THE SELECTIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY
by John Leisk Tait
THE
AMERICAN FREEMASON - JUNE 1914
FREEMASONRY, in both York Rite
and Scottish Rite and in all the degrees of each, is
theoretically highly selective. "Many are called, but few are
chosen." This selectiveness increases, theoretically, as the
Mason advances in degree. That the contrary is true in practice,
is the fountain of the most serious evils that beset Freemasonry
from within. This law of selectiveness is most significantly
seen in that Masonic dictum which forbids the solicitation of
the profane. No man, however blameless in his life, however
beneficent in his attitude toward his fellow-men, is to be asked
to become a Mason. Those who become members of the order are
to do so entirely upon their own initiative - and only after the
most rigid scrutiny and severe tests of their worthiness. That
this fundamental Masonic law is not invariably followed out in
practice is not the fault of Freemasonry as an order, but is due
to the delinquency of some of those who wear the emblems, bear
the name and are otherwise apparently Freemasons. In this
unfortunate misrepresentation, however, it must be remembered
that Freemasonry is by no means peculiar. Such is the Iot of
every good cause. The churches are among the greatest victims of
this deplorable practice; and it is hard to determine whether
their worst detractors are those who hypocritically wear their
white livery with malicious intent to abuse the privileges it
confers, or the zealots who wilfully transcend the teachings
they are commissioned to convey to the world. Certainly, either
is more to be dreaded than those who stand without and openly
level their weapons against ecclesiastical
integrity. However, it is certain that the most dangerous,
because the most insidious, enemies of Freemasonry are those who
vaunt themselves as its partisans and followers while they
violate the spirit of its teachings. There is no anti-mason so
dangerous to Masonry as the Mason who, in his life,
discredits Masonry. And the order is discredited in no way
more seriously detrimental to its highest interests than in the
wilful violation of this fundamental principle of selectiveness
- in using the wiles of the proselyter to swell the rosters of
the rites - in seeking numbers rather than character in its
membership. And there is more than character required in
the applicant for Masonry; there is a condition of individual
preparedness which flows from within, out of the personal
experience of the candidate and not from the prompting of
others. No man is fit to be a Mason who is not already, in his
heart and in his life, truly Masonic in principle and in
practice. This is the Masonic law - nicely calculated for the
ultimate good of the Craft, nicely evaded too often in actual
practice. Freemasonry is often, and erroneously, likened to a
tree, the stock of which is the Blue Lodge and the two rites,
York and Scottish, in all their degrees are the branches. It
might be more truthfully compared to a book, of which the Blue
Lodge is the index or brief synopsis, and the two rites, York
and Scottish, are twin chapters or expository texts. The whole
of Freemasonry exists, in tabloid form, in the Blue Lodge. The
purpose of the higher degrees in both rites is the
development of the theme which the Blue Lodge supplies. That
development is more or less similar in the two rites but is
carried much farther in fact, and to greater refinements in
philosophy, in the Scottish Rite. The higher degrees of
the York Rite, like those of the Scottish Rite, add but little
to the legends of Freemasonry. Their value lies in the fact that
they refine, expound and apply the teachings of those legends.
They bring them closer to the life and experience of the
candidate, and link him through them more closely to his
fellows. This refinement, expounding and application is carried
to still greater lengths in the Scottish Rite. It may be
seen from what has been stated that the higher degrees of the
York Rite address themselves more especially to the man who
thinks, the man of finer sensibilities, keener perceptions,
wider sympathies, loftier aspirations. They represent, in this
respect, a distinct advance upon the Blue Lodge, It is the
manifest leaven of the middle class working upon the Masonic
lump. In like manner, the Scottish Rite carries to still
further refinement the exposition and application of Blue Lodge
legends. The Scottish Rite is of imperial origin - the
Freemasonry of kings, statesmen, philosophers and profound
scholars. It brings forth to view those particular events in
history, those special forms of worship, those peculiar
teachings of philosophy, which are broadly hinted at in the Blue
Lodge; and transpose the dogmatism of that into a rational
Freemasonry, which is able not only to declare the law but to
give the reasons for the law. It is the proper school of the
Masonic sage. It is the final refinement of
Freemasonry. It should hardly need pointing out that the
moral obligation of selectiveness rises higher in the scale of
its utility from rite to rite; that for the reasons already
given and from the facts already stated, the higher degrees of
the York Rite should be more rigidly selective than those of the
Blue Lodge; and that those of the Scottish Rite should be the
most selective of them all. In the very nature of the case,
because of the richness of the rite, because of the abounding
wealth of its history, ethics and philosophy, the Scottish Rite
is empty and meaningless to many who make good Blue Lodge
members not because of defects in their character but because of
their lack of reading; not because of any dearth of intrinsic
intelligence, but because they are not specially prepared to
grasp its form and teachings. Unhappily, the doctrine of
selectiveness is not always properly observed in either rite.
Its violation is always followed by disaster. The reason is
obvious to any one who
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