"New Dan Brown novel means extra scrutiny for Masons" - I personally find this interesting

[Strong Atheist]

because I was a DeMolay... though I had to lie about my beliefs to get in...

:blush:



http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/new_dan_brown_novel_means_extra_scrutiny_for_masons2/

[subcomhd]

1. well, you do know they have been poisoning the wells, right? nt

[Strong Atheist]

2. !

:tinfoilhat: (never used that smiley before)

:rofl:

[subcomhd]

3. and you're using it to watch me, aren't you? nt

[Strong Atheist]

4. Lol!

:yourock:

[aquart]

5. "The Masons are plotting with the Jews"?

Now there's an inclusive conspiracy theory.

[petersjo02]

6. In our family

Dad and grandad were Masons, mom and grandmom Eastern Star, I was in Rainbow. My husband's parents were also Mason and Eastern Star respectively. You'll never find any better human beings, citizens, whatever you want to call them. The lodges were a huge and important part of their lives, and I'm proud to say so.

When I was little--prereading age--my dad told me a story every night when I went to bed. The stories were so magical and wonderful that I couldn't wait until I could read those stories myself. The day came that I could read, so I went through all the drawers and desks looking for that wonderful little book. Finally I found the dear little book and was disappointed to find out it was Dad's lodge ritual book, not a book of special stories for a little girl. I'm 67 now and truly appreciate the treasure of all those wonderful stories imagined in my dad's head so long ago.

Time to close. I'm gettin' weepy.

[rd_kent]

7. So what was in the ritual book?

[Strong Atheist]

9. Never decided to be a Mason (to be honest, it did not look to be

anywhere near as much fun as the DeMolays), but I would guess that like the DeMolays it was teachings on how to be a good person...

[Strong Atheist]

8. I always liked the Rainbows better than the Jobies, who were stuck up concieted...

well, anyway, the Rainbows were always nice...

[frogmarch]

10. Jobies? Would that be Job's Daughters?

I became a JD when I was 13. I wanted to be able to go to dances and wear formal gowns. That part was fun, but filing past and bowing my head to the stuffed white dove at every meeting and singing, "We are, we are, we are the daughters of Job, the fairest, the fairest in all the land" creeped me out, and I quit JD within the year.

[Strong Atheist]

14. Correct. The ones in MY area of the world were... not nice. The Rainbows were the nice ones... nt.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. Ever heard of Albert Pike?

He remains a very controversial figure. He was very influential with Scottish Rite Masons and was said to have been involved with the Illuminati (if they exist) and the Klan (Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Mason, too). I'm sure Brown's book mentions Pike, and probably Forrest, too, since Brown tends to craft his books around mythical-type figures and good/evil story lines. Pike was an interesting figure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pike and that link only tells the basics of his life. There's a lot more out there if you google it, but be careful what you take for truth. A lot of it is by Bible-thumping Mason haters.

[Nihil]

12. That bit can't be over-emphasised ...

> There's a lot more out there if you google it, but be careful what
> you take for truth. A lot of it is by Bible-thumping Mason haters.

Also bear in mind that there is a lot of variation even within the subject
of "Freemasonry" as you move around the world.

[Strong Atheist]

13. Nope, but I DO know most of the founders were masons... nt.