The Tao of Masonry

From Blue Lodge Dummies

Guests at the 5th District Blue Lodge Council, held at Unity Lodge No. 148 in New Britain last night were treated to the spectacle of the Very Worshipful Charles and Tom squeeing like adolescent fangirls over the visit of fellow blogger Chris Hodapp. Bro. Chris has authored several books, which most readers of this blog should already know. He was kind enough to endure a half hour of book signing and dedication after a sumptuous repast, and then again after being forced to listen to a (mercifully short) BLC meeting (at which once again nobody remembered to introduce the District Lecturers – harumph harumph); at the end of which he displayed his stand-up routine gave a wonderfully motivational talk about the need for variety and diversity in lodge programs – and indeed, in lodges themselves. After being subjected to another fifteen minutes of questions, he was remanded to the foyer where he endured another half hour of book signing.

Yes, of course I wanted my own book signed, too, especially the one about Conspiracies and Secret Societies. I always get a laugh over how wrong they get the part about our Zeta-Reticulan overlords protectors.

BTW, thanks go out to WB Harry Needham, WM of Unity, for being able to finagle Bro. Hodapp to come all the way out to the boondocks. Most Worshipful Robert Sticka managed to clear his calendar to attend, as did several other GL officers, some of whom had met Chris in the past. About 50 people showed up for the event.

One of the neat things about Masonry is that no matter how many accolades a brother might receive, at the end of the night, he’s still a brother – even if he is a dummy. Chris was gracious enough to hang around after most of the guests had left, chatting and gossiping as if he were a long-time member of one of the local lodges. I know that I appreciated the opportunity to meet him in person, and told him so. “You look younger in real life,” were, I think my first words.

Really, Bro. Chris – it’s the thought that counts.

Seriously, Bro. Hodapp is a knowledgeable and engaging speaker, and he does have a number of engagements lined up around the US. I encourage anybody to take advantage of the opportunity to see him if he comes by your area.

“So, what’s your secret recipe for this great tomato sauce?”

I heard this from at least 8 or 9 people on Saturday night, when my wife and I served up 65 pounds of ziti and 480 meatballs, all covered in almost 25 gallons of our home-made tomato sauce. No, I don’t have a big family; this is a now annual fund-raising dinner to help out the confirmation class of the First Congregational Church in downtown Southington.

I know, I know – you came here to read about Freemasonry, not about my cooking skills. I’m getting to that part.

My wife and I had started cooking the sauce a week previously, using the 8 burner stove and large pots available in the church kitchen. I’m sure that the church meeting hall must have smelled like an Italian restaurant by the end of the week, and by 5:30 pm – a good half hour before the advertised time – people were ready to stampede lining up to get good seats. We started serving at a quarter to six, and didn’t get a lull until well after 7:00, at which time I was able to walk around, fishing for compliments asking for feedback for the next year. And that’s when I noticed something: even though I told people what I put in my sauce, everybody acted as if I were being cagey about the answer. But that certainly was not the case; I’m usually more than happy to tell people what my own recipes are, and in fact, I’m going to tell you right here how I make tomato sauce.

Yeah, yeah, I know – you’re waiting for the part about Freemasonry. It’s coming, really.

A word of caution: if you’re the type of person who enjoys “recipes” that include such syrupy metaphors as “Add a cup of courage, a teaspoon of tolerance, stir with passion, and serve with L O V E“, then get thee hence! This blog is a NO GLURGE ZONE. Sure, those cutesy sayings were funny the first six or seven hundred times I heard them, but enough already. The 70s are over, and those little naked kids with the big eyes and hearts over their heads are has-beens. Deal with it.

Yes, yes, I’m getting to the part about Freemasonry. Really.

Now, I take a dim view of people who refuse to share good recipe. I don’t care if your great-great-grandmother carried it in her boot when she came from the old country, or if you just discovered it while messing about in the kitchen. In my opinion, the kind of people who won’t share their recipes are merely feeding their egos while they feed you a meal. When they invite you to dinner, it’s either to brag or to play the “I’ve got a secret” game and are, in essence, saying “Hey, I’ve got this really great thing and I’m only going to let you have a little taste in order that I might feel special. But don’t worry; come back next year and I’ll let you have another little taste, just so you can remember how special this is.”

Even more odious are those that purport to give you the recipe, but hold back a key step or ingredient, thereby making you think that you are stupid for not being able to follow directions. A pox on all of them.

