Grand Secretary.

The following article by Martin McGibbon, Grand Secretary appeared in The Sunday Post newspaper.

I was pleased to note during the week that four MSP`s decided to make public their membership of the Freemasons. But what pleased me even more was that, by doing so, they illustrated they suffered no inhibitions in making this "revelation" and were comfortable in doing so.

It was interesting that it was four Tory MSP`s. Now - we may all stand accused of belonging to one party but of course this is not so. Just as Freemasonry encompasses men of all walks of life, so too does it embrace the political spectrum - just as the late Willie Whitelaw of the Tory Party was a Freemason, so was Labour`s Willie Ross.

Our detractors seem to perceive that Freemasonry is in a position to bring undue influence upon society. I don`t see any hard proof of this.  However there certainly have been times when individual Freemasons have exercised some degree of influence for the benefit of society. 

This being towards the end of the Burns Supper season, perhaps it`s appropriate to reflect that Robert Burns, just as he was about to leave for Jamaica, was persuaded by a group of Freemasons to stay and have his poetry published. They persuaded a printer that the project was worthwhile. He said he had to take a commercial view and required a minimum order, so the Freemasons subscribed for the appropriate number of copies. Had these men not persuaded Burns to give up his plans to emigrate, these poems may have been lost for ever.

Another example is the American constitution. It was drafted by a group of men, the majority of whom were Freemasons.

George Washington took his presidential oath upon a Bible borrowed from a Masonic Lodge. I believe that Bible is still used to this day when Presidents take their oath.

Influence. These are two illustrations where Freemasons have exerted a degree of influence, but that was not because they were Freemasons - it was because they were men who were keen on the  projects that were taking place. They simply happened to be Freemasons.

One myth I would certainly dispel is that Freemasons hand each other jobs they`re not qualified to do. We are far more interested in a person`s ability to do a job well than whether or not they are Freemasons.

It is a charitable, benevolent and educational society. Its only secrets are its methods of recognition and symbolic instruction. I`m not sure how secret these are as they seem to have been well documented in the press.

To become a Freemason you simply have to believe in a Supreme Being.

It is open to men of all religions, you don`t have to be a Christian.

Freemasonry is universal and there are Scottish Lodges in 44 countries - a multitude of men from varying creeds and religions.

In Scotland we have Masonic homes in Edinburgh, Dunblane and Bridge of Weir. We also have day care centres and at Dunblane we have a 34 bed specialised dementia unit. 

We have also donated £230,000 to the Children`s Hospice Association Scotland.

The number of Freemasons has dropped slightly in recent years but this is mainly because society has changed and young people have more choices as to how they spend their time and free income. 

There are up to 45,000 Masons in Scotland, which is not a lot and hardly sufficient, as some of our detractors would suggest, to unduly influence society.

Your View. Do you have any views on the MSP`s making their membership

public? or anyone else for that matter. If so, then drop a note to the Lodge Secretary, Andrew McAlpine or visit our Website and send an E- mail and we will print your point of view in future edition.