HELP!!- JT asked to become a MASON!

by JT 64 Replies latest jw friends

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  JT

  I have been searching the net for some excellent sites on the Masons

  this past weekend we went down to NC for a wedding and my wife and i broke the news to our NONJW family that we were no longer involved with JW

  i could not believe the open arm welcome my uncle and aunt were almost in tears- they told us we have seen you come home each yr from the main office in NY and then you got married and you would come home and we wanted to say something about the JW but you seemed to be so well respected by the local jw - whenever we would tell folks that our newphew was up in NY- the jw would get all excited- they told us they thought it was so sad for i only made $90 a month

  my uncle knew that i had give up college and for a black man to give up the chance to go to college as he put it he thought i was out to lunch- smile

  we explained why we had no kids and they said we wondered why after almost 14yrs a nice couple and NO KIDS- we are almost 40yrsold

  it wa so amazing to see how they were as it were just waiting for us to realize that we had been "Hoodwinked and bamboozled"

  well later on that night after the reception we got together and i was telling him that due to being a jw we couldn't vote, join the NAACP, Urban League- couldn't do nothing

  my wife and i apologized for how we had treated the nonjw faimily by keeping our distance since as i told him they were "Worldly family members"

  they fell on the floor as we explained how they were bad association, etc.----

  so about 2 hours later my uncle pulls me to the side and says:

  "WelL James I would like to extend to you the invitation to think about something?"

  i said what is it

  well you are truly a fine young man- well displined , etc

  "How do you feel about the Masons?"

  Well my uncle is a 33rd degree mason and my "Apostate" brain kicked into action and i said to myself "If i go for the juggler vein- he will shut down faster than a JW or a ATM bank machine"

  so i asked him - Why would i make good mason?

  well one important thing he said was you need to be able to keep confidential things and with your JW background you would be good SMILE

  SO I told him well i just got out of an org and right now i'm not really interested in getting involved in any Org not even church

  but i thanked him for thinking highly of me-
  now i realize that dealing with him will be like dealing with a JW-

  the difference is "I was a Society Man" and i know JW like the back of my hand

  but this Mason stuff I have very little knowledge on-

  he told me " I ain't suppose to mention to you anything, but i'll tell you this little bit, there are 2 groups the blue something and clendestine something- he mentioned about the funky clothes they were- the sword,and some special handshake"

  any help would be appreciated

  thanks

  james
• 

  logical

  Dont get involved. They are bad news.
• 

  Mommie Dark

  Don't know much about the Masons, James, but I do know that my husband's great-grandfather was a Mason for many years and his wife was in Eastern Star. We inherited some of their Masonic stuff recently. The Masonic Bible is a big deluxe version. I'll let you know if it seems to be too bizarre after I examine it. The only other thing I know is that the jewelry is pretty cool. Little gavels, engineer's tools, that sort of thing, pins & tietacks etc. all of Masonic emblems. WHile researching the jewelry I found a couple of Mason websites but they don't tell you much do they?
• 

  teejay

  Funny you should mention Masons, JT. An elder's wife daycares my daughter. I take her to their house every morning before. Her husband, the elder, is a former Mason. I've known them for about twenty years, and in all that time I've only asked about the Masons once. He wouldn't tell me anything, and i made a big deal out of it (joking), but he did show me the hand shake. I'd tell you how to do it, but I'd have to kill you, and we wouldn't want that.

  Sorry.

  tj
• 

  logical

  tj

  You can tell me, then kill me by all means.
• 

  outnfree

  jt,

  I only know a very little about the Masons. My grandfather was a Past Master and my grandmother was in the women's group -- Order of the Eastern Star. They both were dead before I was 5, so I don't know how it affected their lives (but their only son, my father never joined). I have a Masonic Bible in my home which belonged to them.
  I have only recently come into possession of it. However, it has a chart which describes the Structure of Freemasonry.

