# Freemasonry and Black Nationalism



## Squire Bentley (Dec 30, 2014)

Adkins has opened my eyes to the realization of the effect of religion on Freemasonry and also the effect of Freemasonry on religion.

Actually to carry this thought a little further, when we choose a philosophy of life, that philosophy really has many different components. We choose a religious philosophy, a fraternal philosophy, and a way of life to be lived here on earth, a political philosophy, a medical and healing philosophy and so forth. So when we choose a political party to represent our thought, when we choose a religion and/or a denomination within a religion, when we choose a doctor, when we choose a civil society to associate with, we are making the choices that integrate themselves into what we are, our essence.

Many would segregate each choice into separate boxes existing wholly on their own. I am more inclined to believe that all our choices on living life tend to be intertwined and interrelated. And nothing has more strengthened this conviction in me than Adkins essay below.

http://freemasoninformation.com/2014/12/freemasonry-and-black-nationalism/


Frederic L. Milliken


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## pointwithinacircle2 (Dec 31, 2014)

Squire Bentley said:


> Many would segregate each choice into separate boxes existing wholly on their own. I am more inclined to believe that all our choices on living life tend to be intertwined and interrelated.


This is a great article that is not only about Freemasonry but also about what it means to be human.  Underlying all our choices is a set of influences which can be called called our Ideas or Ideals.  These can be seen as the fundamental building blocks of what we believe.  I envision that these building blocks are not cast like concrete, but rather shaped from our thoughts by chipping away that which we reject.  With enough carefully shaped "blocks of thought" one can build a mansion.

When we are young and unskilled in choosing and shaping our own thoughts, we get them mostly from outside of ourselves; we are "told" what is right. As we mature we become skilled at refining and improving our thoughts.  If we are lucky we have good teachers who can assist with this process.  But whether or not we had good teachers, we must all start where we are and begin to improve our thinking.  Ideas, codified as symbols, and communicated by words, become the tools we use to understand, interact with, and change our world.  These Ideas have a life of their own.  Their life can be influenced to serve that which is good or that which is evil.  In this way ideas serve us, and we serve them.


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