Why is Masonic ritual regarded as so important?
Truth may be taught without ritual, but truth taught by ritual is always taught as the original teachers desired and makes a lasting impression upon the mind of the learner. Man has always devised ceremonies of initiation for his organizations; the Men’s House of the Indians had them; savage tribes bring their young men officially to manhood by rites which are some-times rather terrible; ancient religions admitted to the temple only those who could qualify by successfully completing a course of initiation; many modern churches especially those denominated “high”have set forms for religious worship; crafts and guilds of all kinds in all ages have had certain preparatory rites. A ritual which becomes sacrosanct in human belief tends to stabilize truth and to keep it uncontaminated by “modern” ideas. Many a man has thought he could “improve” the ritual of Freemasonry. None has succeeded in making better that which was already “best,” since its content was and is living, breathing, sentien