Lincoln Poll in USA TODAY

[Jim Page]

(01-11-2013 10:51 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  . . . because there had been suspicious disappearances of some political opponents to Freemasonry.

Gosh; it's been over 25 years since I read any of this stuff but there was an uproar in the mid-1820s over a Mason or former Mason named William Morgan publishing the secret Masonic Ritual and many thought he had been kidnapped and killed in revenge. That was in Western New York, I believe, and became a big deal in the newspapers of that day.

That may have been a factor in formation of the Anti-Masonic political party.

My belief is that there have been, from time to time, isolated elements of the Masonic order who have gone off the rails. Masonry isn't alone in having such incidents. In the 1920s, there was some bad feeling between some Masons and some Catholics. I don't believe that is the case today.

I know for a fact that at least nowadays it is forbidden to discuss politics, particular religions, or nationalities in a Masonic lodge, as the order considers those subjects where honest men can honestly disagree.

--Jim