27th Degree: The More Things Change

by M. Todd McIntosh, 33°, Active for Ohio and Chairman, Committee on Ritualistic Matters

It has been a while since I worked with the 27th degree, Knight of Jerusalem. As I am often reminded, our allegories and the Core Values they extol give us timeless lessons which always seem to have meaning when contemplating current affairs, whether personal or social. Not lost on this author was the intrinsic relationship between the message of the 27th degree and the current state of the people of this great country. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

One may ask to which threealarm fire I refer. There is no pandemic in the degree, and while discussed, there is no implacable war. It does not address world famine, global warming, government spending, what a fair election looks like, borders, or equality. Nor does it speak of the host of global, local, and personal issues that keep many of us up at night.

So how does a 13th century argument between a pope and an emperor shake out as a 21st century concern? The revelation of our conundrum begins with the licentiousness of cavorting with Saracen concubines and the odious actions of the courts of Rome. Sadly though, resolution is not afforded to us in the virtue signaling of purging divergent thought by burning that “infamous book,” The Three Imposters.

Quite the opposite. The trading of barbs based on incendiary information received from others, leads the 177th Vicar of Christ to assume that one he could previously trust—one who he himself tutored as a youth—could and would burn the word of God. In his misinformed rage, the pope set aside a deeply personal and professional relationship and immediately moved to excommunicate the very man he crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In turn, based on a mistaken perspective founded upon errant mistrust forged by other’s characterizations, the emperor professes great disdain for the Holy See and ultimately draws his sword, fully prepared to cut down any representative of the church.

We regularly are told that our country is divided as never before.

Do we find this paradigm today? We do. We regularly are told that our country is divided as never before. The political aisle is no longer a threefoot space between sides of Congress where policy and law could be worked through for the good of the country. To even compliment a good idea from the wrong party is met with implacable haranguing. We see anger and fear-driven expression of frothed discontent overflow its banks, resulting in public disobedience, censorship, and riot. We see the quiet creep of mistrust among close associates.

News of families divided along lines of political perceptions peers through the veneer of social media. Regardless of one’s political perspective, one cannot evade the toxic name calling or partisan slant to issues of the day. Pundits, “influencers,” and trolls on both sides of the internet relentlessly attack with unprincipled vigor. Too often our communities are cast as us versus them. Problems in our lives are caused by them. Differences of opinion are affronts to us.

Such a rift in the firmament of our society is, by any logical assessment, dangerous. Combined with human nature, it is volatile. We, as humans, are gifted with incredible imaginations and ingenuity. When applied for the common good, humankind is capable of peace and prosperity, of defeating dangerous diseases, and of slipping the surly bonds of Earth and exploring the cosmos. When twisted by selfish motives, partisan politics, or social control, our greatest gift feeds dark thoughts of our fellow man and is a virus far more contagious and deadlier than our current nemesis, Covid-19.

In our degree, the divisions perceived between our two protagonists bring them to the brink of conflict. Wait a moment… I remember my literature classes. In a story, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. Surely, between Pope Honorius and Emperor Frederick, one must be one and one must be the other.

Statue of Hermann von Salsa

Too often our communities are cast as us versus them.

In this allegory, the antagonist is actually the insidious error of relying on other people to tell you what to think about your neighbor, what your fellow man believes, or that what he believes represents a direct and present danger to you. To allow another to categorize for you the nature of others based upon broad sweeping generalizations or pointed rumor should be avoided at all cost, lest we find ourselves on the brink of our own conflict.

Enter our hero, the voice of reason embodied in the Grand Master of Teutonic Knights, Hermann von Salsa. In life, the fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights was close friends of both Honorius and Frederick and is thus able to bring them together by pointing out that both men have come to the point of no return due to their acquiescence to the maligned characterizations of others.

Thus, my Brother, we learn this degree’s expression of our Core Values of Justice and Tolerance. We are called by Honorius to exercise that justice which “when being advised of discomforting information regarding each other, to fully discuss the allegations with the other.” Not only does Honorius express the nature of that justice we owe to and are owed by our fellow man, he also provides a key to unlock the cage of intolerance forged by the insinuations of others. We are reminded, very simply, to meet upon the square.