Why I Joined Rotary, History and Philosophy of Rotary

Today we will reflect on both the history and philosophy of the Rotary
movement, as well as my personal experience with Rotary.
There are four types of civic groups, fraternal organizations such as the
Masonic Lodges, often with elaborate secretive rites closed to the public;
secular civic groups such as the Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs, which
seek to serve the community; business networking groups such as the
Chamber of Commerce, where each member promotes their business;
and civic groups that have a limited membership base, such as the
Catholic Knights of Columbus.

Main Types of Civic Groups
• Fraternal Groups, such
as Masons, Elks, Moose
• Civic Organizations, such
as Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions
Clubs
• Business Networking
Groups, such as
Chamber of Commerce
• Civic Groups with
limited membership
field, such as Catholic
Knights of Columbus Volunteers cleaning up after the 2012 Hurricane Sandy.

There were Masonic Lodges active before the French
Revolution, and in modern times there are numerous rites
in existence. Other fraternal organizations such as the Elks
and Moose lodges were formed in the late 1800’s, and
they often raise money for charitable causes such as the
Shriner’s Hospital. The major civic groups, mainly
Rotarians, Kiwanis, and Lions, were organized in the early
1900’s and are only secondarily business networking
groups. Likewise, the business networking groups may also
raise money for charities.

Initiation of
an apprentice
Freemason
around 1800.

Wikimedia pictures of US Navy personnel with Next Generation
Enterprise Network visiting Shriners Hospital, 2009.

Historically, many Christian denominations were opposed to the
Masons and other fraternal organizations, and the modern
Catholic Church has never revoked its historical condemnations
of these organizations. Individual members of these lodges will
vehemently disagree, pointing out that these fraternal
organizations strive to be non-denominational. Most pastors and
priests will bite their lips and not mention these official stances
to their parishioners, seeing their modern incarnations as
somewhat harmless. After all, how threatening can elderly men
with funny caps toodling about in small motorcycles and tiny cars
in parades be?

Interior of
Masonic
Lodge Temple
in Richmond,
Virginia.

Shriners from Kena Temple riding miniature cars at Fairfax City, VA, 4th of July Parade, by Jarek Tuszyński, 2015

Shriner Clown cars at the Fourth of July Parade in Ferndale, California, by Ellin Beltz, 2016.

History of Rotary International
Rotary International Paul P. Harris Monument, Ermita, Manila, Philippines.

The Rotary Clubs, which I recently joined, have no secrets,
they are quite open about their philosophy. The first
Rotary Club was founded by attorney Paul Harris and
three business associates, each with a different
occupation, in Chicago, Illinois. Since they initially rotated
the meetings among the offices of the members, they
named it Rotary, but they quickly established a fixed
meeting place, and Rotary very early became a service-
oriented organization.

Rotary International Paul P. Harris Monument, Ermita, Manila, Philippines.

By 1910, there were Rotary Clubs in San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, and Los
Angeles. In late 1910 they founded their first international club in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, in Canada. In 1912 they founded clubs in Ireland and London, and in
1922 they changed their name to Rotary International after founding clubs in Cuba,
the Philippines, and India. The Rotary movement grew both nationally and
internationally, and many Rotarians were active in the founding of the United
Nations after the end of World War II. Today there are Rotary Clubs in most
countries, except for many Middle Eastern Muslim counties. In the 1980’s women
became eligible to join in the Rotary Clubs in America. Today there are over 46,000
Rotary Clubs worldwide, with about one and a half million members.
Since my concern is how to live a godly life rather than a happy life, my interest is
more on the ethics of Rotary, and how it can help me achieve my primary goal in
life, to make a difference, however small, in my community.

The first
members
of Rotary:
Gustavus
Lauer,
Sylvester
Shiel,
Hiram
Shorey and
Paul Harris.

Countries with Rotary Clubs are BLUE.

