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Something
to Think About
From the October 2005 issue of the Idaho Freemason, a talk by Brother
Lon Woodbury, Bonners Ferry Lodge #43. Brother Woodbury's talk is based
on a book entitled The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to
Chivalry. I think you will like to read his talk.
"The purpose of the author of The Compleat Gentleman was to clear up
contemporary confusion that seems to have developed in recent years
about what it means to be a man. He reviewed what European cultures over
the last thousand years have thought were the best ideals of manhood,
and then recommended an essential model for 21st Century Masculinity.
The concept he focused on was the ideal of a "Gentleman" as evolved
through the 18th and 19th centuries, a person who represented the best
ideals of how a man should act. A "Gentleman," among other things, was
broadly educated, would act for what was right and treated women with
respect and dignity. This radical idea evolved out of the coarseness and
violence of the middle ages.
As I progressed through the book, I kept coming back to the idea that
the author's ideas on what a real man, or gentleman, should be,
paralleled the lessons of Freemasonry and that is the idea I want to
explore. That is, was one of the intentions of the founders of our
fraternity to create "Gentlemen?"
In the book, the author explored the ideals held by European cultures
regarding the search for the Holy Grail, King Arthur, the Crusades, the
Knights Templar, and the Victorian ideal of a gentleman. These and other
traditions or myths are often mentioned in speculations regarding the
roots of Freemasonry.
As a start, we have to remember that medieval times were in many ways
brutal. Life expectancy was short, and disease epidemics were frequent.
Every man needed to be ready to defend himself and his family from
violent predators. Travel was dangerous and women were frequently
considered chattel. Torture was used arbitrarily and most people were
subject to the whim of their Lord. The world for the average person was
radically different from what we take for granted as normal and
acceptable today.
Thoughtful men have searched over the centuries to find ways to develop
what we would term "men of character." Each of the myths and traditions
mentioned above were at least in part medieval attempts to instill high
ideals in men, with the hope that these ideas would become commonly
accepted. By the 19th century, these efforts had culminated into the
concept of a gentleman.
Today, virtually all men want to be known as a gentleman, even though
few really live up to the ideal represented by that term, nor have a
clue as to what was behind the concept.
The author concluded that three basic ideals were the essential
masculine archetypes that define a "gentleman." They are the Warrior,
the Lover, and the Monk. To fully understand what the author is saying,
these terms must be better defined to eliminate misinterpretation from
contemporary surface understandings.
The Warrior, in medieval times referred to the physical prowess of the
Knight, or fighter of the day. However, the author asserts, behind that
was the concept of doing the right thing no matter the cost to self. An
upright man can be a warrior even if he is an accountant who keeps
honest books, or a teacher who struggles to train the mind and character
of his students. To be a warrior, physical prowess is still important,
but desire to do the right thing is more central to the concept of a
warrior.
This root concept is also an important lesson in Freemasonry. The plumb
line teaches us to live upright lives and to square our actions before
God and man. In this sense, Freemasonry teaches us to be Warriors in our
own lives and in our dealings with others, the first essential archetype
the author identified.
The term Lover needs to be better defined in our sex-saturated culture.
The author is definitely not limiting this term to sexual relations. He
has the idea that a real man protects a woman when appropriate and
accepts her as an equal when appropriate. These were radical thoughts
during the medieval era. He asserts that the secret to getting along
with a woman is to support her aspirations and "let her do what she
wants." Only partly in humor is the observation that any husband that
has a successful marriage knows that one of the secrets of maintaining a
marriage is to know when to say "Yes, Dear!"
In Freemasonry we are taught to protect the chastity of the women in our
lives and of the women in the lives of our Brothers. I assume the
initial surface interpretation of that admonishment to most Brothers is
sexual in nature. However, the dictionary defines chastity in terms of
purity, innocence and virtue. These terms do not relate only to sex. For
example, virtue talks about goodness and power suggesting that the
admonishment in Freemasonry to protect the chastity of women is to
protect them not just from unwanted sexual advances but to protect them
so that they can grow and develop as they wish. Thus, Freemasonry
teaches us to be lovers in the sense that we respect and protect the
dignity of women, the second essential masculine archetype.
The Monk archetype requires that a man be a student of the best
teachings of his culture, always pondering his life's experience and
trying to advance toward learning the truth. He also is able to restrain
himself, not stooping to gossip, able to maintain a trust, and judges
himself harder than others.
The whole of Masonic Ritual contains lessons of life, admonishments to
study and to expand knowledge, such as to study geometry as the first
and noblest of sciences. We are admonished to keep secrets to ourselves
when given to us as such, and correct a brother's errors in private
rather than through public accusations. Thus, Freemasonry trains us as
Monks, as understood by the author, the third essential archetype.
The Masonic Fraternity was organized more or less in its present form
during the 18th century. During this era there was also a major push to
elevate men's behavior through the ideal of a "Gentleman," thereby
rejecting the man who was ignorant or acted on brutal and violent base
impulses. From the ideals of our Fraternity that have been handed down
to us, it seems obvious that the founders of our craft were strongly
influenced by this movement and perhaps played a major role in it.
However, what about contemporary Freemasonry? Are those 18th century
ideals so broadly established in our current society that what we have
in our degrees are merely relics of a by-gone era, a remnant of a social
battle long since won? Is there no longer any need for the craft to
create "Gentlemen" since virtually all contemporary institutions are
already doing that? Is the term "Making Good Men Better" simply a slogan
without significance?
I do not think so. A quick look at our culture seems to confirm what
many critics point to as the "coarsening of society" Young men are
increasingly turning to violence and weirdly distorted concepts of honor
found in gangs. The increasing acceptance of concepts of "moral
relativity" convince many that there is no truth worth making a stand
for, so doing the right thing becomes "looking out for number one."
Women are depicted in the media as at best amoral and men are depicted
as clueless and hopeless. Popular music celebrates male violence and
abuse of females. Education has turned into a race for career training
and a liberal arts education that passes on the wisdom and best thought
of the ages is becoming an impractical backwater in academics, or a
victim of rote diversity. Four letter words are increasingly accepted in
both polite society and on the airwaves.
All these are the antithesis of the concept of a gentleman. Although we
do not conform to the violence and baseness of medieval times, we are
both different from and moving away from the ideal of a society that
respects gentlemen.
There is increasingly a need for organizations that advocate the ideal
of a "Gentleman" and Freemasonry can contribute to that because being
organized as a school for Gentlemen, we have something to offer. We
simply need to figure out how to present what we have in a manner that
21st century men of good will can understand and relate to." |
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