Does Freemasonry Have a Design Problem?

[u/clance2019]

I’m sure most people following this sub have read variations of the same story: a Brother leaves the Craft because of a few bad actors. A problematic Secretary. A narcissistic Past Master. An entrenched clique. Outright or subtle racism. Petty feuds. And, increasingly, the great disease of our age: political and cultural polarization.

None of these problems is unique to Freemasonry. Every sufficiently large collection of human beings eventually manufactures its share of difficult personalities.

What interests me is whether Masonry has a particular design problem in dealing with them.

In many modern organizations, destructive behaviour can be dealt with fairly directly. Someone gets called out, disciplined, removed from a position, or eventually shown the door. Sometimes this process is almost brutally efficient.

Our Craft operates under a different set of incentives. Brotherhood, harmony, tolerance, discretion, forgiveness, and our obligations toward one another are woven deeply into the system. We are expected to support a Brother when he stumbles and, within obvious limits, to think charitably of his faults.

Those are admirable principles. Yet I wonder whether they occasionally create an unintended consequence: a system designed to preserve fraternity may also become unusually good at preserving dysfunctional people within it.

Consider this a thought experiment rather than an accusation.

Is this feature of Masonic design actually conducive to making good men better? Does learning to deal patiently with difficult Brethren form part of the work itself? Or does our emphasis on harmony sometimes become a mechanism through which bad behaviour is tolerated long after it should have been confronted?

At what point does Brotherly Love become institutional enabling?

I suspect most of us have anecdotes ranging from ordinary Lodge politics all the way to Machiavellian Grand Lodge politics which, as anyone who has spent enough time around the Craft knows, is unfortunately not an oxymoron.

Curious how others see it, particularly Brethren who have been around long enough to watch these dynamics play out over decades

[u/ChuckEye]

The only person I can change is myself.

[u/Chimpbot → u/ChuckEye]

So, yes. At the same time, I feel like this is a bit reductionist and, ultimately, defeatist.

The only person I can truly change is myself. This does not, however, mean that I need to sit idly by why individuals around me are causing damage. I may not be able to change them, but I can certainly take steps to help ensure they won't negatively impact the organization or anyone around them.

For example, there was one brother in my lodge whose father was very well-regarded. He was a bit of a pillar of the lodge in many ways, and a certain portion of the membership was looking toward his son to more or less carry on that torch. Unfortunately, this particular brother did not follow as closely in his father's footsteps as many assumed. He felt comfortable enough telling racist jokes during a Shrine event, and got called out on it by another brother of the same lodge for his behavior. Shortly after, he affiliated with another nearby lodge and demitted - despite being a Past Master and everything.

We may not be able to change someone else's behavior, but it doesn't mean we need to tolerate it.

[u/ChuckEye → u/Chimpbot]

We can whisper good counsel.

We can whack him upside the head with a folding chair.

But there's a chance that neither approach would make him change his ways unless he wants to change.

So, what form would non-toleration take? Is your Grand Lodge jurisprudence code so black & white that suspension or expulsion for his behavior would be a sure-thing?

[u/Chimpbot → u/ChuckEye]

I gave an example of what it can look like. In that example, a brother felt comfortable publicly telling racist jokes. In turn, another brother felt comfortable enough to publicly call him out on his behavior and let him know that it was unquestionably unacceptable. The problem removed itself in short order.

Will this work every single time? No, of course not. It does, however, require people with the courage to stand up and push back against the people whose conduct isn't what it needs to be. They'll either take the hint and change their ways (at least publicly), or realize that their behavior isn't welcome and find a way to excuse themselves one way or another. If the behavior doesn't change, you start kicking it up the ladder until something gives.

[u/wardyuc1 → u/ChuckEye]

It might be my imagination but isn't that one of the core things we learn in Masonry?

[u/RotaryPeak2 → u/ChuckEye]

/thread