Masonic handshakes, symbols, and rituals are all directly practiced in Mormonism.
[Perhaps those paragraphs didn't make it past the Daily Universe editor(s), eh?]
From the article: His interest in church history and doctrine came when he served a mission in Washington and was exposed to anti-Mormon literature, pamphlets and movies. “It raised the questions and I went to try and find answers and some of those answers were not forthcoming, so I spent many, many years trying to track them down myself,” he said.
From the article: “The problem is that Freemasonry is based upon mythology and so they have the big myth … [of] ‘We go back to Solomon’s temple.’ Today they understand that is not true,” Brown said. “So the question is: ... Where do they get it? And the answer is the Catholic Church.”
This connection has been long know and documented. So whats new?
Joey Smith joined the Freemasons and went to the top tier in one day...
he stole many of the Freemason secrets and incorporated them intro his home made religion...
He also told non-freemasons the secrets that he had ben sworn a blood oath not to...
Among the crowd outside the Carthage jail were Freemasons who were mad at Joey...
When he tried to shoot his way out of jail the Freemasons took the oppotunity to kill him...
Even though Joey had called to them for help, by starting the Freemasion distress call, “Is there any help for the widows son?”
Joey Smith would have agreed to his ignoble death...
After all when he started his religion that he called mormonism, he gathered a group of cutthroats around him that he called Danites...
Their job was to kill rob and steal from non-mormons...
and to kill mormons who had left, “apostates” “blood letting”
Joey got the idea of blood oaths from the Freemasons..
(and his “convert or die” at the point of a sword, from the Mohammadatans...)
Under Brigham Young the “blood letting” got worse...
“...Salt Lake Temple back when they were celebrating the 200th anniversary of it.”
200th anniversary? What?
Masonic handshakes, symbols, and rituals are all directly practiced in Mormonism.
From the article: His interest in church history and doctrine came when he served a mission in Washington and was exposed to anti-Mormon literature, pamphlets and movies. “It raised the questions and I went to try and find answers and some of those answers were not forthcoming, so I spent many, many years trying to track them down myself,” he said.
= = = = = = = =
And that is exactly what I did (sans the mission) and why I left the LDS church. There were no answers.
I have not read the book, I would be interested to see what he says about Smith’s standing in the Masons when he died.
His last words “My God is there no help for the widow’s son” was a Masonic cry of distress, and some LDS sources, Times and Seasons maybe?, state upon his death he was a member in “good standing” of the Masons.
This directly conflicts with my Great-great-great-grandfather’s (Masonic leader in Illinois and elsewhere) journals (which I am currently in the process of transcribing for publication), which states that Smith was ‘removed from membership’ from the Masonic Lodge prior to his death.
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