QSA Members Forum
For Masonic Research
New Network of "socio-politically active Lodges and Brethren."
Establishment of a Network of socio-politically active Brethren
Review of an Announcement published in the
Newsletter of the Großloge der Alten Freien und Angenommenen Maurer von Deutschland
(by Bro. Vincent Lombardo)
According to their own statement, the new network of "socio-politically active lodges and brethren" has been successfully established in Mannheim (Germany).
Mannheim (fr). As part of its 32nd foundation celebration, the Mannheim Lodge "Kurpfalz," in cooperation with the Mannheim-based lodge "Carl zur Eintracht," together with the lodges of the Rhine-Neckar-District, the first workshop of the newly founded "Socio-Politically Active Lodges and Brethren" network was implemented. 40 interested brethren attended.
The ambitious goals of the network are to bring together lodges and brethren interested in active participation in public life, to develop new concepts for mutual information, to develop new internal and public forms of discussion using interactive electronic means of communication as well as to organize a nationwide speaker exchange between the lodges.
On October 26, 2019, at 7:00 pm, the well-known political scientist Prof. Herfried Münkler will speak in a public lecture on the "Decay of the World Order and the Consequences for European Peace" in the Mannheim Marchivum. This lecture can also be followed live, to this end a registration under the email address info@freimaurerlokurkuretz.de is required.
Are we crossing the line?
Everywhere for centuries, and in various forms, the Freemasons have publicly declared anathema any discussion of political or religious matters within the lodge. In some Jurisdictions and in some lodges specific religious or political affiliations disqualify a good and upright man from membership in such lodges. What is this line that cannot be crossed?
We read in the article published September 7, 2011, in the Freemason Hall:
"Over the course of history there have been a number of regimes opposed to the Lodge's values of liberty, tolerance and secular governance, and Masons have handled these situations in a variety of ways. Some have quietly stood against the regime; many others have been killed and some became revolutionaries. In the light of lies that Masons are working everywhere to undermine every regime, here is an honest appraisal of the Lodge and revolution. "
Masons and Revolution
"Part of the oath of the Lodge is to follow the law and to maintain loyalty to the government in place over them. In times and places where governments have become tyrannical, however, many Masons have felt that a higher law binds them to stand for their liberty. Each Lodge deals with these incidences individually, but in general, armed resistance is forbidden to Masons."
Masons and the American Revolution
"The values of secular governance, liberty and equality before the law were highly revolutionary in the Eighteenth Century. The nobility believed that by right of birth they were subject to a different law, and the Church believed that it had the right to rule. The colonists who had been raised in the American Colonies had been brought up outside of the rule of the European nobility, and many had come here to achieve religious freedom. Masons like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were among the men who led the charge against the English Crown when it sought to levy unfair taxes and occupy the colonies militarily. This began many of the worries on the part of reactionaries against the Lodge."
Masons and the French Revolution
"After the success of the American Revolution, French opponents of the nobility and crown began to organize in their own country for a revolution. The slogan "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" seems to have been borrowed from the Lodge, but shortly after the French royalty was overthrown, the Reign of Terror evoked the hostility of Masons around the world. One of the leaders of the more moderate wings of the revolution was the Marquis de Lafayette, himself a Mason and a major military leader in the American Revolution. Among the central thinkers inspiring the French Revolution, Voltaire, is often identified as a Mason, though he only joined a Lodge on an honorary basis shortly before he died."
Masons and Revolution in Mexico and Texas
"In 1810 the Catholic Church had yet to condemn the Lodge formally, and a Mason and Jesuit priest named Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began the movement to remove Spanish colonialism from Mexico. Part of the inspiration was a result of the French Revolution — after the Revolution fell apart, Napoleon took control of France and began invading countries across the continent. When he overthrew the Spanish crown, mestizo politicians in Mexico argued that Mexico ought to be independent out of loyalty to the King. The Spanish-born nobility which ruled Mexico at the time resisted this, and Hidalgo's uprising was met with violence: Hidalgo was killed, though he inspired a revolutionary war which prevailed 10 years later."
"After Mexico's independence, a dictator named Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna rose up. We would be remiss in not mentioning that Santa Anna was also a Mason (we have our black sheep too), but his tyranny provoked uprisings in several Mexican states. The only of these to be successful was that in Texas, which won its independence in 1836 under the leadership of a Mason, Sam Houston. James Bowie, David Crockett, David G. Burnett, and Stephen F. Austin (the "Father of Texas") were all leaders of this revolution and also Masons."
From the seventeenth to the twentieth century Freemasons took leading roles in revolutions and uprising almost everywhere in the Americas and Europe, including Russia, guided, I believe, by the masonic ideals of liberty and equality. I also believe that, with the exception of the Jacobite insurrections, they did so not following a mandate or program contrived in their lodges, but as individuals persons, following their personal masonic ideals and sense of duty toward the social-political wellbeing of their fellow-citizens.
This new network of "socio-politically active lodges and brethren born in Mannheim may raise some eyebrows among Masons worldwide: are they crossing the line? One must consider the time and place.
Germany has been the most sought-after final destination in the EU migrant and refugee crisis. Since 2004, and especially since 2915, this inflow of migrants has caused severe conflicts among Germans and within the German government itself. Our German brethren, privately or through other civil and religious institutions have busied themselves trying to help the unfortunate migrants in all possible ways, but never, until now, as a masonic lodge, or a confederation of lodges, as it seems to be now with this "socio-political network."
I firmly believe that this network is not the beginning of a socio-political revolution or an attempt to overthrow the German socio-political order. I believe our Brethren in Mannheim and their network aim at influencing their national and local governments, within the liberties afforded to them by their laws, in the socio-economic-political policies necessary for their nation, or more specifically dealing with the migrants (if this is their aim — and not a call to unrests such as Chemnitz, or Kandel), and also to organize more efficient ways to help such migrants and their integration into the German society, as they have done so far in a piecemeal manner, following their individual Masonic ideals of compassion and solidarity toward all human beings (Brotherly Love) of charity (Relief) and lawfully in the open (Truth), and Tolerance.
I see no crossing of lines here, and I wish them Godspeed and a great success.
