Ken Calder replies: “Seems the two issues I have raised has created some very interesting debate.

“As a 32nd degree (currently a Grand Commander) I have a fair knowledge of the rituals and teachings of Freemasonry and feel that both of the issues I raised are intertwined.

“I totally agree with the explanation by Bruce Cowie but think there is more to that plan:

“In the final of the third degree we are charged “to correct the errors and irregularities of brethren and fellows and to improve the morals and correct the manners of men in society”.

“The Mark degree teaches us to be firm in our resolve while other degrees and orders all hold important messages. However, the higher you go the increasingly simple does the message become.

“Freemasonry has evolved from the stonemasons’ guilds by introducing men who are not indentured workers and has carried these “Medieval” values down through the ages, demonstrating them to our fellow man by the way that we live in society.

“We must therefore be firm in our resolve for our organisation to be respected in society and show that we hold dear to certain values (in this case conformity to the current laws of our country), honesty and integrity (amongst numerous others). We should show that we hold dear those common values portrayed in the various books we use as a “Volume of the Scared Law”.

“From my research and experience in Freemasonry I have reached the understanding that the initial “Plan of Freemasonry” was for stonemasons living in foreign lands to not only act, but seen to act, as worthy citizens so that they may be left to labour in peace on the great edifices they built.
That is exactly what Bruce’s explanation charges us to do.

“Expelling a brother for a major misdemeanour does not mean that he cannot, after having proven himself again worthy of consideration, be reinstated as a Freemason once he is again “free”. However, by excluding him then he must go through due process for any consideration of restoration of his privileges before re-joining anywhere in the world.

“Any experienced brother will attest to the ease of working with material that is already of the correct structure to make the perfect stone which is why due investigation is undertaken before anyone can be initiated.
In some cases, there is no hope to make a bad man good; so there may be a better way to correct the irregularities by starting before they are tempted to stray from the straight and narrow.

“The series on Alcohol Prohibition in America and the movie Spotlight clearly depicted the way certain temptations can corrupt huge sectors of society and I think Freemasonry came through both scenarios with a clear conscience and in a good light.

“With values seeming to be on the decline in society the Central Goldfields Masonic group have initiated a series of “Lectures in Life” as a memorial to brutally slain Master of Talbot Masonic Lodge, Wor. Bro. John Burke.

“The first of these lectures covering Integrity and honesty narrated by the late M.W. Grand Master Vaughan Werner PGM is in production with the aim to introduce these to year seven students for consideration to adopt as their own character traits.

“That way we can communicate our values better than “one man at a time”.”