Freemasonry A personal interpretation of the Masonic Fraternity by Ernest F. Lissabet, 32°, MPS, RAM, CRM, AMD, etc. etc.

Attention Visitor: This is an opinion page. Concerning specific factual corrections to this essay brought to my attention, I will publish any correction that I can determine to be based on factual and verifiable information. Please direct any comments about this page to me at corvus66@hotmail.com.

   Beginnings…
   Origins of the Craft
   Schools of Masonic Philosophy
   Concerning Character
   Freemasonry and Freethinking…
   Freemasonry and Revolution…
   Freemasonry and Religion…
   Methods of the Anti-Masons
   Themes of the Anti-Masons
   Freemasonry and Philanthropy…
   Freemasonry Today…
   The Mystic Tie…

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   Beginnings...

I would like to begin be setting forth my Masonic "credentials" to speak to the subject of Freemasonry. I consider it a very great honor that I have been initiated into most (but not all) of the mainstream bodies of Freemasonry; however, as any Mason can attest, it is a simple matter to amass an impressive collection of Masonic Degrees and memberships with just a few years of effort.

I am a Master Mason, initiated, passed and raised in Henry Lodge #57, AF & AM in Fairfax Virginia. I have always been honored to be a part of such a fine assembly of decent men.

I am Royal Arch Mason, and a member of Mount Vernon Chapter #3, RAM of the Grand Chapter of the District of Columbia. I have always been impressed with the beauty and symbolism of the Royal Arch Degrees.

I am a Cryptic Rite Mason, and a member of Adoniram-Zabud Council #2, CM of the Grand Council of the District of Columbia. I am very fond of the sublime esoteric symbolism of the Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry.

I am an initiate of the Allied Masonic Degrees (AMD), and a member of Perfect Ashlar Council #349 in Herndon, Virginia of the Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States. I think the AMD is one of the places in Freemasonry where real scholarship and intellectual discourse is encouraged and valued.

I am a member of the Grand College of Rites of the United States of America, a body that does important work in the preservation of antique Masonic degree systems.

I am a 32° degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Valley of Alexandria in the "Orient" of Virginia. The Scottish Rite is simply the finest collection of esoteric degrees and symbolism in the entire structure of Freemasonry.

I am also a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, an excellent research body which sponsors and publishes research papers on topics of Masonic interest, at a very high level of scholarship.

I am a member of the Philalethes Society, the world's oldest and largest Masonic body of poets, writers, authors, scholars, and literati. The depth of talent and knowledge and wisdom of this body is unsurpassed in the world of Freemasonry.

I am an initiate of the National Sojourners and a member of Old Dominion Chapter #364 in Alexandria, Virginia. The National Sojourners is an assembly of Master Masons who are also active-duty, reserve or retired commissioned American military officers, or Master Mason commissioned officers from allied nations.

I am also an initiate of the Heroes of '76 of the National Sojourners, which is an invitational order of the National Sojourners.

In addition to all the above, I am also an ex-Shriner and former member of Kena Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., but I allowed my membership in the Shrine to lapse after deciding it was not my cup of tea. I do, however, think very highly of the c haritable work of the Shriners Hospitals for children.

Finally, I am also a member of other pseudo-Masonic orders dedicated to the study of esoteric spirituality, and established by Freemasons. Among these is the Lapis Angularis (Cornerstone), of which I am humbled to serve as the Program Director.

In all fairness to the many Masonic Orders cited above, I should point out that my heavy commitment to the martial arts (see my page on Budo), precludes me from being an active participant in most of these bodies. Although I try to keep my dues current in all of them, I am most active in the Allied Masonic Degrees and the Scottish Rite.

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   Origins of the Craft

The origins of Freemasonry have been lost in the mists of time, and no one today can say with certainty where the modern speculative Fraternity had its beginning. It is certainly a matter of historical record that in 1717, four Masonic Lodges in London combined to form the "Grand Lodge of England" (GLOE), the first "Grand Lodge" in Masonic history. This body became both the governing authority of Freemasonry in England as well as the "Mother Grand Lodge" of all Masonic bodies around the world. That much at least is a matter of historical record. Beyond that, all other interpretations of the origins of the Craft are subject to dispute, including all that follows, which represents my own well-considered conclusions on this subject.

The legends of Freemasonry preserve traditions which trace the origins of the Fraternity back into the middle ages and even, implausibly, back into antiquity and the origins of the world itself. Masonic traditions placing the origins of the Craft at the creation of the world can be safely discounted as hyperbole. Less easily dismissed, are the traditions which find the origins of the Craft in the stone-masons guilds of the middle ages, and the age of gothic architecture and the construction of the great stone cathedrals which dot the landscape of Europe to this day.

In the late middle ages, the Roman Catholic Church embarked upon the great age of cathedral construction. Obviously, the key to the construction of these magnificent edifices were the stone-masons of western Europe, who alone possessed the working knowledge of stone-cutting and masonry and related sciences such as geometry, by which these soaring stone structures could be erected to the glory of God. Not surprisingly, the employment of stone-masons became a chief concern of the Roman Church, and many masons were recruited from distant locales and traveled great distances to work on these projects. These distantly-recruited masons were known as Free-masons, not beholden to a local guild, and they acquired reputations for being well-traveled men; they were (in modern Masonic parlance) "traveling men."

Certainly the construction of cathedrals and the arcane geometric knowledge needed to build them, would have seemed magical to the simple, illiterate peasants who performed the unskilled labor at these job sites. Not surprisingly, the preservation of trade secrets was a major concern of these early stone-masons, and an elaborate system of verbal examinations ("catechisms") was developed, to ensure that only "worthy and well-qualified" masons were admitted into the "lodges" at the job site, where these men lived during their labors. Ranks were established; Apprentices worked on the simplest tasks, such has hewing "rough ashlars" from quarries. Journeyman-level craftsmen performed the skilled labor, while "Master Masons" supervised the work and drew the architectural plans on their "trestle-boards" which the other masons faithfully executed. In this fashion, the great cathedrals of western Europe rose into the sky and towered over the landscape, magnificent stone testimonials to the skill of the men who erected them in an age of ignorance.

Eventually, however, the age of gothic cathedral construction drew to a close, and with the end of the age the stone-masons guilds began to fade in importance. It was at this juncture, in the late middle age or early renaissance, that something extraordinary happened among the stone-masons of Britain, which transformed this working-man's trade into the modern speculative Fraternity we know today. As we have seen, it was in England (and also Scotland) that the modern Fraternity emerged in later times, not in France or Germany or Spain or Italy, all of which also had well-established bodies of stone-masons. Why then did the stone-masons of Britain transform themselves into a Fraternal body, and not their continental Brethren?

Clearly, there were social, political and religious forces at work in Britain which served to transform the stone-masons of England and Scotland into the modern Fraternity. Some researchers have proposed that the sudden destruction of the famed Knights Templar was the cause of this transformation, hypothesizing that fugitive Templars found refuge in the secretive Masonic lodges of Britain, bringing with them their own secretive traditions and modes of recognition, as well as knightly traditions. Certainly this traditional theory has many proponents among modern Masons, and entire Masonic bodies have been built from this legend. It is also true that this theory does explain how and why the stone-masons of Britain were transformed into something quite different from the stone-masons of the continent. Unfortunately, there is little solid historical evidence upon which to base this conclusion, and few serious Masonic researchers give this theory any credence.

However, the fact remains that the Masonic lodges of England and Scotland evolved differently from the stone-masons of the rest of Europe. By the time of the high Renaissance, it is clear from old lodge records that many Masonic lodges were admitting "Accepted" (honorary) Masons into their midst, as opposed to the older "Free" masons who had comprised the membership in earlier times. It seems clear that the transformation of medieval stone-masonry into the modern fraternal organization was underway in Britain by the mid-sixteenth century.

