Let's Talk about Race!
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William Calvo
Jun 26, 2009, 4:46:16 PM6/26/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Dear Brothers and Sisters
I agree the "Gate City’s" affair is crazy, but it is a reality. Racism exist it is real. It is a constitutive element of our society, no one can escape the effects of racism… no as perpetuator, as a victim or as someone benefiting from it. This is a great opportunity to openly discuss the issue of racism in freemasonry. I remember that when I was just inquiring about freemasons, during my first interview… I asked if the fact that I was a Latino immigrant would have any effect, influence, in the fraternity? I remember that the guy interviewing me was very clear "Don't worry, you are not black. For blacks we have a different branch... most Latinos can past as White… after all you look White!" I was so offended… but I let it go, because I was more interested to joining the fraternity... later on I found that racism exist openly in freemasonry. That it is never discuss, other that denounce it when “outsiders” do that. If ever discuss it is only in terms of 'multiculturalism' or the wrong idea of a "melting pot" ... always with the undertone that differences most be eliminated in order to become a true brother… or to embrace a higher culture, the white culture. Most brothers assume that Freemasonry is neutral, and overlook that many of our customs may be just that, cultural and historical customs tied to the British notion of “proper” or civilize. There is not coincidence that modern emergence of freemasonry happens also during the reconfiguration of the British Empire, modern capitalism and today’s democratic state.
The reality is the people tend to avoid talking about race, as if by doing that they are automatically racists, or if by not talking about “the elephant in the room” it will disappear and we will just move on into a ‘all equal nirvana’. Obama may be black, but race inequity exists everywhere… to the point of “early dead” for many people.
My opinion is that we should openly talk about how race is performed in our lodges? How there is a structure of power associate with race? How many times our non-white brothers are embraced only as exotic or funny subjects? I believe that Post-modernity calls not for a ‘multicultural’ mosaic of people when we superficially pretend to be equals, but rather something else… something more about the understanding that we all are different, and that difference is not just ok, but desirable. We all have souls and we all have something to contribute. Each human is unique and valuable for what he is… There is not one group better that other… No technology, or money, nor language sufficiency, or nationality, nor gender, or sexual orientation, or sexual performance, nor race… are valid parameters to classify people’s qualities to love, to transcend or to improve.
I'm sorry if I have offend anyone... but is you are not comfortable... that is good, that mean that there are thinks that need to be discuss.
With love and Hope
William
I agree the "Gate City’s" affair is crazy, but it is a reality. Racism exist it is real. It is a constitutive element of our society, no one can escape the effects of racism… no as perpetuator, as a victim or as someone benefiting from it. This is a great opportunity to openly discuss the issue of racism in freemasonry. I remember that when I was just inquiring about freemasons, during my first interview… I asked if the fact that I was a Latino immigrant would have any effect, influence, in the fraternity? I remember that the guy interviewing me was very clear "Don't worry, you are not black. For blacks we have a different branch... most Latinos can past as White… after all you look White!" I was so offended… but I let it go, because I was more interested to joining the fraternity... later on I found that racism exist openly in freemasonry. That it is never discuss, other that denounce it when “outsiders” do that. If ever discuss it is only in terms of 'multiculturalism' or the wrong idea of a "melting pot" ... always with the undertone that differences most be eliminated in order to become a true brother… or to embrace a higher culture, the white culture. Most brothers assume that Freemasonry is neutral, and overlook that many of our customs may be just that, cultural and historical customs tied to the British notion of “proper” or civilize. There is not coincidence that modern emergence of freemasonry happens also during the reconfiguration of the British Empire, modern capitalism and today’s democratic state.
The reality is the people tend to avoid talking about race, as if by doing that they are automatically racists, or if by not talking about “the elephant in the room” it will disappear and we will just move on into a ‘all equal nirvana’. Obama may be black, but race inequity exists everywhere… to the point of “early dead” for many people.
My opinion is that we should openly talk about how race is performed in our lodges? How there is a structure of power associate with race? How many times our non-white brothers are embraced only as exotic or funny subjects? I believe that Post-modernity calls not for a ‘multicultural’ mosaic of people when we superficially pretend to be equals, but rather something else… something more about the understanding that we all are different, and that difference is not just ok, but desirable. We all have souls and we all have something to contribute. Each human is unique and valuable for what he is… There is not one group better that other… No technology, or money, nor language sufficiency, or nationality, nor gender, or sexual orientation, or sexual performance, nor race… are valid parameters to classify people’s qualities to love, to transcend or to improve.
I'm sorry if I have offend anyone... but is you are not comfortable... that is good, that mean that there are thinks that need to be discuss.
