PM dinner tonight

Looking forward to the dinner honoring the PMs tonight.  It's been a rough month and I'm looking forward to being around my Brothers.  If I get lucky, I may also hear when my second degree is taking place.  It'd be nice to have something to take my mind off things... and studying a new proficiency would definitely help.

Also I've gathered some books and movies on the craft.  My father in law informed me that we can donate books and such to the lodge library... so I'm hoping that more of my brothers get use out of these.

Becoming a better man

Since I've started studying Freemasonry, I've felt a dynamic shift in my personality.  It's not as though after my initiation I was hit by a bolt of lightning and underwent a dramatic transformation.  It's been a gradual one. 

It started with finding out who was involved with the fraternity.  Seeing these men speak... interacting with others... gave me great pause.  I found humility in myself.  I saw the need for patience and understanding.  All of this took place before my actual initiation. 

However, more changes were in store for me.  After actually joining the lodge, meeting the men within... I found myself realizing something.  A truth I had often known.  If you surround yourself with good people, your likelihood of being a good person as well jumps ten fold. 

I am surrounded by great men... in a great organization.  The lessons further my desire to better myself, but there is so much that exists within the fraternity that helps me chip away the negativity within me and helps my internal mission to become a better man.

The history... an incredible testament to equality and understanding which began at a time when both were hard to find.  The men... each one eager to impart the wisdom of their lives, as well as help me in a time of necessity.  The lessons... morality wrapped in symbolism and ritual... granting me introspection.  When I'm able to tackle the charity aspect, devote my time to the many worthy causes that are just one more part of this amazing group... I know I will find more peace within myself.  I get as much as I give... and I intend to give a lot.

It has been a rough week... but in seeing my capacity to cope with it... I know I am on the right path.  I am not a perfect man... and I've never claimed to be.  But I know I'm on my way to becoming a better man.

Is Freemasonry a religion?

So... is Freemasonry a religion?  I can see where people may get the idea.  Some of the teachings are similar to religious stories and ideals.  Some of the symbolism looks like the symbols of other religious institutions.  I could go on all day as to why I think people claim Masonry IS a religion but I'd rather just talk about why I know it ISN'T one.

As a man who struggled with religion for most of his life, I can say that people who questioned me on my religious beliefs made me feel extremely uncomfortable.  I didn't like people telling me my beliefs on God and the afterlife were wrong... I didn't like people telling me that if I didn't believe in their God, I was going to hell... regardless of whether I was a good person or not.

That being said, I eventually found I was a man of faith.  I do believe in God.  I do believe in heaven.  It just may be different from your perception.  And honestly... that's ok.  We're free to follow a belief system that makes us happy, that we agree with... and I believe we should always be able to. 

I don't have a problem with others telling me about their religions if I'm interested.  I just don't like being pushed to believe something I don't agree with. 

This directly ties into what I love about the fraternity.

In a Masonic lodge, I can sit comfortably knowing I'm sharing a room with Catholics, Protestants, Hinduists, Buddhists, Deists, and Muslims.  This is due to the fact that religion is strictly off limits in lodge.  It's not an affront against personal freedoms.  It's to maintain harmony.  I could spend all night bickering back and forth with the faults I find in a particular religion... while the person I was debating with could fire right back with what he didn't like about my set of religious ideals.  The fact that a debate like that could never happen in lodge made me realize... this fraternity really is about promoting brotherhood.  That is also why politics is off limits.  Because like religion, the chances of people having different political beliefs are enormous... and it would be quite easy to debate pro life vs pro choice... Democrat vs Republican.... Barack vs George.  Again, taking discussions like these out of the equation eliminates the debate entirely.  It just won't happen.

The other thing is... when it comes to the teachings... we aren't told how to interpret them.  That's up to the individual mason to decide for himself.  As a Deist, I may take a moral lesson one way... while my Catholic bretheren may take it another way entirely... and still our Hindu brothers may find a completely different view on the lesson.  The important thing isn't how we interpret the lesson... the important thing is that we learn it... and how we apply it in our lives in the way that makes sense to us.

As I stated above... I become uncomfortable when people ask me to follow their religion.  I understand their reasoning, but that's neither here nor there.  The reason I point this out is because at no time during my initiation or my continued research into the fraternity have I become uncomfortable with the lessons due to the religious overtones.  I find it quite easy to take what I'm learning and adapt it to fit within my religious beliefs.  The lesson is not lost on me.

So finally... is Freemasonry a religion?  No.  You'll find most religions find a place comfortably within Masonry... and that truly is, in my opinion, one of the greatest parts of the fraternity.

Although the dinners before each meeting are pretty good too.

Question #1) Symbolism in Masonry and the similarities to other organizations

Here is a question often asked of Masonry.  The answers are either from my own research or from some of my more experienced brethren.  (If you have any questions I don't address here or need some further clarification, please don't hesitate to either ask me or the men over at http://www.masonforum.com/)

Question #1)  Does this symbol (pyramid, skull and crossbones, all seeing eye) mean that there is a connection between Group A (Skull and Bones, Illuminati, Palladists etc) and Freemasonry?

This question is one I have gotten a few times. 

A lot of people will see a Masonic symbol (or what they think is a Masonic symbol) and think that every group that shares it must be connected to the fraternity.  If that were true, wouldn't that mean...

