I ask the question because I'm not certain why I should care beyond the love of history in general, and part of the learning experience. Please try to change my mimd on this.

History of Freemasonry.
Do the facts, or the lack there of affect us personally in the here and now?
I am wondering how distorted our vision of the historical facts are due to documentation.

Written documentation is scarce till the Grand lodges were set up.
Prior to that, there are a few pieces.

Even after the invention of the Grand loges, seems there are different spellings/ pronounciations/ facts which were documented..... and ones which were not.

How much do we really know of the Craft that existed even immediately prior to our own personal initiations.
Which leads me to wonder, is it that important?

Don't get me wrong.
History in general is an interest to me.
However would my finding a certain fact of the past etc. change anyting of the who what and why of what I am or what my lodge is in the now?

I suppose I am wondering this due to a conversation I had this weekend with a group of wheter Jesus Christ was married or not.
An interesting subject, but I discovered that I simply don't care.
It is a subject that is not of me.
It is and was an interesting converstation, but it does not affect my faith at all one way or the other.

Then there are those who argue that women were at one time freemasons. operative and otherwise.
To find and prove operateive female masons would help our 'cause' to become regular with UGLE.
An occurance which I wuld find nice, but doesnt' change my regularity witin my own obedience.

I counter that argument with one of many examples of now gender specific rolles and how they have changed.
One example is that of the cloting trades. Taylor, Lacemaker, Knitters, Sewing, Habadashery, (sp?) They were all male occupied trades till the industrial revolution. Now, I still know men who would not be caught dead with a sewing needle and thread in their hand let alone a pair of knitting needles. I also know others who enjoy embroidery and other such craft.

Times change, the human race adapts to the change.
Is the history of an item necessary to initiate that chanage in an indivudual, or a group of individuals or a society?

Just wondering what others think.

Thanks

I think its quite simple to understand bod, Ugle were the first grand lodges and they set down what modern freemasonry should be from the ancient charges. Therefor if you don't work to those guidelines then you don't get into the clubhouse. so to speak.

So firemist was stating that as regularity is such a contentious issue among some then does it really matter what they say, and she believes that it doesn't matter to her but it it might matter to others.