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I was raised in a Christian family and my brother, father, grandfather, uncles ... all belonged to the F&AM Lodge. On my 21st birthday I was invited and became a 3rd degree Mason (giving someone the 3rd degree came from the Masons)

The short of it is, the "G" in the symbol stands for God and the Bible is the great Light of the Masonic Order. The square and compass represent elements of life's lessons and are used to express good judgment and work ethic to prospective Masons. There is a Chaplain at every meeting and every meeting is begun and concluded with prayer. The degrees, passwords and such are all based on the stone masons that built the temple for King Salomon.

In my opinion, the reason that the Masons were originally formed was to educate young men in how to become a good citizen, offer fellowship and provide a way to financially protect the members families if a fellow Mason died. Each Lodge has a widows and orphans fund and also helps fellow Mason whom fall upon hard times. The ceremonies were colorful, insightful and full of tradition. Oaths were passed down from generation to generation by memory (some states allow code books) by the more active members meeting with the young men and speaking the oaths until they were remembered.

After joining I was first treated as a peer by both my male family members and other Masons of all ages.

I'm a third degree Mason, as well, although I haven't been involved in the organization actively in quite some time. I move around way too much.

At my first meeting the ravens cicled the meeting hall three times and landed on a crucifix hanging upside down near the alter where we bled ourselves into a golden cup, mingling the blood so we could become bonded as brothers when we drank it.

Then we spent some time discussing our fundraisers for Children's hospitals. Then we prayed about how we could help the academically gifted son of a deceased Mason pay for college. Then we had a sign-up to build a wheelchair ramp at a small local church for one of it's members who had been in a serious automobile accident.

After that kind of stuff was taken care of, we worshipped Satan as we danced around ring of burning Bibles. Then we went home, except for the World Domination Sub-Committee, who had a splinter meeting.

Where do people get their notions?

As I implied above, I have no objection to Masonry as it is practiced in North America.

As a Catholic, I believe it is incompatible with my Christian witness to take secret oaths of any kind. I don't believe that American Masons take secret oaths for immoral or occult purposes, or that American Masons are bad people.

However, Masonry in Latin America and Europe is a very different phenomenon - a phenomenon which is quite immoral.