14 minute read
Freemasonry 2026 Civics and Civic Engagement
Akram R. Elias Past Grand Master
MWB Akram R. Elias, PGM
The Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Daniel A. Huertas, in his first address to the Freemasons of Washington, D.C. on December 16, 2021, listed the Grand Lodge’s priorities for the coming year, one of them being “to launch a five-year plan to prepare for the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the United States and Freemasonry’s contribution to this Great Experiment.”
SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL OF AMERICA In 2026, the United States will commemorate the 250th Anniversary of its founding as the Great Experiment in human governance. Our nation’s Semiquincentennial is a moment for celebration, reflection, and repositioning.
Given the deep divisions in our country today, the daunting health and climate-related challenges worldwide, and the global rise once again of the forces of totalitarian darkness, how can we prepare to celebrate our greatest milestone ever? What are our obligations as Freemasons and how do we fulfill them at this point in time? For the celebration to be meaningful and the repositioning successful, we Americans must pause and find common ground by reconnecting with the spirit of the Great Experiment.
Earlier this year, on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated: “We do know the only compass that can guide us through the storms ahead; it is our core values and principles enshrined in our Constitution.” He then went on to say: “It is our job to defend the Great Experiment that is America, to protect this exceptional Republic, body and soul, even when it is hard; especially when it is hard.”
WHAT IS SO HARD AND WHY? Today, there are voices across the country that question the very concept of America as being a Great Experiment in human governance. They ask: how could an experiment claim to be rooted in liberty while preserving the institution of slavery? How could liberty and slavery be squared? The answer to such questions is hard because many Americans perceive a direct link between the institution of slavery from the start, the legally-sanctioned racial segregation following the civil war in several parts of the country for an extended period of ninety-nine years, and the continued form of “systemic” racism in the United States.
Furthermore, there are also voices that question the value of preserving a 245-year-old system of governance in today’s America. They ask: is federalism a viable system of government? Is our attachment to “ancient” documents such as the U.S. Constitution as valuable today? The answers to such questions are equally hard given that America today is so different from the colonies of the 18th century.
As we approach the 250th Anniversary of America, We the People need to find the right answers to such important questions.
But how do we go about debating these questions and finding the right answers in today’s polarized environment filled with such acrimonious discourse? On the one hand, an open and truthful debate cannot take place if our freedom of expression is artificially constrained by “political correctness.” On the other hand, labeling one another as fascists or communists, demeaning and demonizing the other because we disagree with them, are destructive behaviors that further divide us and impede any effort to help us find common ground as Americans. (While there are Americans who definitely embrace either fascism or communism, I truly believe that the overwhelming majority of Americans neither embrace nor submit to such ideologies). This environment makes it also hard because many of us feel helpless or complacent, while others who feel so
strongly about their version of America on either extreme end of the spectrum may believe that only through total victory— crushing the other side—America would prevail.
However, no matter how hard it is, we must engage with one another as Americans, and we must rebuild the common ground that connects us to the true essence of the Great Experiment as we move forward toward 2026.
WHAT IS THE GREAT EXPERIMENT?
THE PROMISE OF 1776 The Declaration of Independence of 1776 stated the “promise” of a new experiment in human governance rooted in Liberty.
“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
By 1783, British troops had surrendered and the United States of America had gained its independence.
A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION The independence of a loosely connected confederation of states is one thing, and the sustainability of a union of states with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, is quite another.
To fulfill the promise of 1776, the Founding Fathers had to address a most fundamental and highly complex question.
Can people who in the “old world” were enemies:
Be truly free, learn to work together, and govern themselves by themselves and for themselves; Under a rule of law that has their consent; Without needing a sovereign to rule over them and keep them from destroying one another?
History has shown that such an experiment, having been tried on a very few occasions, had never been sustained. A STARK REALITY Without liberty, this new great experiment in human governance could not be launched or sustained. Yet, the very idea of liberty posed incredible challenges to the Founding Fathers.
How would freedom be enjoyed in the newly independent country wherein blacks were enslaved, natives killed, women excluded, and Jews and Catholics vilified? How can an American be truly free if old traditional community-based social constructs such as place of birth, religion, race, cultural tradition, ethnic roots were to remain the parameters defining the new American identity? How could the newly independent states, having each their own official or sanctioned religion, avoid into the future the religious sectarian wars of the past? And last, but not least, how can diverse immigrant Americans, who came from an “old world” burdened by a history of hate and warfare, learn in the new world to come together to address their issues, think through remedies, and solve their common problems? After all, let us not forget that historically, the English, Irish, and Scotts, though all British, held deep seeded hatred toward one another; the British could not stand the Dutch who despised the Prussians, etc.
