Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogma
33 videos • 35,498 views • by MasonicBooks Clausen possessed "the habit of command." He left a distinctive mark on the morale and organizational aspects of the Rite by keeping a firm finger on the most minute particulars and an eye on new trends, such as workshops and procedures for modernization. He had his greatest impact, undoubtedly, in reshaping some of the deep contours of Scottish Rite ritual and practices. Also of important note is the prolific amount of literature which flowed from the Grand Commander's office. As early as 1969 he chaired a special committee on Morals & Dogma that reported a need to supplement Pike's classic treatise. Out of this committee discussion grew the development and publication of Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogma. In his retirement years Clausen, speaking of his book, reflected, "It became my magnum opus, a more modern means of telling our candidates the story and lessons of the Scottish Rite in a manner which could be more easily received and digested than the scholarly prior compilations of Pike." By 1974 each new candidate, upon receiving the thirty-second degree, was usually given a copy of Clausen's Commentaries, replacing, in some instances, the traditional gift copy of Pike's original 1871 Morals and Dogma. Clausen noted, "A famous lawyer once told his young associates to be sure their legal codes were 'well thumbed'. I, similarly, would be most happy if our workers and members will use my efforts frequently, the better to understand, prepare and present the great teachings of our Scottish Rite." First published in 1974 with an astoundingly large pressrun of 100,000, Clausen's Commentaries within ten years reached a distribution level exceeding 450,000 copies, including its translation into French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. By Clausen's own satisfied reckoning, it was "the most popular book in Masonic history." Clausen's Commentaries kept to the stylistic formula that simplicity is equivalent to elegance. In defining the purpose of the Scottish Rite, the author averred an unadulterated credo, summarizing the overall mission as one "To seek that which is of most worth in the world; To exalt the dignity of every person, the human side of our daily activities and the maximum service to humanity; To aid mankind's search in God's Universe for identity, for development, and for destiny; And thereby achieve better men in a better world; happier men in a happier world, and wiser men in a wiser world." He concluded the book with an apt, interrogating word-- forcing each reader to assess his life against the Rite's overarching goal, which has not been to teach any specific doctrine but rather to help each member to discover something of life, his life, the life beyond this life-- "What must you do to assure the possibility there is a creative, eternal continuance of your life? In short, will your life serve a cosmic purpose?" --William L. Fox, Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's Southern Jurisdiction, University of Arkansas Press 1997 pages 327-328.