Early in its history, the Rotary Clubs adopted the
Four Way Test. The Rotary website states that
“the Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and
nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use
for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say, or do:
• Is it the TRUTH?
• Is it FAIR to all concerned?
• Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER
FRIENDSHIPS?
• Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
Rotary Four Way Test

The Four Way Test is a restatement of the Golden
Rule that is the core teaching of all Judeo-Christian
traditions, with an emphasis on developing
fellowship with fellow Rotarians.

https://youtu.be/ygxn2qqGnOI
One example is when an enquirer challenged Rabbi Hillel:
“Convert me to Judaism on condition that you will teach
me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.”
Hillel said to him, “That which is hateful unto you, do not
do unto your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the
rest is commentary. Now, go and study.”

https://youtu.be/1f-rAs-rBI0
Likewise, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy the core of the Judeo-Christian
tradition, that you should “Love God with all of our heart and with all of your soul
and with all of your mind and all of your strength, and that you should love your
neighbor as yourself.” That summarizes the teachings of the Law and the Prophets.

You might object that since Rotary is a strictly secular
organization, this would not apply if you do not
ascribe to the Judeo-Christian tradition. If so, you can
instead love the good, the Platonic notion that truth
is not subjective, that there is an objective truth that
applies to all humans, or the Natural Law of the
modern philosophers. Virtue is not relative.

St Augustine applies this two-fold Love of God, or love of the
good, and love of your neighbor, to Biblical interpretation. Our
saint teaches us that all Scripture must be interpreted in light of
this two-fold love, and when the literal reading of the Scriptures
appears to violate this two-fold love, then it should be
interpreted allegorically. This principle can be extended to our
relations to our neighbors, that we should think the best of our
neighbor, so we can bring out the best in our neighbor, and that
everything we think, say, or do should be beneficial to all
concerned.

This same pattern is seen in the Decalogue, where what we think
of our neighbor affects our speech and actions, and where our
speech also affects our actions. Note that the Four Way Test bids
us to speak the truth, and only say what is beneficial to our
neighbor. Note that it does not say we should not lie, as the
commandment reads not that we should not lie, but that we
should not bear false witness against our neighbor, that we
should guard the reputation of our neighbor. This means that we
should not gossip about our neighbor, and even if what we say
about our neighbor is true, it is not beneficial if it harms the
reputation of our neighbor.

https://youtu.be/KvKOCyREmQA
https://youtu.be/CZADtl6Yz74
https://youtu.be/tlTymS2Bxxo
https://youtu.be/jM2FrvyKsbk

Object of Rotary International
The Rotary website states that “the Object of Rotary is to encourage and
foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular,
to encourage and foster:
• FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.
• SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the
recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the
dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve
society.
• THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s
personal, business, and community life.
• FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill,
and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional
persons united in the ideal of service.”
Statue of Paul Harris,
Mexico City, 2018

Historically, Rotary Clubs have striven to have a balance of
occupations in their membership. Also, we have seen in
the recent political struggles how the first allegiance of
professionals like attorneys are to their profession than to
their employers, since the bar association can revoke their
privilege to practice law, and we see this from the local
courts to the Supreme Court. This is also true of many
professions, accounting in particular. Rotary attempts to
spread this ethos of responsible behavior across all
professions.

https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/rotary-clubs

There is a heavy emphasis on the international
efforts of Rotary, one project is to totally eliminate
polio from the face of the earth. Last year there were
only a dozen or so cases around Afghanistan, they
even convinced the Taliban to permit them to
inoculate remote villages against this disease that
ravished so many a century ago.

https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio

My Experience After Joining Rotary

Recently I attended the first phase of the Rotary Leadership Institute held on a
Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and have visited many of the larger clubs in my
Area. The Rotarians strive to be diverse, and women make up roughly half of the
membership and leadership of the clubs in my area, and there is substantial
participation by minorities.
Most attendees were over forty, but there were some younger members. Younger
people are welcome, one of our younger participants belonged to her high school
Interact Club, which is sponsored by a local Rotary Chapter. If you want to live a
godly life, if you want to not only love your neighbor but want to serve your
neighbor, Rotary is an excellent opportunity to serve the community, and your
church can partner with Rotary on these community projects. There are many larger
clubs and smaller clubs, and if they meet at a country club, they likely have some
more prosperous members.

https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/youth-programs

At one meeting I was visiting I was sitting next to an investment advisor in an
established family firm, he said he joined Rotary because he was not interested in
joining another business networking club, he wanted to join a club that gave back to
the community. Members of Rotary Clubs not only give alms to charities, but they
also donate time and service, getting involved with the community. If you do not
think this is true with your local Rotary Clubs, then you can join Rotary yourself and
make it more true.
Fellowship is a big part of Rotary, just as it is with churches, and the larger cities
have multiple chapters, you can visit many chapters to find one that is welcoming to
you. But people are people wherever you go, and Rotary people are no exception,
so whatever acquaintances you form in this world, you should simply strive for
everyone you meet to become slightly better people because they met you, and
that you bring out the best in most everyone you meet. Rotary is very receptive to
this compassionate ethos.

https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/rotary-community-corps

My Story: Why I Joined Rotary International

In Rotary, you are encouraged to tell your compelling story of why you joined
Rotary. This is my story: I had a traumatic experience when serving as an officer for
an over-55 condominium association, we were threatening foreclosure on a
problem owner who had been in and out of collections for about a decade for back
maintenance fees. His neighbor warned us that we should reconsider, that there
was not something right upstairs with this fellow. We went ahead with the
foreclosure; he was also harassing the office staff and many of his neighbors
complained about his demented behavior.
I visited him with a good-hearted lady who ran a guardianship service, and he was
totally out of touch with reality, he had no conception of his impending foreclosure,
he was relying on his neighbors to feed him, and he had no family. I called the
attorney and stopped the foreclosure so the court could appoint this wonderful
lady as his guardian, she placed him in a compassionate facility, and sold his
condominium to pay his debts.

My fellow board members were pissed. Six months
passed, and they censured me, demanded that I resign,
and instructed the attorney to mail a letter to all unit
owners saying how I was not a team player, how I was
somehow endangering the association. I responded by
spending several thousand dollars for my own mailing,
printing in red letters on the front of the envelope that I
was being censured for stopping the foreclosure of a
destitute owner with advanced dementia who had no
family and nowhere to go.

This could have happened in any of our over-55
communities, people just do not know how to treat those
who are suffering from dementia, and about fifteen
percent of them do not have family to take care of them.
The notion that we are responsible for our actions lies at
the core of our religious beliefs and our society, and the
uncomfortable truth is that dementia robs its sufferers not
only their memory, not only their reasoning, but also their
moral compass. They are controlled by their emotions.

The police are becoming more aware of how they
should respond to those suffering from dementia,
and how to respond to them, so be quick to call the
police. Above all, if someone over sixty is behaving
strangely, even if they have a history of odd behavior,
they may have dementia, in the very early stages it
can be difficult to diagnose.

My goal is to educate the public on how we should treat our elderly and
those with dementia with more compassion. I first organized a seminar
on my own, but it had very low attendance, and was not a success. Then
after joining Rotary, we organized another community seminar, and with
the support of fellow Rotarians, it was more of a success, and next year’s
seminar will be a greater success.
The Alzheimer's Association is a sponsored charity for our Rotary Club
and also for Rotary International. Locally they have monthly zoom
meetings where they discuss the progress on battling dementia.

Some Rotary Clubs meet twice a month, some meet weekly, and
at each meeting they ask someone in the community to inform
us about their cause. We spoke before several of the larger clubs
about our Aging Seminar, and we had some participation. But
this also means that each club has between 24 and 52 speakers
each year, so perhaps we will need to speak before each club
several times to be noticed by each member.

Another Rotary tradition of many clubs is happy dollars, or happy five
dollars, where the money is earmarked for charity. These are happy
dollars because you are encouraged to share your own Rotary moment,
or happy thought, so I say I am happy because of a saying I have read
from a favorite Stoic philosopher, like Epictetus, or Rufus, or Seneca, or
Marcus Aurelius. Most people are aware that Judaism is the primary
influence of the early Christian tradition, but not as many are aware that
an important secondary influence is Stoicism. This is a good fit, just as
Rotary is evangelical about living a godly life, so is Stoicism. These stoic
sayings sound Christian, but they are secular. And many of the medieval
Jewish rabbis have many Stoic-sounding aphorisms as well.

