Grand Lodges and the Internet

The Internet and Masonic websites within the jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge can be an invaluable resource for brothers, and can do a great deal to correct misinformation about Freemasonry. In this digital age, Websites should be the primary educational resource for Grand Lodges and their subordinate lodges and should receive substantial resources of every Grand Lodge.

The Internet is the present and future of Masonic education and it requires a significant commitment by the various Grand Lodges. It is not a question of simply adding a new program which will primarily serve to diffuse our traditional educational efforts. What is required is a determined, balanced and comprehensive Internet and website advocacy. It may even be necessary to divert resources from more traditional educational programs because in the end what we do in brick and mortar schools pales beside what can be accomplished, and needs to be accomplished, on the Internet.

Though Grand Lodge websites by and large are adequate, nearly all of them fall short of their potential and of the role they should properly serve. There is an enormous lack of vision when it comes to Freemasonry and the Internet. Grand Lodge websites themselves must first be models of what a Masonic website should be. They should be reservoirs of Masonic information to educate Masons and non-Masons alike. They should as well provide information Craft lodge officers require to serve their lodges. The Grand Lodge constitution and Grand Master edits should be posted. The websites should also provide a wide-range of links to other respected Masonic resources, contemporaneous information on meetings and activities, and provide information about what is taking place in Masonry throughout the jurisdiction. They should also provide information to brothers that in the past has only been available by visiting the Grand Lodge personally to obtain. This should include a list of all Grand Lodges with which it is in amity. This is essential information to brothers active on the Internet.

Every Grand Lodge should make possible, and mandate, the construction of quality websites for subordinate lodges and adopt policies designed to create the finest websites that best serve Masonry within its jurisdiction. This means more than simply having a Grand Lodge webmaster to consult with subordinate lodges. It means making decisions about design and updating, about what can and should be publicly posted. It means setting reasonable standards and following them, not assigning the matter to a committee that meets a few times during the year, reports progress at the annual Communication, but in the end does nothing.

There have already been conflicts between Grand Lodges, subordinate lodges and individual Masons over website content. Establishing clear standards so that everyone understands what can and cannot appear on the Internet will go a long way in preventing such conflicts.

It is not said lightly that this is the most important challenge the Craft faces in the 21st century.

The Craft Lodge and the Internet

Increasingly, Masons of all ages are turning to the Internet and websites for information. They will tend to be more engaged, and certainly more informed, if their lodge has a well designed, fully functioning, updated website. Lodges today lose roughly half of all new members almost at once. While many remain dues payers they are effectively nonparticipants in the life of the lodge. Others are in time suspended for non-payment.

In terms of membership our problem is not the passing of older Masons but rather our inability to retain those we raise. Proper websites, both for the Grand Lodge as well as the Craft lodges, can be an important instrument towards negating apathy among newly raised Masons. Email, as just one example, is a simple, yet highly effective, means of communication yet few lodges routinely employ it.

A Craft lodge website must contain timely information about the lodge and its activities. It should be linked to the reservoir of educational material contained on the Grand Lodge website, and linked as well to that portion of the Grand Lodge website that lists Masonic activities throughout the jurisdiction. It should go without saying that the lodge website should be attractive, easily navigated and worthwhile, both for brothers and prospective Masons.

The Internet has created an enormous temptation for lodge officers and brothers that is very destructive to the Craft. There already exists today video programs on the Internet which can be downloaded and used within the lodge as part of its education program. Many of these are quite engaging but they are often the product of non-Masons and contain information which we are obligated not to disclose. Because it comes from the Internet, and because anyone can view it there, there is the tendency for Masters and brothers to disregard their obligation. They justify this by arguing that because so much that violates Masonic
secrecy is readily available, there is no harm in their violating their obligation.

