Once again Sig Ep Talk is reverbeerating over someone’s use of a phrase partly taken from the context of the verbage of the Ritual and Guide. I continue to find this perplexing. Why are so many people getting upset over this?
- The Strategic Plan of the fraternity has left out any significant inclusion of the Ritual as being a foundation for our future directions;
- The National Board of Directors has eliminated the Committee on Ritual (or whatever you want to call it) from the list of standing National Committees;
- The Grand Chapter (and that’s you out there, Bubbas) has allowed numerous changes/edits/alterations to the Ritual to occur and be distributed without requiring a ratifying vote;
- More women on your campus probably know the content of your Ritual, including the “double secret” stuff, better than most of your members;
- Your Ritual equipment is in disrepair or lost or never used;
- Your chapter treats your performance of the Ritual as drudgery and the last ditch effort to terrorize and intimidate your new members rather than approaching it as the best and most special gift that you can pass along to men you have chosen to call Brother.
When one considers any of the major organized religions, each is based on a canon of collected passages that often tell a story. Some of these canons have been studied meticulously for thousands of years in the hope of fully understanding them and in hoping that the truths contained therein will be incorporated into the daily lives of the followers. Should we not treat OUR Ritual and Guide in a similar manner?
Yet we keep it locked up, and don’t dare mention even an adjective that is used within its text. We condemn anyone that does. How foolish is that? Are you afraid of the lessons it teaches? Our members profess allegiance to the Cardinal tenets of Virtue, Diligence, and Brother Love, but do we articulate these by our actions and by example or just see fit to bring them out for recruitment promos.
Many of our chapters shun the concept of Ritual education in their member development programs. Why? Most probably because the chapter is not living up to the standards the Ritual sets.
It is also the last-ditch power-trip for the fully endowed Brother before the few true secrets are revealed to the new members. These truths make everyone equal and in today’s competitive society it is not the way the game is played. (And, to perpetuate this concept we often revert to using the distasteful term, “junior initiate.”)
When was the last time you sat down and actually studied the Ritual? When was the last time you actually had a discussion about some component of the Ritual during a chapter meeting? When was the last time you actually invited an alum to a chapter meeting to discuss his perception of how the Ritual has impacted positively on his life or career? When was the last you read a passage from the Ritual and your RD couldn’t tell you where it came from?
No one has possibly put the use of a fraternity ritual better that Ed King, Order of Constantine, Sigma Chi, in his famous presentation, Secret Thoughts of the Ritual.
