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  •  I have always wondered... (none / 0)

    What exactly IS a freemason?  The cemetary where my grandfather is buried is littered with tombstones with the freemason symbol on it but I've never really been able to find someone to tell me what they are?

    You are entitled to express your opinion. But you are NOT entitled to agreement.

    by DawnG on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 11:10:30 AM PDT

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    •  DawnG, there is so much history on (none / 0)

      Free Masons you might want to go to your local library or bookstore. My Dad is a Mason. The Mason's do not support any particuliar church. An individual Mason may choose to be a member of a Church but the organization is not faith based.

      "Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen." Mort Sahl

      by maggiemae on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 12:05:09 PM PDT

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      •  Close, but not exactly right. (none / 0)

        I am not a mason, nor do I play one on TV, but I had a friend in college who was very taken by them.  His story was that one had to both believe in some kind of God, and also that one had to be a member of a religion which had a book.  The temples have the books of the religions of their members on the altar.  In some lodges in the Far East there are four or five books on the altar.

        You cannot be an atheist mason, or so I am told.

        Codex Gratia Codici

        by guleblanc on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 01:59:40 PM PDT

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        •  Not according to my Pops- (none / 0)

          A Mason has to believe in God. That's it. Nothing to do with books.

          He's been a Mason for over 30 years, so I'm gonna go with him on this.

          "Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen." Mort Sahl

          by maggiemae on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 03:18:58 PM PDT

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    •  Masons are (none / 0)

      a fraternal order.  Typically people who dislike them argue it's because they have secret rituals and such.  

      by MissLaura on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 12:27:06 PM PDT

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    •  google "freemason" (none / 0)

      you'll find out a lot about this fraternal order.

      My middle name is Hussein!

      by regis on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 01:32:39 PM PDT

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    •  Roman Catholic animosity to Freemasonry, (none / 0)

      according to some sources, goes back to the Crusades, when the Knights Templar and Hospitalers were eventually perceived to be threats to Rome's power base. History has it that the last surviving knights of the Crusades went to Scotland with the Holy Grail, no less, after the Holy Roman Empire decided their bases in Rhodes and Malta jeopardized Mediterranean commerce.
      Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, non?

      Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.

      by hndrcks on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 02:03:21 PM PDT

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    •  Freemasons (none / 1)

      Opened up a can of worms with that question:
      The masons are a fraternal order that, according to many credible accounts, represent a divergent history of the Christian Church dating from the time of Jesus that has always been at odds with the Catholic Church. In many ways this fight is like the Shia and the Sunni where one group believed the Church was inherited to one person and the other group believed they inherited the "true church." Needless to say the Roman Catholic Church believes it is the direct ancestor of the Christian Church from Jesus to Paul to Peter and then to the papacy. The best book I've read on the Freemasons is "The Second Messiah" as well as "The Hiram Key." One of the more interesting theories in the book is that America itself was founded as a refuge for Freemasons trying to escape persecution and that is why America was so profoundly secular- a tradition that is being threatened. Freemason rituals are said to contain the secret history of this church, the full story is only available to those who reach the highest levels, and supposedly includes the truth about the Holy Grail which is believed to be Mary Magdalene (a theory that "The DaVinci Code" picks up on and spins into a very good read).

      by Joe Willy on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 02:28:09 PM PDT

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    •  Leopold Bloom was a Mason (none / 0)

      Nosey Flynn made swift passes in the air with juggling fingers. He winked.

      -- He's in the craft, he said.

      -- Do you tell me so? Davy Byrne said.

      -- Very much so, Nosey Flynn said. Ancient free and accepted order. He's an excellent brother. Light, life and love, by God. They give him a leg up. I was told that by a-- well, I won't say who.

      -- Is that a fact?

      -- O, it's a fine order, Nosey Flynn said. They stick to you when you're down. I know a fellow was trying to get into it, but they're as close as damn it. By God they did right to keep the women out of it.

      [ from James Joyce's Ulysses, 1922 ]

      When I was growing up and going to Catholic School, we were warned never to join the Masons.

      by baked potato on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 03:01:07 PM PDT

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      •  I was brought up in the Presbyterian church (none / 0)

        And my mom wouldn't allow me to join Rainbow Girls, the young ladies' Masonic organization.

        I don't know why, though.  I wasn't interested, anyway.

        War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus. - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

        by Margot on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 04:17:01 PM PDT

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