At the tender age of seven, Richard “Red” Skelton was already pounding the pavement, peddling newspapers. His father – a former clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus - had died, and the family needed Red’s help.Tommy E. Sawyer of the Indianapolis Murat Shriners reports that this newspaper job became Skelton’s first link to Freemasonry. While selling papers on a street corner, Richard was approached by a man with a five-dollar bill. After buying a newspaper, the man declined to receive the change. When Skelton asked him why,
the man replied: I am a Mason and we are taught to give! It was then that Skelton emotionally pledged
his future allegiance to Freemasonry.
Wikipedia reports that acceptance into Freemasonry hinges upon the following prerequisites: approaching
Freemasonry from a free-will perspective, believing in a Supreme Being (the interpretation of which is left up to the individual), being of a certain minimum age (which varies, generally from 18 to 25), being “of good morals, and of good reputation,” and being “of sound mind and body” (which has been known to raise some questions regarding disabilities).
Skelton not only joined the Freemasons and Shriners (a fraternal organization that is closely connected with Freemasonry), but also rose to the highest levels of each. He was a Scottish Rite Mason who earned the 33rd Degree in 1969. He was also one of very few to have ever earned the Scottish Rite Gourgas Medal.
Less than 30 others before Skelton (Harry S. Truman being the first) had been awarded this medal.
Along with his intense commitment to Freemasonry, Skelton also pledged his full allegiance to America. Not wanting the Pledge of Allegiance to become just a rote exercise for school children, he presented an annotated version in his own inimitable style. At its conclusion, he would sometimes add: Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our nation, and two words have been added to the Pledge
of Allegiance “under God.” Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said, “That’s a prayer” and that would be eliminated from schools, too?
Resources
http://www.muratshrine.org/bios/skelton.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Skelton
http://www.redskelton.com/PLEDGE.htm
http://itctel.com/~docsue/red.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
Copyright July 18, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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