Freemasonry and The Coming Storm

Also would like for people who have interest in this secret society to know....

Here in TN where I live there has been controversy in regards to gays not being allowed in. This link also confirms what the Master Mason told me is accurate information and not just hearsay. "They must believe in a higher power. "

www.npr.org...

"Some of those who argue against the actions of Georgia and Tennessee have said that we don't discriminate. Well, we do," Cook says, in terms of being an all-male fraternitythat asks members to believe in a higher power. Cook himself couldn't be a Freemason in his home state of Utah until its Grand Lodge lifted a ban on Mormons in 1984. Cook suspects that the debate in Tennessee will hinge less on sympathetic appeals and more on whether a ban goes against the founding principles of Freemasonry.

a reply to: MamaJ

Supreme Being, not higher power, i.e. God. You can download an application from my state that shows this.

ETA: Here it is.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

So you sign something which states belief in a Supreme Being but are an atheist? Please clarify...

Also, do other jurisdiction sign the same or is this just your area?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: icanteven
Here's a sample of what you can find: www.mainemason.org...

Not seeing the Christian prayers you claimed, what page are they on?

They are listed throughout. Here's a cut and paste from one from page 7:

"Almighty and Everlasting God, In whom alone is our trust, and who, in Thy holy Word, hast brought life and immortality to light, defend this Thy servant with Thy heavenly grace, that he may continue Thine forever. Strengthen him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding; endue him with the fear of Thy Holy name; increase in him, more and more, the spirit of Charity and the love of Truth. Let Thy Fatherly hand ever be over him; let Thy Spirit ever be with him; and so lead him in the knowledge and the obedience of Thy Holy Word, that, having finished his course below, he may at last pass peacefully and joyfully to mansions of rest in Thy Temple ahove, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Amen"

A Christian bible is part of the masonic regalia, so it stands to reason that saying "obedience to the Holy Word" means the words of Christianity. At least that's how I interpret it.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

, but has for its foundation the basic principles of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. It believes in a Supreme Being, the immortality of the soul, and that the Holy Bible is the inestimable gift of God to man as the rule and guide for his faith and practice. It is a fraternity or brotherhood pledged to the building of character -- thoughts, words, motives and deeds being the materials used. Freemasonry strives to teach man the duty he owes to God, his country, his neighbor and himself. It inculcates the practice of virtue and morality in daily conduct, and conveys its teachings through rites and symbols.

So ... now I question the validity of it not being a religious group.

a reply to: MamaJ

A religious group of what? It does not matter what religion you believe in, when becoming a freemason. You totally miss the point.

a reply to: verschickter

The point is in black and white and not that hard to comprehend.

What Religion does the Holy Bible convey? My above post was taken from the membership form.

a reply to: MamaJ

You purposely didn't quote the first part. Here it is.

Freemasonry is not a religion, a political organization, or a social club. It interfaces with none of these, but....

The rest is what you quoted.

originally posted by: MamaJ
So you sign something which states belief in a Supreme Being but are an atheist? Please clarify...

I suppose someone can lie but I don't see the benefit, the rituals revolve around belief in God.

Also, do other jurisdiction sign the same or is this just your area?

The petitions I have seen all have a similar qualifier.

a reply to: MamaJ
I wonder that you are so confident in your opinion, when you probably never visited a lodge or talked to a brother. In case you are female, there are female lodges. Of course you can speak to a brother, too. So it seems to me, you build your opinion on this matter solely from the internet, probably some printed text, too.

To point is also not "black and white". To oversimplify that is like saying christianity is all about nailing people to a cross.

Your quote, I can´t speak for the one who wrote it, nor am I saying it´s wrong. The concept is hard to grasp without additional information, some of it is not secret for the public, some of it you´ll see time after time.

If you aproach this whole topic with a more open mind, you´d see the idea behind many of the core points of freemasonry.

a reply to: icanteven

Sorry, not a Christian prayer, I see no mention of Jesus.

You do know what Christianity is, right? Need me to explain it to you through a simple Google search?

originally posted by: MamaJ
So ... now I question the validity of it not being a religious group.

Good for you, I don't care what you think I am a member of.

You could actually believe all the baby-eating Lucifer crap for all it matters to me.

What I find truly amazing about the whole "Freemasons/Freemasonry is/are evil!" thing, is most have never spoken to a member of a lodge, but like to rely on information found on the internet alone.

