Anti-Mason Tactics

Hello all,

I wanted to post a discussion about recognizing tactics of anti-masons (and indeed anyone who naively challenges a person's belief system).

Our friends over at Anti-Masonry Points of View have provided some examples.

I think you will find these examples over and over in this forum, and I think it will explain why Freemasons are so frustrated by this faulty reasoning.

By way of disclosure: I don't really give a damn what people think about Freemasonry. Everyone has to make up his or her own mind. What I DO give a damn about is unfounded accusations (which are refuted time and time again) about my brothers' beliefs, religion, experiences and the way they live their lives.

This little OP won't make a lot of the antis' happy, but I think they are a fair assessment of their tactics.

Changing the Subject

A poster challenges Freemasonry. A Freemason responds with the assumption that the challenge is from a person of integrity. The poster insults and then changes the subject, "Well, what about..." and the original challenge is put aside unproven.

Guilt by Association

A poster brings up the bad actions of one person who is alleged to be associated with Freemasonry and concludes that ALL masons do the same, or condone it.

Using Different Standards

A poster uses an archaic text (Pike for instance) that may have been relevant 300 years ago and uses faulty logic to apply it to Freemasonry today.

If You Were...

A user proposes a scenario and then jumps to a conclusion about the one answering. "If you were to beat your wife..." is transformed into "You are a wife beater."

Refuse to Answer

A poster says, "I can't elaborate but the Masonic potentate told me that anal probes are used...". When a mason challenges the poster by questioning, "Who? What? When? Where?" the answers never come and the tactic of Change the Subject is employed.

Outright Lies

Unfortunately, ALL of ATS suffers from this one.

Regurgitating Falsehoods

"All of the cops in the UK are masons."
"I read Jack the Ripper was a mason."
"Albert Pike worships Lucifer."
"Leo Taxil exposed Freemasonry."
"The Jews and the Catholics and the Masons control the world."

Semantics

"I am not an anti-mason, I'm just saying in the 89th degree of the Stonecutter ritual there is squirrel castration."

Faulty Logic

A Shriner cheated on his taxes.
All Shriners are masons.
All masons cheat on their taxes.

Assumptive Positions

"If a mason hired an underage prostitute, what would you do?"

Prove It!

"Post all your ritual and give us the secrets!"

Straw Man

"I am a minister and I am a former mason and Jesus told me that I was worshiping the devil."
"I am a mason but I can't tell you where, but all of this is absolutely true."

Goading

Filling to conversation with so much hatred that a mason loses his temper and then the OP says, "That's not very Masonic."

The trouble with this is that people are too deeply mired in the stigma that the Church has attached to the Masons, an organization that has fought for years to establish the kind of foundation that the Christians and Catholics could only achieve by theatening and burning people at the stake. Furthermore, traditional Masonics is rooted in science and philosophy, something that doesn't require God and can still be very powerful, considering you can actually PROVE your theories using these methods. As a result, these combined factors forced the Church to eliminate what they saw to be a potential bug that would undermine and ultimately collapse a regime founded on faith alone, and that simply couldn't happen.

Long story short, the Masons were demonized, and all of their practices reworked to appear sinister and malevolent. It's the most common tactic in religious warfare. And because NO ONE DOES THEIR F***ING RESEARCH (HINT HINT) everyone assumes that this stigma is an honest and purely naturally occurring development. And in truth, it isn't. It's the result of centuries of libel and persecution. Kinda like the gays.

Moral of this story: DO YOUR RESEARCH! Stop letting other people do your thinking for you. Jeez.

Originally posted by emsed1


By way of disclosure: I don't really give a damn what people think about Freemasonry.

What I DO give a damn about is unfounded accusations (which are refuted time and time again) about my brothers' beliefs, religion, experiences and the way they live their lives.

Logical incongruity. It happens. Deal with it. If you don't give damn don't post. If you give a damn post. I don't give a damn about most things, I just give a damn about some things.

Things. I do but I don't. Things.

Pfft, freemasons, it's like hating a country because of their government. The problem is the people at the top of your group, they are pure evil.

Masons = in my opinion. And as soon as my wife gets hired, I'll be *hopefully* joining them.

Why, you ask? I did my homework and research, I asked both Masons and anti-Masons their opinions, and for me at least, the pros of becoming a Mason (read: brotherhood, comraderie, community do-gooding) far outweigh the cons. In fact, the anti-Masons did very little to sway me against joining since the lynchpin of most of their arguments was built around quotting the Bible.

A book which I find to be more symbolic than literal... YMMV.

If you are wary of Masons, try to find one and speak with them... every Mason I have ever met has been an outstanding man, one who took care of their families and their communities and could always be counted on in times of need by any Mason regardless of faith.

Sounds good to me and passes my common sense check!

reply to post by Swamper


So you're implying that the founders of Freemasonry were evil? Or that the current leaders are evil?

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
So you're implying that the founders of Freemasonry were evil? Or that the current leaders are evil?

I dont know who the founders were. And yeah, well, as far as I know there is a LOT of 'leaders'
I mean the sneaky, cultish, sex freaks that are the illuminati.

Ehhh who cares, some will always be skeptical and that will never change.
The Masons I know personally, I know personally.
I will stand with them, and they with me.
Outside of that, who cares.

reply to post by Swamper


Who are the people at the top of my group?

In what way are they evil?

