My JW wife expresses horror at the though of looking at apostate Mormon and Mason websites for information on them as they are likely to be biased and untruthful and populated by people with a chip on their shoulder who will lead you astray as to the truth about them.
She has been invited to attend an Open Day at the Masonic Lodge on Sunday by a good friend (a high ranking Mason) of ours, and to bring other members of 'her group' with her.
I read her the first few paragraphs from http://www.ephesians5-11.org/ex_masons_for_jesus/mensclub.htm
Suppose that a group of pagans got together and decided that they wanted to form a men?s club and each man independently decided that he wanted to start every meeting with a prayer to his demon god. They could all agree to this, but they would have a rough time selecting a name which all could embrace. Hindus would want to worship Vishnu, and of course, the men of other pagan religions would want to worship their demon god by the name they commonly use. They could not agree to use the name for the demon god of any one pagan religion without favoring one religion over another. Additionally, if they choose to use an obviously pagan name for the object of worship, they will have a hard time getting even immature Christians to join the club and join in worship with them. (And that is exactly what the demons would want.) If they choose a neutral name, such as the Sovereign Grand Creator of the Universe, and open all of their prayers in his name, all of the pagans can be satisfied. But are they now worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Bible? No, they are still worshipping demons.
Now consider the situation if a Christian were to walk into a Hindu temple and take part in the worship service, assuming that he was worshipping Jesus, by joining in corporate prayer to Vishnu. Would the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be willing to accept worship in this manner? The answer is found in Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth. Paul wrote:
". . . the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord?s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord?s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" 1 Corinthians 10:20-22
Now consider the situation if the Hindus agree to change the name which they use from Vishnu to Sovereign Grand Creator of the Universe. Even if they are able to agree to change the name that they use to identify their demon, elements of pagan worship rituals, such as circumambulation, remain. With a substitute name for the demon, would it then be acceptable for a Christian to participate in the Hindu ceremony of worship? What if the Hindus decide that when a man who calls himself a Christian officiates at the services, they will allow him to close prayers to Vishnu in Jesus' name. Would that make it "Christian?" If over time, the number of men who claimed to be Christians increased and the number of Hindus decreased, until finally there were no more men who professed to be Hindu taking part in the Hindu rituals of worship, would it then be "Christian?"
How is this different from worship in the pagan men?s club? Of course, the men?s club would claim that their club is not a religion. Is the worship of demons through prayer made any less idolatrous by the claim that it is not a religion?
These situations accurately model the worship which takes place in Masonic Lodges today. Freemasonry teaches that there is one God and men of all religions worship that one God using a variety of different names. In a Masonic Lodge, all join in corporate prayer to the Great Architect of the Universe, (GAOTU). Christopher Haffner wrote Workman Unashamed, The Testimony of a Christian Freemason. Haffner correctly espoused Masonic teaching when he wrote:
"Now imagine me standing in lodge with my head bowed in prayer between Brother Mohammed Bokhary and Brother Arjun Melwani. To neither of them is the Great Architect of the Universe perceived as the Holy Trinity. To Brother Bokhary He has been revealed as Allah; to Brother Melwani He is probably perceived as Vishnu. Since I believe that there is only one God, I am confronted with three possibilities:
They are praying to the devil whilst I am praying to God;
They are praying to nothing, as their gods do not exist;
They are praying to the same God as I, yet their understanding of His nature is partly incomplete (as indeed is mine--1 Cor 13:12)
It is without hesitation that I accept the third possibility."
(Workman Unashamed, p39)
She tells me that just because Parliament says a prayer before it sits, doesn't make it a religion, so she is OK with the above.
She wants to know if I am thinking of joining them. I said I will be asking our friend to fill out a questionnaire before I considered it. It is, of course, a questionnaire identifying high control groups. I'm having none of that, thanks, but she doen't seem to think that being a high control group means they are necessarily bad.
Maybe she thinks that it doesn't matter who controls me, as long someone does.