Page 30 - MFM Nov Dec 2021

Quality of Membership &
Quality of Freemasons
Ron Triggs, M.W.P.G.M., Grand Lodge of Wyoming
The following presentation was given by Ron
Triggs, M.W.P.G.M., Grand Lodge of Wyoming as
the Keynote Speaker during the 145th Annual
Communication of the Grand Lodge of Montana,
June 23-25, 2011, in Miles City, Montana. Most
Worshipful Grand Master John J. Mangen
presiding.
want to thank you for your invitation to
I speak to the Brethren today. I have to tell you
Brethren, when the Grand Master asked me to
speak, he said, “You know Ron, I’ve had a couple
of controversies on this issue of Quality this year,
so you might take it a little easy.” And I said, “Well
Grand Master, don’t worry. What I plan to do is
come in and talk politics in a tyled lodge.” Well,
the Grand Master’s reaction was astonishing and
immediate. So I thought I probably ought to assure
him that I wasn’t going to talk about “partisan”
politics, but rather Freemasonry’s traditional role
in it. And of course, at that, he uncurled from the
fetal position, and removed his thumb from his
mouth, and dried his eyes, hooked his thumbs in
his suspenders and said, “Well, I knew that.”
But Brethren, I do want to talk to you a little
bit about Freemasonry, about one of my favorite
topics, which is, “Quality of Membership, and
Quality of Freemasons.” Some of you have heard
me speak on this topic before, but I have some
additional thoughts that I want to pass along,
because I believe that the theme of “quality” is
probably more important than ever before in this
Fraternity.
I have - two of my academic degrees are in
Political Science - and I have been active in politics
in one capacity or another for half a century. I
have to tell you that, as I look at America today, I
find that our political dialogue is more polarized
than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. I suggest that it
may be more polarized than at any time since the
Montana Freemason
late 1850s. Good-will, charity, confidence in your
opponent, is disappearing from the American
political discord. Moreover Brethren, as I look at
the international geopolitical situation, I believe
that we are seeing an increasingly dangerous
world. Obviously our attention is focused on the
Middle East, but many observers look at the threat
posed by Russia and China and realize that we are
in ever-increasing peril internationally. Perhaps
our international situation is as dangerous today
as it was in the late 1930s.
The reason that I raise both of these issues is to
suggest to you that we have not seen a confluence
of internal political discord, and external political
dangers of this magnitude since the 1770s. And if
like me, you are old enough to remember those
days, you recall that was a very close-run thing.
Only because of some very remarkable men who
led this nation’s Armed Forces and led its political
institutions, America survived the challenges of
the 1770s and early 1780s. Freemasonry played
an enormous role throughout that period, as all
of you know. We have perils, we have challenges,
we have dangers that we have not seen in a
couple of centuries.
Two centuries ago, we had a Fraternity which was
equal to that challenge. This Fraternity accepted
only the best and brightest from every walk of
life. Consequently, this Fraternity was placed to
influence the course of politics in America and
the world. We were a steadying and stabilizing
influence; we were a voice of reason, and virtue,
and Masonic values, at a time when this nation
needed it most. I submit to you Brethren: this
nation and this world need Masonic virtues and
values and principles, as much today as ever
before in our history. Many of you appreciate that
“republican government,” small “r,” was created
at least in considerable part in the modern era,
Page 30 Nov/Dec Volume 97 No.5