's charities. The murdered brother had discovered the embezzlement and had been killed by the doctor.

Nothing like television to make "secret society" fraternities look bad.

Meanwhile, in real life, investigative reported Sandy Frost has posted "Two Years On," which is part 22 of her continuing investigation into alleged financial improprieties of the Shrine. "Two Years On" is a summary of all that's gone before.

Image: Maggie Lawson, who plays police officer Juliet O'Hara on the series "Psych."

Masons | Masonic Television | Freemasonry | Psych | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Guest editorial: Rebuilding lodges, part 2

Rebuilding Lodges (part 2) by W. Bro. Ken Miller

As you know, the decline in Masonry in the 1960's was not unique to our order. This same erosion was seen across all fraternal groups. Why did everyone decline? Because of societal changes that happened outside of our walls, not just rot from within (although there is little doubt that has happened).

Just as our lodges came to be governed more and more by code books and less and less by trust in our brothers, outside our walls more and more attorneys found work as our society became increasingly litigious and less trusting of one another. Unlike in the first half of the 20th Century, now we all need to "get it in writing."

As group participation in America waned, we lost our trust in one another. This, in a nutshell, is what Dr. Robert Putnam calls "social capital." Within our walls we have another name for the same thing — brotherhood.

Without social capital, we don't know how to interact with one another with civility, we don't look out for one another, and transactional costs increase (a handshake agreement is cheaper than getting the papers drafted up by the lawyers). Politics becomes shrill and base, our economy becomes more inefficient, crime rises and safety declines. The decline of social capital has become recognized as a profound challenge to quality of life in America.

How does this fit in to Masonry? Two ways: one, we must recognize this broad social force for what it is; and two, we can counteract it perhaps not on a large scale, but at least in our own lives.

First, Masonry has to acknowledge that the 1950's aren't coming back. Our lodge rooms will never again seat 150 for a stated meeting. Instead of swimming against that tide and amplifying the problem with one day classes, let's embrace our past and look to early lodges as our example.

In the Golden Age of Masonry, when it was a force for improving society, lodges were smaller than today. It worked pretty well for them, so let's take a few pointers from that age. Let's not fight declining social capital by diluting our own social capital. That is, lets not let in thousands of new Masons in one day classes and do nothing but collect their annual dues. That's the path to making Masonry a mailing list.

Let's counteract these forces in our own lodges by allowing our lodges to naturally contract. A small lodge where new petitioners are carefully vetted is a lodge where we all know one another and more likely have trust in one another. In other words, there is social capital. There is brotherhood.

— W. Bro. Ken Miller, Halycon Lodge No. 498, Cleveland, Ohio

Image: Photo taken during the 1901 construction of a 100 ft. tall obelisk monument to Sgt. Charles Floyd, a member of the Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery," the first American soldier to die west of the Mississippi River. Floyd was buried on this spot near Sioux City, Iowa, in 1804.

Masons | Masonic Brotherhood | Masonic Lodges | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

You're invited to The Burning Taper's First Ever Virtual E-Masonic Reunion

In the comments section of a recent article, Bro. Ephraim suggested, "W.S., might I ask you start a post where posters can introduce themselves so we might be able to better understand one's background and views? I think this would be beneficial to the regulars of your blog."

Voila! So mote it be.

You're invited to the Burning Taper's First Ever Virtual E-Masonic Reunion (FEVER).

Grab a beer from the bottomless ice chest (but only if your Masonic Grand Lodge approves; we've got soft drinks and bottled water, too — whatever you want), pull up a lawn chair, and introduce yourself.

Are you a Mason? For how long? Where are you from? What Masonic groups do you belong to? Are you "mainstream," Prince Hall, Le Droit Humain, etc.? What awards, gold chains and fancy aprons have you collected?

Are any of your family members involved in Masonry? Anyone involved with the Eastern Star?

What do you think of Freemasonry? Love it, hate it, tolerate it, wish it was better, or think it's peachy-keen just like it is?

Do you blog? Have you written books or papers, Masonic or otherwise? Feel free to post links.

What do you do for a living? Maybe someone here could use your services.

And since this isn't an official and/or tyled meeting, let's talk religion and politics. (Your lips are already loosened by that beer you're drinking, so speak up.) Are you an American? Are you politically conservative, liberal, libertarian or anarchist? Who do you support for U.S. president in 2008? What do you think of the War in Iraq?

Are you Christian (please specify sect), Muslim, Jew, pagan, agnostic, atheist or what? Do you support mixing Masonry and religion inside the lodge?

Oh, and what kind of drink did you pull out of our bottomless ice chest?

Kick back. Enjoy. Have fun. We'll turn on the karaoke machine later.