The admission of "Accepted" or honorary Masons, brought into the Lodges men who had no formal training as actual stone-masons, but who did possess diverse other talents and interests. In an environment such as a Masonic Lodge, with its historical traditions of trade secrecy and covert means of identification, these "Accepted Masons" would have found a most congenial environment for the exploration of forbidden and even socially dangerous ideas. Associated as it was with the construction of cathedrals and temples, it is not unnatural that the masons' trade was soon allegorized by these "Accepted Masons" (also known as "Speculative Masons") into a philosophical system by which men could erect their own inner "spiritual edifice" to the glory of God.

"The Heart of Freemasonry is an esoteric doctrine founded on the science of geometry, and expressed by means of geometrical figures and theorems."

Paul Foster Case, The Masonic Letter 'G'

Certainly at some point in this story, the Biblical account of the construction of King Solomon's Temple by the Phoenician craftsman Hiram, was adopted by the burgeoning Masonic lodges as the central allegory of their craft. Over time, the story of "Hiram Abiff" and the building of King Solomon's Temple was ritualized into an initiatory rite, by which outsiders were transformed into "Accepted Masons" and fellow Craftsmen. With some ritual modification, the legend of Hiram Abiff remains the core of Masonic initiation rites to this day.

But it was not merely Biblical allegory which attracted the interests of these Renaissance proto-Freemasons; there were other ideas and subjects which attracted their interest as well. The Renaissance was a time of intense intellectual fermentation, and among the many ideas that were taken seriously at that time, were mystical and esoteric subjects (some would say occult knowledge) which now seem obsolete, but which were then exciting "new" knowledge, re-discovered from the ancient world. As Astrology preceded Astronomy, as Alchemy preceded Chemistry, as mysticism preceded science, these subjects were high science in their age and were naturally of great interest to Masons. Ancient Gnostic rites and the rituals of the "Mystery Religions" of antiquity were re-discovered during the Renaissance, and within the safe-harbor of the Masonic Lodge these subjects were very likely examined, and perhaps even re-enacted. Kabbalism, a form of Judeao-Gnosticism practiced by the Jews of Spain and Eastern Europe, also found its way into the Lodge room, and there was thinly veiled by the symbolism of the legend of Hiram Abiff. In this fashion, considerable mystical and esoteric symbolism entered into the ritual of what I will now call "Freemasonry," a fraternal body primarily comprised of "Accepted Masons" dedicated to the allegorical interpretation of the stone-masons craft as a means of spiritual self-edification.

Perhaps as a consequence of the psychologically suggestive esoteric symbolism increasingly found in the Masonic Lodges of Britain, the 100-year period preceeding the formation of the Grand Lodge of England witnessed a new intellectual liberation which coalesced in the emergence of the Deist philosophy. It seems clear that the philosophical principles of Deism seem to strongly parallel the philosophical orientation of Freemasonry after 1717, and may well have both influenced and in turn been influenced by the nascent Masonic Fraternity. English philosophers such as Charles Blount (Anima Mundi), John Locke (Letters on Toleration), John Toland (Christianity not Mysterious), and Anthony Collins (Discourse of Freethinking), served to define Deism as a religious philosophy that rejected revealed religion, and instead advanced a simple faith based on reason and nature. Certainly the principles of Deism and concepts such as tolerance and freethinking are powerful currents in Masonic historiography and philosophy since 1717.

"Also, the symbolical character of the teaching of Freemasonry has tended toward that intellectual tolerance which is one of its glories."

H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry

By the early 18th century, the stone-masons guilds of England and Scotland, if such they could still be called, were now full of men who had no knowledge at all of the stone-masons trade, but who seemed brilliantly endowed with an extensive knowledge of antiquity and a genius for esoteric rituals and freethinking. In the years after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, Freemasonry spread from Britain to the continent of Europe, and from Europe to the British, French, and Spanish colonies around the world. In this fashion Freemasonry became entrenched on every continent and in every nation, forming the largest Fraternal body the world has ever known, and influencing the course of human affairs in ways that still reverberate to our time.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

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   Schools of Masonic Philosophy

Since the public debut of Freemasonry in 1717, the freethinking tendencies which are encouraged by Masonic ritual and symbolism have resulted in a wide range of philosophical schools of thought. Non-Masons, outsiders and anti-Masons often make the mistake of assuming that there is some specific doctrine or belief system in Freemasonry which all Masons are expected to adhere to, and nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the very nature of Freemasonry is anti-dogmatic and insists that every Mason "think through" the symbolism and ritual of the Craft for himself, reaching his own conclusions about the nature of the Fraternity as part of the process of building his own "inner Temple" in symbolic emulation of the work of Hiram Abiff.

Consequently, at least eight distinct streams of Masonic thought have emerged since 1717 (and possibly more), each "school" of thought on the nature of Freemasonry having its own particular advocates. Here is an adaptation of Haywood's summary of Masonic Schools of thought, The Great Teaching of Masonry, pages 155-163:

1) The "Scientific" School, whose chief advocate, William Preston, formulated much of the modern ritual of the Craft, and whose chief objective was the employment of Masonry towards the study of the arts and sciences.

2) The "Rational" School, whose chief advocate, Karl Friedrich Krause, believed that Masonry should work with both the Church and Government towards the perfection of the human condition through the promotion of a life governed by Reason.

3) The "Christian" School, whose chief advocate, the Reverend George Oliver, believed that Freemasonry should exist to reconcile Christianity and Philosophy, and who strongly rejected excess intellectualism and attached high value to intuition, faith and tradition.

4) The "Philosophical" School, whose chief advocate, Albert Pike, saw Freemasonry as an exercise in comparative religion and philosophy in the pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment, by means of the study of Masonic symbolism and the conduct of Masonic ritual.

5) The "Historical" School, whose chief advocate, Robert Freke Gould, saw Freemasonry as a school of wisdom that only reveals itself to Masons who expend the time and effort to study the history of the Craft and its symbols.

6) The "Esoteric" School, whose chief advocate, Arthur Edward Waite, viewed Freemasonry as a form of mystical teaching, whose objectives are Enlightenment and the perfection of the self through the study of arcane knowledge and the practice of occult rites.

7) The "Romantic" School, with whom no one individual is associated as a chief advocate, but whose name seems a condescending label ascribed by the "Authentic" School (see below) to those Masons who believe in the Templar origins of Freemasonry, or other historically dubious facts about the Craft.

8) The "Authentic" School, with whom no one individual is associated as a chief advocate, but which seems to primarily view Freemasonry as an exercise in scholarship and philanthropy, and has been specifically dismissive of the "Romantic" and "Esoteric" Schools of Masonic philosophy.

From the list above, it can easily be seen that no one speaks for Freemasonry in an authoritative sense. This is something that anti-Masons in particular, repeatedly get wrong (or intentionally mischaracterize). Freemasonry is a Fraternal body whose collected rituals and symbolism are suggestive of different things to different people, who must then synthesize that knowledge into their own personal "school" of Masonic thought, which becomes the "cornerstone" of their own inner spiritual edifice. There is no theology, doctrine or dogma of Freemasonry, only the considered opinions of individual Brothers. Some opinions are probably closer to the mark than others, that is all.

"There is no authorized interpretation of Masonry. The newly initiated Brother does not find waiting for him a ready-made Masonic creed, or a ready-made explanation of the ritual-- he must think Masonry out for himself."