Setting aside the utterly lack of judgment such a decision represents, it also reveals a failure to understand the true nature of our obligation. One consequence is that newly raised Masons who have been aggressively charged in the Third Degree to never violate their obligation are then exposed to a cavalier disregard for it by long standing brothers. They form from that the notion that the obligation is not to be taken seriously, and if the obligation is not a serious matter than neither are the other teachings of Freemasonry. The steady erosion of our commitment to secrecy which has been encouraged by the spread of the Internet is a great threat to our Craft. Every Grand Lodge should have an educational program to impress upon all Masters and line officers what information they can, and cannot, use in the lodge.

The Internet and lodge websites will also draw to Masonry prospects who in some cases will be very different from those traditionally attracted to the Craft. This will mean a greater need for those serving on investigation committees to do their job properly and for brothers to be more willing to exercise proper judgment when voting. A suitable waiting period to allow brothers the opportunity to get to know the prospect should be scrupulously observed, and ideally the lodge should conduct regular Masonic education sessions with them. In addition they should be urged to attend all functions of the lodge which a non-member can, including work days. The vetting process will of necessity be more involved than it has been in recent decades.

Masonic Issues and the Internet

The presence of regular Masonry on the Internet should not be simply to recruit members but to improve the public perception of the Craft in general. From that members will come, as will a greater recognition and understanding of Masonry. There are, however, important issues unique to Freemasonry which are created by our use of the Internet. These issues must be addressed by the various Grand Lodges. Here are just a few of them:

• What constitutes Masonic communication in a digital world?
• Should a regular lodge website link to an irregular site?
• May a regular Mason post on a forum that allows irregular masons to post?
• Is it a Masonic offense to post on the Internet using an assumed identity?

There are many perils for regular Masons on the Internet. It is easy to join forums that allow irregular and feminine masons to participate. Discussions of disputes between a Grand Lodge and a subordinate lodge, discussions that should not take place in public, are widespread on the Internet. The greatest threat is that it is very easy to form a false impression of Freemasonry because so much of what is widely available on the Internet is irregular or clandestine. This false impression then leads to counterproductive behavior within the lodge and will eventually have an adverse impact on the Grand Lodge line and
Grand Lodge itself.

Another peril is the ready access of our ritual to anyone with an Internet connection. Returning to the subject of our obligation, this can easily lead Freemasons astray. The ritual of Masonry has always been available to the profane since the mid-19th century to those willing to make the effort, and while we should safeguard that which we do so that it does not become common knowledge, that is only one reason for our obligation. The primary purpose of Masonic secrecy is the positive effect it has on the nature and character of the brother who keeps his obligation. The Internet is a potential threat to all Masons for many reasons, but especially to those who have not yet fully developed the practice of secrecy or who have ceased to appreciate its importance.

Consequences of Inaction

There are times when doing nothing is the right thing. In fact, an argument can be made that most action, in most situations, meant to create a positive outcome has had the opposite or no effect. This is not one of those occasions. Inaction is not an option. Freemasonry is already a reality on the Internet. Blogs, forums and Masonic websites exist by the tens of thousands, and will soon number in the hundreds of thousands. Freemasonry and the Internet are now, and will continue to be, inexorably tied. The overriding question is: To what end?

Freemasonry, ultimately, is not about the ritual, nor is it about the rich and vast reservoir of knowledge that has been set down in print. Whatever Freemasonry is, or becomes, is always determined by the dominate view of each generation of Freemasons. The majority beliefs of Masons as expressed on the greatest means of mass communication in world history, clandestine or not, will inevitably determine the direction of Freemasonry in the 21st century. It will influence thinking, identify issues and create change. This is especially the situation because irregular masons on the Internet intent to create that change. It is absolutely essential that regular Masonry be the dominant view. We cannot concede the message to those with greater motivation, computer skills and/or a desire to transform our Craft for the worse.

The Solution

What exists today on the Internet as concerns regular Freemasonry is chaos, hence the title, Ordo ab Chao. This chaos places us not only at a decided disadvantage but presents a negative face of Freemasonry to the world and to our brothers. We must find a way out of the existing chaos, and that path will not be easy. It requires new thinking and a willingness to embrace the opportunity of this digital age and the Internet. Half measures and indifference will not longer serve, and, in fact, are the path to our own demise.

