Jim Tresner, Grand Cross

With books to provoke thought, provoke laughter, or just provoke, this issue’s book review column is a very mixed bag.

Terry O. Trowbridge. Beyond Tolerance: Why Tolerance Cannot Solve the Problems of Religious-Based Conflict and What the Real Answer Is, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse Books, 2004, 94 pages, Hardback and paperbound editions available ISBN (hardback) 1-4140-6166-8 (paperbound) 1-4140-6163-X prices vary, in bookstore about $21.95 (hardback) and $9.50 (paperback), costs less on the Internet; least costly to order from publisher at www.authorhouse.com

Brother Terry O. Trowbridge, 32°, has written a very important book, especially important in these times. He has practiced international law in Europe and the Middle East for more than 25 years, especially in the fields of negotiation and conflict resolution, and is the founder of the Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict.

Since toleration is one of the most important values taught by the Scottish Rite, appearing in Degree after Degree, it may seem strange to say that tolerance won’t solve the problem. But, as Bro. Trowbridge points out, the world at large defines tolerance, essentially, as “I don’t agree with you, but I won’t kill you.” Or “We don’t like that religion or don’t agree with it, but live and let live.” That, as he suggests, seldom works. He suggests, instead, that the attitude needs to be far more proactive: “It is our task...to learn to accept and even welcome that which we do not like or cannot relate to...by first accepting that all men were created equal and have potentially equal access to the same spiritual, intellectual and moral powers.” That, of course, is exactly what the Scottish Rite has always taught. It will take you only a short time to read this book, and a lifetime to think it through.

Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr., Equal Rites: The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender, and American Culture, New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, hardbound, 326 pages, 50 illustrations. ISBN 0–0231–12640–9, cover price $35, available for less on the Internet.

Every now and then you hear about a book you just have to read. My traditional Latter-day Saint upbringing fostered an abiding interest in Mormon history. Thus, I gratefully accepted an offer to review a prepublication copy.

My excitement turned to disappointment. Dr. Forsberg’s confused views of Mormonism (founded 1830) and Freemasonry do disservice to both. For example, he asserted that the Scottish Rite’s philosophy was “the inspiration for the Book of Mormon and the rationale of the Mormon faith.” He supported this view by referencing Morals and Dogma (which actually expresses the post-1857 philosophical meanderings of Albert Pike).

Dr. Forsberg’s errors were rampant. He claimed that Mormon founder Joseph Smith Jr. was a 33° Mason (he was not), that there is no reference to Hiram Abif in the Hebrew Bible (there is:

(2 Chronicles 4:16),

that there were three Degrees in Masonry in 1717 (there were two), that the Chevalier Ramsey invented a system which included the Royal Arch Degree and a “fanciful tale of Enoch’s Golden plates.” All this is wrong.

He also claims Benjamin Franklin abandoned Freemasonry and its “macabre business of secret suicide pacts” (he didn’t, and there are none), he calls the Scottish Rite “a decidedly Christian application” (it isn’t), and asserts there are “religious tests” in Freemasonry, which include a belief in the “resurrection...of Hiram Abiff” (both are untrue). In a prepublication conversation, Dr. Forsberg admitted to me that he didn’t have any authentic pre-1830 Scottish Rite documents or rituals to support his opinions.

After receiving a copy of the published book, I was disappointed to discover that he simply revised the book point-by-point to omit the errors I observed. This was inadequate, and the book remains fundamentally flawed; it cannot be fixed with a masking-tape approach. Save your money.

Guest Review by Arturo de Hoyos, 33°
Grand Archivist and Grand Historian, The Supreme Council, 33°, S. J.

Avram J. Davidson, Masters of the Maze Gillette, New York: Wildside Press, 2000 (reprint) softbound, 156 pages List price $15.00. Available for less on the Internet, especially for used copies.

Davidson, who died in 1993, was a skilled and prolific writer, author of 19 novels and more than 200 short stories and essays, and winner of the Hugo, the Edgar, and the World Fantasy Awards. Masters of the Maze was first published in 1965. It is a rich book, with many carefully constructed worlds and levels of reality. The Maze, a sort of transdimensional pathway, gives access to many times and many worlds, but there also are monsters.

On Earth, the guardians of the Maze are the Elus of the Sword, or Esquires of the Sword—a secret order composed of selected Scottish Rite Masons. Masters of the Maze is the only work of fiction I know of in which the Scottish Rite specifically plays a part, really more than a part. The entire novel can be read as an allegory for the Degrees of the Rite, including the hero’s ultimate meeting with the Masters of the Maze, which is, I suggest, based on the 31°. The book is worth reading just as a SciFi novel. The inclusion of the Rite gives it a special interest.

Here is a note for the future. I enjoy novels or movies in which Freemasonry appears as a theme or sidelight. There are many which fit into that category. From time to time, I’ll mention them here. Most of the time there won’t be space for an image of the cover, but at lest our younger Masons, or those who may have missed them before, will know they exist.

Jim Tresner, Valley of Guthrie, Okla., is the Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute; Editor of The Oklahoma Mason, Member of the Steering Committee, Masonic Information Center; Director of Work in Guthrie; and author, among other books, of Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument and Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. Contacts: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie OK 73044; Tel. 405-282-3212; Fax 405-282-3244; okmasonmag@hotmail.com