H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry

For my own part, I most closely identify with the Esoteric, Philosophical and Historical schools of Masonic thought, in that order. Having studied mystical and occult symbolism outside of the Fraternity, I clearly perceive the presence of esoteric influences in Freemasonry, and have concluded that "the meaning of it all" is about the pursuit of Enlightenment and the perfection of character. However, this is just my opinion, and certainly there are esteemed Masons elsewhere who will disagree with these conclusions. People with a Triumphalist religious axe to grind can (and probably will) selectively quote this essay to "prove" their point, as they have selectively quoted other Masonic writers when it suited their agenda, while ignoring Masonic voices with an inconvenient perspective. Still, the rest of this essay will proceed from an esoteric-philosophical-historical perspective on the Craft, because this is my Freemasonry.

Freemasonry and its attendant freethinking tendency is no place for those who want and need their belief system carefully defined and served up cut-and-dried. But for those who value spiritual, psychological, and intellectual adventure, and who seek to learn more in the pursuit of self-knowledge, Freemasonry will reward them with a lifetime of personal growth and an ineffable comraderie that lasts a lifetime, and beyond the grave.

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   Concerning Character

From all the above, it should be clear that Freemasonry is intensely concerned with building character in its initiates. The Fraternity likes to say that "We take good men and make them better." It is certainly true that petitioners for membership are thoroughly investigated to ensure that they are not criminals or social deviants who might bring discredit upon the Fraternity, hence the claim that all Masonic initiates are already decent men before becoming Masons. How then, does the Fraternity "make them better?" How specifically are they made better, and by what mechanisms is this improvement effected?

"As Freemasons, we have a moral obligation to reach our potential, to seek knowledge, and to apply to real life the insights that are available in the Rite."

Henry C. Clausen, 33° Stability, Strength and Serenity

First, consider the values of Freemasonry that are expressed, over and over, in Masonic ritual: Faith, Hope, and Charity… Brotherhood… Tolerance… Piety… Patriotism… Heroism… Justice… TRUTH… the list of virtues which are flagged in Masonic ritual to the attention of the initiate are extensive and yet comprehensive. Indeed, the very word virtue itself contains the Latin prefix vir, a cognate of virile and virility, and an indication that Masonry views the acquisition and practice of these values as an exercise in masculinity. Consequently, Freemasonry views men who live by these values as men of high character, and those who do not as unworthy. Only men who already possess these qualities in some degree, are considered to be "worthy and well qualified" for admission into the sacred assembly of virtue that Freemasonry aspires to be.

Then, having determined that its initiates already possess the basic moral and ethical foundation upon which a true spiritual Temple may be built, Freemasonry proceeds to expose these men, by means of ritual ceremonies and esoteric symbolism, to ideas that they may never have encountered before. For example, a perceptive Brother will see and hear things in the Lodge that will (hopefully) excite his imagination, and send him into an exploration of the wisdom of the past. Such an exploration alone can deepen a man's wisdom, but Freemasonry offers still more. Coming to Lodge, he will meet and befriend men from different faith traditions than his own, and by means of discourse on the meaning of the ritual, he will acquire new perspectives that may otherwise never have occurred to him. Gradually, he develops a deeper respect for the ritual, and eventually he perceives the futility of Triumphalist thinking. In this fashion, true religious tolerance is inculcated, and the Master Mason emerges as a better man, moral and ethical, and yet pacific in his outlook on life. This is just one example of how a long-term association with Freemasonry will "make a good man better."

Continuing in his Masonic career, our perceptive Brother begins to ponder the meaning of Masonic SECRECY. Why is it necessary to "hide our light under a bushel?" He reads the loud and vociferous LIES about his gentle Craft that Mason-Haters pronounce, and he begins to understand that TRUTH is ever an orphan, and must always be nurtured and protected behind cold steel within assemblies of virtue. His explorations of the past reveal that freedoms and ideas that we now take for granted, like "Freedom of Religion" and "All Men are Created Equal," were once regarded as DANGEROUS THINKING by people with Triumphalist and Totalitarian agendas. Thus he comes to KNOW why Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and Communist regimes everywhere have always regarded Freemasonry as a deadly threat, and tried to uproot it. The lesson is clear to him now: SECRECY is inherently amoral, and can be placed in the service of either good or evil. Those who accuse Freemasonry of sinister secrets are thus revealed in their own ill intentions and motives.

By means of ritual, by means of study, by means of symbolism, by means of association, and by means of service to humanity, the Freemason gradually erects his own inner Temple, brick by moral brick, upon the sure foundation of his native moral character. The result of this life-long spiritual labor is Enlightenment, "That House not made with hands, Eternal in the Heavens."

That is how Freemasonry makes a good man better.

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   Freemasonry and Freethinking

"Interference with religious liberty, the long and dark attempts to dictate to men what and how they shall worship, has always bred misery and degredation."

H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry

Webster's New World Dictionary defines a Freethinker as "A person who forms his opinions of religion independently of tradition, authority or established belief." From a personal perspective, I would suggest that true Freethinking is much more than just forming opinions about religion; true Freethinking extends to the whole range of human activity.

Learning how to become a Freethinker is a critical part of the growth of any true Freemason. Although people today have come to take for granted many of the freedoms and ideas that are now widely accepted, like the idea that people everywhere are endowed with "certain inalienable rights," once upon a time such ideas were positively radical and downright threatening to the established order of things. Those ideas that once changed the world but which we now take for granted, were conceived of by men who had learned the art of freethinking, and the world is a better place for it. Therefore, acquiring the capacity for free-thought is virtually a sacred duty for any man who takes Freemasonry seriously

What were some of the fruits of the freethinkers of earlier times? Certainly, we have seen that the emergence of Deism as a religious philosophy was linked to freethinking tendencies. One important consequence of this was greater religious tolerance, as people began to realize that it was possible for those of different faith traditions to live together in peace, and that religious unanimity was not necessary for a government to effectively administer the affairs of state. This realization was a radical development in the eighteenth century, as it was then commonly believed that all of a monarch's subjects must share the same religious belief for there to be domestic tranquillity.

The results of these developments was the emergence of the idea of Freedom of Religion, and its concurrent principle of separation of Church and State. It is my firm belief that Freemasonry played a crucial role in the development of these ideas, as the Masonic Lodges of Britain and later the American colonies nurtured men from diverse faith traditions. For example, at a time when Jews were regularly excluded from public life, they were admitted to Masonic Lodges, where their religion was secondary to their moral character as men. Indeed, it is very likely that Freemasonry was the first institution in western society to treat Jews as equals.

Likewise, the Masonic principle that "we meet upon the level" carried the important implication of social equality, which was later expressed in the formula that "all men are created equal." Although there is no evidence that Thomas Jefferson, who wrote those words, was himself a Mason, it seems clear that the sentiments expressed in his words were part of the intellectual legacy of Masonic freethinking in the Age of the Enlightenment. It is no accident that Freemasonry flourished during this time.

So how, then, does one learn to become a Freethinker? I personally only know of two ways: the relentless pursuit of new knowledge, coupled with a determination to "lean into discomfort" when confronted with ideas that challenge our entrenched ways of thinking. Unless one is willing to consider ideas that challenge us, we can never become true Freethinkers, able to explore new vistas of the intellect, unchained by the habits of culture and convention. Although "Leaning into Discomfort" may entail the eventual rejection of new knowledge (for not every new idea will prove worthy), we cannot become Freethinkers without that conscious effort.

