Freemasonry. The Brothers don't pay taxes.

I just want to clarify a quick item, so some Anti doesn't pick up on, and try
to incorrectly exploit, what I'm sure were quick typos in previous posts in this thread. There were a variety of mentions of the # of U.S. Presidents that were Brothers (14, 15, 16, many, most, etc).

There were 14 U.S. Presidents who were Brothers:

George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Johnson, Andrew Jackson, William H Taft, James Polk, James Buchanan, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Warren G Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald R. Ford

Lyndon B. Johnson (would make 15), but he only completed the 1st degree.

I'm sure this has been posted and re-posted redundantly somewhere through ATS, but just wanted to state clearly to avoid confusion or accusation.

reply to post by wyattmyatt


You'll sometimes see Clinton lumped in there because he was a DeMolay member. And there are still some who say the Bushes because of Skull & Bones which has as much in common with Freemasonry as the Phi Delts do, but no matter.

I think Nixon once rode in a tiny car stuffed full of clowns so there's a suspected Shriner linkage there.

reply to post by cutbothways

I still fail to see just exactly what it is that you are trying to prove with this thread. The thread is about the fact that the freemasons don't pat taxes. I read that and i don't understand what your problem is with that fact, they're organization is a non-profit organization. There are a great number of organizations in this country that are tax exempt, while working at a well known home improvement store i saw all kinds of people making tax exempt purchases. Did you know that PTA's are tax exempt ?



The organization is tax exempt, not the members they must pay individual taxes on thier earnings. Anyone that works for a tax exempt organization and receives a paycheck must in turn pay income taxes on that paycheck. So i see no problem there.



You said that they do not pay taxes on things like members donations. There is no reason to if it is not a profit, which i doubt that it is as the members donations more than likely go toward utility bills and upkeep of the lodges.I see no problem there.



You seem to think that there is something wrong with them purchasing a book, why? Are they not allowed to seek knowledge ? As i understand it this book will be in a library that non members can see (please correct me if i'm wrong), so is it maybe then that you do not want anyone to see what's in this book? Are you of the opinion that free masons have no right to seek knowledge, or do you wish to prevent the public as a whole from seeking knowledge?



Now i see that you seem to be implying that the freemasons are in some way responsible for our country's massive deficit. Please tell me just how exactly the freemasons tax exempt status effects our national debt, because i can't see it. We have such a high debt because our goverment mishandles our money.Are you aware of how much money our goverment gives away in foriegn aide, wastes on bogus wars,etc ? Do you know how much they pay for a screw, or a toilet seat ? Are you aware of the fact that we spend between $50 million and $60. million a year in interest alone on the money that we BORROW to give to Israel in aide every year?



You would do much better to investigate the real reasons that our country has such an enormous debt instead of trying to blame it on a tax exempt organization. I have read this whole thread and i still fail to see just exactly what it is that you are trying to prove. You keep posting all these excerpts from other sites, but i still haven't seen anything that proves to me that they are doing anything wrong.



Quite honestly it seems as though i have done nothing but waste my time reading this thread as i have gained no knowledge or insight into anything. The only thing that i seemed to have gained any insight into is that it appears that you have some kind of problems with the freemasons. It's like you have a vendeta against them and are simply looking for anything at all to bad mouth them, wether it is true or not as i have not seen one piece of substantiated evidence. Your thread imo doesn't read like someone trying to enlighten people , it reads more like a whiney child in the playground making a fuss because someone wouldn't share thier cupcake with him at lunch.



If the purpose of your thread is actually to bring to light some wrong doings by the freemasons then i would really like to see some kind of intelligent, substantiated proof. It your purpose is only to try and make them look bad, it's not working, at least not with me in fact it's having the opposite effect.



As far as charities being nothing but a rich mans tax write off, in a lot of cases you're right, but if you donate to a charity you will get the same tax write off. I am no different than you when i go to work i have the same 20-30 % deducted from my paycheck for taxes, but i'm not going to put the blame on an organization like the freemasons because they're tax exempt, i'll put the blame where it really lies with our goverment.


If you look at my avatar you'll see that i have no masonic symbolism, unless a broken angel is a masonic symbol. I also do not have a latin name, so no i am not a supporter of the free masons. I also am not related to, nor do i personally know any masons, well at least not to my knowleddge. I'm just a member that has yet to see any valid proof of wrong doings by them in this thread.

reply to post by chise61


Sorry, can't help you.

Good luck.

Originally posted by chise61

Quite honestly it seems as though i have done nothing but waste my time reading this thread as i have gained no knowledge or insight into anything.

Don't sell yourself short. I bet you gained some knowledge and insight. I know everytime I go through this little exercise whether it be in the Secret Societies forum, the 9/11 forum the UFOs forum, or several others, I learn a little more about discernment and the ability to recognize a fatally flawed argument.

