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Masonic Education |
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Why Secrecy?
by Roger M. Firestone, 33
KCCH Freemasonry is usually referred to by outsiders as a secret society. We have
generally objected to this characterization, claiming that we are not members
of a secret society, but rather of a society with secrets. We allow our members
to wear insignia, do not conceal the location of our lodge buildings, hold
public cornerstone laying, and welcome new members from men of good character
who have but to ask to join. Webster's dictionary would agree with the general
public, however, defining the term "secret society" as any of various
oath-bound societies having a secret ritual and so on. The Craft certainly fits
this definition. Matters of definition aside, the characterization of Freemasonry by its
secrets has caused difficulties for the fraternity for quite some time. During
some periods of history, the keeping of secrets was considered to be evidence
of plotting against the regime or the established Church. Recent events in Well, why do Masons keep secrets? It is not enough to say that we have
traditionally always done so, or that we are obliged to do so. These answers
simply push the question further back into Masonic history. The maintenance of
secrecy is one of the first duties to which a man who becomes a Mason agrees.
After the Symbolic Degrees, the first degree conferred in the Scottish Rite,
Secret Master, and the last, Master of the Royal Secret, both indicate by their
names that secrecy is a vital part of the Rite. A matter deemed so important by
those who created the Masonic ritual is definitely worth further examination by
all of us. To be sure, we are perhaps under some kind of delusion if we think that the
ritual secrets of Freemasonry are truly secret. More than one false brother has
chosen to reveal the entire contents of the Masonic ritual to the public.
Although such exposes were more common and certainly more sensational during
the earlier part of Masonic history, complete plain text copies of our work are
available today in shops in many large cities. There is nothing to prevent any
of the profane from purchasing such a volume and learning the entire contents
of the ritual, even the grips, signs, and words. Masonic jewelry is readily
purchased. Only the use of a dues card ensures that we will not sit in lodge
with counterfeits, while we must rely on general honesty of the population not
to be imposed upon in the street by strangers wearing the appropriate pin.
These days, curiosity about Masonry is at a low ebb, and there does not seem to
be much market for such illicit material. (This may, of course, be related to
the current membership problem, but that is a different topic altogether!) If, as was once remarked, the secret of Freemasonry is that there are no
secrets to Freemasonry, a dues card seems like a flimsy distinction between the
initiated and the profane. When the entire ritual can be obtained from a book,
there must be something else that distinguishes Freemasons from the rest of the
world and that justifies the emphasis made on secrecy within the Craft. There
are several parts to the answer. Perhaps the most obvious difference is the nature of the experience.
Becoming a Master Mason is a process that requires effort on the part of the
candidate. He must seek out our institution, have a petition signed, provide an
initiation fee, appear at the proper times for the degrees, and commit the
appropriate information to memory. Someone who merely reads the ritual is, on
the other hand, totally passive. A psychological experiment in imprinting, the process whereby young animals
come to recognize their mother by following her, is informative: An
experimental group of infant animals was treated with a muscle relaxant before
the imprinting process, while a control group was given a sham treatment.
Normal imprinting took place for the control group. However, the experimental
animals failed to become imprinted on their mother. The muscle relaxant had
prevented the young animals from exerting much effort to follow their mother
about. Without effort, there is no learning. Since the purpose of the Masonic
degrees is to impart useful knowledge, the result of this experiment suggests
that the initiate who puts effort into joining the Fraternity is far more
likely to derive value from the experience than one who only peruses the ritual
in a book. Another major reason why secrecy is advocated for the knowledge imparted by
Freemasonry is to impart the lesson that our teachings are valuable. We leave
many inexpensive items lying carelessly about our homes and offices, whereas
truly valuable items are kept locked in safe deposit boxes or other
repositories, or are carried with us at all times. In Poe's story, "The
Purloined Letter," many hiding places are searched for the letter; having
been left in plain view, it is overlooked as worthless. Since knowledge, per
se, cannot be locked up physically, keeping it secret is the method used to
restrict its circulation and ownership. If the teachings of Freemasonry were
made available to anyone as a matter of routine, it would indicate to both
members and outsiders that we attach only a modest value to them. Instead, we
have spent centuries of effort keeping the truths of Masonry secret and passing
them down the generations by memory. This should convince us that what we have
labored so hard to possess is valuable indeed. We should also recognize that secrecy is an integral characteristic of
individuals and groups. Within each of our families we have information that is
ours privately and is not the business of outsiders. The breadwinner's salary,
children's problems at school, the happy experiences of courtship, the contents
of one's last will--all these are things we naturally choose to keep within the
bosom of the family and would not care to have made public. In the same way, we
as Masons refer to ourselves by the family term of "brothers," and
thus the secrets of Masons in Masonry are our right to keep to ourselves as
members of the Masonic family. For outsiders to demand that we give up our
secrets, no less any other of our ancient practices, is as much an invasion of
privacy as would be demanding a videotape of one's wedding night. One of the
more horrifying aspects of the world depicted in Orwell's 1984 is the total
lack of privacy. The Masonic fraternity has too much experience with
totalitarianism in recent years to view such demands and presumptions as
benign. They may well be feared as a first step towards the ultimate
suppression of Masonry, as has happened too often in the past. A further motivation for the keeping of secrets is that it promotes a form
of mental self-discipline. There is a natural urge to share what we know with
others. Gossiping and idle conversation consume more hours than perhaps any
other human pastime. This tendency is rooted in the evolutionary origin of the
human race, where the ability for one individual to share its experiences with
the other members of the community conferred a significant survival advantage
over non-communicating lower animals. Humans that did not share information
with their fellows experienced negative selection pressure, in the words of the
evolutionary biologist. Later, as society developed, the selective ability to refrain from
communicating acquired importance. We all know someone who cannot keep a
secret, and such a person usually does not merit our trust in other matters,
either. Keeping the secrets of a brother Master Mason or of the Fraternity as a
whole teaches us responsibility for the property of others and shows that we
merit the trust and confidence of our brothers and fellows. The various Masonic
penalties, although symbolic, should remind us of the seriousness of our
undertakings and reinforce in us the mental toughness to carry them out. Masonic secrecy is thus seen to be no mere idle device, such as those secrets with which children may twit their playmates. Rather, it serves numerous purposes, both to unite the Craft and benefit the individual member. We gain from secrecy a sense of the value of what we have come to Masonry to learn, we learn the lessons better for the way in which we learn them, and we develop worthwhile mental resources from the discipline of keeping the details of Freemasonry private. When next we are challenged by an outsider on the "old-fashioned" nature of belonging to a secret society, there is no need to make excuses for it. Masonic secrecy is not merely an ancient tradition, it is a vital characteristic of our fraternity that we should cherish and protect. No less than the democratic tradition of the secret ballot, we should be prepared to defend our right and duty to keep secret that which is uniquely ours as our Masonic legacy to those who will follow us. This article originally appeared in The Scottish Rite Journal,
which is published by the Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the
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