With love and Hope
William
Raum Sariel
Jun 29, 2009, 1:03:57 AM6/29/09
to The Outer Court
Brother William,
I am sorry that it has teken me this long to reply. Last week was
probably the busiest of my life :)
Of course I have missed the Outer Court so here I am.
I deeply appreciate your take on this "hot potato" of a topic. Let me
be clear that we as Post-Modern
Freemasons encourage divergent thought. It's healthy. So I would
gather that no one was offended by
the content of your post.
With that out of the way I will give you my take on the topic. The
purpose of Freemasonry is to
"build a better planet one living stone at a time." Now, the living
stone is paramount in importence
here. We go back to the crucial component of the EA degree that we are
charged to smooth and
shapen with the eternal working tools of our Craft. In laymans terms
to go from a rough profane to
the smooth devine.
It cannot be glossed over that race is a huge issue in the profane
world. It is reasonable to assume that
since Masons are not born living stones but are Crafted into them
through the work that some may still
have some of the deep profanities within their hearts. Now, this
should all be cast aside as chips off of
the rough stone in order for a raise in wage to be achieved. Therefore
one would have to question what kind
of a Master Craftsman would still have a profane core?
In my opinion that would make them no Craftsman at all.
Love and Light,
Raum
I am sorry that it has teken me this long to reply. Last week was
probably the busiest of my life :)
Of course I have missed the Outer Court so here I am.
I deeply appreciate your take on this "hot potato" of a topic. Let me
be clear that we as Post-Modern
Freemasons encourage divergent thought. It's healthy. So I would
gather that no one was offended by
the content of your post.
With that out of the way I will give you my take on the topic. The
purpose of Freemasonry is to
"build a better planet one living stone at a time." Now, the living
stone is paramount in importence
here. We go back to the crucial component of the EA degree that we are
charged to smooth and
shapen with the eternal working tools of our Craft. In laymans terms
to go from a rough profane to
the smooth devine.
It cannot be glossed over that race is a huge issue in the profane
world. It is reasonable to assume that
since Masons are not born living stones but are Crafted into them
through the work that some may still
have some of the deep profanities within their hearts. Now, this
should all be cast aside as chips off of
the rough stone in order for a raise in wage to be achieved. Therefore
one would have to question what kind
of a Master Craftsman would still have a profane core?
In my opinion that would make them no Craftsman at all.
Love and Light,
Raum
Khalil Allah
Jun 29, 2009, 10:04:44 AM6/29/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Brother William,
I greatly appreciate your post, for bringing to the forefront, the issue of racism. I myself is neither surprised or upset, about the actions take by those in "Gate City," because it is a tool to show the cancer that exist in the fraternity. Freemasonry is mostly segregated in the Southern portions; however this does not mean that the hearts of those that do recognize Prince Hall, are free of the stain, of racism. The "Gate City" affair is only the outward expression, of a decaying chalice, that is slowly rusting away. As those members get older and die off, a new breed, is inheriting the keys, of the doors of our honorable fraternity, and in time things will change.
However, we must be aware that there are those in our midst that has racial issues, but do not know it, and in fact are even ignorant, of their own short comings. I believe, that those that has a true history of a specific people and culture, is more open to accept brethren whole heartedly, regardless of race, class, or creed. Prince Hall Grand Lodge has actually charted an all White Lodge. Those in the main stream(white) bodies, has returned the favor, by chartering a black lodge (Alpha), by accident (lol). First and foremost we must be tolerant of others beliefs, customs, and culture. We can not just make judgment calls off of our own personal belief system, because it can be flawed. As an example, is it racist to hold the view that at one time, blacks from afrika travelled across the world, and civilized it; or state that that blacks (egypt) travelled and set up mystery systems in Greece, Chaldea, Europe etc.? No this is a truth that is known and many scholars (White and Black), such as Barry Fells, Dr. Ivan Sertima, Leo Weiner, Count Volney etc.has written many books on the subject. In fact in the history of Magick written by Frater Eliphas Levi, one of the most guarded secrets revealed to an initiate in the grecian mysteries was Osiris was a Black God, and this was whispered in the candidates ear by a passing priest. Is this racism? No, but how many know, such history, not many. Many actually believe that civilizations just sprouted up in different regions of their own accord, though archeological, and historical findings prove other wise.
I mention these things for a reason. Knowing anothers history and culture and actually change your perception, of another people. For instance the Grand Lodge of Alabama holds the prestiges belief that freemasonry was crearted by white people, and that all the great masters of the ages, that were elders of the fraternity were white. This is arrogant and actually not true, but their ignorance of history has led them to make such an assertion, and leaves them with the notion, that since the only people that has done great works were white, what should recognize a black or person of color, that has obviously done nothing in the advancement, evolution, and benefit of the world. But this is further from the truth as detailed below:
“…Ancient Egypt offered the best presently known source of data about the uncorrupted African past with enough data to not only verify the facts of African Civilization but to begin the construction of a framework to reinterpret the history and social reality of the world.” Essays In Ancient Egyptian Studies – Jacob Curruthers.
