David Herman

I claim no Masonic Authority. I was asked for my opinions and observations, and I presented them.

To sum up, any organization which presents itself as Masonic is either recognized by my GL or is not recognized by my GL. We are unable to attend meetings of unrecognized (clandestine) groups. Since you find that so repugnant, I am glad that you have found a home elsewhere, and I wish you well on your journey through life.

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http://morelight.org

antoninus9

I didn't ask for your personal source of authority. You are avoiding answering the questions.

On what basis can your Grand Lodge establish its authority? Don't head off down the path that it is recognized by other Grand Lodges or you will have to establish their authority too and I can assure you it is not very credible.

Also, please explain why your Grand Lodge finds it necessary to lie about its own history? Does it have something to hide? I certainly believe it does.

David Herman

What questions am I avoiding?


I'm not one for politics, really. Perhaps you should ask this question to Grand Lodge itself.


I don't have to establish anything.


I'm not aware of any such behaviour. Perhaps you will see fit to provide an education here.

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http://morelight.org

D. W. Brown

Antoninus9,

I think it is pretty well known among most masons that there are different flavors of Masonry, some recgonize each other and some don't, if anyone reading this is new to the craft and don't understand this, you should before continuing to join.

A9 can you elaborate on who does, if anyone, have true authority to recgonize who is a mason and who is not? A little history lesson, from your perspective, might help to clear up the issue.

Anyone with half a brain understands that history is written by the victor and should always be looked upon that way.

Let's try not to make the tone of our messages personal in nature, as it causes walls to be thrown up immediately by the other person. The objective here is to knock down the walls of mistrust and descention and discuss the topics at hand.

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Dale Brown, 3°
TBL Staff
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Must Reads for Every Mason:

A Peculiar System of Morality | Laudable Pursuit | The Ancient Landmarks
The Truth About the Antients and the Moderns | It's About Time
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Must Visit Links for Masons:

Grand Orient de France | Grand Orient of the United States of America
The Burning Taper | Halcyon Lodge | The Philalethes Society

antoninus9

Bro. Brown,

This is not a personal issue with Bro. David, it is a lesson in truth. How will he ever be a Freemason if he avoids the truth and merely accepts whatever he is told. To be a Freemason is to separate fact from fiction; or as the founders would have put it: to separate Imaginatio from Ratio (Imagination from Reason).

I suspect that Bro. David avoids answering the difficult questions put to him because he doesn't know the answers. Instead of avoiding the questions he should seek-out the answers. The truth is never popular in any age, and that is why Freemasonry was and still remains a secret. To know the truth and to speak it is a dangerous affair indeed.

There is also the possibility that he doesn't care about the truth and simply wishes to remain in the dark. The "Light" is sometimes quite painful and one must have great fortitude to lift the veil that obscures it from sight.

tubulcain420

Make a man "think he thinks" and he will love you;
MAKE A MAN THINK and he will hate you.............
and that is what all GL's do, make you believe you have had access to something "special" by claiming an authority of what they tell you and allow you to learn, and telling you who you can have masonic fellowship with. childish in this day and age. Holding on to something for egotistical reasons is unmasonic in itself. Universal brotherhood and tolerance mean what they say.

tubulcain420

it becomes evident that thought is its own reward; that no man can actually profit from the labors of others but must work out his own mental salvation with untiring diligence. The purpose of a great mind is to inspire to accomplishment, but this end is usually frustrated by an adoring multitude who cannot preserve inspiration as an indefinite quality but must become letter worshippers by prostrating their own minds before a superior intellect. It has always been a serious question to me whether Jesus ever actually spoke the words: "If ye love me, keep my commandments," for the statement is clearly out of accord with both divine and human reason and reeks to high heaven with the sanctified odor of pious interpolation. Truth personified might well cry out: "Let him who loves me, seek me himself and discover me in his own way, and I will reward him with myself." In an old alchemical figure is depicted an aged alchemist out with a lantern at night following in the footsteps of wisdom, while in another part of the picture is a group of worldly-wise men huddled together, exchanging their notions with each other and totally oblivious to the spirit of Truth but a few feet distant from them. You who would discover the inner mysteries of life, depart from the concepts of the many. Be not followers of strange gods, but seek Reality according to the impulses of your own higher rationality. Become creative thinkers, not simply followers of blind cults. Admit enslavement to no mind; read the words of the wise, but think for yourself. Attend to the conversations of the learned, but let your conclusions be your own. Be not hasty to condemn, but accept only that which you are capable of reasoning through with the aid of that divine power resident within. Finally remember the words of the Buddha: "I will not believe a thing because any man says it, not even if it be the reputed word of God. I will only believe it when to me it is true."

Your GL's do not want one to find anything out on their own, and condemn at the drop of a hat!