Late Bro. Theron Dunn's family needs assistance

Shortly after The Burning Taper was locked down last month by Blogger for testing false positive for spammage, I received the following email from Bro. Manny Blanco. I told him I would post it as soon as The Taper was unlocked. I'm now posting it below in its entirety.

Dear Widow's Son,

I received the following from the Worshipful Master of our Lodge. Is there a possibility of having it posted on your web sites? Thanks in advance....

Sincerely,
Manny Blanco, PM


Worshipful Brothers: The late Brother Theron Dunn's family are having difficulty finding the Insurance our Brother thought to exist. A fund has been set up to assist the family in funeral and other expenses in the coming months. I am asking that each of our Lodges ascertain if there is a donation that can be made to the following fund:

This fund was set up by Theron's brother, James, for the purpose:

Theron Dunn Memorial Fund
Washington Mutual Bank
Acct#0401-0000041531-6
All checks should be payable to "Barbara Dunn"
22882 Giant Fir Place
Canyon Lake, CA 92587

Thanks so much for consideration.

Magic Happens... if you do something!!!
Sincerely & Fraternally,

John Cover Spear, PM
Master of Moreno Valley Lodge 804
Royal Patron of Mission Bell Court 156, Order of the Amaranth
Grand Lodge Long Range Planning Committee Member

Theron Dunn was a prolific and often contentious Masonic writer, blogger and forum participant who passed away in May after a brief illness. His premature departure has left a void among those who agreed with him and those who disagreed with his intractable positions and beliefs. He is and will continue to be missed.

Masons | Masonic Charity | Theron Dunn | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of California | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Theron Dunn 'outs' the Widow's Son

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of you know who I am. I've emailed back and forth with many of you using the gmail account that bears my name. I've have met and know many of you personally. And I assure you, my local lodge brothers and grand lodge officers know who The Widow's Son is. This blog began as a local response to a local Masonic issue.

My name might even be near the top of that "Enemies List" that Bro. Tim Bryce speculated about recently.

I simply haven't used my name in the Masonic blogging world so that I can keep separate my professional/business life from my Masonic blogging. When you google me, I don't want the business side and the Freemasonry side of my life to co-mingle. It would simply confuse my clients and customers, and perhaps annoy those who have anti-Masonic sentiments. And when I google myself, it's to see how well my business websites are being integrated into the search engines.

And while I may have a healthy ego, it's not so big that I need to see my real name up in lights when I post something relating to Masonry. That's the purpose of The Widow's Son as a pen name.

Bro. Theron Dunn knows my name. In fact, he posted it out of spite last summer in one of his earlier hissy fits on LodgeRoomUS, where he is a moderator.

Immediately I privately asked him to delete it, explaining why. I told him that I wanted it kept secret, and directly referred to his sworn obligation to "keep the secrets of a brother Master Mason, they being confided to me as such...."

He deleted it, and agreed to keep my name private in his Internet postings.

Apparently, while telling the rest of us exactly how to be "true Masons," he has conveniently broken his word — and his oath — with his most recent comment on this blog.

Here's what he wrote (I've deleted my name here, for now):

Hahaha, so, disagreeing with the oh so great and wise ___________ is now cause for personal attacks and denigration. How very masonic of you there....

I guess your opinion is the only one that counts, though the "intellectual" level of your discourse is a tad bit... coarse. When you cannot win in the forum of ideas, all you can do is ridicule.

Very sad indeed.

I would imagine he's posted my name by now on other blogs and forums; there's nothing I can do about that.

Bro. Dunn has made somewhat of a name for himself in the past several months, running from blog to blog, forum to forum, and on his own blog, pointing his finger and shouting "unmasonic!" at most anyone who disagrees with his version of "true masonry."

I believe his recent pious screeds have done much more damage, and caused more true embarrassment, to Freemasonry than anything I've ever written. His twaddle has become more shrill with each passing day. Even many of those who once agreed with him and supported his positions are turning away from him, shaking their heads in disbelief as his self-righteousness grows. I remember when even I, a few years ago, had a great deal of respect for his online writings. Once, back in 2003 or 2004, before I knew much of him at all, I emailed him for permission to use one of his articles as a short talk in my own lodge.

Alas, no more. After months of his calling other people "oath-breaker!", he stands accused of being one himself.

"I will keep the secrets of a Master Mason, they being confided to me as such, murder and treason alone excepted, and these being left to my discretion."

Bro. Theron, please provide the name and address of your lodge's Junior Warden.

Masons | Masonic Oaths | Online Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Theron Dunn | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Some ideas for growing a lodge

Are you looking for ways to make your lodge more visible to your community?

W. Bro. Stanley J. Bransgrove of Mill Valley Lodge No. 356 wrote an article back in 2001, telling how he and his local brethren put their lodge, which had stood "invisible" for a hundred years right downtown across from city hall, back into the town's collective consciousness.

From simple landscaping around the building to a newsletter to hosting non-Masonic guest speakers to establishing a weekly local TV presence, these guys put Freemasonry back on the map in Mill Valley, California.

Image: The working tools of a Master Gardener

Masons | Masonic Growth | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Calif. Masonic museum displays anti-Masonic art and propaganda

The Grand Lodge of California opened the Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum in 1997 at the California Masonic Memorial Temple on California Street in San Francisco.

The museum contains over 8,000 titles and includes Masonic art and artifacts from California and around the world.

The Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library and Museum seeks:

• To tell the story of Freemasonry in California to Masons and to the general public.
• To serve as a research source for both lay and professional Masonic scholars and researchers.
• To assist Masons who seek to increase and develop their personal knowledge of Freemasonry.

From now until October 1, an exhibit of art and propaganda by anti-Masons will be on display.

The following is reprinted from the Masons of California website:

Confronting the Critics: A new exhibit

Submitted by: Allan L. Casalou

Chances are that most Masons today have never heard of William Morgan, but his mysterious disappearance in 1826 was a watershed event in American Freemasonry. The episode, commonly known as the "Morgan Affair" served as a galvanizing point for critics of the Craft and fueled a national political movement dedicated to banning Freemasonry.

Rather than ignoring the efforts of anti-Masonic activists, the Grand Lodge of California is hosting an exhibit of art and propaganda that opponents of Masonry, including those inspired by Morgan-related fervor, have created to sway public opinion against Masonic institutions. Some of the pieces, which will be shown at the Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library & Museum in San Francisco from March 30th to October 1st, 2007, were created by individual artists who object to Masonry, while others were actually distributed by governments and political parties to promote official anti-Masonic policies.

"It may seem unusual to have this kind of art on display at the Grand Lodge, but Anti-Masonry is really an integral part of our history," says the library and museum curator Adam Kendall, who also serves as Fraternal Services Representative for the Grand Lodge."Whether we like it or not, there has always been strong opposition to Freemasonry and we shouldn't be afraid to confront it. In fact, I think we owe it to ourselves to try to understand what opponents are saying - and why they are saying it. In many ways, anti-Masonic rhetoric and art has been a major factor in how our identity has developed, and it is impossible to ignore the profound impact that our critics have had on the development of Masonry as we know it today. I think it's fair to say that we've simplified what we do as part of our effort to address the criticisms that have been leveled against Masons over the last few hundred years."

The exhibit will be open to the public April 2 through October 1, Monday and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 8:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Adam Kendall at 415-292-9137 or akendall@freemason.org

Masons | Anti-Masons | Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of California | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com