“Just think that this race of Black men, today our slave and the object of our scorn, is the very race to which we owe our arts, sciences, and even the use of speech! Just imagine, finally, that it is in the midst of people who call themselves the greatest friends of liberty and humanity that one has approved the most barbarous slavery and questioned whether Black men have the same kind of intelligence as whites!”
Count Constantine F. C. DeVolney, Ruins of Empires, l890.
Count Constantine F. C. DeVolney, Ruins of Empires, l890.
“A dynamic, modern contact with Egyptian Antiquity would enable Blacks to discover increasingly each day the intimate relationship between all Blacks of the continent and the mother Nile Valley. By this dynamic contact, Blacks will be convinced that these temples, these forests of columns, these pyramids, these colossi, these bas-reliefs, mathematics, medicine, and all this science, are indeed the work of his ancestors and that he has a right and duty to claim this heritage.” Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, The African Origin of Civilization, l974.
“Ethiopia and Egypt produced the earliest civilization in the world and it was indigenous. . .
“According to Josephus and other ancient scholars, the river Gihon of the Genesis, is the Nile which flows through all the lands of Kush, the southern lands. . .
“Inner Africa, the writer maintains, was the land of the earliest namers of things and acts, who were therefore the creators of nouns and verbs which constituted the main stock of language before the descent into Egypt and the dispersion, on the way to developing the thousand dialects of the world from the one mode and form of speech evolved at starting.”
Gerald Massey, A Book of the Beginnings, Vol. II, l88l.
“According to Josephus and other ancient scholars, the river Gihon of the Genesis, is the Nile which flows through all the lands of Kush, the southern lands. . .
“Inner Africa, the writer maintains, was the land of the earliest namers of things and acts, who were therefore the creators of nouns and verbs which constituted the main stock of language before the descent into Egypt and the dispersion, on the way to developing the thousand dialects of the world from the one mode and form of speech evolved at starting.”
Gerald Massey, A Book of the Beginnings, Vol. II, l88l.
In ancient times Ethiopia extended over vast domains in both Africa and Asia. ‘It seems certain,’ declares Sir E.A. Wallis Budge, ‘that classical historians and geographers called the whole region from India to Egypt, both countries inclusive, by the name of Ethiopia, and in consequence they regarded all the dark-skinned and Black peoples who inhabited it as Ethiopians’. . .Homer and Herodotus call all the peoples of the Sudan, Egypt, Arabia, Palestine and Western Asia and India Ethiopians. . .
“Then we have the view of Stephanus of Byzantium, that–’Ethiopia was the first established country on earth; and the Ethiopians were the first who introduced the worship of the gods, and who established laws.’ The vestiges of this early civilization have been found in Nubia, the Egyptian Sudan, West Africa, Egypt, Mashonaland, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, South America, Central America, Mexico, and the United States. . .
“Then we have the view of Stephanus of Byzantium, that–’Ethiopia was the first established country on earth; and the Ethiopians were the first who introduced the worship of the gods, and who established laws.’ The vestiges of this early civilization have been found in Nubia, the Egyptian Sudan, West Africa, Egypt, Mashonaland, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, South America, Central America, Mexico, and the United States. . .
“Civilization was founded and developed by the swarthy races of Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt, and the white race remained so barbaric that in those days an Egyptian or a Babylonian priest would have said that the riffraff of white tribes a few hundred miles to the north of their civilization were hopelessly incapable of acquiring the knowledge requisite to progress. . .
“The Ethiopians were the first who invented the science of stars, and gave names to the planets, not at random and without meaning, but descriptive of the qualities which they conceived them to possess; and it was from them that this art passed, still in an imperfect state, to the Egyptians. . .Charles F. Dupuis, whose three monumental works, THE ORIGIN OF CONSTELLATIONS, THE ORIGIN OF WORSHIP and THE CHRONOLOGICAL ZODIAC. . .placed the origin of the zodiac as far back as l5,000 B. C., which would give the world’s oldest picture book an antiquity of l7,000 years.”
John G. Jackson, Ethiopia And The Origin Of Civilization, l939.
