Monday, June 04, 2007

Widow's Son responds to the Drama King

Bro. Ed King has made an online career the past eight or nine years of debunking anti-Masons and "fake" Masons. Once upon a time I considered Bro. Ed King's MasonicInfo.com a credible source of Masonic history and information. I recall it being one of the first Masonic sites I came across years ago when I became interested in Freemasonry.

Bro. King has created a large database of information, not only on Masonic heroes and Masonic history, but also anti-Masonic fundamentalists, evangelicals, and conspiracy kooks. His site is a great source of information.

But if you think that I sometimes color news and Masonic goings-on with my personal opinions, you ain't seen nothing. Lately, in almost everything he writes, Bro. Ed's anger and hostility seethes, especially at those he considers "fake Masons."

I had to laugh when I read the latest posts on his "what's new" page. He's found a new target to hate: me.

I've never met Bro. King, nor corresponded with him in any manner. As far as I know, he's never posted any comments on the Burning Taper, at least not under his name.

Several months after the fact, he has attacked me for my articles about the NASCAR-Scottish Rite deal and subsequent falling-out with promoter Frank Cicci and driver Bro. Brian Conz.

Bro. King calls me a "xenophobic racist." I don't understand the racist part at all. I'm as much a Southern white boy as any NASCAR fan. Maybe whiter, and maybe more southern.

Being called xenophobic I understand even less. Xenophobic means "an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange." I have many Masonic friends outside the United States, so I'm cool with foreigners, and if you've read any of my posts about Eris, Robert Anton Wilson or Ron Bonds, you know I'm on a first-name basis with Strange. Need more proof? I've been friends with Grouchogandhi for over 20 years, and I've even met this guy two or three times. I've got Strange covered.

Apparently Bro. King has had a personal problem with Bro. Jeff Peace for quite a few years, resenting Bro. Jeff's Masonic activism. Because I've posted many of Bro. Jeff's articles, as well as my own articles expressing support of his and other brothers' right to have formed the RRCG and the United Grand Lodge of America, Bro. Ed feels justified in describing me as a "pretend-Mason," someone "who claims to be a 'Master Mason' but is, in reality, tied with the fake Masonry of the United Grand Lodge of America."

I assure you, Bro. Ed, I have a valid, paid-up dues card from a recognized grand lodge in my wallet, and will continue to have one unless my grand lodge chases me down with a bottle of Wite-Out®. I'm as legit and official as you are.

In a weird leap of non-logic, he goes from saying how wonderful it is that Betty Crocker and the U.S. Army advertise on racing cars to attacking my patriotism. I guess in his mind not being a NASCAR fan means I'm a communist or something.

Even more curious, halfway through his rant his writing takes on a tone as if he is an official spokesman for the Scottish Rite.

I don't get it. I don't understand his anger. Not at "fake" Masons, not at Bro. Jeff, and not at me. And it's not just at us. His "contact us" page (titled "policies") is a long diatribe with flashing red text, insinuating that anyone who wants to comment on his website is a "fool" to be "suffered."

Disagree with me all you want, Bro. Ed. No problem. Shake things up. Participate in this blog. Show me where I'm wrong about things. Differences of opinion are good for the soul, and for the Brotherhood. Nothing ever gets accomplished unless someone disagrees with the status quo and changes things, hopefully for the better.

But — and take this from someone who's had his own anger issues regarding Freemasonry the past couple of years, and who has now let them go — you gotta get past the anger, brother. It sounds like it's eating you up inside.

(Yeah, I hear you. That's okay. Denial is the first step to getting past it.)

While calling me "Blogger Boy" is cute, it's hardly respectful of a fellow Mason. We're instructed to refer to each other as brother, brother.

Oh, and thanks for the link.

UPDATE June 19, 2007: Bro. King has recently changed his "what's new" page in response to this article, relegating mention of the Burning Taper to a mere footnote and deleting the link to the Taper. His new page shows no sign of his having accepted the olive branch of peace I offered with my article; instead, he seems to have just become more bitter, saying that the above article "castigated" him. A mirror of his original May 2007 page referred to in the above article can be found here.

Image: The working tools of a Master Mason

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16 comments:

  1. And on top of everything else, he takes a dig at your personal life. Sheesh.

    A real gentleman, that Bro. King.

    Makes me thankful to be an irregular....

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  2. You are the whitest Southern boy I've ever had the pleasure of calling "brother". I mean that in the best way!!!

    Rev. Darren Simpson

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  3. Woa. Just woa.

    On the bright side, you have just been tagged with a meme. Details are on my blog.

    TM

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  4. That is really unfortunate. As a new EA and soon to be FC, I have used his website extensively for information and answers to questions I've pondered along my path to Freemasonry. I don't think I'll be so inclined to utilize that website anymore.

    It's unfortunate that people have to become so hostile and disparaging towards others.

    GreyCelt

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  5. i guess this just proves that elitism and extreme egoism exist in every facet of life.

    and here i was hoping that freemasonry may be a refuge from such "base" issues regarding the human character.

    peace and blessed be,

    c z . . .

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  6. Bravo Brother WS!

