Monday, September 11, 2006

The Many Paths of Wisdom

Whenever Bro. Darren picks up his pen and paper (or keyboard and mouse) and expresses himself, you know it's going to be interesting reading. Whether as himself or under his pen name F. Roy Dean-Schlipp, Bro. Darren aims high and usually hits his target. He holds nothing back when he rails against Christian fundamentalists like Josh the Baptist or Masonic fundamentalists like Bros. Ed King and Tim Bonney.

But Bro. Darren is at his best when he takes a deep breath and ponders the gentler, deeper side of Freemasonry, as he does in today's The Path(s) of Wisdom.
The Path(s) of Wisdom by Darren Simpson

In today's society, we find ourselves asking, "Where can true wisdom be found?" As Freemasons, we have committed ourselves to a life-long quest for true wisdom and have sworn to protect such wisdom with our very lives from those who would use that knowledge for baser means and self-fulfillment. With such high aims and aspirations, you'd think that Freemasons such as ourselves would be beyond discrimination in our quest. You would think that our journey would be one of genuine learning from all of the available sources of human experience.

That is what you would think....

But we are far from that idyllic example, are we not? We have one faction that is throwing out the pre-Christian origins and heritage of our masonic forebears, and you have some groups disdaining the wisdom of the Christian saints and desert fathers in a blind polarization to esotericism and Eastern mysticism. My only question is, "Why?" Why trap ourselves into our own pre-conceived notions of wisdom?
Read the entire article at Le Chevalier Maconnique.

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31 comments:

  1. All you young guys think you’re so smart don’t you? Well I got news for you. The old men running the show are a lot smarter than you think. We know that the Knights of the Rosy Cross of Gold and the Knights of the North are the same thing. You didn’t fool anybody. Jeff Peace and Jeff Naylor are the two biggest problems this fraternity has right now. They helped publish are secrets in Masonry for Dummies after they swore on the holy bible never to write anything down. It’s only a matter of time before they are both expelled and all of this foolishness brought to an end.

    No more Knights of the Rosy Cross or Knights of the North!

    The brother who runs this web page should be ashamed of himself.

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  2. OFGS! Who the hell cares about the Knights Who Say Ni? The subject is dead! A bunch of guys split off and formed the UGLA. Those guys are no longer a "problem" because they aren't mainstream Masons. They aren't coming to your meetings, and you're not going to theirs. It's time to stop the bitterness and backbiting from both the mainstream and UGLA sides.

    BTW, Freemasonry for Dummies was written by Chris Hodapp from Indiana. There's nothing in there that he could not have already picked up from the internet. The implication is this: at some point long before Peace came along, men who were obligated brother Masons decided to write down everything about their degree work. Someone transgressed their obligations long ago.

    As to swearing not to write anything down, most US GLs consider only the words, tokens, and certain other methods of recognition to be "secret". I read that book, and I certainly didn't see anything in there that I haven't read elsewhere. Interestingly, the GLs of most US states are selling the books in their own bookstores, so just how terrible can this be?

    BTW, I understand that our very esteemed brother S. Brent Morris just wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry". Are you going to accuse him of collusion and suggest that he be expelled for giving away the "secrets"?

    It's time to stop beating this dead horse and get back to practicing Masonry.

    The Tao of Masonry

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  3. You don't know what you're talking about brother. I've been talking with our Grand Master about these Knights groups and how they are all connected. They are trying to destroy Freemasonry and take over everything. All the good work we have done since the building of King Solomon's Temple will be destroyed by these groups.

    The Grand Lodge of Indiana knows it too. They are looking into these things just like we are. All good brothers need to stand together as true Christian Knights against these people.

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  4. Oh, fer Peter Gower's sake!

    "Mo GM" is just trying to stir things up. He doesn't seem to know his Masonic ass from a Masonic hole in the ground. Probably not even a Mason.

    There are many problems in current Freemasonry; the two Jeffs aren't them.

