chodapp
New Member
PGM Haas was NOT expelled over the so-called Wheeling Reforms.
His proposed legislation at the annual communication was narrowly passed, not as individual votes, but as one massive item, which is presumably (I haven't read it) in violation of WV's constitution. It certainly would be in Indiana, as each piece of legislation changed different portions of their laws. The next incoming GM nullified the vote by edict, proclaiming it improper. Frank Haas is a friend, but he's also a judge, and should have never allowed what he knew was an improper voting procedure. Still, that was not the stated reason why he was expelled a little over a year later.
In the wake of the edict that cancelled the vote, Frank was not shy about complaining to others about his disappointment. Then, an anonymous website called MasonicCrusade appeared (the Internet will kill us all), in which several unidentified Masons took their complaints very public. Certain documents were released on the website, and the NEXT Grand Master, Charles Montgomery, determined that it was Haas who released them. Montgomery believed Haas was the chief organizer of MasonicCrusade. There were also back room rumblings that Frank was overtly stirring up support for running for GM again. When Frank was confronted by Montgomery in open lodge, he denied the GM's accusations. Montgomery accused Haas of lying to him in lodge, and that's when he was expelled.
Those are the basics.
To answer another point that was asked here concerning visiting a lodge that is in amity with a GL your own home GL is not, most grand lodges tend to side with the "when in Rome" guideline: namely, it's not your job as a visitor to poll everyone in the room to make sure they are not considered clandestine in your own jurisdiction. You are a guest, and should behave as one. It's not incumbent on you to show up armed with a copy of Pantagraph's List of Lodges Masonic and examine dues cards of others. However, the "When In Rome" guideline is not official anywhere I know of, and there are a few hardline GMs and/or GLs that can make it your problem if they choose to do so.
But, for instance, assume you are from a jurisdiction that does not recognize the PHA GL in your state, and you visit a lodge that does. If a black Brother enters the room, do you automatically assume he is a Prince Hall Mason; or assume he is a mainstream member; or demand to know from him or from the sitting Master what his affiliation is; or leave because you don't want to take the chance of breaking your own GL's rules? Depending on YOUR grand lodge, and your own beliefs, any of those choices may be the correct one, according to Masonic law.
Note that I didn't say the best one.
And eliminating the race question from the situation, if you scan the room, how do you know if another visiting brother might hold membership in one of the many clandestine French or Mexican GLs that your GL is not in amity with? Again, is it your job to examine all visitors yourself?
His proposed legislation at the annual communication was narrowly passed, not as individual votes, but as one massive item, which is presumably (I haven't read it) in violation of WV's constitution. It certainly would be in Indiana, as each piece of legislation changed different portions of their laws. The next incoming GM nullified the vote by edict, proclaiming it improper. Frank Haas is a friend, but he's also a judge, and should have never allowed what he knew was an improper voting procedure. Still, that was not the stated reason why he was expelled a little over a year later.
In the wake of the edict that cancelled the vote, Frank was not shy about complaining to others about his disappointment. Then, an anonymous website called MasonicCrusade appeared (the Internet will kill us all), in which several unidentified Masons took their complaints very public. Certain documents were released on the website, and the NEXT Grand Master, Charles Montgomery, determined that it was Haas who released them. Montgomery believed Haas was the chief organizer of MasonicCrusade. There were also back room rumblings that Frank was overtly stirring up support for running for GM again. When Frank was confronted by Montgomery in open lodge, he denied the GM's accusations. Montgomery accused Haas of lying to him in lodge, and that's when he was expelled.
Those are the basics.
To answer another point that was asked here concerning visiting a lodge that is in amity with a GL your own home GL is not, most grand lodges tend to side with the "when in Rome" guideline: namely, it's not your job as a visitor to poll everyone in the room to make sure they are not considered clandestine in your own jurisdiction. You are a guest, and should behave as one. It's not incumbent on you to show up armed with a copy of Pantagraph's List of Lodges Masonic and examine dues cards of others. However, the "When In Rome" guideline is not official anywhere I know of, and there are a few hardline GMs and/or GLs that can make it your problem if they choose to do so.
But, for instance, assume you are from a jurisdiction that does not recognize the PHA GL in your state, and you visit a lodge that does. If a black Brother enters the room, do you automatically assume he is a Prince Hall Mason; or assume he is a mainstream member; or demand to know from him or from the sitting Master what his affiliation is; or leave because you don't want to take the chance of breaking your own GL's rules? Depending on YOUR grand lodge, and your own beliefs, any of those choices may be the correct one, according to Masonic law.
Note that I didn't say the best one.
And eliminating the race question from the situation, if you scan the room, how do you know if another visiting brother might hold membership in one of the many clandestine French or Mexican GLs that your GL is not in amity with? Again, is it your job to examine all visitors yourself?