“The great historian Rawlinson says: ‘For the last three thousand years the world has been mainly indebted for its advancement to the Semitic and Indo-European races; but it was otherwise in the first ages. Egypt and Babylon, Mizraim and Nimrod..(i.e. Kushites–author) led the way, and acted as the pioneers of mankind in the various untrodden fields of art, literature, and science. Alphabetic writing, astronomy, history, chronology, architecture, plastic art, sculpture, navigation, agriculture, textile industry, seem all to have had their origin in one or other of these two countries.’ “ Rev. Rufus L. Perry, The Cushite, l887.
“The remote land of the Upper Nile (i.e., Kush), with its outlandish fauna and its black-skinned people captured the imagination of Greeks and Romans. . . Homer himself wrote that ‘they are the remotest nation, the most just of men; the favorites of the gods. The lofty inhabitants of Olympus journey to them, and take part in their feasts; their sacrifices are the most agreeable of all that mortals can offer them.’” William Y. Adams, Nubia Corridor To Africa, l977.
I posted these truths to present the reality, that if the history was known that,
“Black Folk Here and There deals with the Black Experience before White Racism emerged as a dogma to support a system of institutionalized practices designed to justify the transatlantic African slave trade and Western Hemisphere slave systems.” Black Folk Here and There – St. Clair Drake.
If Alabama and the rest of the Southern lodges, and racist in general knew the truth of history, it may actually chip away at the arrogance of racism and bigotry; and help to produce in the individual, an greater respect, tolerance, and appreciation, for people of color over the globe. As long as ignorance is prevalent, there is no hope for the future, and racism among other things, will eventually give masonry its final death blow.
Fraternally,
Khalil
If
Raum Sariel
Jun 29, 2009, 6:20:11 PM6/29/09
to The Outer Court
Brother Khalil,
I understand and appreciate where you are coming from. A lot of what
you present serves as great food for thought.
Much of it is theory that is often in dispute. for an example. in
ancient Egypt for an example we know that Ramses the Great was a white
man with red hair, freckles and alabaster skin. Not that it matters.
IMHO it is one of the very greatest achievments of Freemasonry and
Masonic virtue and morality to actually eliminate both race and gender
from any equation. Craftsmen of every races, culture, creed and gender
are welcome and treated as absolute equals. This is the idea to which
must aspire.
I am of the opinion that the continued uses of racial classifications
only serves to create a divide where one sould be joined.
That is my $0.02.
Love and Light,
Raum
> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I understand and appreciate where you are coming from. A lot of what
you present serves as great food for thought.
Much of it is theory that is often in dispute. for an example. in
ancient Egypt for an example we know that Ramses the Great was a white
man with red hair, freckles and alabaster skin. Not that it matters.
IMHO it is one of the very greatest achievments of Freemasonry and
Masonic virtue and morality to actually eliminate both race and gender
from any equation. Craftsmen of every races, culture, creed and gender
are welcome and treated as absolute equals. This is the idea to which
must aspire.
I am of the opinion that the continued uses of racial classifications
only serves to create a divide where one sould be joined.
That is my $0.02.
Love and Light,
Raum
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Khalil Allah
Jun 29, 2009, 8:58:22 PM6/29/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Brother Raum,
Scientist has proven the red hair is due to the effect of the chemicals presented from the chemicals in their embalming. Secondly it is never a dispute amongst the earliest of historians, that Egypt was a black race, even EA Wallace Budge after standing on the semetic origin of ancient Egypt admitted after studying the sudanese, Nubian, and other afrikan peoples customs, in his book Egyptian Hieroglyphics that the Egyptians were an afrikan people. The Egyptians even pointed to the ancestors being from the land of punt and mountains of the moon. The land of punt is Somalia and the mountains of the moon is in Ethiopia. Study the works of Herodotus, Dodorius, Solon, Titus, all of them called the black. Its not in dispute amongst those in truth. Only racist. In the 1970's at the UNSECO convention the archeologist of the world bowed down and submitted that the Egyptians were afrikan and even their customs were afrikan. Gerald Massey, Albert Churward, Leo Weiner, Sir Godfrey Higgins etc admitted and attested to this fact. Why do you think the arabs are presently plastering over every black artifact and picture in Egypt. Why do you think that thousands of AEgyptian artifacts nose are missing. There was a Ramses that was a foreigner who was put in place by Horemeb, he was trying to overthrow certain things a raise a priesthood back into power. Brother study more please do not fall in the pit of the unstudied and racist unfounded ideologies presented by modern archeologist.
