MOUTH TO EAR
“Brother, what is an example of a specific value lauded by Albert Pike?”
“In Morals and Dogma, chapter 10, Pike devotes many pages to the value of Tolerance. Tolerance is the opposite of fanaticism, and applies to many areas in life, especially, in Pike’s view, the arenas of politics and religion. He defends the value of toleration, first by noting each of us is entitled to our opinions and faith, even as we respect the opinions and faith of others; second, by noting that no human being can say, with certainty, when ideas of faith and politics come into conflict, what is truth, or that you or I are truly in possession thereof. He goes on to suggest that ‘No true Mason scoffs at honest convictions and an ardent zeal in the cause of what one believes to be truth and justice. But he does absolutely deny the right of any man to assume the prerogative of Deity, and condemn another’s faith and opinions as deserving to be punished because heretical.’
‘…The good Mason does the good thing which comes in his way, and because it comes in his way; from a love of duty, and not merely because a law,…,commands his will to do it. … True Masonry within must be morality without.’ His tolerance for others belief systems, and his love for his fellow man enable him to overlook difference in beliefs, doing what is right. His actions speak of his tolerance.
Brother, I, too, do my best to do what is right, not because of law, not because of religious belief, not because of expedience, but because it is right. I temper my decisions, my actions in the forge of tolerance, with the goal that my kindred and my country may see me as a paragon of tolerance, and use the example of my actions to live in harmony with their fellows.”
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Fred Ayers
PM, Syracuse Lodge #309, Syracuse Kansas
Frederiucksburg Lodge #794
The Guiding Light / March. 2016 13