What? Oh, yeah – the Freemasonry part. Sorry.

When the first few people asked what I put in my sauce, I told them “A hell of a lot of tomatoes.” It was funny at the time, and very true – we bought over two dozen of those large restaurant sized cans at the local warehouse store, along with salad for 200 people, dressing, grated Parmesan, and sundry other items. We started by sauteing several bulbs – that’s bulbs, not cloves – of crushed garlic in olive oil. Once the smell started wafting through the church hall (I should point out that I did this during one of the services in order to remind people of the upcoming dinner) I added a few scoops of the crushed tomatoes, and some of the typical Italian spices: oregano, parsley, basil, and a bit of fennel seed. I let this cook for a good thirty minutes, and then put some into each one of the five large pots. This served as a base, to which we added the rest of the canned tomatoes. One pot we reserved as a marinara sauce, and to the others we added some cooked ground beef (left over from the Rally Day picnic in September), and some minced and cooked Italian sausages, both of which had been cooked and minced previously in order to save time. We cooked the sauce for about six hours that day, and then came back for a few hours mid-week, and put them on again first thing Saturday morning so that they had another good eight hours to simmer. Usually I put some red wine in the sauce to counter the bitter taste from the tomatoes, but after a few people had concerns about sensitivities to the sulfites in the wine, this year I opted to add some sugar and salt.

I have to say that this was one of the best batches of sauce that I’ve made in a few years. Even my wife will attest that this year it was particularly good, and the compliments from the hungry crowd was certainly a testament to how it turned out.

Yes, yes – I’m coming to the Freemasonry part directly.

I told every person who asked me exactly what I used in the sauce – which, as you can see, are just regular Italian spices. Every person had the same reaction: If I’m just using regular spices and ingredients that you normally find in sauce, then why did this batch come out so well? Certainly I’m leaving out a crucial step, a secret ingredient, a particular item that made this come out better, right? After all, you can’t just throw some tomatoes and spices in a pan and expect it to come out like that, right? Right?

Apparently, my sauce admirers miss the essential point.

They had the list of ingredients that I use, and I even gave them some little tips. And while in theory there might be some small differences between brands of tomatoes or spices, in practice I’ve never noticed any significant difference.

So, what is the point of all this?

The raw tomatoes contain a lot of water, which needs to cook off. In that process, the heat breaks down certain proteins and acids, releasing certain chemicals, and causing others to bond. Five gallons of sauce in a pot takes hours to get up to the proper temperature, with constant stirring to prevent the bottom from burning and tainting the rest of the sauce. The heat also breaks down the chemicals in the spices, and the stirring allows the flavor to gently infuse throughout the pot of warm liquid. Eventually, the acids break down and dissipate, and the sauce itself tastes of the fragrant basil and oregano, perhaps mixed with the spicy saltiness of the sausage.

The secret, you see, is not the ingredients at all. It’s the time.

Those people who are accustomed to opening a jar of grocery-bought sauce simply can not conceive of the investment of time that one must make to cook a good, home-made tomato sauce. Despite the stereotype of old Italian ladies standing at a stove all day, few people really understand that it’s the process of cooking that makes the difference between a rich, thick, savory sauce and a thin, slightly bitter one. Too often we try to make up for the lack of flavor by adding extra garlic, salt, basil, or other spices. But these serve merely to cover up the fact that the sauce itself is a hastily prepared affair.

Even the cooking shows on television offer up tips on how to make good tomato sauce, especially tailored for busy people who only have an hour or so. And no question about it, some of those sauces are tasty. But they’re not the same; indeed, if I may be so bold, they’re not even in the same
class.

Let me make this clear: In sauce making, as with so many other things in life, there is no substitute for the investment of one’s time. It is only through the lengthy process of cooking that the unwanted and unnecessary ingredients break down, and are replaced by the desirable aromas and textures. It is only through time that certain agents can be make their way around the large vat of liquid, moving here and there until the gentle stirring combines them with other agents to produce something delightful to the senses. And certainly, the larger the pot, the more time is needed.

Time.

Speaking of which, it looks as if I’ve run out. It appears that I’m just not going to get around to discussing Freemasonry, doesn’t it?

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Most people who know of my online habits and haunts know that I spend what is probably an inordinate amount of time in the company of some odd and sometimes unsavory characters. No, I’m not talking about The Burning Taper (at least, not specifically); rather, I’m talking about the places on the internet where those who are predisposed against Freemasonry tend to congregate. While there are plenty of blogs, web sites and online forums, my favorite place to watch the konspiracy krowd is on Usenet. Perhaps because Usenet is the remnant of the old Internet, it is often frequented by people who one can easily imagine sitting on an overturned recycling bucket, typing away on a desk made of milk crates and boards at an old, cast-off 386 PC, with pictures of UFOs on the wall sporting, Fox Mulder-like, the catch phrase “I want to believe.”

Yes, this is my secret shame: whenever I’m feeling down and blue, or if I’ve had a bad day at work, or even if I’m just having a bad hair day, I put on my fingerless gloves, crank up the 1980s punk rock, and head down the Information Superhighway to those little dark corners of the net in order to watch – and sometimes to bait – the Anti-Masons.

Don’t look at me in that tone of voice. It’s cheaper than gambling, and easier on my health than drinking.

Anyhow, it’s long been my contention that anti-Masons tend to fall into three rather broadly defined groups; the religious, the konspiracists, and the kooks. In general, you can tell which in group an anti belongs by looking at the content and context of their argument:

“You Masons are a false religion, you worship Baphoment, and the glory of the LORD will see your downfall. You’ll burn in HELL for all eternity for promoting your lies and falsehoods!”

“Not only are you Masons in league with the Illuminati and the Council on Foreign Relations, you also have a secret lair underneath the Denver Airport.”

“Damn kids – get the hell off of my lawn! Just ‘cos your fathers are Freemasons, you think that I won’t try to take you all to court for harassment? I know all those Masons look out for each other downtown, but I’ll be sittin’ on the porch with my shotgun full o’rock salt next time, y’hear me?”

Note: if you are not sure as to which group each statement belongs, then perhaps you should not be reading this.

Those people with religious objections to the fraternity are often the most difficult to deal with because they aren’t often swayed by reason. Unfortunately, they are more often swayed by sensationalized and overly dramatic presentations by slick-haired preachers, most of whom seem to be more interested in filling the coffers of their ministries than in promoting things like “truth” and “tolerance.” Admittedly, I have a difficult time understanding this because it seems that most of those with religious objections to Freemasonry tend to practice more fundamentalist versions of their faiths, which is often associated with very literalistic interpretations of their scriptures. One would think that such literal-minded thinking would be less prone to influence by the sensationalism peddlers.

Be that as it may, most of the arguments that I see between religious Antis and Masons seem to center around the writings of several noted Masonic authors, with the the Antis pointing to passages in various books and saying “See, you lying evil monger? This passage PROVES that Masonry is a religion,” and Masons responding by saying “You’re barmy, you daft old goat! Nobody can define the Craft that way.”

Etc., etc. Hilarity ensues.

My own perspective is that Masons intending to argue (for example) the finer points of Albus Dumbledore Albert Pike are doomed to frustration; most fundamentalists will be more interested in promoting their own views than in learning about Masonry. More to the point, Masons trying to argue the finer points of any Masonic author of a century ago will need to discuss the issues in terms of symbolism, allegory, and metaphor, all of which are unlikely to be understood by those looking at the issues with a more literal-minded perspective. Literalism itself is not necessarily a bad quality; however, it is particularly ill suited for discussions that range off into the esoteric. Masons in such situations will inevitably find that while both of you are speaking English, you will seem to lack a common language.

It’s not unlike dealing with teenagers, in that respect.

A secondary issue is that, as blogger John Ratcliff points out, most Masons (at least, in the US) aren’t all that up to speed on the esoterica. And again, this isn’t a bad thing itself – Masonry is large, it contains multitudes. However, it does mean that most Masons will actually be unfamiliar with many of the oft-quoted paragraphs of Pike, Mackey, Hall, or Hodapp. This is perfectly normal, however, and rest assured that if you are in a discussion about Pike with an anti-Mason, he or she probably has not read much of it either. In my own experience, most of the Antis who quote Pike always quote the same paragraphs, almost as if they are reading the same books or websites by the uber-Antis who all quote exactly the same passages. Of course, I also suspect that Pike’s “Morals & Dogma” is one of the top ten books that Masons pick up and put down long before they’ve finished it.

I think that my copy makes a very nice paperweight.

Since Pike is by far the most quoted author by Anti-Masons, I think it’s worth addressing some of those points directly.

One of the most difficult things for Anti-Masons understand about the Craft (and indeed, this is true even for some old-time Master Masons, as well) is that there is no underlying philosophy, doctrine or dogma to Freemasonry on which all of the members agree. That is, while Masons are encouraged to study for their own personal improvement, and while there have been some excellent writings in the past and will likely be more in the future, not one of them is accepted as doctrinal. Indeed, even Morals & Dogma – referenced probably by more Antis than actual Masons – contains this passage in the Preface:

“The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as they go beyond the realm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought and Truth. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite uses the word “Dogma” in its true sense, of doctrine, or teaching; and is not dogmatic in the odious sense of that term. Every one is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound. It is only required of him that he shall weigh what is taught, and give it fair hearing and unprejudiced judgment. Of course, the ancient theosophic and philosophic speculations are not embodied as part of the doctrines of the Rite; but because it is of interest and profit to know what the Ancient Intellect thought upon these subjects, and because nothing so conclusively proves the radical difference between our human and the animal nature, as the capacity of the human mind to entertain such speculations in regard to itself and the Deity. But as to these opinions themselves, we may say, in the words of the
learned Canonist, Ludovicus Gomez: “Opiniones secundum varietatem temporum senescant et intermoriantur, aliæque diversæ vel prioribus contrariæ renascantur et deinde pubescant.”

So, let’s extract the basics.

1) M&D is not an authoritative, definitive, or canonical work.

2) Masons (or more specifically, Scottish Rite Masons- Southern Jurisdiction, to whom this book was given until the early 1960s) are free to disagree with Pike’s interpretations.

3) The ancient teachings described by Pike are not even a part of the ritual; they are discussed simply as an illustration of their moral evolution.

To me, it seems pretty obvious that M&D was written for Masons interested in in exploring the nature of their relationship to their Deity, written from a perspective of comparing theology of some of the older religions dating back to the Egyptians. This point is pretty obvious to most Masons, but it somehow escapes the attention of the Antis, who are more interested in extracting short passages out of context that seem to support their position that Masonry is a religion unto itself, and possibly a demon-worshiping one, at that.

Antis also have a hard time believing that not all Masons are on board with this religion thing, much less that few Masons have actually read Pike. In trying to explain that Pike was a great thinker, but that his writing might have been above most of those who received copies of this book, they express doubt. Why would the SRSJ hand out the books if it weren’t required reading, they ask. And truth be told, the explanation does sound lame: Because no one person speaks for Freemasonry; not having a dogma, Freemasonry has no requirement that its members study any particular author. One can almost imagine the raised eyebrow while Antis pose the question: Yeah, right. You expect me to believe that your organization survived several hundred years without having so much as a mission statement?

Yes, it seems unbelievable that the fraternity has survived for centuries without some kind of “mission statement,” but it’s my opinion (and since I’m a respected Masonic writer, it must be true) that the lack of a formal doctrine has actually contributed to the longevity of the Fraternity. The Ancient Charges themselves make it clear that the essential points of membership, and the qualities venerated by the membership, are to be men who are trustworthy and honest, and who have a belief in a Supreme Being.

Yes, it’s really that simple.

Again, this is the part where non-Masons get it wrong; that some men write about Freemasonry in such loving and lofty terms often reserved for religious discussion leads some of them to assume that they do so because Freemasonry actually is a religion – albeit one in which the overwhelming majority of members don’t seem to recognize it as such.

More astounding, though, is the incredible lapse in reasoning that goes along with this thinking. What kind of religion is it in which the members don’t believe they are practicing? Furthermore, considering that most Masons in the US and UK practice some form of Christianity, what kind of religion is it in which the members believe that they belong to a different religion entirely? This is akin to visiting a synagogue or church and trying to tell the people that what they are really practicing is Santaria.

It’s amazing when you think about it; the entire purpose of the Fraternity is to be exactly that: a fraternity. To develop the bonds of friendship among those who would have otherwise remained at a perpetual distance. It’s a testament to the power of this simple bonding, the creation of friendships among men of different ages, religions, ethnic backgrounds that so many men speak so highly of their experiences with the Craft. It’s difficult to explain to an Anti, or even to a non-Mason, that feeling one gets when visiting a strange city and bumping into a person wearing a ring with the Square & Compasses, or being invited to a dinner at a strange lodge while on a business trip, or even the elevation of one’s spirits at the end of a bad day at work when walking into one’s mother lodge and being greeted by people that you know. It’s not a “religious” experience in the sense that there is nothing inherently spiritual, but it can an uplifting and calming experience, especially so for men of an age who are more accustomed to being strong and silent.

At this point, the quick-witted Anti might think to ask “If no one man speaks for Masonry, then why should I believe your explanation over those of the great authors of the last century?” This is actually a very good question, and one that Masons themselves might want to consider before we tackle it in the next installment of Freemasonarianism: The Religion of Freemasonry.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Most people do not know about the intricate Masonic messages and symbolism in the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, but with the recent spate of books and movies about the hidden codes and conspiracies elsewhere, I thought that I’d let you in on some of the inner secrets. This is for purely mercenary motives because I’m looking to take my blog to the syndicates.

First, note that Dorothy begins with the letter D, the fourth letter in the alphabet and 4 being a very mystical number to Freemasons. If you subtract that 4 from 7 (the number of the letter G, found inside the Masonic Square & Compasses logo), you get 3, the central mystical number of all esoterica. And needless to say, 7 itself is a number with magical properties. Dorothy then meets 3 (!) misfits on the yellow brick road (making 4, and there’s that number again), and one can easily see the symbolism between the stone bricks and Masonry. The movie contains 2 wicked witches (2 being a prime number and one that is important in Freemasonry) and 1 good witch (making 3 again), and when added to the 4 travelers becomes 7, proving the importance of that number to Masons.

They travel on the road (the assumption is that they are heading East, a direction with mystical connections) to the Emerald City, with green being an important symbolic color to Masons.(the yellow from the bricks mingled with the ““blue”” of the so-called Blue Lodges makes green). And it’s obvious that the castle of the Wizard (that is, the Grand Master) is built of stone and resembles the medieval churches of Europe. This is a nod to both the Knights Templar and the the pagan religions that the Templars studied, which we now know made them heretics. The travelers meet up with the Wizard (now making 5, an important number in Masonic symbolism), who asks them to perform a service before he will help them. This is a veiled reference to the Hiramic legend in which the workers on the Temple of Solomon must complete the Temple before receiving the secrets of Freemasonry.

The travelers -– and let us note that Masons refer to themselves as “traveling men” – meet up with the Wicked Witch of the West, the one from the East having been killed by Dorothy’s house. Note that “house” is synonymous with “temple”; the Wicked Witch of the East has been interred under the Temple from the Heavens -– yet another reference to several items central to Masonic lore. The Wicked Witch of the West appears to take the shoes that Dorothy acquired from the Wicked Witch of the East, which resonates with the ancient Masonic initiation ritual in which the candidates are deprived of their own shoes.

Dorothy is eventually captured by the Wicked Witch of the West, who flies on a broom, symbolizing “Air”, one of the four classical elements of antiquity. Dorothy is then kept in the stone castle (symbolizing “Earth”), but during an ill-fated rescue attempt, sets “Fire” to the witch, which is then set to right by the application of “Water”. This, of course, is an acknowledgment that the Freemasons have subverted the religion of their fathers in order to study the ancient pagan ways.

The service to the Wizard now completed, the travelers make their way back to the Emerald City. The Wizard is exposed to be simply a man, which resonates with the Masonic idea that only the Grand Architect of the Universe can be perfect and all knowing. The Wizard, though, is a wise man who manages to help the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow develop traits which are secret Masonic virtues: courage (Strength), heart (Beauty), and brains (Wisdom). Of special note is that the Scarecrow, upon receiving brains (symbolic of receiving Masonic “light”) recites the Pythagorean Theorem! This is the most important theorem in geometry (which starts with the letter “G”), and is the essence of the esoteric Masonic mystical teachings.

Did you get all of that?

Non-Masons, I’m sure, are nodding their heads up and down, the with the understanding slowly growing, like the dawn creeping over the horizon. Right? Makes sense when it’s pointed out to you, doesn’t it?

Actual Masons, though, are probably scratching their heads and asking “What the hell was that?”

This, my dear readers, is an illustration of the imagined connections of the pseudo-mystical, the conclusion jumping of the breathless Internet seeker, and the convoluted logic of the dreaded “Anti-Mason”. The light, in other words, was that glow of the false dawn.

In the past 5 years (5 being an important Masonic number) that I’ve been paying attention to such things, I’ve been amazed at the number of non-Masons who have derived some authority which they believe qualifies them to write about what we are and what we do. Some of them are benign, and draw upon other sources without really understanding what it is that they’ve read. They claim that we are the keepers of some kind of mystic or esoteric knowledge, and that we secretly or surreptitiously try to impart this knowledge or perhaps communicate with other Masons through the use of these symbols. You know the type: they tell you about the importance of the measurements and other numbers related to the Washington Monument, or the Great Pyramid in Giza, or the US one dollar bill. If you listen to them long enough, you’ll see that virtually every number, color, and shape is somehow important in Masonic Mysticism. You can easily spot them by their “Kaballah for Dummies” reference guide.

But some aren’t quite so harmless. Like the benign group, they jump to the same conclusions drawn from irrational leaps of logic, but from there they build a conspiracy theory worthy of the X-files. These are the people who create pages and pages of web sites and Usenet postings about how the Freemasons are behind the black helicopters and the Illuminati or New World Order, the control of money in the World Bank, and the infiltration and control of public officials, from the local zoning commission to “the highest offices of government”. When someone from this group gets a parking ticket, it’s not because they left their vehicle to run 20 minutes over on the meter; no, it’s because the Masons in the local town council have it in for them, and are going to use their power to drive out the little people. When you try to explain to them that the Masons in your lodge are just shop owners and engineers and utility workers, they accuse you of lying, of covering up the “real” truth, and will probably send you a 9 page letter (9 being an important Masonic number), threatening to take you to court, if they could only believe that the Masonic judges and police weren’t already spying on them.

Then there are those, who for reasons I still can’t quite fathom, would seek to undermine the Craft because (so they believe) we are a religion unto ourselves, one that has long since strayed from The One True Path©, one that worships the demon Baphomet, and which seeks to capture and convert other unknowing souls into our pagan ways. And that’s not the strange part; the really strange part is that we somehow seek to convert others to our soul-stealing, hell-bound perversions by such unspeakable acts as, for example, raising money for children’s organizations, or by donating money to the poor, or by working in soup kitchens, or by donating time and energy into various community activities, or — and this is apparently the absolute worst thing — by not only sitting in the same room with people of other religions, but for accepting them as they are and not trying to convert them to the aforementioned One True Path©!

I’m trying to imagine a culture in which tolerance for the beliefs of others is a bad thing.

Nope, still can’t fathom it.

Those with religious objections to Freemasonry are insidious. I’ve tried explaining that Freemasonry is not a religion, that we don’t worship Baphomet or any other Deity in pa
rticular, and that most of the Masons I know are conservative men with a religious or certainly spiritual bent. I used to be surprised by the rejoinder: those men don’t know that they are worshiping a false deity. The “true” secrets (they insist), are only known to a very select few of the highest degrees. If you have attained the 32º in the Scottish Rite, then they will tell you that the secrets are known only to those of the 33º. If you are a 33º, then the secrets are only known to some smaller sub-group (unless they accuse you of lying to cover it up). Apparently only a very super-secret select few know that when Freemasons open a lodge, they unknowingly offer up a prayer to some deity that nobody else has ever heard of.

Think about how ridiculous that sounds: How is it that we don’t know who gets the thoughts and intentions when we bow our heads for some quiet contemplation? A deity that knows when every little sparrow falls, yet who can not determine who is offering up a prayer? Really? Is some supernatural deity hijacking our cable? War-driving in the psychic realms? Have we no firewall on our spiritual Wi-Fi?

I don’t have any solutions or answers or even any witty responses to these conditions. Most Masons will probably rarely or never find themselves in a situation in which they have to face such wrong-headed thinking. As an old Usenet junkie, I tend to run across them much too frequently, and now have more names in my newsreader filters than a small phone book. But after several years, I realize that I’m getting tired of hearing the same, old arguments from them, and I’m tired of hearing myself respond with the same old explanations.

So I’ve decided that, if only to keep myself from feeling bored and tired (and to amuse myself, if possible), I’m going to go to the other extreme and point out the Masonic connections where they would least expect them to be. Long live the cult of Freemasonarianism!

And did anyone count the words in the previous paragraph? Hint: it’s the most important Masonic number of all, and the key to life, the unverse, and everything!