E. Walker asked about the Masons. I don’t know much about them, but that never stopped me from mouthing off.
Geroge Washington set the cornerstone of the capitol building. Unfortunately no one now knows which stone that is. Of course Washington died before the government moved to DC, so don’t correct me on my dates. They started the capitol before he died in December of 1799.
Naturally, the laying of that cornerstone was a major ceremony. When Washington put in that piece of stone, he wore his Masonic apron. He was a member of the Masonic Order.
The head of George Washington Masonic Lodge, his recognized superior in the Order, was his gardener.
No one really knows when the Masons began, but it was a very long time ago.
Masons have a huge volume of secret rituals. Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons. Masons help each other and have secret signs.
So naturally the time came, in the 1830s, when the idea of a Masonic Conspiracy became a national issue.
Millard Fillmore, who became president in 1851 as vice president, on the Whig ticket, after President Zachary Taylor died, began his political career running on the ticket of the Anti-Masonic Party.
In 1856 Millard Fillmore made a strong run for president on the American Party ticket. He got around twenty percent of the national vote. I think he holds the record for bouncing from party to party.
Masons today tend to be working-class people. I know a lot of them. You can only join if a Mason invites you. I have been invited, and I was honored, though I never joined.
You may have seen the Masonic rings which members wear.
One reason George Washington was outranked by his gardener is because it takes a lot of WORK to gain higher degrees in the Masonic Order. I understand that the Shriners, who do so much good work and whom we just consider kind of a Lion’s Club or something are actually all 33rd(?), Order Masons, the highest level.
Masons got a reputation for being anti-Catholic, but Masons do not bar Catholics from membership. The Catholic Church bans Catholics from joining the Masons because a Catholic is not supposed to join a group whose secrets he cannot reveal in confession.
A number of Catholics join anyway.
But I am sure the absence of Catholics has led to some anti-Catholic cliques inside the Masons.
When you speak of the Masons, you are talking about millions of people and hundreds of years. If you know real history, you know that any institution, including the Catholic Church, is going to to be different in different times.
I have never met a man with a Masonic ring who was not a good guy. What they were doing in 1400 AD even I don’t remember.
#1 by Bedford on 12/09/2004 - 1:50 pm
Lt. General N. B. Forrest was a mason. Any “secret” organization is going to be criticised – Skull and Crossbones for instance. Forrest was no doubt a leader in the KKK because friends of his revealed it years after his death. Forrest never said a word or left a scrap of paper confirming his membership because it was a scret organization.
#2 by Richard L. Hardison on 12/09/2004 - 10:03 pm
Forrest was reputed to be the “head” of the KKK, but it was actually along the lines of Louis Beam’s idea of leaderless rebellion – no central leadership to take out, and with minimal ties between cells so the organization could be easily rolled up. The Klan started as a joke among some unemployed ex-Confederate junior offices sitting around in daddy’s law office in Pulaski, Tennessee and evolved into the organization that played a large part in the resistance against the reconstruction “goverments” (organized crime would be a better name). There was no hard eveidence Forrest was the leader of the Klan, although he was hailed before Congress on the matter and when asked why he was in the halls of Congress supossedly said “lying like a gentleman.” The response certainly fits his personality profile.
The Masons, it is strongly believed was begun by the remnants of the Knights Templar. When Phillip of Orleans wanted the money of the Templars he prevailed upon the Pope to suppress them, then Captured Jaques Demolay and slow roasted him over a bed of coals. Many other Templars were similarly treated, and knowing a health hazard when they saw one, quickly went to ground. A Brit wrote a very persuasive book on the subject some years ago. I can’t remember the title, however.
There are two paths to becoming a Shriner. Eithre attain the 32nd degree in the “Scottish” Rite (which is actually French) or the highest degree in the York Rite. The 33rd degree is attained only by invitation from the Grand Lodge of the U.S.
Washington was outranked by his gardiner because Washington didn’t go to Lodge meetings. He was reputed to be the head of U.S. Masonry, but he stated,shortly before he died, he hadn’t been in a lodge over 4 times in the previous 30 years. To advance, you have to attend Lodge. Washington’s Regalia is now held by a Lodge in Marietta, Ohio.
Catholics are forbidden to become Freemasons because of a battle between Masons in the 19th century. Italian Masonry had a dual goal, destruction of Monarchy and desctruction of the Roman Catholic Church. The RCC started Knights of Columbus as a replacement. Many Bishops, and not a few Cardinals, are Freemasons.
While most of the lodge membership is working class, the leadership tends to be the rich, politicians, or well known Religious leaders. Billy Graham is supposedly a 33rd degree Mason. Suposedly there are higher levels available to those who profess Masonry as their religion.
#3 by Mark on 12/09/2004 - 11:21 pm
I want to thank you for writing the fine piece on Masonry that recently appeard on your blog.
As a Freemason I find a lot of negative press out there, usually containing half truths and outright lies about the Masonic brotherhood. Many ministers with an agenda use the Freemasons as a whipping boy, again, using half truths and outright lies about our history and secret rituals. When I read your piece I was overjoyed that finally someone did not print the typical knee-jerk conspiracy-theory response to Masonry. But then, common sense and good old fashioned logic is what I’ve come to expect from Bob Whitaker. Again, thanks!!
BTW, To become a shriner one does not need to be a 33rd. degree Mason. Masonic membership has fallen in the past several decades and the rules to join side orders (like the Shriners) have been made more liberal. In fact, the 33rd. degree is a degree that is bestowed upon a Brother in that it cannot be earned, as the other 32 degrees are. There are two ways to get to the 32nd. degree — one being the Scottish Rite (which is considered Jewish) and the other and more prevelant is the York Rite (considered Christian). A Mason does not have to join either rite though. A Brother, upon reaching the 3rd. degree in the Blue Lodge is a full fledged Freemason. As a side note, many Confederate officers were Freemasons, including (my favorite) Nathan Bedford Forest.
#4 by Don on 12/10/2004 - 2:57 am
RE: I don’t know much about them, but that never stopped me from mouthing off.
I knew someone who had a very successful tuck-pointing company. But he was a Pentacostal. He spoke in tongues but otherwise was not inclined toward secret rituals. I never heard him mention the All-Seeing Eye or Ra the Sun God.