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SOLICITATION RULE
by AIphonse Cerza, P. M.
This paper was
previously printed in
The New Mexico Freemason
and The Oklahoma Mason.
We are indebted to
Brother Cerza for
permitting its use as a
Short Talk Bulletin.
Every Freemason knows in a general way that there is a rule in Freemasonry
which pro-hibits its
members from soliciting
non-members to join the
Craft. But it is a rule
that is misunderstood
and is misinterpreted by
too many of our members.
Many will be suprised to
learn that there never
has been and there is no
rule at the present time
which states "You shall
not solicit anyone to
join the Craft." In
England the rule is
stated that there can be
no improper solicitation
of a non-member to join;
unfortunately, this
creates the impression
that there is a "proper"
way to solicit but that
is not true. The trouble
arises because of the
use of the word
"solicitation."
The correct statement of
the rule is that each
non-member must seek
membership in
Free-masonry of his own
free will and accord.
This is easy to
understand and
eliminates the
necessi-ty of the word
"solicitation." But the
statement of the rule in
the negative is so
ingrained in the minds
of many of our members
that it calls for a
careful explanation.
This rule is so strictly
construed by some of our
members that they will
not, under any cir-cumstances,
discuss Freemasonry in
any way with a
non-member. This may be
due to the fact that the
member remembers part of
his Obligation and also
believes that
Freemasonry is a "secret
society" or that he has
an ingrained fear that
he may say something
that would be considered
improper. For too long
we have fail-ed to
discuss this subject
fairly and completely so
that our members may be
correctly informed of
the meaning and
application of this
rule.
The rule that a person
must seek member-ship in
the Craft of his own
free will and accord has
been the traditional
rule of the Craft for
many years. It is not a
Landmark of
Free-masonry, however.
This rule makes our
organization unique and
it has worked well over
these many years.
Occasionally some of our
members who are amateur
physicians an-nounce
that they have the
instant cure for our
loss of net membership.
They prescribe that this
rule should be repealed
and that we emulate the
work of some of the
service clubs which have
membership drives and
award prizes to members
who bring in the largest
number of petitions.
They fail to recognize
that many of these
organizations are having
the same pro-blems that
we have. These
enthusiastic in-novators
fail to recognize that
we have been successful
as an organization and
have survived these many
years because we are
unique and that we have
many benefits to offer
our members that do not
exist in other groups.
They also fail to
recognize that too often
the trouble arises
because this rule is
misunder-stood and
therefore wrongly
applied. Further-more,
if we made all the
changes urged by some of
our members, we would no
longer be a Masonic
organization but would
be converted into
something else.
From a practical
standpoint the rule is
that a non-Mason must
desire to become a
member of his own free
will and accord and that
no Mason should give him
a "sales talk" to join
the Fraternity. This
does not mean that a
Mason must remain silent
if a non-member inquires
about the nature of our
organization, its
history, its philosophy,
or its work. Certainly
it does not prevent a
member from explaining
to a non-member the
qualifications needed to
become a Freemason. And,
above all else, when an
interest is shown by a
non-member we ought to
make it clear that our
organization never
issues invitations to
non-members to join.
When questions are asked
by a non-Mason you
cannot disclose the
modes of recognition or
the details of our
degrees. Such matters
are private and can be
of no concern to the
non-Mason.
But there are many
things than can be
explain-ed, such as that
Freemasonry is a serious
organization, that its
ceremonies contain no
horseplay, that the
fundamental principles
of Freemasonry are based
on the Fatherhood of God
and the Brotherhood of
Man, that religion and
politics are divisive
subjects and are barred
from Masonic meetings,
and that the Craft
engages in many
charitable projects. You
can give details of the
social programs that are
con-ducted by the lodges
and the appendant
bodies. Engaging in
this sort of discussion
with a non-member is
merely conveying
information and is not
soliciting or giving the
non-member a
sale.s-talk.
When a lodge presents an
Open House Pro-gram at
which members explain
the nature of
Freemasonry, its
history, its philosophy,
and its work this is not
solicitation. Telling
the persons present we
do not have membership
drives and never extend
invitations to
non-members to join our
Fraternity but must come
of their own free will
and accord is not
soliciting but is
intor-mational; it will
prevent a person who
joins the Craft from
saying "I did not know
about your rule and
would have applied ten
years ago lor
membership. I have been
waiting all this time
for an invitation and
was beginning to feel
that I was not qualified
to become a member."
