Posted on 05/05/2003 1:44:26 PM PDT by areafiftyone
I have the distinct pleasure to announce that our Governor, the Honorable George E. Pataki, has accepted my offer to join our fraternity and become a Master Mason.
On the cover of the next issue of the EMPIRE STATE MASON will feature him accepting my invitation at our meeting on June 6, 2002. Pictured also will be Brother Kurt Ott, Convention Chairman and Brother William Hetzler, both members of Schiller Lodge in the 9th Manhattan District. Brother William Hetzler is also the Assistant to the Governor for German Affairs and it was through his effort that the meeting was arranged and the Governor agreed to be a member of our beloved fraternity.
Governor Pataki has displayed the kind of leadership and quality in a man that our organization looks for. That leadership was most evident on September 11, 2001 when he was instrumental in helping to restore calm and committing the total resources of New York State to New York city. He activated the New York State National Guard to provide security for our airports, bridges, tunnels and waterways. My daughter Danielle and I personally met with him in New York City with families of the rescue workers who were missing at the time. Everyone commented favorably on the Governor’s leadership and support during the World Trade Center disaster.
As soon as I have received the date from the Governor I will exercise one of the prerogatives of a Grand Master, and make Governor George E. Pataki a “Mason at Sight,” in accordance with Section 216 of our Masonic Law. I will be sending a special announcement to all lodges and expect maximum attendance to witness this historic event, the likes of which has not taken place in the last 133 years in New York. After his initiation there will be a public ceremony at Grand Lodge, to which the press will be invited, to announce that the Governor has been made a Mason.
Sincerely,
M.·. W.·. Carl J. Fitje
Grand Master
It's a religion meant to displce all other world religions. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying. They also are obsessed with phallic symbol. It's quite disgusting to have to look at the Washington Monument knowing that a bunch of perverted Masons put it there because they are obsessed with what they call "the giver of life".
You forgot the part about drinking the blood of the unbelievers and making clothing out of their hair.
Masons take oaths in secret and bind themselves to secrecy using some very striking language.
William Morgan was a real guy.
His death/disappearance in 1826 caused a real change in focus for Masonry in the US. There were no Masonic hospitals before 1826: there was a real movement toward public-spiritedness and civic-mindedness following the negative publicity surrounding the Morgan case. The history of the Lodge in the US bears this out.
Masonry in the US is different from masonry in, say, France or Romania.
These aren't controversial statements.
The fact remains: there are some people who believe that membership in the Lodge is incompatible with their Christian witness. That doesn't make them "morons" or "wingnuts" - it means that they don't see Masonry and its appeal in the same way you do.
I thought that was the Shriners. They're not the same thing as the Masons, are they?
I did forget the part about the lower-level Freemasons being clueless as to what the real motives of Freemasonry are. The fact the keeping secrets is of the most importance to them should tell you something.
I agree. I think that probably 90% of Freemasons are well-intentioned people. An excellent book that exposes Freemasonry is Behind the Lodge Door by Paul A. Fisher. A must read for all Catholics in understanding Freemasonry.
The Catholic Church never keeps secrets.
You are correct.
The Anti-Masons after 1832 basically drifted into the Whig coalition.
I read somewhere on the Internet a very interesting article about the widow of William Morgan, who for a while was the very symbol of Anti-Masonry. Apparently she later married an older man who became an early and important Mormon and then became one of Joseph Smith's partners. She eventually left them and died either Catholic or in a Catholic home of some sort. Really interesting stuff.
I love American history!
Why do I care about Freemasonry? Because I am profoundly interested in the origins of this great country of ours and an amateur Washington (semi)scholar. Without Freemasonry spreading the enlightenment in the 18th century, there would be no America, sir.
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