Posted on 06/17/2011 6:42:30 AM PDT by marshmallow
Well put. We treat all men equally, that doesn’t equate to accepting the beliefs of all men.
Methinks many have a problem with the Good Samaritan parable.
Indeed. It is my considered opinion that those who accuse Masonry of being a religion are attempting to make it one so they can condemn it. And no quantity of reasoned rebuttal will apparently ever suffice to put the canards to rest.
Masonry banishes Christianity from the public square. The creche on government property is now forbidden at Christmastime. Americans no longer dare to call themselves a Christian nation because to do so would be politically incorrect. Public affirmation of Christian morals is now practically a hate crime. Such negation of Christianity is itself a Masonic religious principle in conflict with Christianity.
It is false to say there is no religious dispute between Masonry and Christianity.
Are you actually suggesting that the ACLU is a Masonic foundation?? The suits banning creches are one and all ACLU actions, not anything started by or even remotely associate with Masonry. Your suggestion is, to be polite, preposterous, assuming it is made in good faith.
You are hereby advised: masonry is not a religion. No Mason intends to worship his God in a Masonic Temple. That we pray to begin and end each communication is an example of our devotion to our God, and has the same religious significance that the prayer at the start of NASCAR races has (some, but nothing sectarian).
That said, I think we get you don’t like Masonry. You don’t need to repeat yourself in the matter.
A better question would be, Who ARE the Knights Templar.
Christians and non-Christians in association openly agree to disagree on religion. Masonry disingenuously pretends there is no disagreement between its creed and Christianity.
It is not my intention to misrepresent Masonic belief. The ACLU works to disacknowledge and thereby diminish Christian preeminence. Are you saying that Masonry supports or at least does not oppose the public creche?
"Christians and non-Christians in association openly agree to disagree on religion. Masonry disingenuously pretends there is no disagreement between its creed and Christianity."
And you know this how? By reading conspiracy websites on Freemasonry? Because the Pope disingenuously told you so? You've obviously never attended a meeting.
BTW, be careful when you listen to Catholic rhetoric on the Freemasons. Popes through the centuries have a lot to atone for when it comes to their actions against Freemasonry - and against those whom many of us believe were the ancestors of our brotherhood, the Templars. Catholic leadership resentment against the brotherhood stems from the blood on their own hands. And I say this as a practicing Methodist CHRISTIAN, who also happens to be a Freemason.
And if you noticed, I said this in a public forum, not in a Masonic Temple. Within the inner sanctum of the temple, I keep my opinions to myself, and welcome my Catholic brothers (and there are many) with open arms - as I would to Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and anyone else who enters our brotherhood.
Masonry has no public position on any issue concerning either religion or politics qua Masonry. Most Masons, being faithful Christians, are probably supporters of public creches (most have one themselves). I have several creches, which I display from the First Sunday in Advent through Epiphany whether or not I have any other seasonal displays. I am probably quite typical in that, as a Mason.
"It is clear that Freemasonry may compete strongly with Christianity. There is a great danger that the Christian who becomes a Freemason will find himself compromising his Christian beliefs or his allegiance to Christ, perhaps without realizing what he is doing.", Methodist Conference Faith and Order committee, quoted in the Daily Telegraph 17 June 1985
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_Freemasonry#cite_note-methcomm-39
Within the inner sanctum of the temple, I keep my opinions to myself, and welcome my Catholic brothers (and there are many) with open arms
"the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic associations remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and, therefore, membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful, who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 1981
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/freemasonry.htm
The popes have always opposed Freemasonry for the same reason as the Methodists and many other Christian denominations.
The Knights Templar publicly represented themselves as Catholics in good standing. If they really were Masonic antecedents holding anti-Catholic beliefs, then they were guilty of heresy and subterfuge against the Catholic states. If the Knights Templar really were good Catholics, then they were not Masonic antecedents and were merely betrayed by an unfaithful French king.
The Knights Templar publicly represented themselves as Catholics in good standing. If they really were Masonic antecedents holding anti-Catholic beliefs, then they were guilty of heresy and subterfuge against the Catholic states. If the Knights Templar really were good Catholics, then they were not Masonic antecedents and were merely betrayed by an unfaithful French king.
Hmmmm... Dead either way one replies. Sounds vaguely familiar to another point in history known as the Inquisition.