Do you know who the Estruscans are? They are known as Rasenna or the children of RA they were black I can site atleast 15 books to prove this. Solon, Plato, Pythagorus, Herodotus all admitted that the black egyptians brought the mydteries to greece. In chaldea it was in the earliest writings that the egyptian priest belus brought the mysteries to them. The earliest artifacts of the buddah is tight knotted hair with broad nose etcetc and was painted black. The earliest founders of china namely the XI tribe was black also the Shang dynasty. In Europe the blacks were named the picts, douglasses, culdees, etc. even your druids according to massey, higgins, skene, sir williams jones were black. John Baldwin called those all throughout india black and the brunette people; he called them ethiopians. His thesis is supported by herodotus and plato that said the ethiopians stemmed all throughout arabia into india, infact they said that it was two ethiopian kingdoms known in the ancient world they were known as the eastern and western ethiopian. They also stated that they were only seperated by hair texture. There are know mysteries that exist that does not have their origin in Kemet. Look at ramses pictures of the people back then. He showed a picture of a semite and a white, but have the egyptian and nubian painted the same and wearing the same dress.
Khalil Allah
Jun 29, 2009, 9:08:10 PM6/29/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Raum,
Truth is truth and if someone has to ignore the accomplishments of their people for unity sake. it is not the peoples fault, but an uneasiness created by a slight form of bigotry, that cannot accept it, that peoples greatness. History is the only unifying key, because it removes stereotypes and allows man to meet man on equal grounds. What separates man is ignorance and their lack of tolerance of anothers beliefs, culture, or principles. But a question you should ask yourself, is Why is it so important that these mysteries and earlier civilizations came from black people, to you, that you have to try to either denounce it, or just dont believe it. A wise man studies deeply before he speaks, because it only shows his ignorance, no matter how slight it is. It is well substantiated that for 100,000's even longer that egypt was all black. They mated with semetic tribes later. I can bring you 15 or more source to prove each point. I even have pictures sculptures etc.
On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 6:20 PM, Raum Sariel <raums...@gmail.com> wrote:
Raum Sariel
Jun 29, 2009, 9:58:43 PM6/29/09
to The Outer Court
Bro.Khalil,
Do me a favour and please don't put words in my mouth. I am not
ignoring
the accomplishments of anyone. I am also not painting the ancient
world
with a broad brush. To be perfectly honest I don't see a racially
centric
viewpoint being in line with the central Masonic teaching of equality
and
inclusion.
This is a very slippery slope and our efforts are better served
elsewhere
IMHO.
I love all my Brothers from around the world, regardless of race,
gender,
sexual preference, religion or lack of religion. I do my best to serve
the
greater good and to help all seekers of light on their journey. I will
open
my door to any Brother, their family and friends. I don't see race, I
never
have.
I don't think that Afrocentism, Eurocentrism, Pan-Asianism, Zionism,
Islamofacism etc and the like are compatible with our gentle Craft.
Love and Light,
Do me a favour and please don't put words in my mouth. I am not
ignoring
the accomplishments of anyone. I am also not painting the ancient
world
with a broad brush. To be perfectly honest I don't see a racially
centric
viewpoint being in line with the central Masonic teaching of equality
and
inclusion.
This is a very slippery slope and our efforts are better served
elsewhere
IMHO.
I love all my Brothers from around the world, regardless of race,
gender,
sexual preference, religion or lack of religion. I do my best to serve
the
greater good and to help all seekers of light on their journey. I will
open
my door to any Brother, their family and friends. I don't see race, I
never
have.
I don't think that Afrocentism, Eurocentrism, Pan-Asianism, Zionism,
Islamofacism etc and the like are compatible with our gentle Craft.
Love and Light,
Khalil Allah
Jun 29, 2009, 11:56:16 PM6/29/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Raum,
I agree in part, but cant you see the separation in the craft is based in part, because of peoples ignorance of history? Why do you think the southerners don't recognize black masons? They actually believe that blacks are degenerate beings, that has done nothing of worth. Only their study of history will assist to release the shackles of bigotry, racism etc. Masonry is suppose to be a brotherhood and to some it is. Some people have attained masonry, some hasn't. I recently went to a raising at a Mainstream lodge, and to be honest, they were truly masons, in other words, we laughed, talked about masonry etc. To be real I didn't sense not one aspect of unbrotherliness, bigotry, or racism. Does it exist in their grand lodge probably so, as I know, it is in PH; however whatever the personal views were that golden chain of brotherhood, was strong enough to subdue the passions, and we were fraternal. It was a beautiful experience. I believe that in time, the young will replace the old, and the old mind will be removed; everything takes time.
Khalil
Jake Merricks
Jun 30, 2009, 1:56:53 PM6/30/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
I am guessing that you are black and who really cares what color any of us are? You know i could say all kinds of stuff about anglo saxons but im not as to i am proud of my heritage but i dont see race as a factor for anything. We are all spritual brothers.
Jacob Merricks
From: Khalil Allah <freem...@gmail.com>
To: the-out...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 9:08:10 PM
Subject: Re: Let's Talk about Race!