How can ordinary people make a difference? Quite
often they can, I take inspiration from the ordinary
people who helped defeat Nazism in World War II, in
particular the freelance spy Agent Garbo, who was an
ordinary Spaniard who worked on a farm who
eventually fooled Hitler into committing troops and
tanks to Calais, ensuring the success of the landings
on Normandy Beach on D-Day.

ROTARIAN CODE OF CONDUCT
There are two versions of the Rotarian Code of Conduct, which
emphasize that the Four Way Tests are rules for living. We might
ask: Are there Rotarians who try to replace religion with Rotarian
ethics? Perhaps there are, but perhaps if Rotarians take these
rules to heart, Jesus will speak to their heart saying what he said
to Cornelius: “Your prayers and your almsgiving have ascended as
a memorial before God.”
This is the five-point version of the Rotarian Code of Conduct:

Vision of Cornelius the
Centurion, by Gerbrand
van den Eeckhout,
1664.
A dramatic play of light
and shadow can add an
emotional charge to the
depiction of an event,
such as representing
contact between the
human and the divine
in the appearance of an
angel to the Roman
centurion Cornelius.
The angel tells him to
seek out St. Peter, who
will then preach to him
about Christ.

“As a Rotarian, I will:
• Act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life.
• Deal fairly with others and treat them and their occupations with respect.
• Use my professional skills through Rotary to mentor young people, help those
with special needs, and improve people’s quality of life in my community and in
the world.
• Avoid behavior that reflects adversely on Rotary or other Rotarians.
• Help maintain a harassment-free environment in Rotary meetings, events, and
activities; report any suspected harassment; and help ensure non-retaliation to
those individuals that report harassment.”
Five Point Rotarian Code of Conduct

The eight-point Rotary Code of Conduct was formerly known as
the Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions. The
last point is an addition:
“Do not seek from a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage
not normally accorded others in a business or professional
relationship.”
We should also treat all those whom we meet with dignity and
respect: “Be fair in all dealings with others and treat them with
the respect due to them as fellow human beings.”

“As a Rotarian, I will
• Exemplify the core value of integrity in all behaviors and activities.
• Use my vocational experience and talents to serve in Rotary.
• Conduct all of my personal, business, and professional affairs ethically, while encouraging and
fostering high ethical standards as an example to others.
• Be fair in all dealings with others and treat them with the respect due to them as fellow
human beings.
• Promote recognition and respect for all occupations which are useful to society.
• Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of
the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community.
• Honor the trust that Rotary and fellow Rotarians provide and not do anything that will bring
disfavor or reflect adversely on Rotary or fellow Rotarians.
• Not seek from a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a
business or professional relationship.”
Eight Point Rotarian Code of Conduct

The Avenues of Service also encourage Rotarians to
first live a godly and ethical life, and involve ourselves
with the community, and with the youth of our
community. To learn more about the international
efforts of Rotary, please visit their website and
YouTube Channel.

“We channel our commitment to service at home and abroad through five Avenues
of Service, which are the foundation of club activity.
• Club Service focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong
relationships and an active membership development plan.
• Vocational Service calls on every Rotarian to work with integrity and contribute
their expertise to the problems and needs of society.
• Community Service encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality
of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest.
• International Service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and
understanding.
• Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young
professionals through leadership development programs.
Rotarian Avenues of Service

https://www.youtube.com/@RotaryInternational

To sum up the ethos of Rotary, Rotary is an
opportunity to give back to the community,
sometimes you will be recognized, sometimes not.
Whether your business will prosper because you join
Rotary, not so much, that is not the goal of Rotary,
though the connections you make with fellow
Rotarians may eventually prove valuable in increasing
your earthly treasures as well as your heavenly
treasures.

Since this is my story about my experiences with
Rotary, I choose to close this with my favorite country
song: You don’t Love God if you don’t love your
neighbor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epArSqlMQ-E

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quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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