Lincoln Poll in USA TODAY

[Jim Page]

(01-11-2013 07:00 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  What exactly is Freemasonry? Is it an occult organization, as so many websites say it is?

Hi, Kate--

You ask the most amazingly interesting questions.

Freemasonry is a fraternal organization designed to make good men better, based upon the logic and geometry of the stonemason's trade. It uses their tools to explain principles whereby men can subdue their baser passions.

At least, that's what it is in our day. I did a ton of historic research in Masonic books dating back before Washington's time, and I never saw anything alarming. These societies are pretty much dying out, it seems, as modern folks don't seem to join such groups in the numbers they once did.

I'd be careful of what folks say about conspiracies; most of it is hogwash. I've heard folks say that the Proctor & Gamble soap company is a Satanic cult. It reveals more about those who spread such moonshine than it does about their targets.

That being said, individuals can twist anything. I've seen evidence of Masonic symbols and rituals in the Jack the Ripper slayings which appear hard to deny. No evidence it was the organization which was involved in any way; probably just folks who knew about Freemasonry and its workings. They needn't have been Freemasons to know such stuff.

There are some aspects of the early Mormon church that evidently harken to Freemasonry, though I didn't go very deep into that.

Ha ha!!! It's a crazy world.

--Jim