From: Khalil Allah <freem...@gmail.com>
To: the-out...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 9:08:10 PM
Subject: Re: Let's Talk about Race!
> Babylon, Mizraim and Nimrod..(i..e. Kushites–author) led the way, and acted
Raum Sariel
Jun 30, 2009, 2:39:36 PM6/30/09
to The Outer Court
To make it perfectly clear. Lodge Napoleon Bonaparte is a lodge based
on and rooted in Masonic morality and virtue. We therefore we are
steadfastly against reacism, sexism, homophobia, facism and
discrimination in any form.
I do not want to get heavy handed with moderation but i feel that this
topic has run it's course. I respectfully ask all Brethren to refer to
ritual and behave accordingly.
Love and Light,
On Jun 30, 10:56 am, Jake Merricks <jaccobmerri...@rocketmail.com>
wrote:
> >> priest. Is this racism? No, but how many know, such history, not many.. Many
> >> ..Charles F. Dupuis, whose three monumental works, THE ORIGIN OF
on and rooted in Masonic morality and virtue. We therefore we are
steadfastly against reacism, sexism, homophobia, facism and
discrimination in any form.
I do not want to get heavy handed with moderation but i feel that this
topic has run it's course. I respectfully ask all Brethren to refer to
ritual and behave accordingly.
Love and Light,
On Jun 30, 10:56 am, Jake Merricks <jaccobmerri...@rocketmail.com>
wrote:
> I am guessing that you are black and who really cares what color any of us are? You know i could say all kinds of stuff about anglo saxons but im not as to i am proud of my heritage but i dont see race as a factor for anything. We are all spritual brothers.
>
> Jacob Merricks
>
> ________________________________
> From: Khalil Allah <freemaso...@gmail.com>
>
> Jacob Merricks
>
> ________________________________
> >>> CONSTELLATIONS, THE ORIGIN OF WORSHIP and THE CHRONOLOGICAL ZODIAC. .
> >> .placed the origin of the zodiac as far back as l5,000 B. C., which would
> >> give the world’s oldest picture book an antiquity of l7,000 years.”
> >>> John G. Jackson, Ethiopia And The Origin Of Civilization, l939.
> >> “The great historian Rawlinson says: ‘For
>
> >> .placed the origin of the zodiac as far back as l5,000 B. C., which would
> >> give the world’s oldest picture book an antiquity of l7,000 years.”
> >>> John G. Jackson, Ethiopia And The Origin Of Civilization, l939.
> >> “The great historian Rawlinson says: ‘For
>
Khalil Allah
Jun 30, 2009, 2:40:40 PM6/30/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Jacob,
Follow the post it was representing how the racist beliefs held, by racists, are usually founded upon their ignorance of another persons( race) accomplishments, and offerings unto the advancement of humanity, it just happened to take another spin. Knowing anothers history can assists in closing the gap, that is created by biasness, bigotry, and racism. I offered a decleration, because southern lodges hold a very racist view regarding people of color. Read Alabama's Grand Lodge proclamation of the earlier 1800's and is still held out and accepted by the lodge, regarding all the founders and ancestors, of freemasonry, were white, and since only the white race, has offered anything in the advancment, of civilization; there was no need to accept blacks in masonry. See, that is a clear indication that the Grand Lodge of Alabama is ignorant of history, and whether you or anyone want to accept it or not, all the world do not think like you; but there are those that actually hate another because of their color. We as masons musn't stick our heads in the sand and put blinders on, as if we don't see the ignorance around us.
See, whether you don't see color or not, does not remove the affect of racism, upon black people. I am honored to see men that can look past color, because that is truly the sign of an advanced man; however it is foolish for any person to not have some sort of pride of their own peoples accomplishments. In fact it is beautiful and human to do so. To see your brothers or sisters of any race and creed, regardless of their individual beliefs, is the maturity of that being,and allows him to embrace the human family as his race. But to do this does not mean that we become blind to the obvious. Instead we must stand and face the three ruffians and stop the murder of hiram. Even track the fiends down and kill them (smile).
I have sat with many white brethren and they were irish, german, etc and they expressed the history of their people, as they knew it and there wasn't a problem. We have even debated the issue, and after wards we went and ate dinner; we laughed, shook hands and talked later. And Brother Jacob I am fully aware of Anglo-Saxon history indepthly, and studied it indepthly. In order to know you must study, and in order to respect you must know. Race always plays a factor in this world when you are BLACK. This you may not understand, but never the less its true. I have met those that my color did not play a factor, and they were and are beautiful people, and to tell the truth the Main Stream Bodies of Masonry that I have met embraced me as a brother, in fact one of the past masters made my W.M. his children's godfather. Can we get beyond race yes, because we have; however the discussion of it, should bring discomfort, we are to learn and grow from each other, period. Now how do you do that if no one discusses it, but act like it doesn't exist?