How could such a dark reality square with the bright promise of the Declaration of Independence?
A FUNDAMENTAL CHOICE Faced with such a complex reality, the Founding Fathers had to make a difficult choice.
Should they harness their energies and resources to take on the challenges of the day in an attempt to improve the human condition of the people at the time?
OR
Should they focus their efforts, not on solving the problems of the day, but on designing a sustainable and resilient system of governance that the people and future generations of Americans could use to constantly improve their human condition?
They chose the latter.
The Founding Fathers were neither gods nor angels, but complex, flawed, prejudiced, and yet visionary men, who, at the risk of losing their lives and possessions, dared to launch an extraordinary experiment in human governance, despite their own limitations and those of the people they were about to empower. They also knew that they had to act expeditiously because windows of opportunity to launch such an experiment rarely came in history and quickly closed.
In making their decision, they considered the limitations at hand, the threat posed by European colonial powers, and the odds for success of a full-fledged and fully inclusive Great Experiment. What did they do?
Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Madison
Instead of establishing government as an entity whose purpose is to solve the people’s problems as was constantly attempted in the past,
they designed the government as a system engineering machine that enables the people to address their own challenges and engineer their own solutions and innovations to the problems
of an ever-changing world. The goal behind the design of the machine was to ensure the sustainability and resiliency of the new form of governance in safeguarding the sovereignty of the people. Therefore, the emphasis in the design of the machine was placed on the separation of powers with checks and balances.
DEMOCRACY VERSUS MOBOCRACY Having the people, not the government, at the core of governance made America, the Great Experiment, truly exceptional and uniquely vulnerable. Because ignorance, extremism and tyranny present constant threats to the sustainability and progress of the Great Experiment, We the People (Democracy) can easily be undermined over time by the We the Mobs (Mobocracy). America, therefore, always needs enlightened free and engaged citizens who assume the responsibility to labor together and solve their problems irrespective of their diverse backgrounds—E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) meaning Diversity within Unity.
CIVICS AND CIVIC CULTURE How do we build and grow such citizenry without civics, civic culture, and civic engagement? How would today’s school children be tomorrow’s free and responsible citizens, if they are not taught in their classrooms: a. The raison d’être of government in this Great Experiment of ours? b. The structure of our government as a system engineering machine for us to use to advance our own human condition? c. The art of self-governance through civil society engagement and public-private partnerships? d. The rights and responsibilities incumbent on every free citizen? e. The skills of leadership and those of critical thinking to address the problems and challenges in our communities? f. The art and skill of building common ground among free people with divergent opinions and perspectives? g. Civility—not political correctness—to nurture a social and political environment that are conducive for citizen engagement? As Brother Richard Dreyfuss put it: “It is an obvious and blatant stupidity beyond my ability to articulate how dumb it is for us not to teach our children how to run the government.”
THE TRUE LEGACY OF FREEMASONRY Historically, Masonic Lodges in the United States descending from the lines of George Washington and Prince Hall alike were the incubators where men learned through the sacred art of ritual how to build themselves as free and enlightened citizens. Furthermore, Lodges became the laboratory wherein men of different backgrounds, believing in different religions, at different stations of life, and of different political persuasion, learned the art of self-governance under a rule of law.
U.S. Rep. and Prince Hall Brother John Robert Lewis recognized for his unique and extraordinary contribution to civil rights by the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2008.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
America’s journey as a Great Experiment has its checkered past; but as our nation went through its darkest moments at various periods of its history, in each and every instance, light triumphed over darkness, and the Great Experiment persevered, grew in richness, and gained more vigor.
It took, for example, generations of engaged and enlightened Americans to adopt the 19th Amendment granting universal suffrage to women in 1920. It also took generations of enlightened Americans and a bloody civil war to abolish slavery, a cancer that was destroying the Great Experiment from within. The cancer metastasized taking the form of racial segregation in several parts of the country, thereby requiring the sustained and enlightened engagement of civil rights activists to bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I could go on and on with a multitude of examples from American history.
Whether it was the abolitionists, the suffragists, civil libertarians, civil rights activists, human rights activists, or concerned citizens, they all worked with the systems engineering machine, designed by the Founding Fathers, amended, and improved with time, to help advance the Great Experiment.
