The Masonic Revolution continues: Newly constituted Grand Lodge of All England announced

On July 1, 2006, the Grand Lodge of All England was duly constituted.

Earlier this month, a new Grand Lodge in the Philippines was also constituted. And the United Grand Lodge of America was constituted on St. John's the Evangelist's day, December 27, 2005. It seems good brothers all over the world have had enough of the politics and racism they've found in their original Grand Lodges, and are taking it upon themselves to make changes as they deem necessary.

None of the new Grand Lodges that have come about in the last year are "upstarts" or "clandestine," as some entrenched Antient Masons would have the world believe. These new organizations are made not of men pretending to be Masons, but of regularly made Masons who love the Craft, who have seen wrongs they have tried to right. The Freemasons who are involved in these new Grand Lodges have worked long and hard within the system through proper channels to make needed changes, but have been met with scorn, disdaine and derision.

Just as King George's refusal to listen to the Colonies or to make concessions to their needs led to the American Revolution, so the continued deaf ear offered by current Antient and conventional Grand Lodges to the younger, more progressive Freemasons (formerly) under their jurisdiction has directly led to the formation of these new Grand Lodges.

Here is the announcement by Bro. John Gordon Graves:

Grand Lodge of All England

Brethren, this day The Grand Lodge of All England has been duly and properly formed, armed with a constitution that remains true to its predecessors, and fit for the 21st Century and beyond.

The reponement, or rebirth of our illustrious institution here in York, which dates back to time immemorial, has produced a great surge of interest and activity since our historic meeting last year. Indeed, apart from ongoing developments in Yorkshire, we are now fully committed to the inauguration, within the next six months, of a second operative Lodge, to meet regularly in London. Brethren, this and much more will come to pass.

I am also pleased to announce that negotiations are at an advanced stage with The United Grand Lodge of America. We expect to agree terms for a formal Agreement of Amity before our next meeting in December.

We send them our fraternal greetings, together with our support and best wishes for the future of Craft Masonry throughout the United States of America. They have taken on a difficult task with great fortitude, resilience and determination and, although they are a "new" Grand Lodge, they carefully and in every respect uphold the principles and purposes of Ancient Freemasonry. Not least, they provide us all with a freshness, vitality and renewed enthusiasm.

Unfortunately however, but not unexpectedly, some of the interest expressed in the Grand Lodge of All England has been malign. I am sorry to have to announce that we have found it necessary to suspend the "Latest News" section of our very successful website. This is due to the actions of a small minority in misusing the information provided in order to disrupt our lawful activities, including this very meeting of Grand Lodge. We wish to make it quite clear, of course, that we do not place any blame directly on any other Grand Lodge. The guilt lies with a few sad and misguided individuals perhaps more needful of our prayers than our disapprobation.

Brethren, this is most unfortunate. It is also unhelpful to those interested in monitoring our progress and who wish to keep up to date with the development of Craft Masonry in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and elsewhere. However, the purile actions of such delinquents cannot interrupt or delay our inevitable progress. We will continue to give out as much information as we possibly can to Freemasons and the general public alike without detriment to ourselves or connections.

In such circumstances it is perhaps timely to clarify what we in this Grand Lodge understand by true and genuine Freemasonry. In this we can best start by considering the aims and aspirations for our Brethren and candidates.

An initiate into Freemasonry first enters a Lodge unknowing, and untutored in the Craft: a so-called rough ashlar (building block). But, if he is joining for a valid reason, he anticipates that his life is about to be fundamentally changed by the experience.

Thenceforward it is his duty, and the purpose of true and genuine Freemasonry, to develop his character and knowledge to such a degree that he figuratively evolves into a perfect ashlar (a carefully measured and prepared stone), thereby ensuring that he becomes fit and ready for the challenges of citizenship, and prepared for his inevitable destiny in this life, and in the hereafter.

However, many illustrious Brethren, not least our late Brother Walter Wilmshurst, have pointed out how a Mason's understanding of the Craft often remains at an early and undeveloped stage. Whilst the literal, superficial value of our teachings is gained through ceremony in the Lodge room and through memorising of ritual, this is merely the first part of the journey.

Unfortunately, the great majority of Brethren are unable to take further steps towards a deeper understanding.

They choose instead to remain at a level of knowledge whereby the Craft is regarded as a social, quasi-secret club to which it is agreeable, and possibly advantageous to belong to in terms of the external, materialistic world.

Aspirations at this stage are often for office and apron. The ability to perform proficient ceremonial and to parrot catechism are regarded the pinnacle of Masonic endeavour. Other matters, such as the conviviality of the festive board or the amount of charitable monies raised in order to purchase public approbation regarded as more fundamental than the work itself. But such sentiments are the uncrafted, rough ashlar stage of Masonic understanding.

What then do we in our own Grand Lodge consider to be true and genuine Freemasonry?
Curiously, any such attempt at a working definition is absent from many works on the Craft. It is all very well to talk with somewhat archaic usage of "a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols", but does this really explain very much? Should we, in any event, restrict our understanding of Freemasonry to that system which has grown up since speculative Masonry was organised into its currently recognisable structure, or should we raise our eyes to a much wider vista?

