Many motions at the next Green party conference will be on the big issues like climate change but there are also always a collection of others on the fringe. It is after all in my view important not to ignore how we get to tackle the big issues. Freemasonry is one of those fringe issues that had a brief but very heated discussion on our South West Green party email lists. It raises a number of important issues.
A motion was proposed that acknowledged the charitable work carried out by Freemasonry, but noting that its closed nature goes against the grain of transparency that is a core green political value. The suggestion was that any member of the Green Party who belongs the Freemasons shall be obliged to declare his membership to Party Office within 60 days of this motion being passed. Failure to comply would result in suspension of membership immediately upon membership of Freemasons being verified, for at least 5 years or longer if so determined by GPRC, unless there is good reason, such reason to be determined by GPRC.
There was strong reaction against this from many members - one even writing: "It is exactly this sort of thing that makes me not want to be apart of the Green Party (or any other political parties)! If I chose to be a Freemason why should I be obliged to tell you. If I wish to be a free mason, then it is entirely my decision and need not be known by the Green Party."
There is indeed much nonsense about freemasonry - plenty for conspiracy theorists - I read the rather sensational book "The Brotherhood" about the Masons many years ago - some of the more factually based elements were shocking but it is always hard to get an idea of the extent of the problem. It was several years later I was able to talk at considerable length directly to one of the very senior Police officers involved in one of the "stories" - he had been in a specialist unit - the stories he told convinced me that while the vast majority of freemasons are no doubt harmless the way the organisation is run is deeply worrying. I don't believe we should dismiss this issue so lightly.
"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers, which are cited to justify it."Since 1999 all judges, police, prison and probation officers have been obliged to declare membership. There have been various moves to get MPs, Higher education teachers and more to follow.
President John F. Kennedy
Address to Newspaper Publishers April 27, 1961
This proposed motion is not about barring membership but asking that it be put in the open. It could perhaps be improved by broadening it to include other closed groups like gentlemans' clubs. But to me there is certainly a question of potential conflict of interests. Roger Williams Lib Dem MP who has been seeking MPs to declare interests in freemasonry said: "Re-establishing the public's trust in politicians depends upon being open about interests and affiliations".
I don't think this particular motion is the best route to openness - it would be better in my view to focus on members running for any office (incl within the party) - making it clear that they must declare freemasonry as an interest. We'll have to wait and see how this moves forward.
"The following instruction sets out guidance governing the membership by members of the armed forces of societies such as freemasons: there is no intention or policy to preclude service personnel from membership of any lawful and benevolent organisation. However, involvement in organisations of a secretive nature, such as the freemasons, carries with it the risk of establishing disparate loyalties which may have a destabilising influence on the chain of command, not least by the perception of preferential treatment and undue influence. While membership of such organisations is clearly a matter for the individuals concerned, serving personnel should not encourage or promote membership amongst their colleagues, meetings should not be held on MOD premises, and use should not be made of any MOD property."Perhaps one of the most famous examples of the potential for problems within Masonic lodges is the "P2" incident in Italy. This is reported widely in books like Martin Short's "Inside the Brotherhood" (London: Harper Collins, 1997) - and newspapers (see mention in Guardian). It involved the masonic lodge Propaganda Massonica (recognised by the English Grand Lodge in 1972) and its Master, Licio Gelli. A chance discovery by police involving a financial swindle uncovered a membership of P2 which included 43 MPs (including 3 cabinet ministers), 43 generals, 8 admirals (including all the armed forces chiefs), all of the heads of the security services, and hundreds of public servants and diplomats. A subsequent Parliamentary inquiry established that the lodge was the focus of nothing less than "a right wing conspiracy to take over Italy."
Ministry of Defense, United Kingdon
New 2001 Department Policy on Freemasonry in the Military
Thoughts welcomed...
2 comments:
Up until 1967 lists of members were provided, by law, to the "the local 'Clerk of the Peace'." Not sure what changed in 1967, but the reason for the discloser of membership was a compromise in which Freemasonry was saved from outright banning with the 1799 Unlawful Societies Act.
In 1799, of course, the world had witnessed with shock the brutality and totalitarianism of the French Revolution. In 1797, an Englishmen published a shocking book about the Illuminati: Proofs of a Conspiracy. And a year later, the Abbe Barruel had published the completion of his 4-volume Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, which went into even greater detail about the machinations of the Illuminati.
In short, it was Robison and Barruel who were the catalysts for the action taken against secret societies.
P2 was indeed a great example of why discloser is needed. But the precedent was set in the late 18th century after the discovery of the Illuminati. The P2 conspiracy seems to have taken their play book directly from the Illuminati. The Illuminati, too, had infested masonry with a secret (society) within a secret (society). In common also was the level of infiltration within the government. Between 2000 and 3000 members were estimated to have been insinuated into the Illuminati. From princes and dukes, to counts and barons on the official court councils spanning the entire "Holy Roman Empire." The remaining membership consisted of upper-class individuals: military men, professors, tutors, clergy in great numbers, journalists, writers and publishers - those who had the potential to stir public agitation, or change society from within.
Freemasonry was used as vehicle for a real conspiracy many times throughout its near 300-year history. As long as such a powerful and ubiquitous organization (comprising millions of adherents across the globe) is allowed to keep its membership secret - subversion of society is a very real threat.
Oh dear, P2, Illuminati, all this is rather sad conspiracy theories. Of the many many masons I know across U.K. Most are retired, many are church-going christians, and a lot used to be in uniform- armed forces, firemen, police etc. All of them pretty harmless, retired builders, a clock maker, a guy that runs a burger van, psychotherapist, vicars and quite a few engineers, both mechanical and automotive. They enjoy each other's company, they raise more money for charity that anyone else apart from the National Lottery. Their secrets? They like dressing up and performing little plays based on Old Testament stories, and remembering the lines ( there are chaps on their 80's would can recite the equivalent of Hamlet) . Exclude women? They don't exclude women, there are men only lodges, women only lodges, and mixed lodges, you choose. All colours, creeds, Christian, Jew, Muslim, all are welcome. You don't have to wait to be asked, just rock up at your local lodge and ask. If you want a leg up in business or local influence, join a golf club. The Nazis made Masons wear similar badges to the Jews and Gays, is that what the Green Party is interested in?
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