What are the implications for learning to be a Freethinker today? Certainly, there are people who, having internalized the radical thoughts of bygone days (but are now take for granted in North America), imagine themselves to be progressive thinkers; but this is actually just an illusory form of intellectual conservatism. Freethinking always entails the active consideration of ideas that are rejected by entrenched establishments. For example:

·   Entertaining the possibility that Eastern metaphysical concepts like chi may have some practical applications in modern healthcare, an idea that many in the field of medicine may view with deep suspicion;

·   Pondering the idea that perhaps genetic manipulation can indeed save the world from starvation through crop manipulation, and enhance human mental and physical capabilities in a positive and productive way;

·   Consider the notion that Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) is a scientific reality which is only dismissed today by the scientific establishment because it cannot be measured and quantified at this time.

And so forth… these are just three examples of "out on the edge" thinking. Please note that I am NOT advocating the reality or utility of these ideas, but merely citing them as examples of the kind of ideas that a true Freethinker would not flee from in horror at first contact. As previously noted: not every new idea will prove to be worthy. However, you will never know the true value of anything, if you cannot bring yourself to give new ideas a fair hearing. If you found yourself recoiling from any of these ideas in visceral distaste, you are not a Freethinker. If you find that they make you uncomfortable but you can abide their presence long enough to think it over, then Lean Into Discomfort. Do this often enough, and seize every chance to acquire new knowledge, and you will become a Freethinker.

Sadly, I am sorry to say that most Masons today are NOT Freethinkers. The tendency towards conservatism is deeply entrenched among the members of the Craft in America today, especially among the older members. They cherish "Freedom of Religion" and "All men are created Equal;" but suggest in some Lodges that Masonry is a vehicle for spiritual Enlightenment, and the laughter will be barely suppressed. Other, progressive ideas like this are also not looked on with favor.

How ironic: Freemasonry, the hand-maiden of Freethinking in western society, has become the reservation of a timid and uninspired conservatism that lacks the courage to break out of entrenched ways of thinking. Too bad. Freemasonry should be largely about Freethinking; and when it is not, then it is no longer Freemasonry, but merely stuffy old dudes with funny hats and weird rituals.

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   Freemasonry and Revolution

Revolution is the natural consequence of Freethinking. It is no accident that Freemasonry flourished in both North and South America in the decades before the great revolutions of the Western Hemisphere. It is no accident that many of the leading intellectuals who were the prime movers of the French Revolution, were also Freemasons. Understanding the role that Freemasonry played in these events, is important to achieving an honest and unbiased understanding of the nature of the Masonic Fraternity.

The role of Freemasonry in the American, French and South American revolutions, as well as in later revolutions like those of Italy and Mexico, has been greatly exaggerated by conspiracy theorists. Contrary to the fevered imaginations of the conspiracy nuts, there was never any "International Masonic Plot" to overthrow established governments and rule the world. Rather, the role that Freemasonry played was simply as a facilitator of new political thinking. Masonic Lodges, with their secret meetings, funky symbolism, and Freethinking tendencies, proved to be incubators of revolutionary ideas. It was nothing more than that.

But once outside of the Lodge, Masonic Brothers carried their dangerous new ideas with them, like Freedom of Religion and social equality and so forth. But they did not solely cause the great revolutions; certainly the philosophical works of the English Deists and French Philosophes were readily available to the literate classes, so its not like these ideas existed only within Masonic Lodges. But, having participated in Fraternal gatherings where ideas like "we meet upon the level" were enacted, and where tradesmen became Masters and Colonels were Apprentices, these men had already lived revolution years before the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. So is it any surprise that working people also found these ideas attractive, once exposed to them by a traveling man? Liberated from the parlors of the intelligentsia and the conclaves of Freemasonry, these ideas took on a life of their own, and the result was Revolution.

"Freemasonry, through its history and teachings, stands for liberty of conscience, church-state separation, public school education, free enterprise and human rights. In one word: Individualism. Let every Freemason burn these facts into his bones and into his actions."

Henry C. Clausen, 33° Stability, Strength and Serenity

So who were the great Revolutionaries of Masonic history? Every man on these three tables shared two things in common: Freemasonry and leadership in a revolutionary war of national liberation. This is by no means a complete list, merely a sample:

Anglo-American Masonic Revolutionaries George Washington Alexander Hamilton Benjamin Franklin James Monroe John Hancock Patrick Henry John Marshall Paul Revere

French & Italian Masonic Revolutionaries Marquis de Lafayette Baron de Montesquieu Comte de Mirabeau Georges Jacques Danton Camille Desmoulins Guiseppe Mazzini Guiseppe Garibaldi

Hispanic-American Masonic Revolutionaries Simon Bolivar Jose de San Martin Bernardo O'Higgins Francisco de Miranda Antonio Jose de Sucre Francisco de Paula Santander Benito Juarez Jose Marti

There was never an organized "International Masonic Conspiracy," only a Fraternal organization that was disjointed and by no means unified under a single leadership, which encouraged freethinking and valued freedom-loving ideas that were threatening to entrenched religious and secular institutions.

As a final commentary on the subject of Freemasonry and revolution, a shrewd observer will notice that none of the Communist revolutionaries of the twentieth century are on the lists above. This is no accident, because none of the communist revolutionaries were Freemasons. Why? Simply, as a Deistic Fraternity, Freemasonry requires a belief in God which no atheist can abide. Marxism and Communism are officially atheistic in orientation, which highlights a basic conflict between Freemasonry and Communism. Further, because in practice Marxist idealism degenerates into a Totalitarian form of government, and because no Totalitarian government can tolerate Freedom of Association, Communist governments everywhere have always sought to suppress Freemasonry. Freemasonry is the permanent enemy of every form of Tyranny, even those which come in the guise of liberation. No tyrant can abide private assemblies of freethinking men to gather in peace; they will always fear such assemblies, for obvious reasons.

Thus, the Revolutionary chapter of Masonic history ended with the 19th century. The revolutions of the twentieth century were not motivated by the freethinking harbors of Masonic Lodges, but by the Communist ideology of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao. Those men were not Great Liberators, as the Revolutionary Brothers of Freemasonry were, but rather Tyrants and Enslavers in the guise of liberators. The trajectory of Masonic history utterly rejects the ideology and careers of these men, and long ago passed judgement on them as unworthy and unqualified to partake of the mysteries of Freemasonry, and the Great Work of the Craft which continues even to this day.

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   Freemasonry and Religion

The relationship of Freemasonry to established religion has been rocky and controversial, to say the least. We have seen how the Craft, originating in the late middle ages, accrued to itself esoteric rites and symbolism which were highly suggestive of an extra-ecclesiastical spiritual perspective. We have also seen that it was very likely that Masonry both influenced and was influenced by the emergence of Deism in Britain during the seventeenth century, with its concurrent Freethinking tendencies. Not surprisingly, the result of these developments was that Christianity, with its Triumphalist historical legacy, was deeply threatened by the growth of Freemasonry, and strived to stamp it out wherever and whenever it could.

"To respect all forms of worship, to tolerate all political and religious opinions; not to blame, and still less to condemn the religion of others: not to seek to make converts; but to be content if they have the religion of Socrates; a veneration for the Creator, the religion of good works, and a grateful acknowledgement of God's blessings."

Albert Pike, 33°, Morals and Dogma

What is meant by "Triumphalism," and why is it important to define that word? Simply, "Triumphalism" is any theological perspective which views ultimate Truth and Righteousness as being the exclusive domain of one Church or religion, with the concurrent implication that all other perspectives are FALSE and perhaps even the works of the Devil. Put another way, Triumphalism may be summarized as a religious perspective that says, "Only the believers of OUR faith will attain (Salvation/ Enlightenment/ Nirvana/ Heaven/ Paradise, etc.), and all non-believers are DOOMED to (Hell/ Damnation/ Punishment/ Oblivion, etc.). It is a fact of history that ANY religion can (and usually have) exhibited Triumphalist tendencies in the past; but in my opinion it is the Christian religion that has been the all-time world-champion of Triumphalist thinking. In Roman Catholocism, for example, the Triumphalist tendency has been historically expressed by the Latin formula, "Extra Ecclesium, Nula Salus," or "Outside of the Church, there is no salvation."

