Posted on 01/16/2009 9:54:17 AM PST by 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
You misunderstand my statement. It is not an accusation. It is testimony.
Albert Pike was not the be all end all of Masonry. That’s just one man’s opinion.
Same with the establishment of Rhodes Scholars.
That’s the supper degree. :^}D
Huh?
Honestly, I really wonder where some people get this garbage.
It'd be nice if more Christians would spend their time facing the challenges of the faithful and less time looking under their beds for Freemasons.
The question/answer on this thread reads like ION by Plato.
At university we first studied liberally the arts and sciences. After completing the courses we concentrated on our focused studies using the knowledge gathered in the formative years. Meanwhile we built bonds with our classmates, sacrificed for our class, performed outreach, and if we were so honored to achieve, were bestowed leadership duties.
Freemasonry is university for the mind and enlightened tolerance for the soul. If you choose to hate the organization you are free to express that hate. Just thank a F&AM for helping forge this right to hate and express outrage.
I can say the same thing. It's sometimes hard to make a distinction between what someone believes and the what someone is as a person.
I've met a few of Chicago's most notorious figures. Though I stand 180 degrees from their public positions, they struck me as "faithful, kind, and generous" people.
There is nothing in the 33rd about after life [speaking from experience].
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. The concept of "Lucifer" is as the bringer of light - the first household matches a century and a half ago were called lucifers; the substance in fireflies that produces light is luciferin which is acted upon by an enzyme called luciferase.
Perhaps the answer can be found by reading Rudyward Kipling's THE MOTHER LODGE.
Actually, I’m relieved to know that my aunt’s statements had nothing to do with Masonry, and probably much to do with her mental degeneration, because I had a few other members of the Masons in my family, as well.
“and a duty to never cheat, steal from, or defraud a Brother Mason.”
Simply reading this implies that it is conversely OK to “cheat, steal from, or defraud” others.
I would assume that this is not the intent, but why is the quote worded in this manner?
Interesting.
Since I don't believe you asked this as one of the "haters", I'd like to answer.
The wording was actually mine, and I paraphrased it badly. We do, however, promise not to cheat one another because we require a special mutual trust.
I can be completely trustworthy to others, but that doesn't mean that I should completely trust them. The mutual trust between Masons is one of the things that makes the fraternity special to many of us. I have no worries about a Brother Mason hitting on my wife. I wouldn't hesitate to hand a Brother a sizable amount of cash to donate for me when "the hat is passed" in my absence. That level of trust is rare throughout the general public.
We are actually self-policing... in that if a Brother knows you to be cheating others or acting in an immoral manner, it is his duty to counsel you on it. If you do not amend the behavior, it is then his duty to bring the situation to the attention of the Lodge.
I hope this clears up my earlier poor wording that may have led to the understanding that it is OK to cheat non-Masons.
Maybe an excerpt from one of the lectures will help clear it up. It is speaking about morality and a Mason's duty to his fellow man:
"...realizing that not only those here in the Lodge, but all men are your brothers".
It must be wonderful to be such a narrow-minded, ignorant bigot!
I guess My Lord Jesus Christ will be casting me into the pit for being a Mason, lo these many years!
And by the way, the "Lucifer" you referred to is not Satan, you ignorant jerk, it is the "Light Giver" of ancient reference. It is an aligory, but then, narrow-minded, ignorant jerks tend to take things at face value.
Ah, yes! The ancient working tools of the Master Mason! :-)
There are two “Lucifers”. The most notorious one is Lucifer, the fallen angel. The other, referenced by Freemasonry in aligory only, is the ancient “Light-Giver”. Not the same cat, Daddy-O!
Whoa! That message had to have been delivered by the aliens in the black helicopters!
You must back through life, terrified of being followed!
YOu are so very wrong on so many levels! Most of the Masons I know are profoundly patriotic and devout Christians or Jews! As to destruction of Roman Catholocism, it is just the opposite. The Roman Catholic Oligarcy is scared to death of any organization that questions their mind-control.
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