Never let it be said you were silent

The following essay by Bro. Darren Simpson first appeared earlier today on his blog Le Chevalier Maconnique. Editor's notes in the text appear in the original.

The Words & Thoughts of a Freemason by Bro. Darren Simpson

As I peruse the different blogs and review articles about Freemasonry, I can't help but feel that this is a truly auspicious and revolutionary time in history. Freemasonry is undergoing a complete metamorphosis that is happening so quickly, you'd think the ancient guardian spirits of our forefathers were reaching out from beyond and placing the spark of the future into our very hands.

Much has happened in the last three years that has made Freemasonry a household word again. Some good... some not so good, and a good bit of genuine evil has come to light. We see that the younger generation of Freemasons are carrying forth the sword of truth and are taking back the East from the usurpers of that sacred chair. The pretenders and their followers are being exposed for what they are and people are discovering that the "Moderns" of today are really just following the ancient paths and ways that were discarded by the so-called "Antients."

The rituals and morals that seemed detached and foreign in the post 1920's ritual of the Blue Lodge, regain their meaning and relevance when expounded in the original context of the original ceremony. (*This is the ritual resurrected by groups like the RRCG and the UGLA from the old French form... Ed.) Our history that is our birthright as Freemasons is being given back to us by brothers that have fought the good fight and are "taking back the streets" from those who would hoard the truths of our craft and hide their light under a bushel.

Most importantly, many Blue Lodge Freemasons are realizing that they HAVE BEEN LIED TO by those whom they have chosen to lead them. Their Grand Lodges are far from the superlative used to describe them. They see the halls swathed in gleaming purple and grandiose displays of pomposity and revelry, while the lights grow dim in their own home lodges. The Great Land Grab is going on as valleys and districts are liquidated to support the greed of the GL's. The coffers of some states are diminishing at an alarming rate, while some Masonic leaders look the other way and reap the fruits of others' misfortune and sorrow. They are as dead men sucking their own blood!

Some of you may ask, "Where is this supposed to be happening? I've never heard of this going on; nor have I seen it at my lodge! This must all be the result of a few disgruntled, expelled masons making trouble...." My answer to you would be to dig deeply into what is going on in your own backyard! Much of what I speak of has been primarily in the south and in some localized mid-west areas, but IT IS NOT LIMITED TO JUST THESE DISTRICTS!

Greed, like a virus, has a way of spreading.

Now, the public is finding out the mis-steps and scandals that have been occurring in some Masonic districts. Local and state-level news agencies have been picking up the scandalous dealings and rampant racism in Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia. The IRS is finding unbelievable discrepancies and accounting "problems" on the part of the Shriner's Children Charities. Next, we will see national news agencies taking notice of the growing ruckus in Masonry. Will YOUR lodge or Grand Lodge be on CNN or FOX? How many of your friends who are not Freemasons but know that you are, will start treating you differently? Remember the Morgan affair? One act almost destroyed the fraternity in America.

The naysayers like Ed King and his ilk keep saying that all this is nonsense and completely untrue. They keep reciting the party line that all is well and the fraternity is perfect and without blemish. People like Ed King say what they say because they live far away from the epicenter of the calamity (*Ed lives in Maine... Ed.) and are isolated from the repercussions of the conflict as well as the cause of the concern. It's easy for folks like that to listen to what they are told and publish a half-baked, half-assed, response from their ivory tower and purport it to be the "end-all", authoritative and "final word" on the matter. (*Kind of like Mel Gibson's father who denies the Holocaust ever happened... He's another detached, armchair theorist.... Ed.)

Hmmmm... Far be it for me to dare to disagree. How could I dare to compare wits with these self-proclaimed "experts" on all things masonic? I'm just a young, third generation Freemason. What do I know?

If you'll look at my profile, you'll see that I can probably speak with first-hand clarity about what is going on. I am no lackey for people with big, fancy, grandiose-sounding titles. I am simply a Freemason. Just a simple Freemason. I claim no secret knowledge or insight, nor do I clammer for recognition or title. I am just a Freemason. But as a Freemason, I believe that my words and thoughts, just as the words and thoughts of other Freemasons, are just as valid, important, and enlightened as any that have been spoken by our masonic ancestors. They carry all of the weight of any honorable man. They carry the authority of presidents, heads of state, and truly free-thinking philosophers and thinkers from time immemorial. The words and thoughts of any Freemason are the life of the Craft.

Those that use their position to subjugate the free-wills of honorable brothers are the enemies of Freemasonry. Just as much as the fundamentalist, anti-masonic lot and the conspiracy theorists; these title-hoarding, egotists are destroying Freemasonry to serve their own devices. They have introduced new "morals" into the ancient dogma that are at once recognisable as "peculiar" and "foreign." The new morals of deceit, avarice, greed, and despotism have replaced the time honored morals and dogma that formed the basis of our brotherhood. Somewhere along the way, we have allowed debased men to indulge their darker natures and they have become engorged with the fruits of their iniquities. Grotesque and distorted have their natures become. Nowhere is the Light to be found in them.

The defeat of the darkness that has permeated our brotherhood is carried in those very "words and thoughts" that I spoke of before. All Freemasons are knights of the truth. Their words are the swords of righteous anger and their thoughts are the armor of conscience and intellect. LET NO MAN CAUSE YOU TO BE SILENT! If you truly love the Craft, then take these words to heart, and take your heart to task. SPEAK!!! Rage against those who would silence you and soothe your protests with softly spoken lies and false sympathies. Tear down that wall of deceit that has been placed between you and your rightful inheritance of the Great Light of Freemasonry. Let it blind those pretenders who sit on the throne of the sacred East! Rebuild the temple whose foundation is in your hearts so that the world may one day see true Master Masons of the lost word as men of great stature and renown. Be as wise as serpents and as attentive as the Amesha Spentas (holy immortals). BUT NEVER... NEVER LET IT BE SAID THAT YOU WERE "SILENT."

Sincerely,

Darren Simpson

Masons | Masonic Light | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper