When I arrived home from the Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity conference I found the new issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society in my mailbox, which has an article that I wrote which begins a larger conversation that I intend to continue about ritual violence and Masonic ritual from a Girardian perspective. Before I saw the article in print, I know that a robust conversation had already begun about the article on some Masonic chatrooms and local groups, based on the number of emails sent to me within hours of the journal’s mail delivery. Needless to say, the article touches some sensitive issues.
The cover depicts a sculpture of Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum, the three ruffians who murder the architect of Solomon’s temple in the Masonic Hiramic Legend. A significant part of my article is a deconstruction of the racial identities of these characters. I have a follow-up article already written; I find this to be an interesting exercise in Girardian theory for me and I think it bears some fruit, especially since one of the primary claims of anti-Masonic religious polemics focuses upon the ritual violence of Freemasonry. Thinking through the ritual qua Girard turns the critique upside-down and inside-out.
The Masonic Society is an association of Freemasons committeed to the Craft and is the fastest growing Masonic research body in the world. Their journal publishes work by academics and non-Masons. For more info about the Society and its journal, click here.
Here’s the issue’s table of contents:
“Ecclesiastes: An Interpretation” by Tavit Smith
“The Beehive and Its Appearance on the Official Banner of the Gran Logia de Cuba, A.L. y A.M.” by James W. Hogg
“The Making of a Museum” by James R. Dillman
“Spatial Symbolism, Ceremonial Dance and Masonic Ritual” by Kelly Ranasinghe
“Mythic Fratricide and the Hiramic Legend: A Girardian Interpretation” by Christopher D. Rodkey
An und für sich 
Interesting. The myths are so profound and complex, you could study them from so many different angles.