Taking control of the Masonic message on the Internet will be a demanding and long-term endeavor. Efforts not sustained over time will fail. The forces desiring to change regular Masonry will not go away. What is required is a set of Internet standards for all regular Masonic websites, blogs and forums, as well as for the participation of Masons on the Internet.

There must exist a means for sanctioning the Internet presence of each regular Masonic website, of whatever type. The Grand Lodges must agree to these standards and in America, at least, a national body should be established to that end. To identify regular Masonry on the Internet means adopting an icon only websites that meet this standard can display. The granting of this icon should be given by a national body with the authority and the means to legally pursue sites which use it improperly. Given our history absent national control the question of who will do this is crucial. Equally important is determining what standards for Internet regularity will be established.

The actual changes, however, will be the responsibility of the Grand Lodges. Only they have the ability to enforce rules of Masonic conduct on the Internet within their jurisdiction. But to avoid 51 different set of standards it would be wise to follow the lead of the national organization responsible for creating the standards. This is not about control but about identity. It is about identifying those Internet sites which constitute regular Masonry, and in so doing, indicating by exclusion those which do not.

The most popular blogs and forums tend to be the most heretical. When standards for regular Masonic blogs exist, those without the icon will be identified as outside the norm. This alone will have an enormous positive effect for both Mason and non-Mason. From this new Internet endeavor, Grand Lodges, Craft lodges, Masonic groups and brothers will all know what they can and cannot do on the Internet. Those who elect to remain regular in their digital exposure will be identified as regular, while those who chose to go their own way will not and can call themselves what they will.

We cannot control information on the Internet nor do we desire to. Clandestine and irregular Masons are going to continue as they will. Regular Masons and lodges will also continue to have a presence on the Internet. Identifying those sites that represent regular Masonry, then, will serve at the least two important objectives:

• Visitors, both Mason and non-Mason, will know this site represents traditional, globally accepted Masonry, the kind of Masonry they see at the lodge down the street.
• It will in effect identify all other sites as irregular, clandestine or non-traditional.

These sites will be recognized as outside the mainstream, comprising imposters, disgruntled Masons, or anti-Masons. Those seeking genuine Masonic information will tend to shun them. At the least, they will know them for what they are. Whatever body is given, or is recognized as having, the right to grant this icon to regular Masonic websites should operate the way many similar Internet groups already do. A standing committee, or group, would have a network of dozens, or hundreds, of regular Masons who routinely visit Masonic sites of all types. These brothers will be knowledgeable about the standards that have been set and will call attention to those sites that have gone astray. There are any number of ways this could work but ideally it should be a digital age version of “mouth to ear”. This is a well established technique used, as just one example, by Wikipedia to prevent certain information on its site from being misused. It is, for example, how Wikipedia cleaned up much misinformation posted there by persons hostile to Freemasonry

Conclusion

There will be many positive consequences as a result of establishing regular Masonic standards and identifying regular Masonry on the Internet.

• Regular Masonic information will be delineated from irregular information.
• We will have a significant presence which will improve the public understanding of us.
• It will provide a more contemporary portal for new members and for ongoing Masonic education.
• Regular Masonic thought and research will spread at speeds unknown heretofore.

We can only benefit from all these.

The reality Freemasonry faces today is that the definition and practice of community has been profoundly altered. The roots of the Craft have always been in the community, and we must see to it that continues to be the case in the future.

Addressing our needs on the Internet is an enormous undertaking. Bringing order which serves our ends from the current state of chaos cannot be accomplished simply or in the short-term. But if we do this right we are at the birth of a golden age for the Craft we love so dearly.

Note On This Paper

This paper is by Worshipful Brother Ronald J. Watkins, Past Master of Wayfarers Lodge #50, and Past District Deputy Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Arizona. It is being presented in three parts due to it’s length, but it’s message is very important. It is used with permission.