The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 8 - Categorization of Rituals
identiquement ou en d'autres termes Isis, sans relâche, cherchait à
retrouver Osiris... 1607
This proves that the defense of widows and orphans is inherent to Masonry
and its symbolism. However, there are also black sheep in Masonry who use
Masonic charity for business reasons, for example too eager brethren who want
to draw members or misunderstand the intentions of the Craft. It is true that the
Masonic benefit system enabled the fraternity to compete favorably with
"secular" organizations like sickness and burial societies, or insurance
companies. In history, several Masonic leaders have tried to introduce
compulsory relief systems but met with opposition among the brethren who
thought it un-Masonic: "[...] [T]he fact that the new relief fund idea was similar
to the practices of non-Masonic organizations, and promised to make Masonry
more competitive with those organizations, was repulsive to many opponents of
the plan; innovations in Masonry which resulted from imitation of other groups
they considered degrading to the fraternity." 1608
As an example, we would like to mention the actions of the black
jurisdictions of Alabama and Georgia in the early 1900s. Both jurisdictions
worked out endowment plans which were opposed by members who rightly
claimed that Masonry preached the idea of free-will giving with no thought of
return, and that a compulsory system of charity was not a voluntary act of giving,
and therefore no charity at all. The Masonic jurisdictions of Alabama and
Georgia
[...] attempted to run their systems as if they were insurance companies,
with members choosing whatever level of benefit they wished and
paying higher or lower dues depending upon the amount they chose.
Alabama Masonry, which was extremely concerned about training
businessmen and acting in a businesslike fashion, succeeded in setting
up a viable plan in a way that Georgia Masonry did not. 1609
In fact, when the Grand Lodge of Georgia proposed the idea of a Grand
Lodge Relief System in 1906, the committee rejected this proposal as un-
Masonic. Only a year later, when this idea was revived, the proposal was passed,
but the system failed because it was defective. Somehow the actions of these
black constitutions can be excused, for - as we have stated in our chapter on
"Negro Freemasonry" - there was a deficiency in black charity, institutionalized
philantropy and insurance: "some action was mandatory because during those
early years the Negro in Georgia was totally unable to secure insurance from
1607
Adhuc Stat. 1913-1963. Numéro spécial du Bulletin intérieur de la GLNF pour la commémoration
de son cinquantième anniversaire, p. 23.
1608
Muraskin, p. 136.
1609
Ibid, p. 138.