I agree totally with Brother Raum's statement: The war against those who claim to be Freemasons but are really covert klansman is a real one. That is why we; Brother have seperated ourselves from such fith as we have commited oursleves to this divine work.
You made an excellent point Brother Jacob, WE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL BROTHERS!
In Light,
Khalil
Khalil Allah
Jun 30, 2009, 2:42:12 PM6/30/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Frater Raum,
I shall act accordingly!
Javier Cola'
Jun 30, 2009, 3:45:05 PM6/30/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Family,
And YES, make no mistake we are that. I will be brief. There is good and bad in ALL. We if we are going to survive, we have to acknowledge the contributions of Ancient Egypt as well as borrowers and innovations made to mystery systems. It's no shame to say that a door was opened, and you walked through it. Let's not get into what so many organizations have been destroyed by.
Peace.
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Nicola (Nee-ca-la)
Jul 1, 2009, 2:36:02 PM7/1/09
to The Outer Court
I have been tending to family matters the last several days, so today
I took time to read through the posts, especially as they relate to
the discussion of race, what one builds, and thought about where they
are joined and where they are separate. Please bare with me as I try
to communicate these thoughts, for, as much as I am stirred by both
the original news and the subsequent discussion, I need to express
some things here. They are important.
I was struck, hurt, by what was said in the original article “Gate
City” – humiliated, as I have always been by those on this planet that
feel their lives are more worthy than someone else’s because of their
skin color, their religious beliefs, etc. This has always been
something that has internally been hard for me to digest, since I was
a child, and to which my dad said one night, “Don’t ever lose your
sensitivity to others, it is part of what makes you the person you
are.” It makes me sick, actually, at times; when I visited Dachau as
a high school student, I nearly did get sick in the museum.
http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html is a link to the
website to see some of it. To pass through the gates, to see photos
of the experiments that were done on other human beings…. To walk the
lanes of gravel where the barracks once were…to stand in a cement
chamber where people were gassed and to see where the bodies were
cremated… to feel the heaviness of thousands of souls in such a
place…. ALL because of having different religious beliefs.... ALL
because of a form of discrimination…. I did not need to know the
cultural histories of these peoples to know the injustices done to
them, to know that discrimination –in any form– must be actively
removed in today’s time for things to change.
I’ll put myself in the tempered hotspot for a moment. When it came to
race, growing up with a maternal side of family from the south, I grew
up scared of African-Americans holding judgment against me because I
was white. Every summer, for 2 or 3 weeks, my mom and I would head
down to see her side of the family nestled in Auburn, Decatur, and
Moulton, AL. I got yelled at for snipping at my grandmother for using
inappropriate words. Everywhere I walked and would catch stares for
some reason, I feared someone would do something to me because I was
white. I smiled at everyone who approached me, regardless of color,
but when I saw anger or spite in peoples' eyes, I was afraid. I
always used to say, “Any human who gets cut bleeds red.” As simple as
that statement was, it got the point across, and I stopped getting
scolded for correcting my elders, but the fact remained that until I
knew how to better embody my own level of openness to/for people, I
was afraid someone would do something to me because I was white.
Retribution is a tricky thing, especially when people use history to
justify acts in the present. As an adult, behaviors that press to
understand a particular culture are no less oppressive in my mind and
heart than someone who is pressing a religious faith, because
indirectly, they pressing discrimination in a different way, from a
different angle. It’s still in and of itself a form of
discrimination.
I have also in my lifetime experienced what injustices can happen
simply because I am a woman.
I am mentioning these things for a couple of reasons. History can
give a person awareness, yes, can even help a person evolve if the
culture they are hearing about or becoming more aware about fits with
some inherent affinity for the person at a deeper level. (For
example, Japanese culture for me interests me greatly in a spiritual
way, even though my ancestry is Scotch, Irish, and English.) But
history doesn’t guarantee respect. History’s absorption, or at the
very least exposure, guarantees nothing because its interpretation is
still ultimately determined in the eyes of the observer. No one is
saying the past doesn’t exist, or to ignore it, not at all! It’s
about saying “this is where we are NOW, these are the behaviors that
are occurring, and we can either actively exercise to support them or
actively exercise to oppose them – not because we know the history,
but BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WE ARE AND CHOOSE TO BE, history
irrelevant.” How a person behaves NOW is what earns respect, how non-
discriminatory one’s thoughts and actions are in-the-now is what
changes things – leading by example at its purest sense. Apply this
to the definition of becoming a freemason in Lodge Napoleon, this
group by definition is tasked and defined by exercising and working
above these things, not wanting to create barriers but strive to pull
people closer together and remove them.
