So here is Bro Meagher's second entry into the literature prize... again, we think "offbeat" is the best way to describe how this Brothers brain works at times...
The MW Bro Jamie Melville recently asked the Brethren “Does Freemasonry Have a Place in Modern Society?”
I will answer this very interesting question with a very firm and confident “No”!
Freemasonry is entirely Irrelevant to the Modern Man and to Society.
Why would an active mason make such a rash statement? Well let me explain:
To be blatantly honest, Life is short and I am busy.
Busy You Hear.
Incredibly Busy, Doing Stuff.
The sort of stuff that I need to do, I am a modern man after all.
I do the sort of stuff that YOU wouldn’t understand because you are too “Old School” to understand how a Modern Man works. It’s not like you have ever been a Modern Man after all.
All those lodges are just places for Old Dudes.
None of whom WERE EVER young.
None of whom are, or, were ever busy.
None of whom have any life experience that is interesting, or, who would find my life experience interesting.
As I am a Modern man, I have a Man-Cave. It is where I used to put my car until that TV show that I always watch showed all these Man caves as things that I simply had to have, thus I have fitted my garage out with all the cool stuff that a Modern Man needs. Therefore, I don’t need to go out to revel in the ambiance of an old building with some pillars stuck onto an atrium out the front of it. The beer posters from a long dead Pub provide me with all the Man-cave cool that I need! Honestly, it is as though you freemasons talk about a “Man-cave” of the mind, a virtual man-cave! HAH! Imagine that!
As I am a Modern man, I have many and various forms of Social media in which to broadcast my life, and movements of all my “friends”, and which keeps me up to date with their activities. And gee, I have so many friends; some of which I only seem to keep up with on Social media since I met them all those years ago… Indeed, I have just met this pretty lady that keeps on sending me messages of love - I can’t recall where we met, but, the relationship looks promising, I just need to send her some money to assist with some car repairs that she needs... Hah, imagine turning up to lodge to meet your friends on a lodge night; why that is just inconvenient - it is much better to see them on your timeline every day.
As I am a Modern man, I can Download all the Music I want, mostly for free - the thought of listening to live music just doesn’t do anything for me; as for listening to something played in a small lodge room, forget it. I can’t imagine why people would want to bother with that.
As I am a Modern man, my attitude to dressing up to go out: don’t be silly! I wear my Jeans & Tee-shirt. Everywhere. They are the coolest things ever, I have a vast collection of Tee-shirts, all with brand names on them - You probably couldn’t afford my Tee-Shirts you know, they are THAT exclusive. I can wear them to work too. Heck, after work, I can just slob around my house in my underwear if I choose… AND I frequently do! Why on earth would I be even remotely interested in wearing a Suit (either Dinner or Lounge?) As for the custom Tie & Bow Ties of these lodges; no way, I can’t remember how to tie them it takes too long to put those thing on.
As I am a Modern man, I can see all the entertaining and informative programming I want at anytime of the day or night; indeed, I was watching a YouTube contributor talk about self improvement the other night and it was very informative and much better than any advice that I have gotten in ages. Why would I want to practice an esoteric ritual spoken in Victorian style English intended to make me a better man when I can watch the “Ultimate bikini Fails collection” over & over & over again!
As I am a Modern man, I can order my daily needs, over the internet, at any time convenient to me, you know, all without physically talking to, speaking to, seeing or dealing with another human being. Why would I want to have a short supper with some blokes after a lodge and chat about the past month? I can watch the News when I have my dinner and do the same thing!
As I am a Modern man, I can see no sensible reasons for all these secrets that happen in a lodge; let’s be honest, what is the point? To not tell everyone about something that you do is silly and is out of touch with the Modern World - the only secret I keep is when I’ve been accessing those “naughty” web pages that I use the “In-Private” internet setting for...
And even sillier is that Freemasons give oaths that they will not reveal the secrets of their craft, why, EVERYONE knows that you are closer to people when there are no secrets! That is what it is like when I am in the chat rooms on the web; no secrets there, all honest. Besides; what if I forget the secret “bits”, why, I’d have to turn up to a lodges practice night and get reminded of these passwords and associated secrets; that just isn’t efficient.
As I am a Modern man, My life is just so busy; I need everything to work for ME. I have made it to be just so efficient. Time Economical. Business and being available and connected is important to me after all. I can’t afford to have time out from it, at all. Why doing something for a group for no monetary gain is just such an old time way of thinking
Thus I confidently pronounce Freemasonry as 100% totally irrelevant to Modern Society. Who needs it?
I mean, Why would I want to talk to another man about what happened to him in the past? When he started work?
Why would someone be interested in what I have been upto?
Why would another man be interested in My family?
My Hobbies?
My Gardening?
My Sporting Pastimes?
My Work? My Health?
My House?
No-one in real life would be interested in that stuff - My Facebook friends know all that already, via the timeline feed - all those Selfies when I am exercising, or enjoying a really nice meal, or walking to work…
Maybe Freemasonry could hold a “Virtual Lodge” where a man might participate in watch Lodge life from home, possibly whilst on the toilet. This would be truly relevant to a Modern Man. And you could only imagine the amount of members that would join that “virtual” lodge.
I mean, who could not see the relevance of a “Local Masonic Lodge Podcast” where a man could join a lodge full of like minded men, and watch it take place when it is convenient to him, for instance, I would find 7.30 PM on the second Monday night of the month to be the most convenient time to participate in a Lodge… and now that I think about it, I get the feeling that Lodge Canoblas Lewis #806 in Orange meets at these times, but that involves getting out of the house, getting dressed, participating in some sort of ritual, casual conversations and sharing a meal.
All of which, quite frankly, are just too hard.
Thus, AND in summary, Until Freemasonry can adapt to the above busy world that is MY life, by answering the above challenges, it will remain irrelevant to the Modern Man for all time.
Best Wishes,
Bro Meagher
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