What’s your favorite flavor of Deletos?
One of the things I am most proud of as an employee of Grand Lodge is when I see any of you proudly sharing your status as officers of a Lodge or of Grand Lodge on social media. It helps put a friendly face to an otherwise unfamiliar organization in the eyes of the general public. That friendly face becomes someone’s best impression of Freemasonry – who we are, what the organization stands for, and what we believe in.
Everyone’s entitled to hold their strong opinions, and to share them with others amicably, which is why I am sharing my own personal strong opinion here, now, with each of you. By representing ourselves as Masons, that means we also accept the responsibility of always conducting ourselves in a manner that reflects well on our fraternity.
You can certainly guess where this is going, so I’ll get to my point – if you’re looking to share a meme or a post you found funny on social media, I think all we can ask of you is this: Ask yourself before you share something, “By sharing this, am I likely to excite personal animosities?” Is this something our preamble suggests we should all strive to avoid? If the answer is yes, well, it’s then something to think about.
You absolutely have the right to post that meme, to share that video, and to write out that witty line in your head and put it on the internet for everyone to see. No one is denying you that. It is also 100% selfish to not care about how anything you say, do, or post makes someone feel.
The selfless act is always to consider the feelings of others, and to understand that by becoming a Freemason, you become a part of something that is bigger than just yourself, and that your actions affect others in ways you cannot possibly imagine.
It is especially important to understand that your actions could, in fact, prevent someone who might have had a lot to offer your Lodge from seeking membership. Our membership numbers as a fraternity have been declining since 1959 in this country, according to the Masonic Service Association of North America.
We cannot afford to publicly conduct ourselves in ways that might alienate potential Masons and stop them from considering joining Lodges entirely. One of the fastest ways to do that is to try and ‘own the libs’ or insult the ‘MAGAts’ on the internet.
In DeMolay, young men are reminded of the ancient injunction to think twice before speaking once when they take their membership obligation. I ask each of you to do the same.
Otherwise, you might need to go purchase a fresh new bag of Deletos.
– Written by Bro. Chris Rooney
– Trowel Magazine – Spring 2019
– https://massfreemasonry.org/news-events/trowel-back-issues/