    I've never bought a "...for Dummies" or an "Idiot's Guide to..." anything in my life, precisely because of the title. I don't consider myself — or anyone worthy of being a Freemason — a dummy or an idiot. Why would Freemasons think that just because the franchises of those titles are lucrative that they should demean Masonry with such derogatory titles?


    — Widow's Son, the "brother who runs this web page"

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  5. mo gm,

    Are you for real??? Because if you are, It frightens me that you somehow gained admittance into Freemasonry, and somehow, you have an amazing lack of ability to see beyond the nose on your face. I am really hoping this is a joke because it is laughable.

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  6. Mo Gm,

    You are playing into the fear mongering that is common-place amongst many of the blue lodges. "OH NO!!! THOSE YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPERS ARE TAKIN OVER AND GONNA MAKE US WORSHIP BUDDHA OR BEELZEBUB!!!" Come on! Get a grip! The UGLA doesnt concern itself one iota about the actions of the Blue lodge. You've bought into the party rhetoric; hook, line and sinker. You're the one being misled and shorted your investment in Freemasonry.

    Darren Simpson

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  7. JUST THE THOUGHT THAT THERE IS A IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FREEMASONRY IS FRIGHTENING. DOES THIS MEAN WE HAVE "IDIOTS" IN FREEMASONRY???
    :)

    PS- I think we found one at least...

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  8. MO GM,

    If you think this site is a disgrace, you should drop by mine! It'll scare the Beelzebub out of ya!

    Darren Simpson
    http://the-modern-freemasonic-journal.blogspot.com/index.html

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  9. Mo GM,

    I guess the guy that wrote "Duncan's Ritual" ought to be the victim of the penalty phase as well, huh??!!

    Darren Simpson
    "Tired of ignorant posts..."

    ReplyDelete
  10. hey mo,
    hey larry,
    its curly, help me tie my apron under my man boobs, I can't reach behind me from one too many fish fry.

    ReplyDelete
  11. RE: Last comment,

    OH MY GOD!!! That's really funny stuff, but...let's keep it semi-respectful, shall we? Mo GM is simply mislead and it's easy to get caught up in the rhetoric being bandied about by those that are ill-informed or outright lying. I would hope that Mo Gm's Grand master is simply ill-informed and not lying. While not the norm; GM's have been known to tell a fib or two. ;)

    Darren Simpson

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  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  13. wow, dual alabamamasons.....
    I do declare, GL o AL doesn't not preclude blacks from joining?

    How many blacks belong to mainstream lodges?

    Does this seem familiar?: "Recently, at the conference on recognition, held here annually in the United States, the conferees were asked to SEAT brethren from several Prince Hall lodges. Not FOR lodge, but in committee as part of the Grand Master's annual convention.

    The brothers from the GLs that do not recognize PH masonry refused to accredity these good men, and refused to even seat them. They stood and told the conferees that if they chose to seat these men, they would withdraw from the conference."

    HUH?

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  14. Bro. Tucker,

    Thank you for your comments.

    The use of handles/screen names online is not controlled by any central organization. Just because someone else is using a handle you've claimed as yours since 2001 doesn't mean they have "stolen," as you said, your identity. No one is pretending to be you. (Your complaint is as silly as if I got upset that there were others using the name "Widow's Son." It's as generic a term in Masonry as one can get. We're ALL the Widow's Son, just as every Mason in Alabama is an "Alabama Mason.")

    The evidence disproving your statement that the Grand Lodge of Alabama does not "preclude blacks from their organization and membership is open to all races and nationalities" seems to be overwhelming. Where are the black brothers? Show us your "Negroes"! Why is the GL of Ala.'s 1876 Resolution against "Negro Masons" still on the books? Why was it reaffirmed in 1970? Why did the southern Grand Lodges refuse to allow Prince Hall brothers to sit in an open meeting with them recently at national Masonic conference?

