The Met police have been criticised in many public enquiries for the lack of trust many communities have in their impartiality. One good example followed the murder of Stephen Lawrence, where the Met were deemed by a public enquiry to be "institutionally racist”.

The Met has also been described as misogynistic following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. The current Commissioner, Mark Rowley, is desperate to prove that things are changing. Two historical cases in particular haunt the Met. The first is the Brinks Mat robbery of 1983, in which £ 26 million of gold bullion was stolen. This was featured in the BBC drama "The Gold". A criminal called Kenny Noye was suspected of helping to launder the gold. He killed a surveillance officer, John Fordham, whom he found in his garden, but Noye was acquitted of murder on a plea of self-defence. ( he was later convicted of killing a motorist in a road rage incident.) Noye was a Mason. His lodge also had several senior Police officers as members. This opened the door for accusations of corruption, although no officer was charged or disciplined. The vetting procedure for that lodge was obviously lacking.

The second case is the murder of Daniel Morgan, a private investigator, in 1987. The main suspect was his business partner, a former police officer. The initial police investigator hid the fact that he was a friend and an unsanctioned business partner of the suspect. This investigation and others that followed were the subject of allegations of corruption. Despite several independent enquiries, no one was successfully prosecuted. Several of the senior officers involved in the investigations were Masons. This again laid the organisation open to accusations of corruption.

The Commissioner ( Chief Constable equivalent) has introduced a requirement for staff to disclose membership of any " hierarchical organisations that require oaths of loyalty from their members". At the moment, that only specifies the Masons.
Mark Rowley claimed on a radio broadcast that two-thirds of his 46,000-strong workforce (officers and support staff) supported his demand that staff disclose present or past membership of the masons. In fact, only 5,000 people responded to his survey, and a small majority supported his proposal. The United Grand Lodge is in the process of mounting a legal challenge to this measure, especially as Mr Rowley has declined to meet with any representatives of UGLE. He claims to have " hard intelligence" that membership of the Masons has adversely affected the delivery of policing, but has not given any substance to this claim.

The purpose of this email is to remind us that Masons have a long history of public service in many professions, not just the Police. To that end, I have collated several references to the undertakings we make to be good citizens. Although there are very short quotes from the three ceremonies, none of them disclose any of the " secrets of a superior degree" and should be able to be read by any of the brethren, wherever they are on their Masonic Journey.

One of the constant accusations levelled at Freemasonry is that it is somehow a subversive organisation that seeks to undermine or circumvent legitimate government. There are a handful of countries where Freemasonry has become entangled in political controversy. Italy is perhaps one example. This is one reason why the United Grand Lodge of England does not recognise every Grand Lodge across the world. This slur is particularly unjustified because Masons are constantly reminded of their obligations to obey lawful authorities.

In the First Degree, the potential initiate is informed that "vows of fidelity are required, but there is nothing in those vows that is incompatible with your civil, moral or religious duties" After the candidate has made his Obligation, he is reminded in the Charge that he should be
"exemplary in the discharge of your civil duties", and he must avoid "subverting the peace and good order of society" and must "obey the laws of any state in which they reside."

This commitment is reinforced in the Third Degree obligation when the candidate explicitly undertakes not to conceal any behaviour of a brother which is criminal or "contrary to the ordinances of the realm".

Following the installation of a new Master, the brethren as a whole are reminded of the obligation "to be faithful to our God, our Country and our Laws".

Looking back to the beginnings of Freemasonry, there were very good reasons why these explicit commitments to maintaining good order in society were felt to be necessary. If you remember, the earliest recorded initiation is that of Elias Ashmole in 1646. This was towards the end of what is termed the English Civil War, which engulfed all the home nations in a bitter conflict that lasted nearly 10 years. The result of that conflict was the ultimate example of the overturn of recognised authority, the execution of Charles I. When the monarchy was restored, there were some plots to reintroduce the Parliamentary Commonwealth. Charles II's successor, his Catholic brother James, was eventually deposed in favour of the Protestant William and Mary. This was a move which involved further plotting and secret manoeuvres.

Just as the first Grand Lodge was being established in 1717, the Stuart monarchs had been replaced by their distant cousins, the Hanoverian Georges. They were far from secure on the throne. George I spoke little English and was viewed by many people as an interloper. There were secret societies that would toast the "King Across the Water", James Stuart, the Old Pretender, the son of James II.

In 1715, the first Jacobite rebellion was easily defeated. In 1745, Charles Stuart's attempt to seize power almost succeeded. He made it as far south as Derby before his army would go no further and returned to Scotland. They were to fall to defeat at the Battle of Culloden.
We can see that Freemasonry was established and developed against a background of almost a century of civil unrest and turmoil. This made it even more important that Freemasons should demonstrate their loyalty to the Crown. It is no coincidence that our first toast at each festive board is to the Monarch.