A.  We're all mathematicians.  We use geometric symbols to identify ourselves (the square and compass) so we must be!  Right?
B.  We're all pirates, since we use the skull and crossbones pirates used to display on their black flags.
C.  We're all in the Navy, because the anchor (a common symbol denoting the Navy) is used in our lessons.

These are just a few examples.

The thing about symbols is they can be used by many groups and many people and not necessarily stand for the same thing.  Take the letter X.  You don't see the letter X everywhere and say "That means 10!" (as it does in Roman numerals).  X can mean kisses as in xoxo, railroad crossing like the X on signs before train tracks, or even alcohol (XXX on all those old cartoon jugs of whiskey).  It means different things, depending on the context.

What a compass means to me as a Mason isn't necessarily what it means to my high school math teacher.

The Illuminati, Skull and Crossbones, and Palladists have no direct ties to Masonry.

Masonry is just a fraternity where men can get together, socialize, and work on becoming better men for their communities and for themselves.

The Cold Within- Poem (originally posted by kingzson at trestleboard.us)

The cold within

The Cold Within
Author Unknown

Six humans trapped by happenstance
in dark and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood––
Or so the story′s told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
but the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces around the fire,
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking ′cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn′t bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And keeping all that he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black man′s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For he saw in his stick of wood
A chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving just to those who gave
Was how he played the game.

Their sticks held tight in death′s stilled hands
Was proof enough of sin;
They didn′t die from cold without––
They died from cold within.

Virginia City, Montana

Virginia City, Montana.  Site of vigilantism, home to Calamity Jane (for a time), and landmark town.  I was lucky enough to visit this site with my fiancee and her family in August of this year.

I will update this post after I finish the book I'm reading, which is about the vigilantes in the Montana area.

Leo Taxil- A hoax from yesterday that lives on today

Gabriel Jogand-Pagès, the man better known as Leo Taxil, was an ex freemason who came up with an... well, interesting story. 

In what has become a long quoted work of fiction, Leo Taxil was expelled from the order of Freemasonry and decided to get some revenge.  He came up with this hoax:

"That which we must say to a crowd is - We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we stay this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees - The Masonic Religion should be by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian Doctrine.

If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay whose deeds prove his cruelty, perdify and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him? Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. for the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods; darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.

Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."

Needless to say, he got plenty of recognition.

It is important to note before we go any further that prior to this hoax, Taxil was known for publishing anti-Catholic books, where he pointed out the fallacies he saw in the religion.  La Bible amusante is one such publication.  Eventually, he renounced these works and sought conversion to the Catholic faith.

It was then that the anti-masonic fever took off.  Having the full support of the Catholic church, Leo Taxil published pamphlets bashing Freemasonry, where he stated they worshipped the devil (as stated in the long quote above by) as quoted by Albert Pike (again, made up).  He also said that he was getting information from Diana Vaughan, who told him more about these things.  The word Palladist was trending at the time, due to Taxil's statements linking Freemasonry to this alleged Satanic society.

He did such a good job at convincing the public, he even got Pope Leo XIII on board.  The Pope gave his blessing on an anti-masonic council in Trent and reproached a bishop who stated all of these "confessions" were false.

Eventually, people wanted to meet Diana Vaughan, doubting that she existed.  Leo Taxil then said he would make a public announcement.  The audience was shocked to find that the entire thing had been a hoax.  Taxil thanked the clergy (some of whom were in attendance) for helping him carry out his hoax.

Now, was Taxil trying to redeem himself by pulling one over on the Catholic church?  Or was he simply taking what he had learned and weaving it into a believable, albeit completely untrue, story? 

My personal belief is that Taxil had strong feelings when it came to religion.  Whether it was the institution, the beliefs, the stories... I haven't a clue.  But I think that he was trying to show the animosity the church had for Freemasonry by taking advantage of it.  He definitely made a profit from his endeavors and in the end, made a fool of a lot of people.

Today, people still believe in the hoax... as it is often cited as truth, retold in modern books, and devil worship brought up by those who may still believe it.  However, let me put this rumor to rest.  Devil worshipping has no place in a Masonic lodge.

There are two things I will say to prove this statement.  First, do you really think our grandfathers, our fathers, our brothers, our founding fathers, and more great men would willingly participate in devil worship?  These are all men with different, but often strong, religious beliefs... men who would not take such worship in stride.  Freemasonry is the largest fraternity in the world... and if this was really something that occurred, do you think people would still join, take part, and proudly show their affiliation with it?  I don't.  Secondly, the countless values Freemasonry embodies... they don't really seem Satanic to me. 

I'm sure talk of the "secret rituals" hasn't helped things in debunking this rumor once and for all, and I can understand this to a point.  When something is a secret, and it can't be told, it gives way to wild fantasies, rumors, and speculations.  Anything can be said and believed without even a modicum of proof if it sounds interesting enough.  This has been true about all things... be it religion, celebrities, governments, and fraternities.

For example:

Did you hear about Alpha Kappa Omega?  They force pledges to watch episodes of Jersey Shore while members burn them with curling irons!

I just made that up... but if I was in college and I said this to a student next to me (and if there was such a thing as an Alpha Kappa Omega fraternity) it is very plausible that the rumor could take off and spread.

Rumors and speculation will always surround Freemasonry.  But I implore anyone who wants to know the truth to do some research, read both sides of the argument even, before taking away an impression.  It truly is an amazing fraternity, with some of the most honorable men I have ever met. 

None of which have little horns or pitchforks.