By your calculation, I'm screwed either way. I have a Jewish mother. I was raised Methodist. For a number of years, I attended a Baptist church when the Methodist church in my small town burned down. My wife is Catholic. And my kids are being raised Catholic. But I'm not worried. I know the truth about Freemasonry - and you don't. And I also know where I'm going when I die. You spout quotes from religious leaders who don't know the first thing about Masonry, other than their own fears and misinformation - like most of those who opine about the brotherhood. Aside from vague references about Freemasonry compromising our Christian beliefs, can you point to one known fact from our fraternal organization that supports that idea?
I've been a Freemason for years, and I don't feel my faith in God and Jesus has diminished in any way over that time. If the brotherhood is counter to my faith, don't you think I'd be straying or worshiping goats by now?
Not necessarily. According to Albert Pike:
"The symbols of the wise always become the idols of the ignorant multitude. What the Chiefs of the Order really believed and taught, is indicated to the Adepts by the hints contained in the high Degrees of Free-Masonry, and by the symbols which only the Adepts understand. [The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them. Their true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of Masonry. The whole body of the Royal and Sacerdotal Art was hidden so carefully, centuries since, in the High Degrees, as that it is even yet impossible to solve many of the enigmas which they contain. It is well enough for the mass of those called Masons, to imagine that all is contained in the Blue Degrees; and whoso attempts to undeceive them will labor in vain, and without any true reward violate his obligations as an Adept. Masonry is the veritable Sphinx, buried to the head in the sands heaped round it by the ages.]Albert Pike was Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction during the Nineteenth century. A larger-than-life statue of him stands outside the DMV in Washington, DC. Pike apparently was saying that most Masons are kept in the dark about the real teachings of the lodge. You may in a position to investigate whether this is true. If it is, you would certainly have firth-hand credibility to warn your children of the truth.
I have a first edition copy of Morals and Dogma signed by Albert Pike sitting on the shelf right next to me as I write this reply - passed down to me by my great-great-grandfather, who was a Grandmaster when the book was first published. I noticed that in your commentary, you used the word "apparently" when referring to what Albert Pike wrote. You can use that word throughout his writings when describing his work. I challenge any two people to read his ponderous musings and come to the same conclusion about what he meant. The work is esoteric, and meant to be so, but it's also so vague and tenuous, that - like the writings of Nostradamus - it can be interpreted in any way a reader wishes to fit preconceived biases and notions. It is for this reason that the book is held up to such fanfare by conspiracy theorists as proof of Freemasonry's evil intentions.
Albert Pike's views of Freemasonry were never accepted by the Northern Jurisdiction, and even the Southern Jurisdiction stopped issuing complimentary copies of Morals and Dogma in 1974.
But it's obvious you are not to be convinced. You are a conspiracy theorist of the highest order. It's a shame that you won't take the time to understand the other - much less breathless - version of the brotherhood. The one even Dan Brown discovered when he wrote The Lost Symbol: That the biggest secret of Freemasonry is...
...that there is no secret.
But that would be too easy, and much less exciting to believe.
I thought the Masons had a big pile of treasure somewhere underground in NY.
John Salza is a Catholic attorney and former high-ranking Freemason that has turned against the craft. Is he confused, phony, or legit?
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/freemasonry_qa.html
"John Salza is a Catholic attorney and former high-ranking Freemason that has turned against the craft. Is he confused, phony, or legit?"
He is not confused or phony. He is legit in that he has an opinion, that opinion is his, and it's an opinion that he believes in.
It's not the only opinion, and not necessarily the right one.
What do you hope to expect from your Freemason bashing? We are a Brotherhood that is hundreds of years old. We have traditions that go back to time immemorial. We are one of the largest charity organizations in the world. We operate a network of burn centers for children that do not base service on a parent's ability to pay. We care for each other and our community. We are religious, God-fearing, and pious (whether you want to believe it or not). Looking at us from the outside in, or through the eyes of conspiracy theorists or malcontents will not make us go away, or change our views on life and our Brotherhood. Some may decide to part ways with Freemasonry, but most will not. You do yourself a disservice by not truly understanding who we are, and what we are about.
I'll leave you now to your preordained opinions. There's really not much I can do to convince you, and there is very little that you can do to convince me. This, by the way, is another tenet of Freemasonry - freedom to choose what is important to you, without the interference of the Brotherhood. It's called aiding your brothers as far as the length of your cable-tow permits. But again, I don't think you'll ever truly understand that either.
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