If you want to find something bad or evil about a group, you'll find it. Even if it's not true. Same as the reverse. You can find the good, even if it's not true.

I just don't get why people believe all the anti Freemason stuff online, but not the Freemasons and the actual documents within Freemasonry.

originally posted by: TerryDon79
a reply to: MamaJ

You purposely didn't quote the first part. Here it is.

Freemasonry is not a religion, a political organization, or a social club. It interfaces with none of these, but....

The rest is what you quoted.

I didnt see the need in further contradiction from what it is.

THEY BELIEVE IN GOD.

a reply to: TerryDon79
right, I really wonder why this is. Even the most conservative german lodges have websites with FAQs online to counter those misinformations a bit, but no one looks there.

originally posted by: MamaJ

originally posted by: TerryDon79
a reply to: MamaJ

You purposely didn't quote the first part. Here it is.

Freemasonry is not a religion, a political organization, or a social club. It interfaces with none of these, but....

The rest is what you quoted.

I didnt see the need in further contradiction from what it is.

THEY BELIEVE IN GOD.

So?

There are plenty of groups that believe in a or multiple gods. God is just an easier way of saying supreme being.

a reply to: MamaJ

No, that´s factual wrong. To say "they believe in god" is awfully wrong. Please inform yourself propperly. I have a question for you if you don´t mind answering it honestly.

Do you think freemasonry is connected to any form of misanthropy towards women? If the answer is leaning towards yes, then you understood nothing.

a reply to: MamaJ
There are differences from Grand Lodge to Grand Lodge, and from Lodge to Lodge. However, one Blue Lodge doesn't possess any more knowledge than any other Blue Lodge. Also, The Master Mason degree is the highest degree in Freemasonry.

Most Lodges in the US use a Bible. Freemasonry is not a religion, but I don't think any of us would be mean that it is not religious in nature.

The words might be slightly different, but all Lodges teach the same thing, whether north or south.

Do some lodges have whats called a "Grand Chaplain"?

Lodges have Chaplains. The Grand Lodge has an officer called the "Grand Chaplain."

Do Lodges not teach or speak about Alchemy?

Not directly, but some Masons have written papers about alchemy being found in the rituals of Freemasonry.

Do they teach Jesus was just a man or he was one of the “exemplars,” one of the great men of the past, but not a redemption for mankind?

Lodges don't discuss specifics of any religion.

Do they teach about the spirit being resurrected as in reincarnation?

Freemasonry only speaks of the immortality of the soul.

Do they celebrate Christmas or Easter?

No.

What exactly have you learned while being a Mason you wouldn't have learned on your own?

No.

Albert Pike is referenced a lot because... well.. he's Albert Pike and most of us will read this and believe he should know what hes talking about.

Pike is referenced a lot by anti-Masons.

He wrote in Morals and Dogma "Every Masonic lodge is a temple of religion, and its teachings are instructions in religion... this is true religion revealed to the ancient patriarchs; which masonry has taught for many centuries, and which it will continue to teach as long as time endures."

Pike also states in Morals & Dogma, "Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religious belief, falsifies and denaturalizes it."

originally posted by: verschickter
a reply to: MamaJ
I wonder that you are so confident in your opinion, when you probably never visited a lodge or talked to a brother. In case you are female, there are female lodges. Of course you can speak to a brother, too. So it seems to me, you build your opinion on this matter solely from the internet, probably some printed text, too.

To point is also not "black and white". To oversimplify that is like saying christianity is all about nailing people to a cross.

Your quote, I can´t speak for the one who wrote it, nor am I saying it´s wrong. The concept is hard to grasp without additional information, some of it is not secret for the public, some of it you´ll see time after time.

If you aproach this whole topic with a more open mind, you´d see the idea behind many of the core points of freemasonry.

There is no need for me to lie? I posted years ago on this very site when I did visit the Lodge. Here in my neck of the woods they believe in God. To say there is no belief in God within a Lodge... is a b.s.. This fraternity is based upon the teachings of God ( Holy Bible) and helping others as well as furthering their spiritual growth within the nature of all things.

I am very open minded but see through the BS and dont like to be talked down to as if I have no clue what Im talking about. No need to make things up and make this fraternity of men who believe in God sound like its not a cult. It is. It has mysteries and these mysteries arent for me to know because I do not belong to the fraternity. It's simple and not so hard to understand, really.

a reply to: TerryDon79

Ok, well go back and see where masons are saying there isn't a belief and atheists join. My point was and is.. they believe.