"A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry"
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." - Sun-tzu, Chinese general & military strategist (-400 BC)
During the Watergate years of the 1970's, it was discovered that the Nixon Administration was maintaining an "Enemies List" of any and all antagonists to the policies of the White House. This became a "Who's Who" which included radical extremists, political opponents, members of the press, labor leaders, financiers, celebrities, even athletes. The activities of the people on the list were closely scrutinized by the administration and where necessary, life was made difficult for them by the administration. This, of course, was not without precedence as Lyndon Johnson had J.Edgar Hoover of the FBI monitor the activities of select rivals as well. I'm certain Nixon and Johnson were not alone in this regard, both before and after Watergate. Such enemy lists are developed for political purposes and opens the door for "dirty tricks" to be played on people whose names appear on them.
It has come to my attention that a similar type of list is being maintained and circulated within Freemasonry. In other words, a list of Masonic trouble makers to be wary of. I might understand such a list being maintained on a jurisdictional basis, but what I am hearing of is a secret list that is being circulated among Grand jurisdictions at the highest levels. I don't know if there is any truth in this, but it wouldn't surprise me.
I suspect if you are placed on this list, your actions are being closely watched and any infraction of the rules are reported accordingly. Even close Masonic friends whom you normally trust are charged with monitoring your activity. I know such talk smacks of paranoia, but it makes you wonder what is being recorded in your membership jacket at Grand Lodge.
The people I suspect are on such a Masonic enemies list are all Brothers who have vocalized their discontent with current policies of the Grand Lodges. They are not people who want to see the fraternity destroyed, but rather improved and brought into the 21st century; people who can think beyond the confines of the Lodge room and jurisdictional boundaries; Brothers who believe in the universality of Freemasonry and how it should be run.
If, in fact, such a list exists, I would probably consider it an Honor Roll of Masons, a sort of Red Badge of Courage for speaking from the heart and trying to improve the status quo. In all likelihood, if you rock the boat you can probably expect to be added to the list. More importantly, the existence of such a list would be proof that Freemasonry has been politicized which would be scarier than just appearing on the list. After all, we should be acting more like Masons than like the Mafia.
Keep the Faith.
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Copyright © 2007 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
*** repost from From the Edge with permission. Thank you.
