{"content":[{"text":"Even when the Church's long-standing beliefs and customs were partly altered in \n England and Scotland by what we call the Reformation, the stonemasons' guilds and the \n lodges linked to them were not at first affected. Indeed, one of the most notable features \n of these masonic bodies was a continuing tie with the medieval past. Here are still found \n the patron saints, the Virgin Mary and the two saints John. Here was a link with the \n Mystery Plays and services in the parish church. Here were banners, prayers and an \n annual feast. The masons, specially having this unique attachment to their court, the \n lodge, not only valued but kept so many reminders of the past.","bbox":{"left":0.095062,"top":0.0339,"width":0.805016,"height":0.13068000000000002}},{"text":"With the arrival of the next century the comparative calm began to be broken. The \n Gunpowder Plot was a sign of deep disagreement and frustration. On the continent the \n outbreak of the Thirty Years War was a direct encounter of Catholic and Protestant \n powers in which King James I's daughter was closely involved. German historians now \n often regard this conflict as a more horrendous event than even the two World Wars. \n Meanwhile, back in England, we were to suffer a civil war that brought even greater \n political and religious division.","bbox":{"left":0.095082,"top":0.18144,"width":0.8053589999999999,"height":0.11428700000000003}},{"text":"Is it any wonder that undergoing these events and long remembering them, the \n members of a developing Freemasonry and their colleagues in the Royal Society, should \n adopt the rules which we still follow; discussion of theological and political matters are \n unwelcome topics for our meetings.","bbox":{"left":0.095082,"top":0.312588,"width":0.8046719999999999,"height":0.065106}},{"text":"What does this say about the whole matter of sharing spiritual information? If, as is now \n increasingly the case, I find myself sitting alongside those of another faith such as a Sikh \n or a Mormon, is it utterly forbidden for us to share with each other facts about what we do \n and why we do it? Certainly I have had this point put to me on several occasions and \n therefore I have had to think about what response I should give.","bbox":{"left":0.095062,"top":0.394555,"width":0.805257,"height":0.08150000000000002}},{"text":"If we consider the words in our Grand Lodge's 'Aims and Relationships'. We are there \n required to avoid discussing or advancing 'views on theological and political questions'. \n This is clear and unmistakable. Not to keep this direction will soon cause discord among \n the Brethren. But if my brother mason is absent because it is Ramadan or he is keeping \n Yom Kippur is it also wrong to ask him to explain why those occasions are so important \n for him? Ignorance can only breed ignorance and in some cases leads to fear and \n resentment which in turn may lead perhaps to open hostility.","bbox":{"left":0.095042,"top":0.492916,"width":0.8052370000000001,"height":0.114286}},{"text":"A Sikh may know why I wear a cross but am I forbidden to ask him why he wears a \n pagri or turban? Surely, as long as what is shared is not a matter for debate or \n controversy then we know how far this sharing may be allowed. Indeed, as with a better \n understanding of the ceremonies we masons share in, to understand, but not question, \n the practices of others can only improve our fellowship.","bbox":{"left":0.095062,"top":0.624063,"width":0.804892,"height":0.0814999999999999}},{"text":"The step you have taken this day is but the first of what, if you so desire, can become \n many. So I hope your horizons will be duly expanded and that you greatly enjoy your time \n as a member of this Lodge, for in Masonry you should always find the bonds of fraternal \n affection and that love and harmony that the outside world so desperately needs.","bbox":{"left":0.095062,"top":0.722424,"width":0.805015,"height":0.06486400000000003}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}