You made a claim, now defend it.

reply to post by Swamper


The Illuminati are a separate group who were taken in by the Freemasons because of their similar views. However, the Illuminati have different tactics, and before they revealed their true nature, they used the Masonic connections to lay down a web of vast-reashing capabilities...hence, their current range of influence.

reply to post by emsed1


He is assuming that the Illuminati control or founded your organization. Like I said, people need to do their research before they post.

Good post, Brother.

S&F

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by emsed1

 

He is assuming that the Illuminati control or founded your organization. Like I said, people need to do their research before they post.

That is a commonly repeated suspicion. It's true that Weishaupt and (i believe) Knigge started out in Freemasonry. I believe they also incorporated some of the practices into their own organization for reasons of secrecy.

I still believe that Terry Melanson is the world's most knowledgeable Illuminati scholar. Some masons don't like his approach but I think he hits the nail on the head.

Illuminati Conspiracy Archive

Here is his brief history of the Illuminati:

Briefly, the background of the Bavarian Illuminati puzzle is this. On May 1, 1776, in Bavaria, Dr. Adam Weishaupt, a professor of Canon Law at Ingolstadt University and a former Jesuit, formed a secret society called the Order of the Illuminati within the existing Masonic lodges of Germany. Since Masonry is itself a secret society, the Illuminati was a secret society within a secret society, a mystery inside a mystery, so to say. In 1785 the Illuminati were suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly plotting to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope to boot. This much is generally agreed upon by all historians. 1 Everything else is a matter of heated, and sometimes fetid, controversy.

It has been claimed that Dr. Weishaupt was an atheist, a Cabalistic magician, a rationalist, a mystic; a democrat, a socialist, an anarchist, a fascist; a Machiavellian amoralist, an alchemist, a totalitarian and an "enthusiastic philanthropist." (The last was the verdict of Thomas Jefferson, by the way.) The Illuminati have also been credited with managing the French and American revolutions behind the scenes, taking over the world, being the brains behind Communism, continuing underground up to the 1970s, secretly worshipping the Devil, and mopery with intent to gawk. Some claim that Weishaupt didn't even invent the Illuminati, but only revived it.

The Order of Illuminati has been traced back to the Knights Templar, to the Greek and Gnostic initiatory cults, to Egypt, even to Atlantis. The one safe generalization one can make is that Weishaupt's intent to maintain secrecy has worked; no two students of Illuminology have ever agreed totally about what the "inner secret" or purpose of the Order actually was (or is . . .).

There is endless room for spooky speculation, and for pedantic paranoia, once one really gets into the literature of the subject; and there has been a wave of sensational "ex-poses" of the Illuminati every generation since 1776. If you were to believe all this sensational literature, the damned Bavarian conspirators were responsible for everything wrong with the world, including the energy crises and the fact that you can't even get a plumber on weekends. (pp. 3-4)

Terry Melanson, Illuminati Conspiracy Part One

Of course the REAL reason for Freemasonry was revealed by RAW in this interview:

Richard Metzger: You have studied the Illuminati for years. Have you come to any conclusion about their aims?

Robert Anton Wilson: Usually when people ask me that question, I give them some kind of a put-on, but I can't think of a good and original put-on that I haven't done several times before. So I'll tell you the truth, for once.

After investigating the Illuminati and their critics for the last 30 years, I think the Illuminati was a short lived society of free thinkers and democratic reformers that formed a secret society within Freemasonry, using Freemasonry as a cover so they could plot to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope.

I'm very happy that they succeeded in overthrowing all the kings, I just wish that they had completed the job and gotten rid of the Royal family in England too, but they did pretty well on the continent.

I'm sorry they haven't finished off the Pope yet, either, but I think they're still working on the project and I wish them luck.

— Disinformation: the interviews. By Richard Metzger.

Originally posted by Swamper
Pfft, freemasons, it's like hating a country because of their government. The problem is the people at the top of your group, they are pure evil.

I notice you are from Scotland, which brings up a good point. I am actually being serious here and not sarcastic.

Since I am a US mason I am only familiar with how things operate in the US. Many times it seems a lot of the criticism of masonry is leveled at UGLE by residents of the UK. Things like police, barristers, government.

Does anyone think Freemasonry is more powerful or corrupt in the UK? Like I say I have no knowledge of how things go there.

I find that most freemasons don't understand enough about the craft to actually discuss it with them. Many will in fact deny the adherence to the luciferian doctrine while well regarded masons discuss it with pride.

reply to post by emsed1


Im glad you took the time time to put together a very nice OP, emsed.

Often times we touch on the overall point of this thread within the context of whatever argument we are in at the time, but im glad its here in full. The logic used by anti masons in the secret societies forum is at best laughable, and at worse outright maddening.

One thing i want to add to the list if i may : Freemasonry cant be argued against by quoting the Bible.

reply to post by TruthSeekerMike


Assuming that Freemasons all know masonry is like assuming that every woman knows how to cook to perfection.

Originally posted by TruthSeekerMike
I find that most freemasons don't understand enough about the craft to actually discuss it with them. Many will in fact deny the adherence to the luciferian doctrine while well regarded masons discuss it with pride.

Please define Luciferian doctrine.

reply to post by TruthSeekerMike


You do realize that Lucifer is the angel of light, right? Hence, the angel of truth. Why do you think the Church associates them with it?