    Face it — a high percentage of Masons in the Old South are racist, through and through. They lived through the tumultuous 1960s as grown men, and came away with an us vs. them mentality, having watched as dogs and hoses were turned on "unruly negroes." This is the mindset they had as young adults, and it's not an easy one to change.

    Once I was at my lodge for dinner, sitting with a group of older Masons, and the topic of "blacks in the lodge" came up. At the time I was still gung-ho happy in Masonry, and at every turn, I was encouraging my young son to identify with Masonry. I even so much as told him if he was ever in trouble to look for a man wearing the symbols — an early "programming" of my son that I now regret.

    I asked this group the following hypothetical question: What if I remarried a black woman, and we then had a child of mixed race? When my two sons came of age, would they be allowed to join the lodge (of which, at the time, I was very proud to be a member of)? Would the white son be allowed and the mixed-race son be disqualified? I don't mean not voted in; I mean, refused a petition, refused even without a vote? Would both be shunned because their father had married a black woman? Would I be shunned as soon as the marriage took place?

    No one — not one — gave an answer. It didn't take long before they all slinked off to other tables.

    It was too long after that I was shunned, anyway, because I was the kind of person who would even ASK questions like that.


    — Widow's Son

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  15. It didn't take long before they all slinked off to other tables.

    Has anyone talked to you about your table manners? ;-)

    Seriously, you and TC asked about the number of "blacks" in the GL AL. I don't know about Alabama, but up in Conn, we dont' keep any records on race or religion.

    I could tell you that we have X black guys in my lodge, but there would be no way to prove it. In fact, I personally don't have any idea how many Blacks, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Attorneys, Italian-Americans, Democrats, or Stamp collectors we have. Somehow it just doesn't seem to come up.

    The Tao of Masonry

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  16. Because Conn. has over come the barriers that we want the South to over come.

    I was a member of the GL of AL long enough to know how they work. A problem comes up they officially ignore it while sending out their minions to cloud the issues.

    Their motto is "ignore it and it will go away." Not this time.

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  17. cry baby Tucker is a GL minion doing his duty to save the GL.
    The issue is not Alabamamason all of us from Alabama are Alabamamasons.

    Stop clouding the issues with GL lies and recognize Prince Hall Masons!!!

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  18. Tucker is a GL minion clouding the real issue with crying over his fairytale dream of being the only Alabamamason. All Masons in Alabama are Alabamamasons!

    Your GL refuses to recognize Prince Hall Masons and refuse to allow them to join. That is the real issue here.

    Go tell Frank to do his job instead of sending out his sheep.

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  19. Bro. Tucker,

    You claim to be on the Internet Committee of the Grand Lodge of Alabama. Are they aware that your site alabamamason.info provides numerous links to "clandestine" (by GL of AL standards) groups such as Co-Masonry, Prince Hall, and the Rose Cross of Gold, and to websites that publish the entire Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason blue lodge rituals? By doing so, aren't you violating certain Masonic oaths?

    I can't help but find humor in your disclaimer, too: "Disclaimer: This web site www.alabamamason.info nor the owner George Lovell (Butch) Tucker, Jr., is in any way, shape, or form associated with any one who is a member of the United Grand Lodge of America, Alabama-Free-Mason (Blog), Alabama Grand Lodges Facts (Blog), or the person who has hijacked my alabamamason name and is using it to spread disinformation about the Grand Lodge of Alabama, Free and Accepted Masons."

    You are, in fact, "associated" with those so mentioned, because they are, in fact, your Masonic brothers. They were Masons before they formed the "unrecognized" groups.

    What are you so afraid of?


    —Widow's Son

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  20. Lay it on Widow's Son.
    He cannot answer the question because of fear of the GM.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Tucker's site has links to Prince Hall Masonry so he is violating the GL of AL Edicts, infact he is in violation of the Law so un-Masonic charges could be brought up on him.

    The GM is watching...............