FREEMASONRY AND THE SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL CHALLENGE Every generation falls prey to the ever-morphing dark forces of ignorance, extremism, and tyranny that attempt to enslave the human spirit. These forces are contagious and quite deceptive. In today’s world, the destructive effects of these forces are greatly boosted through a highly sophisticated web of disinformation and misinformation that is accelerating the spread of ignorance, intolerance, and tyranny at an exponential rate.
Now consider the Lodge as the sacred space wherein brothers equip themselves through the teachings of Freemasonry with the tools and implements that help them counter more effectively those dark forces. As a simple illustration, let us consider the compasses, an instrument that teaches a Mason to keep his passions within due bounds and control his desires. Why? Because if one’s passions were left unchecked, one could more readily fall prey to the forces of extremism and intolerance. Furthermore, if desires go unchecked, one would erode his true freedom—welcome to the veiled meaning of Relief!
The more initiated beings and awakened Master Masons there are, the more resistant and resilient humanity becomes to those dark forces, and the more successful our nation and the world become at preserving the freedom of the human spirit.
True Mystery of Masonic Governance Freemasonry promises that by a strict adherence to its precepts and teachings its members can transform themselves into Free Masons (Free Builders). This process of internal (not external) transformation is nurtured within the confines of the Masonic Lodge, that sacred space where Brethren gather to engage in their Masonic labor. Therefore, governance in our institution was designed to safeguard the integrity of that sacred space within which a Freemason may work with rigor and discipline at his internal transformation. The safeguarding of the sacred space also explains the insistence in our institution on Masonic protocol and etiquette.
Masonic protocol, according to which a brother is to govern his conduct within the Lodge and his behavior towards a patron or ruler in the Craft
Third-Degree Masonic Tracing Board, Illustration by Gregory B. Stewart
Masonic etiquette, according to which a brother is to govern his conduct and behavior towards another brother with Brotherly
Love, Relief, and Truth.
It is the strict nature of governance of our institution that enables its desirous and willing members to transform themselves internally so that they in turn can conduct themselves externally as enlightened, and engaged citizens capable of governing themselves more wisely.
FREEMASONRY’S TRESTLE BOARDS The question before us today is whether Freemasonry will rise to meet the Semiquincentennial Challenge and help build and inspire the future evolution of the Great Experiment. To do so, we need to draw new designs on the Trestle Boards of Freemasonry.
Internal Trestle Boards: A Sacred Space for Enlightenment
Lodges across the country need to return to being the sacred spaces wherein members can safely learn to grow themselves into free and enlightened citizens. Therefore, Masonic Education is central to Lodge labors. While fellowship, social activities, and charitable endeavors add richness to a Mason’s lodge experience, only Masonic education can help the initiate unveil the allegories and decipher the symbols at the core of the rituals of Freemasonry which were designed to assist him on his Initiatic journey towards enlightened freedom.
External Trestle Boards: Celebrating Freemasonry
Lodges and Grand Lodges alike can begin making plans to celebrate the positive historical impact that Freemasonry has had in their respective localities and states. The Semiquincentennial presents a great opportunity for Masonic institutions across the country to raise awareness about Freemasonry through effective community-based partnerships.
In the case of our Grand Lodge, we need to draw designs at three levels, locally, nationally and internationally. We have a locally-focused obligation towards the people of the District of Columbia; a nationally-focused obligation for being located in the Nation’s Capital where our national institutions of governance are headquartered; and, an internationally-focused obligation given the unique position of Washington as the capital of the free world.
Individual Masons’ Trestle Boards
Most importantly, awakened Freemasons need to draw their individual and collective Trestle Boards to improve conditions in their respective communities.
Ask yourselves the following questions:
How might I contribute to building bridges of understanding within my divided community? How might I act, guided by Beauty, Strength and Wisdom to effectively dispel ignorance, prejudice, and bigotry around me? How might we, as George Washington and Prince Hall Masons, work together on joint projects that exemplify the spirit of
Masonic Brotherhood while improving conditions in our communities? How might I, with the assistance of other Brothers, bring together civic groups, businesses and public officials in my local community to plan for the 250th Anniversary of America? This generation of Freemasons has a rendezvous with Destiny; we will either squander the rich legacy of our forefathers to which we have been entrusted, or we will be true to that legacy and become the architect builders of the next stage of advancement of the Great Experiment. History will be our judge.
Visit www.mls2026.com