If you look at my avatar you'll see that i have no masonic symbolism, unless a broken angel is a masonic symbol.

Ohh come ON! The single All Seeing Eye, the Wing of Moloch, ... I've seen Shriners in a parade sporting less symbolic Masonic regalia.

Originally posted by cutbothways
reply to post by chise61

 

Sorry, can't help you.

Good luck.

Was it not a reasonable request, or is it simply that your posts cannot be reasonably substantiated?

Your reply-dodging devalues your arguments, brah.

reply to post by Roark


Nice signature.


Someone famous??


www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by yeahright
Ohh come ON! The single All Seeing Eye, the Wing of Moloch, ... I've seen Shriners in a parade sporting less symbolic Masonic regalia.

Are you kidding? Did you actually LOOK at the avatar?

How is it the "wing of Moloch"?

And what's Moloch got to do with Freemasonry?

How does one eye constitute the "All-seeing Eye"?

Talk about tenuous linkage...

If I wink at a pretty girl, is that a Masonic symbol? (one single eye!! )

By your reasoning, does that also mean that a picture of a bird or a pterodactyl is a Masonic symbol? (Hint: It's got wings!! )

Originally posted by cutbothways
reply to post by Roark

 

Nice signature.

Someone famous??

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Just a hilarious quote, dude.

reply to post by Roark

By your reasoning, does that also mean that a picture of a bird or a pterodactyl is a Masonic symbol? (Hint: It's got wings!! )

www.quizilla.com...

How about some BAT wings.

Sweet dreams.

reply to post by Roark


Please forgive me for being so subtle. The fine art of sarcasm doesn't always come across on a forum, I guess.

Arghh!!

I feel like such a tool!!

Thanks dude.

reply to post by cutbothways


So am i to take that to mean that you have no intelligent substantiated evidence concerning wrong doings by freemasons. And that in fact there is nothing wrong with the fact that thier organization is tax exempt? That you in fact do harbor some ill feelings toward them, and maybe there is some kind of vendeta ? I thought my request was fairly simple and to the point.

reply to post by chise61


I think I've figured out why cutbothways can't answer you. The way I see his logic (from my experience of his arguments thus far) is as follows:

We cannot prove the existence of God.
God exists.
Therefore anything which cannot be proved must be the truth.

Conversely, if something does have evidence to support it, it must be wrong.

Originally posted by cutbothways


They got a 10 million dollar advertising account for free??

Again, this shows your lack of understanding.

The driver of the car is a Scottish Rite Mason. He put the logo on his car to raise awareness of the Scottish Rite Childrens Clinics, which is the Rite's official charity.

Elitist losers, IMO

When all you can do to get a point across is call people names, it demonstrates your lack of anything solid to stand on in your arguments. Keep it up, you're just proving my point.

reply to post by chise61

The problem is, cutbothways has selective eyesight. When you pose a question that stumps, confuses, confounds or otherwise proves him wrong, he ignores it. For example, I asked him where he sits on Sunday at Westboro Baptist, and he ignored me.

If you're too close to the mark, he won't answer- just come at you from a different angle. Standard practice for liars, cheats, and shysters.

What's up with the "bat" fixation? That's just way too Danny Elfman for me. Don't even try to say anything about a Biblical/Rapture thing, Jesus junkie... even Catholics can read a Concordance (even if it's not in Satanic Latin), and I ain't seein' no bats.

Somebody obviously lost their Thorazine bottle.

There are always crafty ways to get around taxes and I'm absolutely sure that there are considerable numbers of Masons who commit these kinds of tax evasions.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

reply to post by star in a jar


This thread is actually about the fact that Masonry, as a nonprofit organisation, doesn't pay taxes.
Which is true, neither does PETA, Red Cross, and a plentitude of toehr groups.
And aslo, I disagree with your chliche there, the illusion of absolute power corrupts. No mortal will ever have absolute power.

Originally posted by star in a jar
There are always crafty ways to get around taxes and I'm absolutely sure that there are considerable numbers of Masons who commit these kinds of tax evasions.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

While we're being accusatory, why not include the millions of other folks who also commit tax evasion in it's numerous forms...

Like televangelists, racketeers, small business owners, the list is endless.

EVERYBODY that makes money tries to shelter as much as possible from taxes... even you, I am certain. I'm not ashamed to admit that certain nefarious members of my family have been accused of this, along with various other RICO violations..

The biggest problem I have with the OP, aside from being a religious zealot and bigot, is that the title of this thread suggests that the idividual brothers of the fraternity are tax exempt... Very misleading.

Try not to paint everybody with the same brush- you'll be in poor company with the OP and his fundamentalist delusions.

Think before you type, lest you come across as a fool.

reply to post by cutbothways