A happy community

This is a very obscure publication. It's a reprint of all issues of "The American Co-Mason" from the year 1929. I have no idea why Kessinger Publishing chose to reprint these particular issues. Why not 1928? Or 1930? Nor are the reprints particularly interesting. I leafed through these old issues of "The American Co-Mason" as I sat on the metro.

Co-Masonry is a special kind of Masonry that permits both men and women to become members. Regular Masonic fraternities are all-male. Co-Masonry is not recognized by the "real" Freemasons, apparently neither by the conservative Anglo-American version, nor the radical French version. "The American Federation of Human Rights" was the American branch of French Co-Masonry, known as Le Droit Humain.

"The American Co-Mason" contains articles about Egyptian religion, sacred geometry, and various intrigues between Masonic lodges. The magazine supported prohibition, at one point sarcastically remarking that the states which prohibit whiskey even for medical purposes, seems to have the best health! "The American Co-Mason" also reprints an article by Herbert Hoover, who was president of the United States at this time. There are articles supporting the anti-Catholic stance of the Mexican government, and a curious claim that the president of Costa Rica was a Co-Mason. The Co-Masons also demanded the repeal of monkey laws (laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution). Overall, however, the magazine gives a very non-political impression. But yes, they were "progressive" in orientation.

Judging by some other articles, there must have been a connection between the Co-Masons and the Theosophists. Annie Besant is frequently mentioned, and actually addressed as "The Very Illustrious Brother"! A long speech by Besant at a convention in Chicago is reprinted. The entire issue of Krishnamurti is sidestepped, and "The American Co-Mason" is surprisingly muted in its criticism of him.

Christian fundamentalism is occasionally attacked, quite sarcastically. A court case in Texas, during which White Freemasons lost a frivolous lawsuit against an African-American Masonic lodge, is gleefully reported, the reason probably being both anti-racism and hostility to regular, conservative Masonry. Finally, I noticed a strange report from Sweden, about the small island of Runoe (actually part of Estonia), where the local farmers are said to practice communism!

I can't say "American Co-Mason Official Bulletin of the American Federation of Human Rights 1929" really thrilled me. But if you happen to be a Co-Mason, you might perhaps found it interesting.

I will end with some humorous quotes from the book. I believe in the happy community. Fundamentalism, sad to say, is still with us!

>>>>DISCARDING SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS. Our Fundamentalists need to do something more effective than offering a thousand dollars for proof that Adam was not fooled by an apple - a crab apple, when really he wanted a peach, if they wish to hold their own against progressive views. It appears that of 500 Protestant Ministers officially questioned, 47 per cent did not believe in hell; 60 per cent did think there was a devil, but did not believe he lived in a burning pit, having for only pastime the exciting pleasure of roasting human beings. This is bad enough, but what is much worse is the fact that the next generation of preachers will be still much further away from the dear Fundamentalists who would enjoy the devil's interesting job especially if given charge of all evolutionists. Recently, of 200 divinity students questioned on the subject, 12 only denied the theory of evolution. In an honest tilt between science and fundamentalism, the later is bound to take more and more a back seat.

>>>>>THE FLOOD. Archaeologists have discovered traces of the flood - a deep bed of sand and silt, with remnants of an ancient civilization under it. And this in the Euphrates valley. The happiness of the Fundamentalists over this discovery is somewhat marred by the fact that the same archaeologists found a number of Sumerian tablets written long before Genesis describing the flood in almost identical terms of the later Biblical accounts. Archaeologists have also dug up the ancient site of Hazor which Joshua conquered. However, they failed to find anything to prove that Joshua has made the sun stand still. Recently a number of learned and devout scholars of the Church of England have published a "New Commentary" on the Holy Scriptures in which they dismiss the story of Jonah and the whale, of Noah's ark, of Belthazar's feast and of the Tower of Babel as myths, without historical foundation and impossible to believe. They also said that Moses did not write the Pentateuch and that Methuselah was not as old as he claimed. These learned and devout scholars are lucky to be living in the twentieth century. The roasting they are in for will be a verbal one.

>>>>>A HAPPY COMMUNITY. A press dispatch from Stockholm states that on the small island of Runoe, in the Bay of Riga, the population, reaching about 300 people, has been practicing communism for the last ten centuries. Fishing and seal hunting are the chief sources of income. The proceeds from this industry are divided equally among the inhabitants of the Island, including the children. Forest and pasture are common property. A farmer who has additional work to do on his farm calls on his neighbours who help to do the work and receive free meals until the work is done. Farmers do not own the land and cannot sell it. It belongs to the community. There are no servants. Crime is unknown on the Island and there is no need for police. There is no doubt that these people are the most happy, even if they live in a primitive way. They co-operate and help each other - a lesson which we, who call ourselves civilized could learn from to great advantage.