There are many good
reasons why a non-Mason
should not be given a
"sales talk," to join
the Fraternity. If one
is urged to file a
peti-tion and he does
not pass the ballot box
he will probably become
angry with the friend
who gave him the
"sales-talk" and look
upon our group with an
unfriendly feeling. He
can pro-perly ask
himself "Why have I been
placed in this
position?" On the other
hand, if he passes the
ballot box in the course
of our ceremonies, he
will be asked on a
number of occasions if
this is of his own free
will and accord. If he
has been given a
'sales-talk" how can he
answer this question in
the affirmative? And if
he answers with a "no"
the ceremony must end at
this point. If this
takes place how will he
feel towards his friend
who "sold" him on the
idea to seek membership
and on the organization
that rejected him
because of some rule not
known or understood by
him?
What will be considered
as a "sales-talk" will
depend on the
relationship between the
per-sons involved and
all the surrounding
cir-cumstances. For
example, it would be
improper in the first
instance to ask a
non-Mason "Why have you
never become a Mason?"
It would be improper to
tell him "You have all
the necessary
qualifications to become
a Mason and I will be
glad to sponsor you for
member-ship." Clearly
and emphatically the
first step must always
be taken by the
non-Mason in-dicating in
some way his interest in
the Craft and his desire
to become a member. When
this occurs the time has
arrived to tell him that
he has the necessary
qualifications for
member-ship and that you
will secure a petition
for him.
The Grand Lecturer of
Colorado, Right
Worshipful Brother Billy
J. Stallworth, had this
to say regarding
solicitation:
The free will and accord
rule should not be
changed. It has been
said, "that it is the
man alone, divested of
all outward
recommendation of rank,
state or riches, that
Masonry accepts and that
it is his spiritual or
moral worth alone which
can open for him the
door of our Masonic
Temple."
The essence of
Freemasonry is
"UN-CHANGEABLE." Change
is written upon
everything of human
construction and upon
everything in the
material world. But,
back of and behind all
this are God and His Laws and the soul of man. With these relations Masonry
deals. The astronomer
with his telescope may
sweep the heavens and
say he finds no trace of
God; the anatomist with
his strongest microscope
may say he finds no
trace of a human soul;
but, to quote from
Fiske:
"The conception of God
as imminent in the world
of phenomena, and
manifested in every
throb of its might
rhythmical life. The
practical effect of the
doctrine of evolution is
not to abolish, but to
strengthen and confirm
it. For into whatever
province of nature we
carry our researches,
the more deeply we
penetrate into its laws and methods of action, the more clearly do we see
that all provinces of
nature are parts of an
organic whole animated
by a single principle of
life that is infinite
and eternal. I believe
it is with these
principles, infinite and
eternal, that Masonry
has to do. Masonry, by
the nature of her con-stitution
and her chosen field
must be and remain
unchanged and
unchangeable.''
It is said that ideals
rule the world, and we
are told that, "as a man
thinketh in his heart,
so is he. " Keeping
constantly in mind that
Masonry deals with man's
relationship with God
and his fellowman will
certainly tend to give
us a clearer idea of
what we should be do-ing
while engaged in Masonic
work and of the kind of
Temple we are building.
The spiritual building
that each one is
erecting for himself
will bear the stamp of
his thought. "As a man
thinketh in his heart so
will be his spiritual
building." By keeping
this ideal in mind we
keep Masonry pure and in
a way help to bring
about that ideal
condition of things
toward which its
teachings point and then
be less liable to be
tempted to make
innovations.
If each of us would live
each day by thc precepts
of our institution,
practice its teachings,
truly love one another,
our great Fraternity
will flourish.
Masonry has no report of
progress to make to the
world, no new message to
give to the world, or
the promise of any. This
world has not outgrown
her teachings. Masonry
has not lost her place
nor is she likely to.
When the doctrine of
Masonry is recognized
and acted upon, instead
of being simply a
beautiful theory, when
the words, "Brotherly
Love, relief and truth,"
make a sweeter music for
the ears of men, when
this white apron we so
proudly wear shall be
more highly honored by
all nations, in-stead of
the bloodstained banner
of war, then and only
then, without any
change, will masonry be
universally accepted
among men.
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