My Public Declaration Against Ignorance, Tyranny, and Coercion

Zerubbabel: by Guillaume Rouille

Some years ago, I assumed the dramatic personae of Zerubbabel, a prince of the house of Judah.  In that noble character, I was invested with a sword, to remind me "to deal justly by all men."  As I write tonight, that sword rests in the corner next to our family altar.  It still reminds me that all men are created in the image of God, and that I ought to respect that image in them, even when they obscure it by bad choices and worse actions.

Over the past few years, I have noticed a growing trend in the world to coerce people to behave in certain ways, and even to adopt certain opinions.  It occurs all across the political spectrum, and is especially noticeable in religion.  People observe others who do not share their opinions or ways of doing things, and withdraw from them.  Then they believe things about them which may have a grain of truth, but are largely built on unfounded suppositions and untested data.  Then they slander them publicly without ever speaking to the objects of their scorn or mistrust about their motives or actions.  They ridicule or question the faith or goodwill of any who will not join in the boycott of their perceived enemies.  They reinforce their mistrust by talking amongst themselves and reproduce their hateful attitudes in their children and ideological disciples.

Great institutions crumble as one ideological party excludes all others, and as opinions become increasingly extreme.  Control is determined to be the only way to security.  Security is valued to such a degree that liberty is curtailed in the name of safety.  And one day we all awake to discover that Orwell and Huxley were the true prophets of the last century.  We find ourselves slaves, who when asked by those in control "What is the sum of two and two?" sullenly reply, "Whatever you want it to be."

Across the centuries, many good men have assumed the character of Zerubbabel, and of Constans, and Hiram, and others.  Those men have included George Washington, Benito Juarez, Simon Bolivar, Aleksandr Kerenski, Emilio Aguinaldo, and Guiseppe Garibaldi.  They came from widely differing backgrounds, but they all believed in liberty and in the dignity of the individual human being.  They were willing to take a chance that good people working together could do great things without being forced or bullied.  I am glad to stand today in their train, and to publicly decry the growth of despotism around the world.  I am glad to publicly disassociate myself from the common practice which seeks security at the cost of liberty.  And I am glad to publicly reaffirm with them the belief that all people are worthy of respect because they are made in God's image. 

Even if a person is wrong, even if he is dangerous, our common humanity demands that we respect him for who he might become and what he might be if he lived into his creator's image.  This is not to say that the evil and the destructive should not be resisted and made responsible when they are a credible and present danger to others.  But it is to say that even the worst of us are made in God's image, and ought to have the opportunity to live into our potential via the responsible exercise of freedom, which is liberty, the birthright of us all.

This is the reminder of my sword, the sword of an Irish Knight Mason.  It is at the very heart of Freemasonry, my fraternity and that of my father.  Today, we masons are under attack by many well meaning people in the name of religion.  They repeat conspiratorial half truths, and in some instances outright lies about us.  In their fear and search for certainty and stability, they blame the Craft, or the Jewish bankers, or the opposing political party, or the foreign menace, or some alien religion or culture.  Although I count many such folks as my friends, very few of them have ever asked me to explain why I am a Mason or what we teach and believe.  I imagine my experience is not that different from that of others in many groups which have been singled out for marginalization or exclusion by members of some other group.

"The School of Athens"
by Raphael
Where the study of truth and honest inquiry led to wisdom.
An example for all of us.

In closing, I would issue a challenge to everyone who reads this posting.  Find a person who is identified as a member of a group you say bad things about.  Engage them in a spirit of honest inquiry.  Learn what they really believe and what they are really like.  Then refrain from spreading falsehoods and half truths about them.  I predict that if we all do this thing, it will be a better world, and we will learn to respect each other again.  While our differences will remain, we will not be so quick to hate or devalue each other.