MASONIC EDUCATION VS. MASONIC APATHY

MASONIC EDUCATION VS. MASONIC APATHY

Author: Warren B. Smith

Year: 1930

This piece of architecture from 1930 addresses the problem of "Masonic Apathy," which the author sees as a crisis of his time, linking it directly to a member's apathy as a citizen. He argues that despite Freemasonry's great strengths—its deep historical background and its timeless essential principles of morality and civic duty—the fraternity is suffering from a widespread lack of interest. The author quotes historical figures like John Ruskin and an 1828 anti-Masonic paper to show that concerns about apathy are not new, but are particularly relevant given the troubling lodge attendance records of the late 1920s. The piece of architecture places the primary responsibility for combating this apathy on the Worshipful Master of the lodge, whose duty is to shape the minds of new members. However, since the brethren choose the Master, the responsibility ultimately falls back on them to be engaged. The proposed solution to this apathy is a robust and active program of Masonic Education. The author argues that confining lodge activities to the mere repetition of ritual is "sure to lose interest." Instead, lodges must have programs that explore Masonic history and philosophy, and also dis