It is important to understand the nature of Triumphalism because therein lies the principal opposition to Freemasonry throughout history. Freemasonry, with its esoteric rites and symbolism, Deistic perspective, and tolerant ecumenical acceptance of men of diverse religions into its assemblies, presents a clear threat to any religion which seeks to persuade its believers that it alone knows the will of god. Because Masons are obligated to behave "in a most friendly manner" to men of other religions, and to treat them as Brothers, Freemasonry by its very nature is an obstacle to any Church which is out to "save" (i.e. CONVERT) the world. It is hard to energize the faithful when they have learned tolerance and acceptance of other religions, have been obligated to do so, and have attained an appreciation for the moral character of men from other cultures and religions "that might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance."

The history of the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Freemasonry is an example of this inherent conflict. Once Freemasonry "went public" in 1717, it quickly accrued the opposition of the Church, once the Deistic nature of the Craft became clear to Church authorities. In no time at all, charges of "conspiracy" and "satanism" and "immorality" and other trumped-up, non-sensical charges were leveled by the Church against the Freemasons, all with the clear intention of discrediting the Craft. As we have seen, because in fact Freemasonry DID encourage ideas that were threatening to the established order (i.e. the historical alliance between Church & State), discretion was a vital necessity, which aroused the suspicions of those who lacked the education or means of learning how to think for themselves.

Between 1738 and 1884, the Church issued a series of Anti-Masonic Papal "Bulls" in which its opposition to Freemasonry was outlined: In Emenenti Apostolatus Specula in 1738; Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo in 1821; and Humanum Genus in 1884. The last Bull in particular is revealing of the motives of the Roman Church's opposition to Freemasonry, as it essentially says (I paraphrase), that "the Freemasons advance the cause of Freedom of Religion, and everywhere promote the Separation of Church and State." To which an honest Freemason can only reply: GUILTY AS CHARGED!!!

Happily, the historical conflict between Masonry and the Church has somewhat abated in recent years, especially in the United States, as most American Catholics have internalized the perspectives on religious tolerance championed by Freemasonry. Indeed, those ideals were so attractive to American Catholics, and so many sought to become Masons themselves, that the Knights of Columbus was formed to provide American Catholics with an "acceptable" (i.e. Church-controlled) Fraternal alternative to Freemasonry. Ironically, in recent years the Masons and the Knights of Columbus have enjoyed very cordial relations, and the historical conflict between the Church and the Craft has abated, as the Roman Church has been forced to adapt itself to the modern world that Freemasonry helped create-- especially in the United States.

"The Institution which supposes itself to have discovered all truth, and to have it neatly organized into a creed, which may be received from it second-hand, as one may receive a legacy, is an institution that is deceiving itself and its followers."

H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry

Another religion which has had a complicated relationship with Freemasonry, is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the "Mormons." It is a matter of historical record that many of the early founders of the Mormon faith were Freemasons, including the "Prophet" Joseph Smith, his brother Hiram Smith, and the trailblazing Brigham Young, who led the Mormons to Utah. Although the history of the relations between the Craft and the Mormons has been complex, it can be briefly summarized here. During the time when the Mormon church was building the city of Nauvoo in Illinois, Mormon Masons petitioned the Grand Lodge of Illinois for the right to establish their own Lodges, comprised of men from the Latter-Day Saints. After some initial hesitation by the Grand Master of Illinois, the Mormons were given a charter to establish a single Lodge, but they subsequently exceeded their mandate and set up two more. Quickly word came back to the Grand Lodge of Illinois that the Mormon Lodges were "raising" (initiating) dozens and even hundreds of candidates for Masonry at a time, probably as a means of proselytizing Mormonism, which was a clear violation of the initiatory standards of the Craft. Faced with such abuses of Masonic traditions, the Grand Master of Illinois revoked the Mormon charter, and the brief official relationship between the Mormons and the Masons ended.

However, the story did not end there. Before the Mormon charter was revoked, a significant amount of Masonic symbolism and ritual had been absorbed by the Latter-Day Saints. Although the Mormon "Temple" ritual is, like Freemasonry, a private affair restricted to members of the Church, revelations by ex-Mormons who have left the Mormon faith make it clear that a significant proportion of Mormon symbolism and ritual is directly lifted from Freemasonry. Although many Mormon leaders will deny the appropriation, or assert that Mormon rites are "original" restorations of the ritual of King Solomon's Temple and that it is Freemasonry which practices a "corrupted" version of the Temple rite, the plain historical fact is that Freemasonry preceded Mormonism by at least a hundred years, and very likely much longer. (Unless, of course, one believes the Book of Mormon's account of the origins of the religion; but here we depart from historical record and enter the realm of faith). Here is the truth: a large percentage of Mormon ritual is Masonic in origin, and that inconvenient fact has been the source of much antagonism between the Latter-Day Saints and the Craft.

However, as with Roman Catholocism, I am happy to note that the long-standing conflict betwee the Mormons and Masons has abated somewhat in recent years, as cordial relations between the Grand Lodge of Utah and the Latter-Day Saints has developed after many long years of estrangement. Just as there are now many Roman Catholic Freemasons, so too are there now some Mormon Freemasons as well, which I regard as a positive and healthy develoment that can only have a beneficial effect on both of those religions. However, the ugly monster of Triumphalism dies hard, and whenever it subsides in one place, it seems to grow in another. In recent years, The Beast has strongly manifested itself among the various Fundamentalist, Evangelical sects of Protestant Christianity, and has assumed an unprecedented degree of hateful, vitriolic rhetoric.

Protestant Fundamentalism has been around since the days of John Calvin, but it has been in America that Evangelical fervor has reached its most impassioned heights of Triumphalist zeal. For all the same Triumphalist reasons that the Roman Catholic Church found Freemasonry objectionable, so too has Christian Fundamentalism opposed Freemasonry. In the various Fundamentalist Protestant sects, evangelical proselytizing is a very significant activity, as it also is among Mormons. Once again, the tolerant, freethinking ecumenicalism of Freemasonry is (to put it plainly), an obstacle to any religious agenda which features a desire to convert the world. Thus, Freemasonry has been subjected to the most outrageous lies, distortions, fabrications, and calumny by men claiming to be doing the work of god. Unlike the conflicts between the Roman Church and Masonry, and the Mormon Church and Masonry, which have happily begun to subside into the past, the spiritual war against Freemasonry by Protestant Fundamentalism is a current and ongoing phenomenon which warrants closer examination.

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   Methods of the Anti-Masons

"From the cowardice that does not face new truth,
   from the laziness that is contented with half-truth,
     from the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
       Good Lord, deliver me. Amen."

Prayer from Kenya
United Methodist Hymnal

The Protestant, Fundamentalist, Evangelical Anti-Masons of our time have employed a wide range of distortions, deceptions, fabrications and outright lies to slander Freemasonry. In this section, we will examine the ten most common defamations of the Fraternity that are employed by the Mason-Haters, as well as identifying ten of the most prominent of these so-called "men of god" who make it their business to defame the Craft. What follows is essentially my "book review" of, Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? by Art de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris, published by the Masonic Information Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Brothers deHoyos and Morris are members of the "Authentic School" of Masonic philosophy. Perceptive readers who have been attentive to these essays, know that I personally find the self-selected name of the "Authentic School" to be faintly condescending towards other schools of Masonic philosophy. I do not agree with everything that Brothers deHoyos and Morris have written in this book, nor do I suspect that my view of Freemasonry coincides with theirs. HOWEVER... There can be no doubt that Brothers deHoyos and Morris have performed a signal service in the cause of TRUTH and JUSTICE by writing this book. They have done an absolutely splendid job in exposing the deceptions that the Mason-Haters employ in their efforts to defame the Fraternity, and for that honorable service they have received a symbolic standing ovation of cheers and applause from the entire Masonic world. Any reader of these pages who wishes to see, in carefully documented detail, the systematic exposure of the sins of these so-called "men of god," MUST obtain this book and consider well what is written here. I heartily recommend it. What follows is my summary of the work of deHoyos and Morris.

