TIME FOR A CHANGE

Bro. Antonio Palomo-Lamarca
Minesota - USA

One of the main reasons why I never wanted to join the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is that they say to be “true followers of the Christian religion.” I must confess I am a very high enemy of the Christian religion, and as Nietzsche already pointed out, I believe her to be the greatest mistake in Humankind. Along many other reasons, I never had a shred of respect for the Klan. Yet, a big respect for understanding and acceptance always grew up inside of me since I was a child. At the age of 16 I fell in love with Franc-Masonry, or Free Masonry to the lay people. I fell in love with it being in a private Catholic-Christian School, where I was taught the path leading to “salvation.” I did not believe a piece of it; in fact, I despised it. However, I deeply loved Jesus, and I was an eager believer in His words and acts. Ever since, I have always thought He is one of the greatest personalities in the History of Humanity—playing along the lines with Jeremiah, Buddha, Mohammed, Isaac and Moses. I had a big problem, I could not accept Jesus if I was not able to level Him with those I already named. For that, I had to step out of the fundamental tenet of the Christian religion. For the Christian, Jesus is God. There is no way round it. For the Christian, Jesus is the only way to salvation. For the Christian, Jesus is the only and true “son” of God. As you can see, there is no thought more rotten and more against Free Masonry than believing what I just said: and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine (John 17:10). Luther and Zwingli were as bigots as the Popes; they believed in Hell, Purgatory and in Heaven, and also in the credum that only those who follow “their” individual doctrines shall be “saved” from eternal damnation. This damnation, according to them, was reserved for Muslims and Jews—who they called “heathen.” All of them were Christians and followers of the Christian religion, which among other atrocities teaches the above stated.

Religion is bigotry, fanaticism, fundamentalism, racism, war and crimes, concentration camps and crusades. We may use an electric chair and our brothers in Afghanistan use stoning, but our method does not make us better or more civilized—we are just a product of the bigotry of our religion. The word “religion” should be ostracized from any Masonic application or document. It is against the principles of the Fraternity and against the 1717’s Charges as well. When I learnt, in my youth, about the Fraternity I read how every creed, colour of skin, and faith was accepted in. It literally enticed me to know more. After many years of study, I became a Mason just last January of the year 2006. Now, my next step was to see into the Scottish Rite and the York. What they offer. What can I offer them and what can they offer in return. I wanted to go into the York Rite since the beginning; as Bro. Lawrence Dermott said in his Ahiman Rezon, the real essence and core of Free Masonry must be found in the Royal Arch. I thought so. Yet, I was told and prevented to take such a step because I am not a Christian, and they said “you need to be a Christian for belonging to the York.” I did not listen. I contacted the York Rite and talked to them. To my surprise I could apply for the Chapter and for the Council but not for the Commandery.

But my Masonic-surprise did not end here, it was an absolute catastrophe when receiving the application I read at the bottom of it that, in order to apply and be accepted in the Commandery Chapter one must be a firm defender of the Christian Religion: …because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:13). As a well-educated European, I have never seen a sentence like that since the Inquisition used to burn heretics and Indians long ago and state in public edicts that the only valid true was the Christian religion. It did strike me so hard my senses went numb. After much thinking, emails and speaks, I decided to take the front and make a calling to remove such a fundamentalist and racist clause. Whoever is a bigot, or a brainwashed individual shall be able to say that the Christian religion with all his crimes, atrocities and hindrances has been, in fact, a “good” thing for the Humankind: You will seek me and will not find me (John 7: 34). Masons are not people like that. Still, we bless our troops and send them out like crusaders to the Holy Land to massacre those that nobody apparently cares about: Have you come out with swords and staves to arrest me like a bandit? (Matthew 26: 55). We live in a time when hatred against the Muslim has been speeded-up, and as Masons we have the duty and the responsibility to better serve our human fellows.

“Religion” is a very tricky and dangerous word, and it shouldn’t have room either in a lodge or in a Masonic application. We are hurting our Jew brothers and our Muslim brothers making just an emphasis on religion: Remember the word I have spoken to you, No servant is greater than his master (John 15: 20). The Commandery Chapter should foster Tolerance, not exclusivity; it should teach Fraternity, not condescendence; it must welcome those who are just different and who are as Masons as they themselves: You must love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12: 31). It should not cultivate just “sympathy” for those who are “like us.” Truly, truly, I say to you that unless a grain of wheat falls and dies in the ground, it will be left alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit (John 12: 24). A Mason should not give preference to Jesus over Buddha, or over any other Teacher, and if he is decided to do so, he should do it in his private home, and not under the ceiling of a Lodge. A Masonic ceremony which implies something like that, either should it be modified, or just eliminated: that is NOT Masonry! The Commandery Chapter goes even further; it does prohibit taking the degrees to any person who is not a believer in Christ. This should be explained and, of course, modified. Censorship and fascism are not stones in the Temple of Solomon! We are not meant “to forbid.” As a Mason, and as a Human Being in Fraternity with the World, I propose the following:

We need change the word “religion” into spirituality. Religion in Latin means “to join again.” But the old Romans did not use this word in a good sense, but in a common and vain one. Religion was considered to be something of the people, of those who follow a superstition—it was a vulgar term. As Masons we should not bring “religion” into the lodge, and any ceremony or teaching that requires being into a certain creed is just a fallacy and a swindle. One thing is “religion” and another different thing is spirituality. It has been said that Masonry is a spiritual and moral system: God is Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4: 24). To be a Knight Templar one must be a strong believer in the Christian Spirituality, but not a believer and a defender of the Christian religion, which carries so much blood it could fill the Oceans. The Christian spirituality is huge and humble, whilst the religion is just politics and blood. The clause should be changed from Christian religion to Christian Spirituality, because the Spirit is of God, and of Man. Religion only belongs to a group, to a nation. Spirituality belongs to Humanity: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 20: 10). I may choose Jesus as my guide, or I may not—but that does not make me evil. If I desired to be in the Commandery degrees I should not be asked to champion in the lines of the crimes of the Christian religion, because when we talk about religion, we talk about fanaticism, politics and crimes. Stop fooling yourself, be a man and see the facts! It is a lack of consideration for our Muslim and Jew brothers to have a series of Masonic ceremonies where they are left out. A Muslim believes in Jesus, and a Jew may believe he was a good teacher—and many do so. Believing in the Christian spirituality is not hard; believing in the Christian religion is senseless: why do you not understand my language? (John 8: 43).

Once you step into a lodge you are not a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Hindu: you are a Mason! If you want to be a Knight Templar with the Christian connotation of the religious weight, you should take the ceremonies to your private home and form a para-masonic body, an exclusive group just for those “clones” that believe like you: …for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:14).

On the other hand, if a man who believes that the Christian spirituality is worthy and important, humble, and richly desires to adhere himself to the Commandery Chapter, he should have the opportunity, regardless to Whom he prays in his home.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 13: 9).

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