Freemasonry

**Roark** · 07-15-2005, 02:25

I was thinking about the Tavern's Backroom today, and the thread about politics and religion being the main fare for this great forum. This led me to remembering what I know of Freemasonry, in that politics and religion are the only two topics of conversation which are banned in this peculiar brotherhood.

I've been discussing the brotherhood with friends recently, along with other "secret" societies (as I recently discovered that my maternal grandfather was a Mason). I have come to realise that people have massively varying views on them. My father, for instance, honestly believes that they are (or were) a white supremacist movement. He's not a stupid man, and fairly broadly read, but I was pretty surprised to hear this from him, as it is not the impression I had gleaned from my own research. Another friend of mine praises their charitable works, and he plans to become initiated into the society.

I'm interested in getting input from you guys.

Do you have any experiences with Freemasonry? What is your impression of this fraternity? Are any of your family or friends members?

Thanks.

**King of Atlantis** · 07-15-2005, 02:31

My friends grandpa is one, and im pretty sure he isnt a white supremist. Won day i think i might go to one of their centers and check it out as they dont seem to be a dangerous society.

Of the american signers of declaration, only a couple were known not to be masons. The statue of liberty is from french masons, the pyrimid on the back of the dollar is a mason symbol too. So, they were very powerful.

**PanzerJaeger** · 07-15-2005, 03:09

If i remember correctly it was an off shoot of the Templars and held a lot of power in the past.

These days they seem pretty harmless as far as holding actual power, and promote strong morals such as charity, honesty, and being a generally good person.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 07-15-2005, 03:18

I'll I know of the Masons is from the movie "National Treasure." Such a cool movie.

I have my suspiscions as towards its historical accuracy, though.

**King of Atlantis** · 07-15-2005, 04:01

some stuff from the movie is real, like the founding fathers being masons and the eye on the back of the dollar. Other than that most of the stuff is probably false.

**Lemur** · 07-15-2005, 04:33

If you believe what you read, the Freemasons were formed around a lot of Enlightenment ideals, which would go a long way toward explaining why so many Founding Fathers were members. If this is correct, it would go a long way toward explaining why they seem so quaint these days. The notion that you shouldn't take orders from a religious figure, that reason can be applied to most problems, that Democracy, goodwill and charity can make the world a better place ... well, those ideas are so common now that it's hard to see why it merited a secret society 400 years ago.

The Masons are also supposed to be very non-dogmatic in both religion and politics. We could use some more of that attitude today.

**Kaiser of Arabia** · 07-15-2005, 18:32

They are evil! Evil evil evil!
Read up on them at:
http://falangist.com/masons.htm

**Don Corleone** · 07-15-2005, 21:14

Yeah, no offense to anyone who might be a mason or related to one, but their history among Catholics in this country isn't so good. They didn't like Catholics, because of the Pope, and there was a legend (myth? fact?) that they took their oaths with the blood of a Catholic they had killed on initiation night. For all I know, these were stories invented by RC priests to keep their parishoners from associating with them, but I know in Boston & New York, there was a lot of violence there...

**Red Harvest** · 07-16-2005, 00:56

If you want a better feel for the history, check the Wikipedia link.

Wiki Freemasonry link

It would be best to ignore much of the RC comments on Freemasonry. Historically the church was rather protective of its power. "The most vigorous opposition to the fraternity has come from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is openly hostile to Freemasonry, deeming it at least partly responsible for the French Revolution and the resulting decline of the church in Europe."

Catholics can be Freemasons, and there are Catholic members. The requirements for membership are rather simple and non-denominational. Catholics are often members of "secret societies" despite various prohibitions. Many of my college frat brothers were/are Catholic.

"The Free Methodist Church continues to prohibit its members from also joining societies such as the Freemasons. Recently the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest association of Baptists in the United States, also stated that participation in Freemasonry is inconsistent with its beliefs."

In essense, what you have is certain intolerant Christian groups opposing Freemasonry. That is not unusual, many churches are jealous organizations by nature.