Ten Common Tactics of the Anti-Masons

(1) The Use of Selective Quotations. Mason-Haters very routinely pick-and-hunt through the works of Masonic writers, selecting those passages most useful to their ends, omitting those passages inconvenient to their purpose, and then presenting the whole as if it were a single passage penned by the writer with the precise meaning they have construed & constructed. This is both unfair and dishonest.

(2) Misrepresentation of Masonic Authority and Structure. Masons-Haters misunderstand (sometimes intentionally, I suspect) that Freemasonry is de-centralized and that there is no single authority who speaks for all of Freemasonry. Not me, not Brother deHoyos, not Brother Morris or Albert Pike or George Washington or any Mason who has ever lived. However, by conveying the impression to their readers that whatever source they are twisting authoritatively speaks for all of the Fraternity in a monolithic fashion, they can then defame the whole. This is poor research at best, and a deception at worst.

(3) The Citation and Repition of Discredited Sources. The infamous "Leo Taxil" (see below) is the poster-child for this sin, and the Mason-Haters just love to cite his lurid accounts. Funny how they never note in their books that Taxil publicly confessed that he made it all up, or any of the other discredited Anti-Masonic "exposes" they are fond of citing. Once again, I ask: sloppy research or outright deception? Is there another possibility?

(4) Unjust Definition of the Parameters of Discourse. The tactic here is to dismiss those upholding the honor of the Craft, by asseting that any Mason less-than-33° is not privy to "the TRUE secrets" of Freemasonry, and therefore should be dismissed in favor of the "Selective Quotation" (see item 1 above) they have constructed. This is a clever but dishonest way of dissing decent fellows, and it is an injustice.

(5) Unsubstantiated Allegations. This is simply old-fashioned slander, the repitition of "old wives tales" which pander to the prejudices of the simple.

(6) Ignoring Grand Lodge Records. Freemasonry has not been a true secret society since 1717. Every year since then, Grand Lodges have published their annual transactions, in which their proceedings are carefully and exahaustively documented. Anyone wishing to satisfy themselves that nothing nefarious is going on in Masonic Lodges, need only ask to read the records, and they will be provided. But do ANY of the Anti-Masons cite these records? NOT! Instead, they go "pick-and-hunt" (item 1 above) and cite lurid accounts (item 3 above), as that material is much more useful for their purposes. This is deception by omission.

(7) Inflation of the Masonic Credentials of Disparaging Ex-Masons. Like any other human organization, Masonry has had men become Masons who later decide it is not their cup of tea. A tiny minority of this tiny minority, have subsequently become Christian Fundamentalists and hence Anti-Masons, leading to their denouncing the Craft. Not surprisingly, Anti-Masons love these men; but strangely, these ex-Masons just can't seem to help claiming Masonic Honors that they never earned. Why? Because inflated credentials makes their accounts seem more credible to non-Masons.. But just as Grand Lodge records are a matter of record, so too are Masonic Ranks and Honors. Can a man who lies about Ranks and Honors he has not earned, really be trusted?

(8) Distortion of Masonic Philosophy and Symbolism to convey an impression of an anti-Christian agenda. Because the audience of the Anti-Masons are largely other Fundamentalists, there can be nothing more damming than hanging an anti-Christian philosophy on Masonry. The means by which this nefarious distorion is accomplished, can encompass ALL OF THE ABOVE, but the objective is to defame Freemasonry to honest Christian believers. This is both a distortion and an injustce.

(9) Outright Fabrication of Masonic Ritual and Literature. Some of these shady men are not above the outright fabrication of Masonic rites. (See the reference to Leo Taxil above and below). After all, what is a little white lie in the service of the Gospel? The ends justifies the means for these men.

(10) Lying About Masonic Fees and Fraternal Activities. This is one that ex-Masons in particular are guilty of. By grossly inflating the fees for Degrees, they try to make it look like a rich man's club-- hardly a compliment. (And hardly true-- I personally would love to join a rich mans club, but I can't afford it). And by smearing the Craft with (for example) charges of alcoholism, they can defame the whole. Basically this is slander.

These are the ten most common deceptions of the Anti-Masons, these (self) righteous "men of God." So, can we name names? Can we point the bony finger of blame at specific Fundamentalist "Ministers" and their slanders? You bet we can!

Ten Prominent Anti-Masons and Their Favorite Deceptions

(1) LEO TAXIL Although he was not the first Anti-Mason, Leo Taxil was perhaps the most notorious. His real name was Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pages. He was a notorious 19th-century French pornographer and anti-Catholic, who set out to embaress the Roman Catholic Church by publicizing a lurid, sensationalist but fabricated account of Masonic ritual. In his imaginatory account, he linked Freemasonry with Devil-Worship. The Roman Catholic Church (eager for ammunition to discredit those pesky Freethinking Masons), bought his account "hook, line and sinker," upon which he publicly confessed the hoax (Le Frondeur, #18, April 1897). But never mind that-- Anti-Masons continue to this day to quote Taxil. I guess he is just too darned convenient for their purposes to ignore. TAXIL's DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (2), (5), (6), (8), (9) from the list above.

(2) "REVEREND" JONATHAN BLANCHARD Blanchard wrote an "expose" of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in 1888, which he based upon the rites of a schismatic form of Scottish Rite Masonry known as Cernauism, founded by French Mason Joseph Cernau in the 1800's on dubious authority, with which existing American Scottish Rite institutions denied Fraternal recognition. "Cernauism" died out before Blanchard wrote his book, but never mind-- he cited their rites as authoritative for all of Scottish Rite Masonry. BLANCHARD'S DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (2), (3), (8) from the list above.

(3) "REVEREND" JOHN ANKERBERG Author of The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge: A Christian Perspective, Ankerberg, along with co-author John Weldon (below), have produced what at first glance appears to be a fine piece of scholarship, replete with many references. Upon examination, however, we find their primary source to be... Jonathan Blanchard. Their first edition even claimed that Blanchard himself was a Mason, a gross misrepresentation which subsequent editions omitted, but which they never acknowledged in those subsequent editions It is customary, when writers make a mistake, to pen a mea culpa. Anti-Masons NEVER pen a mea culpa. ANKERBERG'S DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (8) from the list above.

(4) DR. JOHN WELDON is "Reverend" Ankerberg's partner in crime... literally. All of the Deceptions committed by John Ankerberg above, also apply equally to Dr. Weldon. Guilt by collaboration.

(5) JACK CHICK Publisher of the completely obscene "Chick Publications" mini-comic books, Jack Chick is anti-Catholic, anti-Mormon, anti-Mason, anti-everything that does not conform to his narrow vision of super-Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity. In his disgusting little tract, The Curse of Baphomet, he completely fabricated a bogus quote and ascribed it to a real Masonic publication... on a date that was never published!!! Exposure of the fraud prompted the deceptive Mr. Chick to drop the citation from subsequent editions, but "the bogus quote remains" (deHoyos & Morris). I have never come across a more repulsive line of publications than Chick Tracts. CHICK'S DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (8), (9) from the list above.