    It is funny how blowhards and bloviators can act,think and talk exactly like the ones they try to disparage.

    Bro. ed forgets we are all brothers from one god, supposedly.

    How Bro. ed has become the keeper of the fraternity and it's watch dog who is on attack status when something "different" or "irregular" comes along. I'm sure bro. ed is a guy who beleives that masonry "heals" people who may have jined or affiliated with a non recognised group!

    I'm sure a man or woman involved in co masonry, who keeps the tenets and practices self improvement and good works, does not need Bro ed's approval to be accepted into the grand lodge above, but here in the small material world, bro. ed WILL NOT accept a co mason, but god will!

    Het bro ed, how is it going to feel to see females masons in heaven, if you get in?


    Get off you high horse, humble yourself, and concentrate on yourself intead of WS and Brother Jeff Peace and other forms of self improvement.


    go hate somewhere else.

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  7. I had to check out his page, on an article about what's new.. where the scottish rite and NASCAR had a falling out, UGLA and WS make the third paragraph.

    Way to go... more people who go to eds site will see advertisement for th eugla and your blog.....thank ed for the PR


    It is good to see how the WS blog and UGLA are responsable for the negativity present in freemasonry... wasn't Bro Jeff present at that Lodge in Florida where that fight started in a lodge meeting?

    Wasn't WS responsable for the shrine staeling money?

    did not Bro Jeff help the Pittsbirgh scottish rite treasurer who embezzled over $100,000?

    Was not WS behind th eselling of an Alabama masonic home, under shady deals?

    Hey ED, what else can we blame on Bro Jeff and WS's blog?

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  8. Ed King writes:

    "not unsurprisingly ......."

    Say, isn't that a double negative, or was it just written by an oxymoron, with less emphasis on the "oxy," and more emphasis on the "moron?"

    Whatever it is, get used to it, because that's the "evil" I've been talking about, which is taking over American Freemasonry. "King Ed" isn't unique, my Grand Lodge has about 30 "members" just like him, and they're growing in strength and numbers all the time.

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  9. Ed King isn't a man in search of truth or facts; he's the propaganda puppet of the establishment.

    He relies on hearsay and innuendo to assassinate the character of his victims. King is like Jay Hochberg, who when given the opportunity to have the facts presented to him from source material refused to even view the material.

    This illustrates the true nature of these men better than any argument. Their actions speak much louder than words.

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  10. Ed's problem is that he's been chasing anti-Masons for so long that everyone who doesn't think exactly the way he does looks like an anti to him. The alt.freemasonry wars turned him very bitter. I think he's well-intentioned and is a true believer in what's left of the mainstream, but I don't think he understands what he has become. It's too bad, and I hope he eventually finds some peace.

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  11. Bro. Ed King became a Fellow of the Philalethes Society in 2001. With all due respect to my Brothers around the world who are members of the Philalethes Society I shall not renew my membership in the Society.
    After reading Ed King's tirade, he is not only a disgrace to Freemasonry but an embarasement to the PSOC. If he and his kind are the future of Freemasonry in the US then there is indeed "no help for the widow's son.

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  12. King is publishing rubbish. It is an undeniable fact that Jeff Peace was never an officer of the UGLA, and he has stated for the record many times that he is not a member.

    King has devolved from correcting the misinformation of the antis to openly slandering and defaming Master Masons in violation of his oath and obligation.

    Masonicinfo has turned from being and informational web site to King's personal mud slinging platform.

    Does anyone know which jurisdiction is he is from? I encourage all of you to file charges against him in his lodge.

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  13. Isn't it kind of weird how he always says "we" when he is the only one writing? Does he think he's the trinity or something? LOL

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  14. Using "we" when writing is kinda old school, from the pre-blog days. It's the editorial "we." Sometimes I catch myself doing that here, especially when I'm writing about less personal things. It's sorta like double-spacing before beginning a new sentence. It just shows we were writing back in the days of typewriters and newspapers. (I was once a cub reporter for the Daily Planet, er, I mean, my hometown daily newspaper.)

    C.Z., Greycelt and various Anon's: Sorry to burst your Masonic bubble. Like society in general, Freemasonry is composed of all kinds of people. Masonry's lessons are simple, yet sometimes difficult to master. Don't let any one person influence you or disturb you too much.

    — W.S.

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  15. Yeah Brother King accused me of being a Jeff Peace sock puppet years ago on some forum (he he). I certainly hope Brother King finds peace one day.

    At one time it was my understanding from a friend of Brother King that he had similar ideas about healing the Brotherhood and instituting more Masonic education.

    But this personal grudge against Brother Peace makes it hard to see.

    It is my personal wish as a Mason that we move passed the childish insults and libel so we can start acting like respectable people. Masonry is not a status that lifts us above our fellow man. It is a duty that we respectfully accept and that we rigorously perform in the service of our Creator and our fellow man.

    The journey is difficult and fraught with danger but it is this burden that unites us as Brothers.

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  16. I used to have quite a bit of respect for Brother King and loved reviewing the information he collected on Freemasonry over the years. However, now I believe that he has strayed from the path of enlightenment. He should read the book “Who Moved My Cheese” he has now become one of the three mice in the story.

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