  Basically, there are two "rites" of Freemasonry: the York Rite and the Scottish Rite. For both, one starts out in the Blue Lodge as an Entered Apprentice of the lst degree. After becoming a Master Mason (3rd Degree) the rites diverge. One either progresses to the Royal Arch Mason and proceeds to the Order of the Knights Templar in the York Rite (which the cross & crown found on earlier WT covers symbolizes) or one becomes a Perfect Elu and progresses to Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret (32nd Degree) in the Scottish Rite. In the Scottish Rite there are 33 Degrees. This must be the Rite your uncle belongs to. He would be an "Inspector General" and so is at the top of the game. He is a very powerful, very influential Mason. And, a MASTER at Secrecy, because from what I gather, at each degree one learns more and more what Freemasonry is all about and there are rituals and rites (including secret handshakes) which identify the level of your knowledge. You are not allowed to impart superior knowledge to a lesser degreed Mason.

  The Masons trace their heritage to those who worked with Hiram of Tyre to build King Solomon's Temple. Hiram is considered the "Master Craftsman", the "principal architect and engineer" "of mixed race" according to my Masonic Bible (a King James Version with various addenda).

  Some say that the Masons are a Satanic cult ... that the symbols which seem to be positive in their rituals have an opposite, satanic countermeaning hidden from the initiates until they have progressed to a certain degree. I do not know whether or not this is true.

  This is "A Masonic Creed" according to my Bible (published by A.J. Holman Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1924 and 1932):

  "As an expression of the simplest form of the faith of Masonry, not exhaustive, but incontrovertible and suggestive, the following is

  THE MASONIC BELIEF

  There is one God, the Father of all men.
  The Holy Bible is the Great Light in Masonry, and the Rule and Guide for faith and practice.
  Man is immortal.
  Character determines destiny.
  Love of man is, next to Love of God, man's first duty.
  Prayer, communion of man with God, is helpful.
  Recognizing the impossibility of confining the teaching of Masonry to any fixed forms of expression, yet acknowledging the value of authoritative statements of fundamental principles, the following is proclaimed as

  THE MASONIC TEACHING

  Masonry teaches man to practice charity and benevolence, to protect chastity, to respect the ties of blood and friendship, to adopt the principles and revere the ordinances of religion, to assist the feeble, guide the blind, raise up the downtrodden, shelter the orphan, guard the altar, support the Government, inculcate morality, promote learning, love man, fear God, implore His Mercy and hope for happiness."

  I had bought a very slim volume on Masonry at a Christian Book store, but cannot put my hands on it. I seem to recall that it was okay for Masons to regard ANY Holy Book of any religion, not just the Christian Bible, as a guide in their lives. I believe the reference to the Holy Bible as the "Great Light" has more to do with the heritage mentioned above and Solomon's Temple and its significance to this group.

  There is information in this Bible about the rituals (Initiation, Passing & Raising) used in the first three degrees of Masonry -- which is the Blue Lodge level.

  From what I can tell, it is another extremely controlling organization. Not sure you'll be able to save your uncle from it -- he's at the GB level, JT -- if that was your intent?

  outnfree
• 

  JT

  Logical

  don't worry about me joining-- after being Hoodwinked and Bamboozled for 30yrs PLEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

  JAMES
• 

  JT

  MOMMY SAYS:

  The only other thing I know is that the jewelry is pretty cool. Little gavels, engineer's tools, that sort of thing, pins & tietacks etc. all of Masonic emblems. WHile researching the jewelry I found a couple of Mason websites but they don't tell you much do they?