However, as I said, one must be careful that, for the sake of
combating one barrier, one does not create an opposing barrier in the
process. Doing so is still discrimination, only from a different
perspective, and the former does not justify the latter.
I took time to read through the posts, especially as they relate to
the discussion of race, what one builds, and thought about where they
are joined and where they are separate. Please bare with me as I try
to communicate these thoughts, for, as much as I am stirred by both
the original news and the subsequent discussion, I need to express
some things here. They are important.
I was struck, hurt, by what was said in the original article “Gate
City” – humiliated, as I have always been by those on this planet that
feel their lives are more worthy than someone else’s because of their
skin color, their religious beliefs, etc. This has always been
something that has internally been hard for me to digest, since I was
a child, and to which my dad said one night, “Don’t ever lose your
sensitivity to others, it is part of what makes you the person you
are.” It makes me sick, actually, at times; when I visited Dachau as
a high school student, I nearly did get sick in the museum.
http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html is a link to the
website to see some of it. To pass through the gates, to see photos
of the experiments that were done on other human beings…. To walk the
lanes of gravel where the barracks once were…to stand in a cement
chamber where people were gassed and to see where the bodies were
cremated… to feel the heaviness of thousands of souls in such a
place…. ALL because of having different religious beliefs.... ALL
because of a form of discrimination…. I did not need to know the
cultural histories of these peoples to know the injustices done to
them, to know that discrimination –in any form– must be actively
removed in today’s time for things to change.
I’ll put myself in the tempered hotspot for a moment. When it came to
race, growing up with a maternal side of family from the south, I grew
up scared of African-Americans holding judgment against me because I
was white. Every summer, for 2 or 3 weeks, my mom and I would head
down to see her side of the family nestled in Auburn, Decatur, and
Moulton, AL. I got yelled at for snipping at my grandmother for using
inappropriate words. Everywhere I walked and would catch stares for
some reason, I feared someone would do something to me because I was
white. I smiled at everyone who approached me, regardless of color,
but when I saw anger or spite in peoples' eyes, I was afraid. I
always used to say, “Any human who gets cut bleeds red.” As simple as
that statement was, it got the point across, and I stopped getting
scolded for correcting my elders, but the fact remained that until I
knew how to better embody my own level of openness to/for people, I
was afraid someone would do something to me because I was white.
Retribution is a tricky thing, especially when people use history to
justify acts in the present. As an adult, behaviors that press to
understand a particular culture are no less oppressive in my mind and
heart than someone who is pressing a religious faith, because
indirectly, they pressing discrimination in a different way, from a
different angle. It’s still in and of itself a form of
discrimination.
I have also in my lifetime experienced what injustices can happen
simply because I am a woman.
I am mentioning these things for a couple of reasons. History can
give a person awareness, yes, can even help a person evolve if the
culture they are hearing about or becoming more aware about fits with
some inherent affinity for the person at a deeper level. (For
example, Japanese culture for me interests me greatly in a spiritual
way, even though my ancestry is Scotch, Irish, and English.) But
history doesn’t guarantee respect. History’s absorption, or at the
very least exposure, guarantees nothing because its interpretation is
still ultimately determined in the eyes of the observer. No one is
saying the past doesn’t exist, or to ignore it, not at all! It’s
about saying “this is where we are NOW, these are the behaviors that
are occurring, and we can either actively exercise to support them or
actively exercise to oppose them – not because we know the history,
but BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WE ARE AND CHOOSE TO BE, history
irrelevant.” How a person behaves NOW is what earns respect, how non-
discriminatory one’s thoughts and actions are in-the-now is what
changes things – leading by example at its purest sense. Apply this
to the definition of becoming a freemason in Lodge Napoleon, this
group by definition is tasked and defined by exercising and working
above these things, not wanting to create barriers but strive to pull
people closer together and remove them.
However, as I said, one must be careful that, for the sake of
combating one barrier, one does not create an opposing barrier in the
process. Doing so is still discrimination, only from a different
perspective, and the former does not justify the latter.
Javier Cola'
Jul 1, 2009, 4:12:15 PM7/1/09
to the-out...@googlegroups.com
Sister Nikki,
Well stated. What we don't want is the sins of the father visited upon the son. The way to combat this, is not to discount anothers tragedy as if it were a myth. Sensitivity at times needs to be tempered, along with knowing when it needs to be applied. Unfortunately most don't know they are racist until the subject comes to the table. Being bi-racial gives me a different perspective, along with being a military brat, as well as serving 20 years myself. We need to re-think our own positions as it relates to race. We may say we are post-modern, but are we really?
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