Question: Do obligations really matter? AnswerThe obligations taken on the VSL to obey the moral law, which you sealed with your lips as a pledge of fidelity, are binding on us all as Masons – Freemasonry emanates from a time when the VSL was owned and read daily and its message feared in most households. Descending into hell was a real fear. The original penalties were obviously designed as a reminder to keep members on the straight and narrow and I doubt if they were ever carried out! It’s surely all down to the individual’s conscience not forgetting “the more effective punishment of being branded as a willfully perjured individual, void of all moral worth and totally unfit to be received into this Worshipful Lodge or any other warranted Lodge, or society of men who prize honour and virtue above the external advantages of rank and fortune.” See also the section on behaviour in the “Ancient Charges” in the BofC and the rules regarding breaches of Regulations. Rule 179 which states: As a citizen every Freemason has a duty not to engage in conduct which is contrary to the law of the land. As a Freemason he also has a
duty not to engage in activity which may bring Freemasonry into disrepute. A Lodge or Brother offending against any law or regulation of the Craft to the breach of which no specific penalty is attached shall be liable to admonition or suspension. Those break the Law and are given custodial sentences by a civil power are expelled from the Craft. Thanks to the PGL Warwickshire.
Cross Keys March 2022
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