John Wayne Chapter #3667 Order of DeMolay

"Without a strict observance of the fundamental Code of Honor, no man, no matter how "polished," can be considered a gentleman.  The honor of a gentleman demands the inviolability of his word, and the incorruptibility of his  principles.  He is the descendant of the knight, the crusader; he is the defender of the defenseless and champion of justice.... or he is not a Gentleman."

Taken from Virginia Military Institute's "Code of the Gentleman."

When you knelt at the altar, you pledged yourself in the presence of God and your fellow members of the Order, to be loyal to the great ideals expressed in your obligations.  Memorize your obligations in the Initiatory Degree and in the DeMolay Degree as soon as you have received them.  Memorizing your DeMolay obligations is important, but it is even more important that you learn the meaning behind the obligations as well.  The Chapter will provide you with competent instruction in the obligations.  When you have learned both obligations and have passed an examination thereon, you are entitled to an Obligation Card showing that you have done so.  Ask your Scribe for it.

     You cannot lawfully vote on petitions for membership or become a Chapter officer until you have memorized and passed the examination on both obligations and received your Obligation Card.  Once the Chapter is opened on a particular Degree, only those who have received that Degree can remain.  Those members who have received only the Initiatory Degree cannot remain once the Chapter begins opening on the DeMolay Degree to go into its business session. 

In this day and age, most of us have encountered a zero tolerance policy in some form or another at work, school, church, or even the groups we belong to.  None of us wants to be around someone exhibiting immoral or illegal behavior, or worse, influencing children with such behavior.  Zero tolerance policies go a long way in ridding us of that type of behavior, or at least removing it quickly when discovered.  But is the word tolerance becoming lost in this frenzy of policy?  Are there no more positive connotations left for this once venerated word?  Has today's society, with it's head buried in the sand of escapism and narcissism, completely forgotten that tolerance can be a good and necessary ideal.  Where is tolerance taught these days?  You won't find it on any of the public school curriculums.  You won't find it on your way to the top of the company ladder either.  You won't even find it in the oaths of boy scouts or girl scouts.  We see the effects of the ignorance of this word in our lives every day.  Political parties hammering away at each other; none of them taking the time to listen to the other side.  Neighbors coming to blows because they are so caught up in themselves they don't even think of looking at the situation from the other guys position.  The benefit of the doubt is almost unheard of.  Lawsuits are becoming the first option more and more frequently in settling disputes.  If allowed to grow unabated, the disease of intolertion will destroy our freedom and our way of life.  It has happended before.  It has already taken over some parts of the world.  Toleration, is simply something we must have to function as a free and productive society.  That is why it is one of the two lessons we are taught in the DeMolay Degree.  By observing the trials of Jacques DeMolay and the abuses he endured from an all powerful and greedy king that never learned the lesson of toleration or practiced it, we are taught that evil usually springs from the absence of toleration.  It is one of the precepts that can be difficult to adhere to at times.  I myself am guilty of intolerance on more than one occasion and have paid the price for it.  I have also benefited from having my eyes and mind opened when practicing tolerance.  We just have to think before acting.  After all, God only gave us one mouth, but two ears.  We must endeavor to practice this ideal, and preserve the great lesson of tolerance that was first taught to me by a young group of DeMolays so long ago.