I hope this helps to clarify what might be a confusing kerfuffle.

As you know, our ceremonies focus on the building of Solomon's Temple. I've included a little bit of information about the history of the Temple. Most of our information comes from the Old Testament.

Although King David had been chosen to make Israel a great nation, he was told by God in no uncertain terms that he was not holy enough to be the one to build His House. Among David's many misdemeanours was his infidelity with Bathsheba- the wife of one of his generals. (This is referred to in the Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley/ Alexandra Burke song Hallelujah.." He saw her bathing on the roof"). David then appointed Bathesheba's son Solomon as his heir and gave him the task of building the Temple. (Solomon's hands weren't entirely clean as his first act on succeeding David was to dispose of his half-brother).

Solomon became King in 970 BC. We don't know exactly how long it took to build the Temple but as a guide, King Herod spent 80 years building his version. Solomon enlisted the help of his ally Hiram King of Tyre a Phoenician (modern-day Lebanon). The Phoenicians had the raw materials-cedar wood, sandalwood, ivory, gold and silver. They also had the craftsmen with the necessary skills. They were the foremost traders of the age sailing as far as Northern Europe and trading with the Far East. 

As no noise was to be heard in God's house, everything was crafted off-site and assembled in situ...the first flat pack? Now where is part 35???

The footprint of the temple was smaller than you might imagine being 33' x 115' There was the porchway or entrance with the two great pillars, a courtyard, then a hall for purification, and finally the Holy Of Holies which was to contain the Ark of the Covenant (only 4' x 2.5'in size) which held Moses' tablets of the 10 Commandments. Apart from two massive angels guarding the Holy of Holies, the Temple held no images of God- which was in stark contrast to contemporary temples in the surrounding countries which would be crammed with images of the gods.

Our Masonic Temples are meant to be a figurative representation of this Temple. You have to imagine it in 3D as we move to the different areas of the Temple when we open the Lodge in the different Degrees.

Solomon's Temple stood until 586 BC when the Babylonians (modern-day Iraq/Iran) lost patience with the Israelites trying to rebel against them and destroyed the City, pulling down its walls and razing the Temple to its foundations. About 30,000 Israelites were deported to Babylon where they were exiled until 559 BC ( " By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept") when the Persians overthrew the Babylonians and allowed the Israelites to return.

The exiles rebuilt a Temple as near as possible to the original. This is the focus of Royal Arch Masonry ( known as Chapter). This stood until King Herod decided to pull it down completely to build his own swanky version, extending the footprint significantly. This Third and last Temple was finally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD when they removed the treasures. 

The last part of the Temple history relevant to Freemasonry occurs after the Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 when a group of eight knights petitioned the new Christian king to be allowed to occupy the old stables of Herod's Temple when they set up a new religious order which became known as.. The Knights of the Temple or Knights Templar.

"free and accepted or speculative”

"free and accepted or speculative”

"Free" the requirement for an initiate to be free stretches right back into operative/practical Freemasonry. A mediaeval apprentice was bound to his master by very strict rules and was not allowed to leave his apprenticeship. A Mason's Lodge had to be assured that a man was free of this obligation and was to be a member. In the transition to speculative Freemasonry, this requirement changed to a man being free and not enslaved. Until 1848 (when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire), this meant having been born free. This was one of the causes of friction between the Grand Lodges of America and the UK. The American Lodges would not admit African-American candidates, whether they had been enslaved or not. In the end, a man called Prince Hall applied to the Grand Lodge of England and Wales for authority to consecrate lodges that would admit African American candidates. This was granted and saw the beginning of a vibrant organisation named after Prince Hall, which is still recognised by UGLE.

"Accepted" - the transition from practical to theoretical Freemasonry isn't clear. The earliest example of the initiation of a speculative (as opposed to a practical) Freemason dates back to 1646 when Elias Ashmole joined a Lodge in Warrington. Moving forward to 1717, we have the first meeting of the Grand Lodge of England. Somewhere in between these dates, the transition from practical to theoretical Freemasonry became more established. Towards the end of the 1600's the word " accepted" appears in the minutes of the Guild of London Masons, referring to a group of speculative Masons. They became known as the " Acception". The word therefore serves to distinguish the theoretical from the practical Mason.

"Speculative" - here again, the modern meaning of this word carries implications of guesswork or imprecise knowledge, e.g. " it's pure speculation" The original meaning was " knowledge gained by contemplation". The speculative Mason, therefore, uses his mind to gain knowledge rather than his hands to create buildings.

I hope this was of interest. If there are particular aspects of our ceremonies and rituals that pique your interest, please ask me. If I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to find out.