Masonic rituals live on

The Washington Times ^ | 15 Jan 2009 | Julia Duin

[BGHater]

President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in Tuesday will incorporate several elements out of America's Masonic past.

One-third of the signers of the Constitution, many of the Bill of Rights signers and America's first few presidents (except for Thomas Jefferson) were Freemasons, a fraternal organization that became public in early 18th-century England.

Although it became fabulously popular in America, at one time encompassing 10 percent of the population, Pope Clement XII condemned Freemasonry in 1738 as heretical. The latest pronouncement was issued in 1983 by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - who called Masonic practices "irreconcilable" with Catholic doctrine.

Still, as the first president, George Washington had to come up with appropriate rituals for the new country. He borrowed many of them from Masonic rites he knew as "worshipful leader" of a lodge in Alexandria.

His Masonic gavel is on display at the Capitol Visitor Center. Until this inauguration, Washington's Masonic Bible - on which he swore his obligations as a Freemason - was used for the presidential oath of office. President-elect Barack Obama will use Abraham Lincoln's Bible.

The worshipful master administered the Masonic oaths. This was adapted to the president vowing to serve his country in an oath administered by the top justice of the Supreme Court.

I learned all this from Garrison Courtney, a 30-something government worker who gives Masonic tours of the District in his spare time. He is worshipful master at the Cincinnatus Lodge in Georgetown. Contrary to public perceptions of Masons being older white guys, current local membership is a racially and religiously mixed group of Gen-X men, he says.

They have, he adds, gotten a bad rap as a secretive organization.

"If people have questions, we will tell them," he says. "We're pretty open as an organization."

[DieHard the Hunter]

I vote in the affirmative by the usual sign, too.

[editor-surveyor]

"From Albert Pike's "Doctrine and Morals"

Did you mean "Morals and Dogma?"

[PalmettoMason]

Motion carried.

I'll check the list later. LOL

[editor-surveyor]

"Albert Pike was not the be all end all of Masonry."

Then why did the Southern Jurisdiction declare his Morals and Dogma to be the most important volume that a Mason could own?

[editor-surveyor]

"As an aside, those who are babbling about "Lucifer" might be interested to know that this entity is not mentioned at all in the bible"

O really?

Isa 14:12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

[Caramelgal]

I just knew all along that you guys were up to no good what with your secret signs and your secret handshakes an all that stuff…

And here is the proof – you are out for total World Domination and you are to blame for Steve Guttenburg’s career to boot. You should be so ashamed ;),

Stonecutters

[editor-surveyor]

And by the way, the "Lucifer" you referred to is not Satan, you ignorant jerk, it is the "Light Giver" of ancient reference

Satan was the "lightbearer" of God's throne room before his fall, and that is the source of his original mame: Lucifer, as mentioned in Isaiah 14.

[PalmettoMason]

Yep. You've caught us.

We're soooooooooooo busted!

[Caramelgal]

My good friend’s grandson was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (sometimes known as Brittle Bone Disease) and is severely physically disabled although he is a very sweet, loving, intellectually bright and inquisitive eight year old child.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteogenesis_imperfecta

He has had to undergo numerous painful surgeries in order to place and then replace every couple of years, the metal rods that keep his spine in place and the numerous other reconstructive surgeries on his other affected joints and musculature.

His grandmother, mother and older sister do their best to care for him but it’s not easy. But even the simple task of moving him from room to room is very difficult because if done incorrectly, it could result in serious injury or even death. It’s not easy to find someone outside the immediate family qualified and adequately trained to care for his special needs even if they could afford it.

His father abandoned him and his mother shortly after he was born and his mother has had her own health problems and so has been unable to work full time.

But all of this child’s medical care; his doctors visits, therapy and surgeries, have all been provided, completely free of charge by the Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia. I can’t imagine the costs, but it must be over a million dollars by now. And the Shriners also provide a place for his mother to stay near the hospital, at no cost whenever her son is in the hospital.

http://www.shrinershq.org/Shrine/

My friend is a very conservative and very traditional Evangelical Christian and she has many times told me how grateful she and her daughter are for the Shriners Hospital for all they have done for her grandchild.

Yes, like you Mason guys are like soooooooooooo busted!

[navyblue]

"isn’t a belief in God (however you belive) required in masonry?"

Yes it is, and as you may very well know, you would never be admitted upon your first request to enter a lodge room unless you did agree with that. The brothers on here need only recall their first entry into a lodge room and the question that was asked of them.

[PalmettoMason]

If you will Freepmail me the little fellow's name, I will make sure that we remember him and his family during Lodge Prayer, as well as in my private devotions.

The Scottish and York Rites also have programs that help kids that are similar to the Shriner's Program.

Of course, it's just part of our devious plan to take over the world and make everyone worship the devil... one little child at a time. /sarc. Thanks so much for sharing the story. It means a lot.

[lonestar]

Masons deny membership to those who simply state they believe in God through faith in Christ. On the other hand, they insist they welcome only those who believe in God. If the latter statement were indeed true, then the prior statement as a subset would be included, but those with faith through Christ are excluded. Go figure. To what 'god' do they actually base their devotion, when they disallow faith through Christ?

That;s one of the dumbest things I've ever read...and would come as a great shock to a lot of men I know.

[lonestar]

No false witness being applied, but like all other things, our reconciliation to God is through faith alone in Christ alone. Something not welcome within the Masonic community.

You just insulted my father, grandfather, and several uncles.

And you are an ignorant idiot!

[Erskine Childers]

Satan was the "lightbearer" of God's throne room before his fall, and that is the source of his original mame: Lucifer, as mentioned in Isaiah 14.

Thanks for that.

Please explain, if you could, in greater detail what Freemasonry teaches about Lucifer.

[editor-surveyor]

Freemasonry buys into the same lie that caused Lucifer’s fall: That we all are perfectable, and can become as God.

They deny the need for and the saving power of Christ’s shed blood.

[editor-surveyor]

"And you are an ignorant idiot!"

Are you looking in the mirror again?

[lonestar]

Are you looking in the mirror again?

I haven't heard that one since junior high.

[editor-surveyor]

"Of course, it's just part of our devious plan to take over the world and make everyone worship the devil... one little child at a time."

No, really its part of your ill-conceived attempt to buy eternal life through your own good works, rather than bow your knee to Jesus Christ, the sole path to eternal life.

[editor-surveyor]

And I haven’t heard anyone curse the person that loves them enough to tell them the truth since...

Oh, ... just a few minutes ago ;o)

[BelegStrongbow]

Not only must all Masons profess a belief in a Supreme Being (not just an impersonal originating force), but they must also profess belief in immortality of the spirit.

Now, as to your vague malaise about immortality of the body, that would likely reflect various odd ideas that individuals have on many subjects. As usual, it is important to distinguish what individuals confect from teaching from what is actually taught. If you have particular ‘strange ideas’ you know about, then stating them would be extremely helpful in clarifying the matter for you. Like many Masons, I am always willing to help make things clear, though I will not engage you in any polemic. In one of our charges, we are strictly forbidden from engaging in argument about misunderstandings.