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  22. Christopher Hodapp, author of "Freemasonry for Dummies"
    and Brent Morris book "Freemasonry for Idiots" Are both half-truths and fiction with a slant towards destroying Albert Pike and clouding the issues of Freemasonry.
    Anyway who would recommend a book to a potential candidate that is styled towards idiots and dummies?
    Scottish Rite hog wash the decay of the true Maosnic meanings.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Freemasons For Dummies by Christopher Hodapp 32°
    p.61
    "If you read enough about Freemasonry, you'll soon come across the writings of Albert Mackey, Manley Hall, Aurthur Edward Waite, and Albert Pike. [...] In short, they wrote a lot of crap."

    You believe Pike wrote crap???

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  24. freemasonry for dummies or lost keys of freemasonry by manly p hall
    which should i read as an aspiring mason?

    am i a dummy or idiot, or am I a scholar and researcher?

    who are these men catering to by alluding to new masons as dummies and idiots?

    good luck with your future for trying to educate idiots and dummies into maonry and hopefully these dummies and idiots will climb the GL ladders and perpetuate the insinity of title collectors who act as if they are above the regular masons.
    looks like grooming school is in session for dummies and idiots.

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  25. Ancients in America invented
    1. The Blue Lodge system
    2. The letter "G" in the c&s
    3. The American York Rite system
    4. A&A Scottish Rite SJ 1801 South Carolina

    Premier Grand Lodge England 1717 "Moderns" regular?

    Grand Lodge of London in 1751."Ancients" fake?
    United Grand Lodge of England 1813

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  26. I know for a fact that the Knights of the North are tied at the hip with the Knights of the Rose Cross of Gold.

    I also know that Jeff Peace has gained access to Masonic materials to which he was not entitled, and is researching things that should best be left alone.

    Brothers, there is a reason why this stuff was burned and destroyed. As Masons we have to keep this material out of the hands of the profane. Some things must always remain a secret.

    Bro. Peace, I know you have been wronged by your grand lodge but you are still a Mason. Please stop your researches and I know brothers who will help you with your GL.

    Randy

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  27. I think the Knights of the Rose Cross of Gold have higher standards than the Knights of the North. The RRCG actually acts like knights. They go out and fight for truth and justice. What does the Knights of the North do besides run a forum?

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  28. When the next generation of anti-Mason fundamentalists like John Ankerberg come along, you mean they'll be quoting Hodapp and Morris instead of Pike, Waite and Hall?

    — W.S.

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  29. RE: Randy that posted regarding Jeff Peace,

    You really have no idea what you are talking about. Gentlemen, was in all probability meant as a diversionary tactic to sway honest seekers away from the RRCG. If you can plant the seed of doubt as to the credibility of someone, masonically... You make people distance themselves from them. It's simply charcter assassination.

    Darren Simpson

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  30. [Anonymous said...
    "You believe Pike wrote crap???"]

    You betcha. Reams of it. By the shovel-full.
    And Hall was even worse.

    Albert Pike's crap was the worst thing to happen in the history of Freemasonry, and we all continue to suffer for it.

    Viva Morris and Hodapp. At least they've managed to get Freemasons to actually read about the fraternity for a change. And buried in their books is a recurring message to those southern GLs you're so concerned with, about racism and tolerance and a jab to get cracking on recognition. Those guys will change more minds than any of your little stunts, anonymous postings and rhetorical arguments between yourself and your imaginary interlocutors.

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  31. Wow.

    The best you can say about Morris' and Hodapp's books is that "at least they've managed to get Freemasons to actually read about the fraternity for a change."

    I think your comment speaks volumes about the typical man who has become a Freemason in the past 50 years or so — one who hasn't bothered to learn very much about the either the meaning or the history of the Fraternity. Whether Hall, Pike, et. al wrote "crap" should have been decided in each of those Masons' hearts and minds after reading Hall, Pike, et. al for themselves.

    Instead, it took books written for "dummies" and "idiots" to get antient Freemasons to read at all, at all.


    — W.S.

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