Masons | Masonic Introductions | Brotherhood | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Masons on the level: The Don Imus flap

In the last several weeks I've become friends with fellow Masonic blogger Brother Isaiah Coffey, a member of a Prince Hall Affiliated Masonic lodge in Atlanta. I, by contrast, am a member of a "regular" blue lodge in rural north Georgia, working under the jurisdiction of the "whites only" Grand Lodge of Georgia. Bro. Isaiah and I consider ourselves Masonic brothers, no matter what our respective grand lodges may say.

This morning I emailed Bro. Isaiah asking him what he thought about the current media frenzy regarding radio talk show host Don Imus, who is in hot water for an off-the-cuff on-air remark calling the women of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed ho's."

Bro. Isaiah had some great insights on the issue, and we've agreed to post our email exchange online on both his blog Kingdom of Conscience and here on the Burning Taper.

My questions are in italics.

Good day, Brother,

What's your take on the Imus flap?

I think that it is a bunch of bullshit how the media exposes a white man because of his comments and they don't expose how blacks or hispanics talk about other races. Period. I feel that it is not only common on drive-time radio, but also common within the confines of our own homes, communities, and within our life here on earth. Even to the oldest historical records that mankind has on file, race has always been an issue. At one point, a person was identified by their particular country... now it's their skin color. So, we've gone from countries binding themselves together by nationality... to countries dividing themselves by color. If it's not race, it's class, or gender. Take your pick.

Why do you think there is a double-standard on what people can say? Why can a black person say things that a white person can't? Why is it funny when Bro. Richard Pryor did his great imitation of white people, but a white comedian imitating a black person would be called offensive?

I think that psychologically and emotionally it is a form of "get-back" for blacks to be able to poke fun at whites publicly and know within their minds that whites cannot do the same or retaliate because of the backlash from the black community and also being deemed a racist for supporting discrimination through the means of media, whether that be print ads, radio, TV, etc. The reason that I believe that this is a form of "get-back" for blacks is because at one time in history, whites were able to not only poke fun at blacks but also physically abuse them in public or in private without any major repercussions to follow. Now the black community is taking as many free swings as the referee (law) would allow. Is it right? Hell no!

Do you think that it is a generational thing?

This particular question hangs on so many factors. Some would say that it could only be generational because the leading whistle blowers in the black community would be Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. If they weren't around to exploit the situations via the media, then would these instances draw as much attention?

But on the other hand, the way that it could appear not to be generational is because the spirit of the community's fore-fathers could continue to live on within the offspring of the communities. Whether this is accomplished via family teachings about race and related issues or just by associating with certain individuals within their prospective environment who harbor a certain view point on opposite races.

Will it become less offensive or more offensive for future generations as we become more of a melting pot?

I believe that it will become less and less offensive over time. For instance, when was the last time that you've heard of a Jew complaining about the captivity within Egypt? You haven't... because there is a serious separation in time for those who currently live in the present that cannot relate to or feel or hear the pain from any elders that experienced the tragedy of being held a slave. But, ... you did hear about the complaints of the mass murderers during the World Wars during the 20th Century.

There are two type of wounds. Physical wounds and spiritual wounds. The physical wound can heal itself fairly quickly, sometimes even defying the laws of time, and is based solely upon the individual. But a spiritual wound is based upon the hearts of the people and is a type of wound that heals only as quick as the people of that particular community or generation that was injured.

Why do you think that Bros. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have made a career out of being offended every time a white person makes a joke or has a slip of the tongue showing his biases?

I think it is because Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson come from an era where most of their life involved racism in some form or fashion. Growing up during the Jim Crow law era, their minds, ears, and eyes have been trained to pin-point racism, discrimination, or racist-remarks. There's a psychological term, and I can't remember the name, but it basically states that the mind sees what it wants to see.

I think that it is wrong for Race A to poke fun at Race B; and then pull the race card when Race A is at the butt of the joke. It's amazing to see how the word "semantics" not only comes into play over the course of time, but it also comes into play when it is dealing with race. It's okay for a black man to call another Nigga' or Nappy headed bastard, but then when someone from another race makes the same statement... it's a problem. Humans are not born racist. It's instilled in their minds as they are raised by their environment, whether that be by family or friends.

---

UPDATE of sorts, Wed., April 11: After a move to have Coretta Scott King's portrait hung in the Georgia Capitol failed in committee, state representative Roberta Abdul-Salaam told reporters, "It's just like calling Mrs. King a nappy-headed nigger. It's another example of blatant disrespect for black women in 2007. It's worse than what Don Imus did."

Unbelievable.

UPDATE Sat. April 14: Bro. Al Sharpton (he's a Prince Hall Affiliated Mason) receives death threats.

Masons | Masonic Brotherhood | Racism | Don Imus | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia | Kingdom of Conscience | Isaiah Coffey | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com