For Immediate Release
Media Statement
December 4, 2012, Miami - Everglades Moon Local Council, Florida Chapter of Covenant of the Goddess, a national organization of Wiccans, is saddened and disappointed to learn that The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Florida has stated all Pagans, and specifically Wiccans, must resign their membership. We respect the right of groups such as the Freemasons to make choices regarding their membership, and pray that Wiccan Masons can find a way to continue their contributions towards making good men better.
Sarah Vargas, Public Information Officer
Everglades Moon Local Council
Covenant of the Goddess
Thank you for posting the article "Florida Grand Master Decides Pagans Can’t Be Freemasons".
ReplyDeleteAs the daughter of a Mason (and proud of it!) and High Priestess of my coven, I was incensed by the Most Worshipful Jorge L. Aladro's pronouncement. During my Father's illustrious career within the Masonic Bodies, he worked diligently to stem the tide he saw rising within Masonry of religious zealotry and intolerance. He saw Jewish Brothers who sought advancement denied at many turns. He saw Muslim Brothers likewise denied because of their religious practices. He saw Masonry becoming an arm of conservative Christianity. This really made him angry, and as a result of many years of fighting, he retired from his positions in disillusionment. He saw the beginning of the end for Masonry as he knew and loved it. This despite the many changes he was able to institute.
The edict of Brother Aladro would effectively disbar Hindus from being or becoming Masons, as well as other "polytheistic" practitioners. Taken to extreme, this edict would disbar Christians from membership as they believe in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This edict is shortsighted, arrogant, and ill-advised. As America becomes less and less "white" and "Christian," Masonry will need to face the same hard choices the last election cycle brought to light: Whether to become an embracing, progressive body, serving all; or decline into dogma and rigidity. The very survival of Regular Masonry is potentially at stake. (We'll just completely skip over the lack of feminine participation in Regular Masonry. That's a rant for another time.)
The criteria within Masonry is not that a Brother believe in the Christian God, but in the Supreme Architect of the Universe. The Supreme Architect is above our knowing. As such, the Supreme Architect is all-encompassing. My father taught me that "God" was more than just a guy in a robe sitting on a throne in heaven being judgmental. The Being who devised, designed, built, and set the Universe in motion cannot and will not be limited to just one spiritual or religious view. The Supreme Architect is the Divine entity encompassing the entire Universe, for heaven's sake (pardon the pun).
My Father's religious and spiritual views were born of his Baptist upbringing, but shaped and honed by Masonic teaching. I learned through him (and the Masonic books I should not have read) that all people are the children of the Divine, despite what name we give that Divinity. I am Wiccan because of my Father's Masonic beliefs. To him, and many of the Masons who were his contemporaries, all spiritual paths that lead to enlightenment and the betterment of all people were viable spiritual paths. Those that sought to control or usurp the Divine Will were not.
The question Brother Aladro needs to ask himself is, who's will is he trying to impose?