Wednesday, August 4, 2010

You Must Mean Someone Else


Okay, so I am still writing up stuff, especially now that it’s summer.

I had an interesting thought during my Lodge’s dark period. I was watching a show on TV and decided to “research“ the people on Wikipedia. Funny thing was, as I was going down the lead’s Wikipedia page, I noticed an interesting entry about the lead. He was, in fact, a Freemason. The entry was even sourced with a link to an article in a prominent paper with a named source naming this particular brother.

This leads to my question: are we using their fame for our own gains? We talk about George Washington, Ben Franklin, and FDR, but we also name drop brothers like Ernest Borgnine who are still alive.

I have certain misgivings about name dropping. Certainly I’m proud to know that there are many famous brothers but sometimes I wonder if we should call them out as our brother. In England, our Masonic brothers are distrusted. It’s a sad existence but it just is what it is. In the United States, we don’t have that problem (well, maybe a little). However, is it still wrong to name them?

Is there a way to discuss both the famous members of our Fraternity as well as to protect their privacy? Do we have to wait until the brother has passed away to discuss his and our fraternal bond? Am I being overly cautious? What are your thoughts?