So THAT'S why...

Post #44,370 by jb4 7/3/02 2:18:37 PM Reply	So THAT'S why... ...All the epithets against anybody who's not a WASP includes a throwaway about Freemasons! Never quite understood that (as most Freemasons I know are indistinguishable from most WASPs I know). Thanks for the Enlightenment! jb4 "I remember Harry S. Truman's sign on his desk. 'The buck stops here.' Strange how those words, while still true, mean something completely different today." -- Brandioch
Post #44,398 by Ashton 7/3/02 4:13:43 PM Reply	No relationship. 'Freemasonry' is hardly definable in simple one syllable words, and I won't attempt a definition. Religion it is not. An esoteric worldview? A metaphysical view? Take yer pick - but WASP it ain't. (Any more than the Rosicrucians, say..) Ashton
Post #44,489 by orion 7/4/02 8:29:16 PM Reply	A fraternity, not a religion. [link\|http://www.freemason.org/site/faq.htm#a7\|[link\|http://www.freemason.org/site/faq.htm#a7\|http://www.freemaso...e/faq.htm#a7]] Read the FAQs, quite educational. You all think you know what being a Freemason is all about? I am showing that most of you don't know the first thing. *I am free now, to choose my own destiny.*
Post #44,493 by Ashton 7/4/02 8:55:40 PM Reply	Nor will you see on that site Refs to any of the 'esoteric' wings, nor a description of any consequence.. about what is implicit in the -Degrees "ladder". When you imagine that a Website '02 shall reveal to you the substance of the say, "commonality of aim?" of the Founding Mothers: you've Missed it. Whoever's sig used to contain: ~~ Two things that are Important in Life: 1) Don't tell everything that you know. by Tan Sat? or a homonym
Post #44,714 by Brandioch 7/8/02 1:19:10 AM Reply	OTO, baby! Meanwhile, back at the ranch............... Here's a "history" of Freemasonry. I've been told more about it from a member. But I can't tell what is historical and what is myth. [link\|http://homepage.tinet.ie/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/templars.htm\|Freemasonry] It does tend to shed a slightly different light on the subject.
Post #44,725 by Ashton 7/8/02 8:07:43 AM Reply	You aren't supposed to! (be able to tell) :-\ufffd That is, and for (I think) all obvious reasons: no group's "esoteric wing" is ever going to advertise its existence or generally even.. admit there is such a thing. As with churches - most of the action and the pitches are about socializing; any 'philosophy' is cut & dried, with study groups for those who want some expansion of material. Notice that in US - there is hardly ever any reference even to the word esoteric/hidden in connection with the popular religious Corporations (those with massive land and other property holdings). Offhand, I think that the usual info about the Masons - as with the Sufis (say) tends to be predictably of two sorts: "it's just a fraternal order like the Elks" and/or "there are secret hierarchies.. too". Naturally (this being the US) it's assumed that wealth determines membership in these 'optional' castes. If there are any. It's probably deemed just fine if - people imagine that there is little difference among UFO, Black Helicoper stuff and - any such orgs. (If there are such orgs. ;-) Catch 23: "those who say don't know; those who know don't say" is no mere slogan. But one thing we can be Sure of, homo-saps being involved (!) is that - many more will say they know about ___ than know shit about anything - since so many folks love to be Seen to know stuff. [cackle] (Makes 'research' a tad inconclusive, no?) My take is that, anyone with a literal mindset will find precisely what they Know is there: Nothing at all. But the real question is: for those who really wanted to find out if there is anything to discover .. (?) Well, nobody ever said it was s'posed to be ez, now did they? Maybe it's just as well too; as with the Frank & Ernest cartoon in the diner: Big Sign over a huge kettle, Do Not Stir the Soup. Frank asks the guy, "why not?". "Because Sir.. you would not like what you would see, Sir." Ashton what me worry?

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