Posted on 04/22/2003 1:54:17 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Are you sure about the requirement of believing in the Christian God?
Is it not true that one is actually to believe in the Grand Architect of the Universe which is a sort of invitation to fit the God or god you worship in under that rubric?
And, is it not also true that the Masonic Order also functions (however carefully) in Islamic nations, and various pagan nations again using the Grand Architect of the Universe as the generic substitute for whatever God or god the member worships?
Is it not also true that, in addition to the Roman Catholic ban on mebership in the Masonic order, there are also Protestant denominations such as Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod Lutherans that prohibit Masonic membership?
All that having been said, I know a fair number of Masons and have yet to meet a Satan-worshipper among them. The Catholic objection as I understand it is to what is viewed as the religious indifferentism of the order (that it does not really matter what you believe so long as you believe in a Supreme Being of some sort) and certain aspects of the oaths of several degrees.
If the order kept away altogether from religious concepts and were merely a service group of some sort and also avoided some of the more blood-curdling male-bonding mumbo jumbo such as an oath expressing hope that one's heart be torn from one's chest and eaten by jackals if one should violate the secrecy of the order or whatever, there might be less in the way of religious objections to the order.
It is very hard to deny the good work done by the Shriners and the status of many Masons as good family men who are pillars of their communities, however silly the rituals.
"The Grand Master approaches a table on which are three skulls. One is adorned with a papal tiara, a second wears a regal crown, and the third is festooned with a laurel wreath.
"The Grand Master stabs the skull bearing the papal tiara, as the candidate repeats: "Down with imposture! Down with crime!....the candidate takes a second oath to "strive unceasingly... for the overthrow of superstition, fanaticism, imposture and intolerance."
The fourth oath taken by a Knight Kadosh focuses again on the "cruel and cowardly Pontiff, who sacrificed to his ambition the illustrious order of those Knights Templar of whom we ar the true successors."
They probably didn't want us to hear that part.
They probably didn't want us to hear that part.
Yech! neither a faithful Catholic nor a faithful Protestant would have any truck with that kind of ceremony.
Sure enough, they say Bill was once in the Order of De Molay. I heard they had a nice little display honoring him but took it down when his troubles came to light.
Though I don't know why they would do that, from what I understand, and have heard from a guy who was in the Masons, it's OK to sleep around, as long as you don't sleep with another Masons wife.
Unbelievable.
They wanted to tear down statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson all over the country but in Washington D.C., on public property, stands a monument to this Confederate General, who was indicted for treason no less. He led a band of indians who committed attrocities against Union soldiers.
At my first meeting the ravens cicled the meeting hall three times and landed on a crucifix hanging upside down near the alter where we bled ourselves into a golden cup, mingling the blood so we could become bonded as brothers when we drank it.
Then we spent some time discussing our fundraisers for Children's hospitals. Then we prayed about how we could help the academically gifted son of a deceased Mason pay for college. Then we had a sign-up to build a wheelchair ramp at a small local church for one of it's members who had been in a serious automobile accident.
After that kind of stuff was taken care of, we worshipped Satan as we danced around ring of burning Bibles. Then we went home, except for the World Domination Sub-Committee, who had a splinter meeting.
Where do people get their notions?
I wouldn't know. I am only a 32nd degree. The 33rd degree is reserved for those who have exhbitited great service to the order.
Where did Christ ever say, go into the world and make it Catholic?
So, as a woman who is skeptical about Freemasonry, how do you suggest I find out more about it (good or bad) without reading books or talking to friends and relatives? All the information I've found from the Freemasons themselves is very vague and recommends talking to someone from The Fraternity to get more information. Yet members of The Fraternity are reluctant, and some even say prohibited, from speaking with me about The Craft.
He was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson... another Mason!
Ain't it great to have friends in high places?
As a Catholic, I believe it is incompatible with my Christian witness to take secret oaths of any kind. I don't believe that American Masons take secret oaths for immoral or occult purposes, or that American Masons are bad people.
However, Masonry in Latin America and Europe is a very different phenomenon - a phenomenon which is quite immoral.
Try to change the subject all you like, the fact is that Masonry is incompatible with the First and Second Commandments.
patent +AMDG
You have no idea of what you speak. And would you please address the issue of child molesting priests.
If you would allow priests to marry as the first priests and popes were, you might not have such a big problem in the Catholic church as you do today.
You might consider tackling that problem and not worry about the Masons so much.
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