# Can the volume of sacred law on the alter differ in Texas?



## JMartinez (Aug 21, 2016)

In Texas, the Holy Bible is used as our volume of sacred law and furniture of the lodge. If a candidate is a Hindu, Islam, Jewish, etc. what accommodations can be made, if any, under the laws of the Grand Lodge of Texas as far as degree work is concerned?


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## MRichard (Aug 21, 2016)

JMartinez said:


> In Texas, the Holy Bible is used as our volume of sacred law and furniture of the lodge. If a candidate is a Hindu, Islam, Jewish, etc. what accommodations can be made, if any, under the laws of the Grand Lodge of Texas as far as degree work is concerned?



Any Volume of Sacred Law may be used but as I understand the Holy Bible must still be present. Freemasonry does not favor any VSL but some grand lodges may.


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## dfreybur (Aug 21, 2016)

So far in GLofTX I have been at degrees where the candidate obligated on Holy Bible (KJV), Bagavat Gita and Koran.


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## JMartinez (Aug 21, 2016)

dfreybur said:


> So far in GLofTX I have been at degrees where the candidate obligated on Holy Bible (KJV), Bagavat Gita and Koran.



For all three degrees?


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## MRichard (Aug 22, 2016)

JMartinez said:


> For all three degrees?



It shouldn't be an issue. There is a reason that you obligate the candidate on his book of faith. Notice I said shouldn't. Some lodges prefer the Holy Bible but freemasonry doesn't


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## Ripcord22A (Aug 22, 2016)

Richard O'Connell said:


> I often wondered about using the Penal Law of the host State?


why do you wonder about that?  that book is not a holy book.  even when swearing a witness in in court a bible is used, public officials take their oath on the bible, not the penal code......


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## MRichard (Aug 22, 2016)

jdmadsenCraterlake211 said:


> why do you wonder about that?  that book is not a holy book.  even when swearing a witness in in court a bible is used, public officials take their oath on the bible, not the penal code......



Possible that it was sarcasm. Hopefully, it was.


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## Bill Lins (Aug 22, 2016)

Not that I would EVER drag a thread, kicking & screaming, back to its original purpose, but herein lies the answer to the OP's question:

*Art. 397. (434). Religious Belief.* 
A firm belief in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures is indispensably necessary before a candidate can be initiated, but this Grand Lodge does not presume to prescribe any canonical books or what part thereof are inspired. It is the policy of
this Grand Lodge to permit a candidate whose religious persuasion is based upon other than the Holy Bible to be obligated upon the book of his chosen faith, and same may be situated upon the Altar _in front of the Holy Bible_ (italics mine) during the conferral of the three degrees of Masonry. In which event, all esoteric references to “The Holy Bible” during the conferral of the degree(s) and the lessons appropriate thereto shall be substituted with “The Book of your (my) Faith.” (Revised 1995)


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## Bloke (Aug 23, 2016)

Bill_Lins77488 said:


> Not that I would EVER drag a thread, kicking & screaming, back to its original purpose, but herein lies the answer to the OP's question:
> 
> *Art. 397. (434). Religious Belief.*
> A firm belief in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures is indispensably necessary before a candidate can be initiated, but this Grand Lodge does not presume to prescribe any canonical books or what part thereof are inspired. It is the policy of
> this Grand Lodge to permit a candidate whose religious persuasion is based upon other than the Holy Bible to be obligated upon the book of his chosen faith, and same may be situated upon the Altar _in front of the Holy Bible_ (italics mine) during the conferral of the three degrees of Masonry. In which event, all esoteric references to “The Holy Bible” during the conferral of the degree(s) and the lessons appropriate thereto shall be substituted with “The Book of your (my) Faith.” (Revised 1995)


Cool. Here, we never use the word Bible in our Craft Degree or Open Close etc - it's always VSL... we did make one change though a few years ago, changing "*the *volume of the scared law' into " *your *volume of the sacred law" ; one of the few tinkerings which really did make sense to me.


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## dfreybur (Aug 23, 2016)

JMartinez said:


> For all three degrees?



Interesting question - I took this question as one about advancement percentage by candidates who asked for a VSL other than KJV.

I know Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish Brothers who are active Master Masons but I have no idea if those particular Brothers asked to use their own VSL.

I don't know what jurisdictions if any track candidates by religion so I don't know if any statistics exist on the question.  My mother jurisdiction explicitly does not track religion so there's no way to know and it hasn't occurred to me to ask if my other jurisdictions track religion.

Anecdotal - California - My first was a double degree.  The other Brother is a Buddhist.  He never advanced even after the Tripitaka was authorized for degrees.  Illinois - A Brother who was obligated on his family Koran went through all of his degrees and is now working through the line in one of my Illinois lodges.  Texas - I attended these degrees by visitation and I have no idea if they advanced.


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## Ripcord22A (Aug 24, 2016)

What you take your obligation or swear on absolutely matters because it's wearing on the penal code doesn't hold any weight with you internally but by placing your hand on your volume of sacred law and swearing to whatever deity it is that governs you there's weight behind their obligation that you're taking if I just raise my right hand and swear to something that doesn't do anything. Just like when you enlist and or reenlist in the military you have the American flag behind you and your swearing on your honour and that of your country to do what is expected of you same with placing your hand on a volume of sacred law the penal code is not sacred

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## Bloke (Aug 24, 2016)

Or from a slightly different angle; there are no angles - what i swear on does not matter because of the sacred dictates of truth, honour, and virtue. If i assert I'm being truthful, as a man of honour AND a freemason, i've got no option but to do that - or become a liar...


