HUMANITY, TOLERANCE & RESPECT

Greetings Visitor,

As you know ,we are living in the time of Globalization and it is not a secret that the world’s economy, primarily serves major industries, multinational corporations and banks. This type of system has brought with it the internationalization of economies, which have as its main objective the creation of a greater profit, possibly at the lowest costs. We as individuals and our social status are more and more coming in the background.

In all continents there are large masses of unemployed people, because of the small chances of getting a job. To increase your chances for getting a job, one needs to be able and have the will to enter life-long-learning education process. Unfortunately the development stage in which we find ourselves, gives more importance to the material benefits than to the lives of people. This situation can be compared with the army where the soldiers are sent to a battle without caring about suffering and losses.

This way of thinking brings suffering, victims, poverty, sickness, hunger, and homelessness. In times like this, today and in the future, it should be our duty as Freemasons, to counter such social developments. The tools that we Masons have available are contained in our rituals and symbols. They are the: morality, ethics, humanity, tolerance and respect. These tools are the most appropriate means in this kind of confrontation.

WHAT IS HUMANITY? WHAT IS TOLERANCE?

Visitor, at first let us focus on the meaning of these words. The word humanity represents positive behavior of a man in all circumstances of life wherever he may be. The Latin word humane is used only for the best in man. Crime, wars , bad manners , greed , hatred , violence , brutality - all these features, that unfortunately we as human beings possess as well, are termed by us as inhuman. Based on these linguistic terms, we conclude that inside us, both sides exist and it is in our hands which path we should follow.

Humanity also means care, empathy for others, understanding, gentleness and patience. We should not only be human within the family but also in our working place, our neighborhood and our country where we live; in other words everywhere. Humanity is part of the culture and should be shown to people of different races and to others whom we have never seen, met or known before. A person who violates his family is not human. A person who does not help other people when they are at risk or who does not feel their pain when they are in hurt is inhuman.

The rituals and discussions within the Lodge teach us virtues and lessons that we should put in practice in our daily lives outside the Temple. We as Freemasons are conscious that we should be ourselves a living example. In our families and in the environment that surrounds us we should try to create a humane atmosphere, that does not support arrogance and bickering. Distrust too should not be allowed.

Visitor, this is a long life process that never ends and as human beings we must also learn to be tolerant. The word tolerance comes from Latin language and means nothing else but "patience". At the beginning of Christianity the situation was somehow peculiar; on one side there was the Roman Imperator and on the other side the Pope. None of them was able or willing to share power, therefore they tolerated each other. In other words they were patient of each other’s presence. To tolerate somebody does not necessarily mean that you like her or him. The question that arises here is; who should tolerate whom?

, should the powerful tolerate the powerless? The strongest to tolerate the weakest? The majorities to tolerate the minorities? In appearance it seems that is not a positive image of interpersonal relations, only to be patient with one another.

For Freemasonry, which wants to see mankind as one family, patience seems to be insufficient. Our interpersonal relationships can be described by the following stages: First to accept, then to tolerate, then to respect, to honor and eventually to love another.

It is not easy for every one of us to practice exactly this kind of hierarchy.

Therefore, sometimes it is recommended to build our relationships with others on given opportunities or popular practices. Tolerance could be a good adhesive in such situations of life. It's just nonsense for the one who has the power, to ask the one who is helpless to tolerate him. Being tolerant has also limits and discovering these limits is not simple.

, but as freemasons we have learnt that if we continuously strive towards wisdom, power and beauty we lie in the path of excellence; a path that allowed us to be very careful, and in cases of disagreements to act in such a manner so as to avoid conflict and violence. Apparently, the human race from its beginning, whether as individuals or groups, is likely to rule on each other. Based on this, we can say that we as "the normal people" are capable to survive in this world, a world that according to the German philosopher Friedrich Schiller is guided by hatred and love.

A major obstacle that appears to us as Freemasons as well as to the non-masons is: can intolerance be met by tolerance? Violence and terror cannot be accepted as they are. However, dialogue, discourse and discussions between the two opponents and even between two enemies, should be practiced.

As Freemasons we insist that tolerance and humanity should not only be taught and practiced only in the Lodges. We must reach that higher level, where public opinion, governments and civil societies value the qualities that tolerance and humanity offer. But how does the reality look? Unfortunately, quite different. The tolerance and humanity are often considered as outmoded, outdated, they are seen as weakness and politically unusable.

On the other hand, humanity and tolerance are some of the tools that guarantee the building of our eternal temple, which guarantees our survival in this world. As brothers we understand each other, we tolerate each other and the outcome is, that we appreciate and respect each other.

RESPECT.

The origin of the word respect is from the Latin word respectus, defined as an act of looking back at someone.

Every human being and nation, irrespective of their power or strength, has the right to be respected. Respect is an unassuming resounding force, the stuff that equity and justice are made of. It means being treated with consideration and esteem and to be willing to treat people similarly. It means having regard for other peoples' feelings, listening to people and hearing them i.e. giving them one's full attention. Respect needs empathy. Even more importantly, respect means treating one with dignity.

, self-respect is a prerequisite for respect to all. With self-respect starts the self-love that gives us the strength to feel the love and to move forward. As human beings we live between the poles of self-love and selfishness. The first is productive while the second is destructive.

The destructive person can neither respect himself nor others because he has limited himself in a cage of his selfishness. As a result he confines himself only to that extent and thus deserves the title "egocentric".

With self-respect, I take responsibility for my actions. Even when I'm not clear and sometimes do not know what is going on inside me, I bring more understanding tomyself because I love myself. Here self-esteem plays an important role, which can often be considered as an unconscious motivation for what we do, what we say, how far we should go or when and where to stop. The character, also the willingness to take responsibility for my own life, is the source of self-respect.

One does not have to like a person or understand his point of view to respect him. Respect comes with the notion that a person or culture can have beliefs contradictory to ours and we should still honor them, as basic respect is a fundamental right of all human beings.

Humanity, tolerance and respect are not the only way to enable the humanization of our societies, but they have a great value in this process, and the earlier we start implementing them, the better it is for humanity.

, we Masons have a great task to perform. We are builders of a great city yet to be. Since the dawn of civilization many cities have been built - some have been selfish and sordid, none has been perfect. Jerusalem has been termed the city of Faith, Rome the city of Law, Athens the city of Philosophy, and London the city of Liberty.

There is one city yet to be built. The building of that city is our peculiar task, and the name of this city is "The city of Fraternity".

, Thank You for your time!

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