  #######
  yes I have seen those "Toys" and you are right the sites don't tell you much and I'm loking for something that is somewhat concise without having to read 3000 pages

  ##########

  JT says

  Funny you should mention Masons, JT. An elder's wife daycares my daughter. I take her to their house every morning before. Her husband, the elder, is a former Mason. I've known them for about twenty years, and in all that time I've only asked about the Masons once. He wouldn't tell me anything, and i made a big deal out of it (joking), but he did show me the hand shake. I'd tell you how to do it, but I'd have to kill you, and we wouldn't want that.
  Sorry.
  tj

  ## now this is funny - that is one of the first things I read about - the need to kill anyone who disobeys the rules- sounds to much like wt to me

  *********

  Outnfree

  thank you so much for the info on what they believe- is it not amazing and sad how almost all groups have what one could term as good "Core" beliefs
  help the sick and old , don't sleep with your best friends wife because she is ugly- etc

  and on and on the list goes basically all good stuff

  but THEN they make that left hand turn into some FREAKY SH!T

  why I have no idea- instead of sticking with the core stuff they want to add all that FLUFF

  that was one of the things I noticed about the development of the WT over the yrs-
  started out pretty good just giving personal bibical opinions that one could agree or disagree with and all was cool------- to where it is now WE SPEAK FOR GOD - DISAGREE AND YOU DIE

  HOW SAD

  JAMES
• 

  chester

  JT,

  Interesting story about your weekend!

  I have to agree....The Masons sound like too much of a controlling organization to get involved with after being a dyed in the wool JW!

  Have a great day!

  Chester
• 

  TheHighPriest

  Hi,

  Some great info there I thought I'd just chip in a bit more.
  The theory that there is some great secret hidden within freemasonry is hardly surprising given that they use secret handshakes and signs and even language for mutual recognition. Why do that if there is nothing to hide? Well here is my understanding of it all.
  These secret signals is simply a means of restricting attendance at lodge meetings to qualified people sort of like a coded membership card. The United Grand Lodge of England (York Rite) has put out very clear guidlines concerning it's uses and really there is nothing strange about it. The United Grand Lodge of England is universally recognised to be the premier Masonic authority in the world and they currently preside over some three hundred and sixty thousand members in England and Wales. The GB of freemasonry have their headquarters in Great Queen street, London and is run as a private limited company with only four directors. There is an estimated five million Masons world wide. The Grand Master has according to their constituition got to be a prince of royal blood and currently the holder of that office is the Duke of Kent. English freemasonry is structured sort of like JW's with an unelected hierarchial pyramid that channels unquestioned authority upwards through the po's, do's, co's and finally to the GB.
  They (United Grand Lodge) claim that there is nothing known of the origins freemasonry prior to 1717 however there are minutes still in existance of scottish lodge meetings dating back to 1598 and there are records of James VI of scotland (James I of England) being initiated into the lodge of Perth and scoon (scone) in 1601. He may well have been the one to bring freemasonry to London as early as 1603 when he moved there. Enlish freemasonry is very different from the freemasonry of scotland that are commonly called the 'Antient rite'. The antients have long accused the 'moderns' of making changes to the rituals which they thought they were not entitled to do and maybe rightly so and that is how the split came about. The secrets of freemasonry can be found in the antient scottish rite's rituals and were most likely invented by the knights templars themselves in an attempt to re-enact certain events on their crusade in the holy land. Some of these rituals tell the story of how they carried out excavations under the temple in Jerusalem and how they carried the treasures they found back to Scotland where the new Jerusalem was being built in the form of a copy of the original temple that was destroyed in jerusalem in 70AD.
  The 'moderns' never quite understood what the rituals meant and consequently changed them and today in modern freemasonry 24 of the 33 degrees have no ritual at all. The temple they built is here http://www.rosslyn-chapel.com and if you are interested a lot of good info on antient freemasonry and templar history can be found here too.
  As for whatever secret the templars wanted to hide the freemasons of today have no idea and the meanings of the rituals have been long forgotten until now when a lot of interest has been awoken around the fact that rosslyn chappel may well house one of the greatest findings in history. On the question was Russel a freemason? Perhaps he was but he would not have understood any secrets that may or may not have been contained in the rituals of freemasonry that he in turn may or may not have subscribed to. should you join with your uncle then be prepared to re-enact old events such as the killing of Hiram Abif in the temple or why not the one where the templars lower themselves down the shaft underneath the temple in Jerusalem and find treasures beyond the scope of belief.

  THP

  Info from various sources but mainly a book called The History of Freemasonry by R.F. Gould