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## Bloke (Aug 24, 2016)

Richard O'Connell said:


> ......If you are dedicated, you go with the flow. What you believe, is what you put in your heart and on your lips.



You should only go with the flow if you agree with it, if not you should set different directions; doing that, or attempting to, will test your dedication. What you believe will only truly assert itself when life tests you.


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## MRichard (Aug 24, 2016)

Richard O'Connell said:


> So what if a candidate professes to having "Faith" in America, i.e., the "Law" of the Land?  Since "religion" has no part in our ritual, only "Faith" and. "Belief", the book used may become moot and one-size-fits-all could be in order. Couldn't it?  The Craft is by notion, liberal and accepting. I am sure there are adherents of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, lurking near the Julia Childs tome. Not to make light of it but the Craft has evolved. Until 1716, Jews were not admitted into the Craft.



He should get blackballed or his petition returned to him.


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## MRichard (Aug 25, 2016)

I guess Richard has left the building.


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## Ripcord22A (Aug 25, 2016)

Bye felicia

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## Dontrell Stroman (Aug 26, 2016)

Ha ha. Laugh of the day


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## Jim Barr (Aug 26, 2016)

The question for Texas has been answered, but the requirements vary by jurisdiction. South Carolina requires a Bible to be present and open, however another VSL can be also opened for a candidate of a differing faith to take his obligation. Given the overall religious demographic of South Carolina, I have only heard of a very small number (you count them on one hand with fingers left over) where this accommodation had to made.


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## cemab4y (Oct 11, 2016)

Interesting.  In Singapore the lodges have nine(9) different VSLs on the altar. I attended a lodge in WashDC and they did a FC degree. The brother was obligated on the Holy Qu'Ran.


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## Bloke (Oct 11, 2016)

cemab4y said:


> Interesting.  In Singapore the lodges have nine(9) different VSLs on the altar. I attended a lodge in WashDC and they did a FC degree. The brother was obligated on the Holy Qu'Ran.



Impressive

Do you know which  9 VSLs they were ?


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## cemab4y (Oct 11, 2016)

I do not know exactly. I would guess that they use the Holy Bible, Holy Qu'Ran, Zend-Avestas, the sayings of Confucius, the sayings of Buddha, the Talmud, etc.


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## Ajay Chandar (Dec 27, 2017)

Bloke said:


> Cool. Here, we never use the word Bible in our Craft Degree or Open Close etc - it's always VSL... we did make one change though a few years ago, changing "*the *volume of the scared law' into " *your *volume of the sacred law" ; one of the few tinkerings which really did make sense to me.



Our ritual requires the WM to name the VSL. That's because we have five Volumes on our altars.


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## acjohnson53 (Dec 27, 2017)

Like he said "Bye Felicia". We don't discriminate on religion, but we do "King James Version" not Labron James...


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## acjohnson53 (Dec 27, 2017)

A lot of Brothers of the Muslim faith shy away from Masonry because they are trying to find the true word, which they say it's in the Qu'ran but me being the Baptist that I am, will always say that the word ly's within me....


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## Ripcord22A (Dec 27, 2017)

acjohnson53 said:


> A lot of Brothers of the Muslim faith shy away from Masonry because they are trying to find the true word, which they say it's in the Qu'ran but me being the Baptist that I am, will always say that the word ly's within me....



We aren’t trying to find the true word of god....we are trying to find a made up lost password


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## Thomas Stright (Dec 29, 2017)

cemab4y said:


> In Singapore the lodges have nine(9) different VSLs on the altar.



Does the Altar have a bookshelf?


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## dfreybur (Dec 29, 2017)

Ripcord22A said:


> We aren’t trying to find the true word of god....we are trying to find a made up lost password



And even that is symbolic.  Knowing an ancient word that gave access to a meeting would not be useful.  Our search is for deeper meaning in a story about high personal character and not giving in to the demands of the unworthy.  It's not about dying.  It's about having something worth dying for.  It's not about remembering.  It's about taking actions that future generations will consider worth remembering.

This is the stuff of the divine spark within each of us that most of us lose as we grow up.  It's a quest to find that spark that's already there.


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## Glen Cook (Dec 29, 2017)

dfreybur said:


> And even that is symbolic.  Knowing an ancient word that gave access to a meeting would not be useful.  Our search is for deeper meaning in a story about high personal character and not giving in to the demands of the unworthy.  It's not about dying.  It's about having something worth dying for.  It's not about remembering.  It's about taking actions that future generations will consider worth remembering.
> 
> This is the stuff of the divine spark within each of us that most of us lose as we grow up.  It's a quest to find that spark that's already there.


Excellent. Absolutely excellent.


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## Ripcord22A (Dec 29, 2017)

dfreybur said:


> And even that is symbolic.  Knowing an ancient word that gave access to a meeting would not be useful.  Our search is for deeper meaning in a story about high personal character and not giving in to the demands of the unworthy.  It's not about dying.  It's about having something worth dying for.  It's not about remembering.  It's about taking actions that future generations will consider worth remembering.
> 
> This is the stuff of the divine spark within each of us that most of us lose as we grow up.  It's a quest to find that spark that's already there.



Well said Doug!!


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## Warrior1256 (Dec 31, 2017)

dfreybur said:


> This is the stuff of the divine spark within each of us that most of us lose as we grow up. It's a quest to find that spark that's already there.


Very good.


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