The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War

Available in March 2010 from the University of Alabama Press.

Complete information available here.

Kansas Lodge Calls for Papers on Modern Masonic Practices

Mount Zion Lodge No. 266, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Kansas, operating in Topeka, Kansas, announces a call for papers and presentations for its first Modern Masonic Practices Symposium entitled The Gentleman, the Scholar, and the Mystic: Exploring Modern Masonic Practices in North America to be held from Friday, April 16 - Sunday, April 18, 2010.

Fully conforming with established customs and rituals of the Grand Lodge of Kansas, Mount Zion Lodge operates within the broad realm of Traditional Observance and European Concept practices, as defined by modern American Masonic culture, but does not tie itself to any specific model or identity. The Modern Masonic Practices Symposium will select and present original, scholarly research papers on the phenomenon of progressive development and modern trends in Traditional Observance and European Concept lodges in North America. Diverse perspectives and methods of examining this phenomenon are encouraged from a broad range of study.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The development of modern and progressive changes to Freemasonry in North America, including its underlying causes.
• Sociological challenges facing Freemasonry in North America today.
• Governance and administration issues and solutions for Lodges adopting new practices.
• The rebirth and importance of the philosophical and spiritual aspects of Freemasonry.
• European Masonry reconciled with European Concept Masonry in form and practice.
• Transcendent traditions in Freemasonry and their place in Modern American Masonic Practice.

The papers should be scholarly in tone, with a maximum length of 4000 words, which may be presented in a 30 -45 minute oral address to the symposium. All submissions must be from a Master Mason in a Lodge in Amity with the Grand Lodge of Kansas. The symposium committee will award prizes as follows: First Place, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention. Authors of the winning papers will be invited to present their work at the symposium as guests of Mt. Zion Lodge.

Deadline for Submissions: November 1, 2009

Submission Format: Completed papers with a resume or c.v. should be sent to:

Joesphe G. Stiles

c/o Mount Zion Lodge 266

P. O. Box 1217

Topeka, KS

Joesphe at gmail dawt com

Be sure to include full contact information (name, address, email, phone, and affiliation).

Must -See TV Downgraded to Might-See TV

Fans of the television show Modern Marvels – prepare to be disappointed. I have it on good authority – very good authority – that Actuality Productions of Woodland Hills, California, which produces the show, is drastically slowing down production at the behest of network supremos in New York. Once the flagship of the History Channel, Modern Marvels is now taking the back seat in favor of more UFO- and Monster hunt shows.

“No new episodes will be shown this year [2009],” my source tells me, “all you’ll get is re-runs.” After that, the number of new episodes will be cut in half.

Although in recent years, the show has featured things that were neither modern, nor marvelous, MM has always delivered television found nowhere else: solid, slick information about stuff that is really cool, and [novel concept] presented so one can actually learn something. Where else can you get a VIP pass to a brewery, check out the latest in car wash tech, or a get a 50 minute tour de force of chocolate in all of its sweetness and succulence? Not network, that’s for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, I am more than capable of geeking out to UFO Hunters or Monster Quest, but after the 20th episode where they don’t interview aliens or capture Nessie, it’s just more of the same. The truth is out there, apparently, but we aren't privy to it. You’d think the suits in New York could figure that out and use these fantasy shows more sparingly while keeping the History Channel about history.

But that would be a Modern Marvel.

Maybe we should storm the network with torches and pitchforks.

New Column at Freemason Information

My latest column, "Upon Attaining Middle Age: Wilmshurst, Masonry & the Man Boat" is now online at Freemason Information.

Multitasking

It’s difficult to know who coined the term “multi tasking,” but I’ll wager he was drunk when he did it. According to some, it originated in the dark digital days of the 1960s when the prospect of computers being able to fully complete more than one task at the same time was still an uncertain proposition. Not so today. Pretty much on a daily basis my computer can (and does) inform me that it has blocked three popup adds while simultaneously locking me out of Outlook and downloading 1 x 1023 terabytes of Microsoft patches automatically, effectively making my browser speed something close to glacial. Now that’s progress .
In common parlance, to multitask is taken to mean doing more than one thing during the same moment in time, but that is surely incorrect. True multitasking is doing more than one thing at the same time and doing it well, which I would argue is definitely not the case with most multi-taskers. Take the toaster oven for instance; it toasts and it bakes, but it neither toasts as well as a toaster, nor bakes as well as an oven. It doesn’t even look very cool, it just takes up counterspace. Multitasking, it seems to me, is hugely overrated.

But when Greg Stewart of Masonic Traveler and Masonic Central got ahold of me and told me about his idea for his new site, Freemason Information – aha! I thought, here is a multi-tasker that might actually fit the bill. Over the coming weeks, you Dear Reader, will find the finest variety of Masonic thought on- or offline right here. A toaster oven you say? Maybe, but I prefer to think of it as a toaster oven on steroids, with Dafoe at the throttle and Milliken amping up the kilowatts just to make sure it stays extra hot. I'll be there, as well. This thing will toast, bake and iron your shirts.

Check it out – I think you’ll like it.

Call for Writers

Last September I was asked to join the board of directors of the Scottish Rite Research Society, and as part of my duties I am now the assistant to the editor of The Plumbline, the quarterly newsletter of the Society. I regularly read many excellent Masonic blogs and to that end, I post a call for writers to contribute.

The Plumbline is seeking original, never-before-published scholarly monographs on Masonic history, philosophy, or esoterica consisting of 1800-2400 words (no more than 5 pages, single-space 10 pt. type), referenced according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Writers wishing to submit MSS for consideration should direct their queries -- a brief email detailing subject matter, length, and import of the topic, as well as any particulars about the author that would interest our readers to me, in care of the contact address on this page. I will respond to each and every query within 72 hours of receipt.

I hope to hear from you.

The Convivial Lodge

A new year brings a new order to my TO Lodge – Mount Zion No. 266. I have, only now, returned from our once-monthly meeting with batteries recharged and faith restored. This is not to say that my mother lodge is in any way unfulfilling – rather, it is to suggest that like a fine aperitif, the TO Lodge adds spice to an otherwise filling meal.

No minutes to trouble with. No endless reading of bills, no tedium. Instead, the lodge opens solemnly, with scrupulous attention paid to ceremony, the lights dimmed, the candles standing ready. All of this is prologue to a meeting that concentrates on Masonic education, which to my foreign readers is refreshing. Tonight’s agenda contains a précis on the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and provides this month’s backdrop to our year-long discussion of the origins of the Craft.

Afterwards, the brethren mysteriously, and coincidentally, coalesce at the local pub where conviviality, sterling conversation, and fellowship is the order of the day.

Of better times, there are but few.