(6) "REVEREND" RON CARLSON Ron Carlson is the President of Christian Ministries International in Eden Prarie, Minnesota. He sells audio cassettes of his anti-Masonic sermons to help support his ministry. "Reverend" Carlson is the Anti-Masonic champion of the selective quote and the distortion of Masonic philosophy and symbolism. CARLSON'S DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (6), (8) from the list above.

(7) "REVEREND" JAMES SHAW James Shaw is an ex-Mason who claims to have been "Born Again," and who regards it as his personal business to defame Freemasonry. In his zeal, however, he has deliberately advanced claims about his Masonic credentials which are not true; deliberately mixed Rites from different Masonic bodies to convey a sinister impression of Masonry; grossly exagerrated the expense of Masonic Degrees to convey the appearance of a rich man's club; and deliberately misrepresented the initiatory Rites of Masonry to convey the impression of a Ressurection cult in order to alarm Fundamentalist Christians. In short, like most proselytes, his crusading zeal against what he once sought, spills over into outright deception. DeHoyos and Morris wrote: "He is a pathetic liar caught in his web of deceit." SHAW'S DECEPTIONS: Items (6), (7), (8), (10) from the list above.

(8) MR. TOM McKENNEY Like John Weldon above, Tom McKenney is the co-author of Shaw's stack of deceptions, and therefore is implicated in his crimes. However, McKenney does go one further, in that he not only consciously ignores Grand Lodge records that have been flagged to his attention concerning Shaw's Masonic credentials, but also smears all Masons by asserting that Masonry "is a system built on lies," therefore any response by Masons in their own defense is itself a lie. That certainly renders any civil discourse impossible and smears the honesty of millions of decent men. McKENNY'S DECEPTIONS: (2), (3), (4), (6), (7), (8), (10) from the list above.

(9) PAT ROBERTSON Pat Robertson, the ex-Presidential candidate and wildly successful fund-raiser for the televised "700 Club" ministry, is another pathetic case of Anti-Masonic decepetion. In his conspiritorial book The New World Order, Robertson accuses the Masons of being in league with "European Bankers, " an interesting phrase historically employed as a code-word for "Jews" and thus conveying a whiff of anti-semetism. He also accuses the Masons of being complicit in the murder of Abraham Lincoln (!), and (surprise!) cites the long-discredited Leo Taxil as a prominent source of his Anti-Masonic fantasies even though the error has been flagged to his attention by the Scottish Rite. Here is the funny part: Robertson's father, the late Senator Robertson of Virginia, was a 33° Scottish Rite Mason. ROBERTSON'S DECEPTIONS: Items (1), (2), (3), (6), (8) from the list above.

(10) ELECTRONIC ANTI-MASONS Here, rather than cite a single individual Anti-Mason, (like Texx Marrs or Ed Decker or Stephen Knight or any of several other noted Anti-Masons I've not mentioned, almost all of whom partake of the deceptions outlined above), I will instead cite a few active electronic Anti-Masons. These anonymous cowards, like "Enchanter!" and "Joken" and "Plutonium" and "Tweety" and others, regularly lurk the various online forums about Masonry, and leap to the attack whenever anything favourable about Freemasonry is posted. Employing all of the deceptions identified above, but most especially the "all Masons lie to protect their own" smear, they work hard to convince participants in these groups that Freemasonry is a nefarious threat to humanity. Interestingly, they accuse Masons of sinister secrets but never divulge their own real names. How ironic is that? DECEPTIONS OF THE ELECTRONIC ANTI-MASONS: All the above, but most especially Item (4) above.


"An old principle in law holds Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus-- False in one, false in all. In other words, if one of several claims is found false, then all are assumed false. This is a high standard-- perhaps unreasonably high for men dedicated to "saving" the world from Freemasonry."

DeHoyos & Morris, Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry?

Why do these liars in Christian garb say these things about Freemasonry? I have thought a long time about this, and have concluded that ultimately it rests with the lust to control what other people think and believe, and how they behave. It is the old Totalitarian impulse rooted in Triumphalist theology. And so the Anti-Masons project their own inner Hell upon what they rightly see as their enemy-- not because their charges are true, but because they know, in their hearts, that God sees every secret thing.



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   Themes of the Anti-Masons

The many abuses cited above, merely represent the tactical crimes of the Anti-Masons. But what are the larger themes the Anti-Masons put these abuses in the service of? We know their tactics, but what are the strategic designs of the Anti-Masons?

There are essentially three nefarious theories about Freemasonry at large in history, which any given Anti-Masonic group would employ as their official mythology, either singly or in some combination with the other two:

(1) Freemasonry is an International Conspiracy to Rule the World. This is the old Illuminati bogey-man trotted out from time to time, dressed up as an atheist that hates all God-fearing people. (Never mind the Deistic oaths taken by every candidate for Masonry). The old Revolutionary history of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is in some unspecified way felt to be evidence of this theory.

(2) Freemasonry is Devil-Worship! This old bogey-man is actually older than Taxil by a hundred years, which is why it was so easy for him to peddle his lies to the Church. This theory sells easily among those who really believe that non-Christian perspectives are all FALSE. From there, it is a short step to mischaracterize Masonic practices in an extra-sinister light.

(3) Freemasonry is a Religion. For Christians sufficiently lucid to see that Freemasonry is not actually Devil Worship, it is still damnable for a Fundamentalist to prove that it is a religion. After all, in their world-view only Christians are saved, so characterizing Freemasonry as a religion proves an excellent fall-back strategy which still accomplishes their goal of rendering it an enemy of Christianity.

We begin with the first strategy. So, is Freemasonry an actual world-wide conspiracy? We have seen that, contrary to the monolithic views of the Anti-Masons, Freemasonry has in fact always been highly de-decentralized, so the idea that the Masonic Fraternity was the agent of an international plot has self-evidently "skated on thin ice" since it first appeared. However, to compensate for this uncomfortable fact, the Illuminati theory is provided as an explanation for how sometimes-petty Masonic "recognition" disputes could have anything to do with an International Conspiracy.

What is roughly known about the Illuminati from historical records, is as follows. The Illuminati was a non-Masonic revolutionary society created in late 18th century Bavaria by German Freemason Adam Weishaupt. He probably took the name Illuminati as an allusion to the Allumbrados of Spain, a sixteenth century anti-clerical sect that seems to have initiated candidates into a Gnostic rite aimed at "Illumination" by means of communion with the Holy Spirit. The anti-clericalism of the Allumbrados would have appealed to Weishaupt; with an overtly anti-Monarchical and anti-Ecclesiastical agenda, there is no doubt that the Illuminati posed a threat to the temporal power of both the Pope and King.

For his part, Weishaupt rightly saw Masonic Lodges as excellent field for recruiting men for his plots; consequently, it is true that the leaders of the Illuminati were all Masons. However, after only a few years of plotting, the Illuminati were destroyed when a messenger bearing documents was struck by lightning and killed, and the incriminating documents on his body were recovered. The Bavarian police proceeded to destroy the organization in a series of police raids, leading to the arrest of the leadership of the plot. Having lasted barely a dozen years, the Illuminati should have dissapeared into the margins of history books as just another failed plot.

Except, of course, they didn't. Perhaps because of the confluence in history of the Illuminati story with the revolutionary age, people then as now have a psychological need to identify some nefarious enemy upon which they may scapegoat their fears of a changing world. Ever since the destruction of the Illuminati, the conspiratorial have advanced the idea that the Illuminati escaped destruction, and have been secretly engaged in a war against God and King ever since. In the United States, the earliest expositor of the Illuminati conpsiracy theory was the Reverend Jedidiah Morse, who went so far as to accuse Thomas Jefferson of being an Illuminatus. Happily, only a tiny minority of people ever took him seriously.

