Tolerance Awareness Tuesday

"I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here. We're in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them. No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith."

George W. Bush made these remarks in an address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001. His statement reaffirms that this is a country of diverse peoples and faiths. Delivered at a time when the fires at the World Trade Center were, literally, still burning, his words should reach through the intervening years to give us pause.

Masons should espouse that not only should all peoples be free from unfair treatment and unkind words because of their faith, they should be respected. Masonry requires that its members have a belief in a Supreme Being, and we guard jealously each man’s right to worship his God as he sees fit.