In the end, there is of course no proof of such conspiracies. Indeed, that is the nature of a conspiracy theory-- the absence of proof is no obstacle, since obviously a true conspiracy would never be detected. In this fashion, people who harbor conspiracy in their hearts, will continue to peddle a scapegoat for all those things in our world they cannot abide.

The accusation of Satanism levelled against Masonry, is the second theme that we see in the works of the Anti-Masons. In this world-view, Masonry is the chief weapon used by Satan to undermine the faith of honest Christian men, and supplant Christain symbols with Masonic symbols. However, as an even cursory glance at any Lodge Records or the character of any Mason will reveal, this kind of thinking is just so far from the truth that it scarcely warrants serious attention.

However, one thing that the Christian Fundamentalist movement has done well, is to transform the language of discourse in their favor. An example of this is the common reaction of most people to the word occult. For most people, that word conjures images of -satanic- cults with sinister rites and unholy intentions. But of course, that is a complete misunderstanding of the actual meaning of the word occult. Derived from the Latin occultatio, it implies that which is secret and hidden from view. It does not imply anything sinister.

In my opinion, Masonry teaches there are two kind of secrets in the world: Benign secrets and sinister secrets. The so-called "secrets" of Freemasonry are altogether benign. But for most Americans, the connotation of the word occult is far more sinister, and so the Fundamentalists have worked hard to hang that label on the Craft.

So let us get to the point: Is Freemasonry occult? I must answer that in two ways. If by the word occult one means that Freemasonry is associated with satanic rites and diabolical designs and all this sort of business, then the answer is most definately NOT. Freemasonry is a wholly benificent force in society. Conversely, if by the word occult one means that in the proper sense of the word-- that which is hidden from view-- then yes, I would say that as a private association, Masonry fits that definition and could therefore be understood as an occult activity.

But let there be no more talk about Masonry being satanic in nature, organization, or intent. That is just slander.

The charge that Freemasonry is a religion has also been popular with Anti-Masons. As we have seen, tagging Masonry as a religion still places it outside the bounds of any real, "gotta-save-'em-all" Christian. So here we are, having to look at this. Is this true?

As I see it, the plain fact is that Freemasonry is a Fraternal body with Deistic rituals. It is organized as a Fraternity, not as a religion. Freemasonry does preserve fraternal rites of a deistic nature, which confer a non-sectarian dignity on the proceedings. For some men, Freemasonry does in fact become a substitute for religion. This is in no way encouraged by the Fraternity, but we should not be surprised that an ecumenical spirit would attract followers even where none are sought. Unlike the Christian religion, however, Freemasonry neither seeks nor encourages proselytes.

"Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religios belief, falsifies and denaturalizes it. The Brahmin, the Jew, the Mahometan, the Catholic, the Protestant, each professing his pecuilar religion, sanctioned by the laws, by time, and by climate, must needs retains it, and cannot have two religions..."

Albert Pike, 33°Morals and Dogma

The bottom line with the "Freemasonry is a religion" tag, is that it is only important if you believe that a person can only have one religion. I used to think this way, but now I believe that a person can in fact entertrain more than one religion if they can rationalize the belief systems. Certainly my exposure to eastern spirituality has made me aware that many people in the east, embrace more than one religion. However, Freemasonry is NOT a religion, it is a Deistic Fraternity. The fact that some men treat it as their religion does not change the nature of what it is NOT.

So, let the Anti-Masons go and think up another smear strategy, as the "Masonry is a religion" smear does not stand up to unbiased examination.


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   Freemasonry and Philanthropy…

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

Jesus of Nazareth, quoted in Matthew 7:20


What can be said with certainty about the utility of Freemasonry in society today? What can the average person know about Freemasonry, indisputably, to contrast against the feverish and lurid tales of the Anti-Masons? Aside from its philosophy or ritual or symbolism, what practical effect does the presence of a Masonic Lodge have upon a community?

The plain, independently verifiable truth is that Freemasonry is one of the largest institutional sources of charitable giving in the United States and the world today. Anyone willing to do a bit of homework will find that in the United States alone, the Masonic Fraternity annually disburses the equivalent of more than $500 million in support of a vast array of public and private institutions. These range in size from nationwide institutions such as the Shriners burn hospitals for children, to local Lodge blood drives for the Red Cross. Around the world, this number is multiplied by the charitable activities of the Fraternity in every free and democratic nation. Masonic philanthropies can be broadly classified into six categories:

Public Hospitals, Clinics, Centers, and Medical Care
Masonic Homes and Orphanages
Medical Research
Community Support
Scholarship and Youth Organization
Public Buildings and Museums

I do not believe that the principal mission of Freemasonry is philanthropy; I believe that Masonic philanthropy is a by-product of Masonic Philosophy and the mission of the Craft to build better men. Insofar as that philosophy renders them more compassionate and charitable, then Masonic philanthropy flourishes. But it is also true that some men, as a practical matter, regard the disbursement of good works as the primary mission of the Fraternity. I don't see it that way; but if that is their Masonry, it is sufficient for the purposes of Brotherhood.

The Anti-Masons may utter their lies in print and on the air; but the plain truth is that after the sound and the fury, Freemasonry is a civic blessing to every community where it resides.


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   The Mystic Tie

"To the average man, the word "mystic" evokes concepts of magic, the occult and the esoteric. Mystics are viewed as rainbow-gazing dreamers and useless wool-gathering visionaries who practice a passive, fruitless quietism. Nothing could be further from the truth. True mystics are intitiates into the unifying principle of life."

Henry C. Clausen 33°, Emergence of the Mystical

I believe that the core nature of Freemasonry is a suggestive symbolic system of esoteric psychology and knowledge. I believe that the purpose of this system is self-activated evolution: the conscious development of spirit, character, and behavior towards an Enlightened state of being. I believe that this was what came of the intersection of Renaissance esoteric studies and the stone-masons lodges of Britain, forming the core identity of the Masonic Fraternity. I believe that upon this original purpose, the Fraternity accrued to itself other complex roles: as a facilitator of Deism, Freethinking and Revolution; as a champion of constitutional principles; as a benefactor of scientific endevours; and as a distributor of charitable works in society at large. Freemasonry is all of those things, too. But I believe that at the time it emerged into the light of history in the early 18th century, Freemasonry was essentially a Renaissance union of esoteric lore and the symbolism of the stone-masons trade. I believe that to pursue that esoteric knowledge is to plumb the origins of the Masonic Fraternity.

I cannot prove this belief by means of the documentation demanded by modern scholarship, save perhaps in a roundabout way by secondary sources. However, given the (symbolic) nature of esoteric knowledge, and the personal insight that such matters are seldom a matter of primary source documentation, I am comfortable with the belief that the absorbtion of estoeric symbolism by the Rennaissance fraternity in Britain was something that actually happened, even if below the radar screen of primary source documentation. This is how I see it. I know esteemed Brothers who will disagree, as is their right.

But isn't it interesting that the special bond of Brotherhood between Masons, has for long years been known among us as "The Mystic Tie?" What is it, this "mystic tie" of which we speak? What is that ineffable quality that causes men to allow themselves to be deeply inconvenienced, for the sake of a Fraternal vow?

"In Freemasonry we speak of the bond which holds men together as the "Mystic Tie." It is quite impossible to describe or to explain that tie. Those who know what it is by experience, do not need it to be defined."

H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry

In a world where people still often murder each other and practice cruel discriminations in the name of God and race, Freemasonry cultivates the better nature of men. The more Freemasons there are in a society, the more likely that society is to be free, open, democratic, peaceful, progressive, and inhospitable to tyranny and triumphalism. That is the truth as I have lived it.

I am proud to be a Freemason.

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