Brethren, allow me to offer something of my own fallible understanding. I see an initiatory order based upon a treasury of ancient truths and values enshrined in human experience, and resonating with the underlying philosophies of many religions. A system of spiritual alchemy based on a symbology free of dogma, doctrine, crafted to guide and assist individuals in realising their full potential in their life-journey towards self-knowledge.

Freemasonry, on this definition, or anything like it, represents a serious internal, intellectual and spiritual journey far beyond the concerns of the external, profane, uninitiated world. True and genuine Freemasonry thus represents the precise and absolute opposite of the mafia of the mediocre of popular imagination.

It is thus crucial to the survival of the true Craft, that those men humbly soliciting to be admitted to the mysteries and privileges of Ancient Freemasonry are in actual fact, and not just in empty words, first prepared to become a Freemason, in their hearts. Without such heartfelt fervency and zeal they will always remain at best as rough ashlars, and the spiritual temple of Freemasonry bereft of its living stones.

Brethren, we are engaged upon weighty matters. We could not have come so far without your support, committment and perseverance in the face of adversity. Thank you for taking the time to attend Grand Lodge today. I look forward with confidence and enthusiasm to our next Convocation in December, and offer my good wishes to you all for an enjoyable and reinvigorating Summer break.

— Most Worshipful Brother John Gordon Graves, Grand-Master Mason

This announcement has been previously posted on Alabama Free-Mason and Le Chevalier Maçonnique.

Masons | Masonic Tradition | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of All England | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

India's blog-blocking was "technological error," official says

India today said their blog-blocking was a "technological error" caused by their trying to stifle just a handful of blogs, not all of them.

The International Herald Tribune reported that the New Delhi government said that "two impertinent pages" contained material with "extremely derogatory references to Islam." They were trying to stave off sectarian violence, an unnamed official told reporters.

"Because of a technological error, the Internet providers went beyond what was expected of them, which in turn resulted in the unfortunate blocking of all blogs," the official said.

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. We have always been at war with Oceania," the Party spokesman continued.

1984 | India | Blog Ban | Censorship | Big Brother | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

God doesn't take sides

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of organized religion of any kind, or the preachers that push them.

So it's with a certain perverse amusement that I note that preacher Omar Bakri, the fundamentalist wacko Muslim cleric who urges children to become suicide bombers, is begging the British to transport his sorry ass out of Lebanon before the country gets blown to bits.

He was barred from England a while back, forbidden to re-enter the country, but that didn't stop him from trying to stow away on a British ship leaving Lebanon recently.

Sounds like a bit of Universal Justice, some real Instant Karma.

Telling 10-year old British Muslim kids they must sacrifice themselves for Allah is sick.

From JihadWatch.org, referring to an event in 2004:

Muslim extremist Omar Bakri — speaking in London’s East End — said suicide bombers were assured a place in paradise.

Bakri described such bombings as "self-sacrifice operations."

An example would be to crash a plane on to 10 Downing Street or the White House, he told a cheering audience of Muslims, including around ten young children.

In one outburst he raged: "You must fight for the way of Allah, for the sake of Allah, to kill first and to be killed."

About now is where many people would somehow feel superior, and maybe even start chanting "U. - S. - A." and running outside to put "God Bless America" bumper stickers on their cars.

For some reason, we — Muslim, Christian or Jew — always believe:

1. We are right.
2. God is on our side.

But the Bigger Picture is this: God is God is God. The Muslims' Allah is the Christians' Jehovah God is the Jews' YHWH G-d. All three religions descend historically/traditionally from Abraham.

So now that World War III is moving into high gear we've got Muslim people doing what they think God wants, Jews doing what they think God wants, and Christians rushing into wars shouting "God Bless America," believing that only they have God's favor.

Something's wrong here, fundamentally, instrinsically, deep-down just plain wrong.

If God is on everybody's side, then I'm sure He'd appreciate it if we'd all stop fighting, or at least fighting in His Name.

I've posted it here before, and I'm going to do it again. We've got to change our perception, not only of God, but of humanity, or we're going to blow ourselves up, maybe a few at a time at the hands of suicide bombers, or maybe all at once with a Mushroom Cloud, but it's gonna happen if we don't change. Soon.

The following words are from God, according to Neal Donald Walsch. From my point of view, Walsch is as valid a spokesman for God as Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Mohammed, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Or Josh the Baptist. Or Pat Robertson. And certainly more valid than Omar Bakri.

You are facing now a new and startling danger — a danger posed to your entire species. A threat to your very survival posed by the combination of a split in ideology and an advance in technology, which makes it possible for you to seek to resolve your differences with tools of human destruction unlike anything you may have heretofore dreamed of in your worst nightmare.

There are five things you can choose now if changing your world, and the self-destructive direction in which it is moving, is what you wish to achieve.

1. You can choose to acknowledge that some of your old beliefs about God and about Life are no longer working.

2. You can choose to acknowledge that there is something you do not understand about God and about Life, the understanding of which will change everything.

3. You can choose to be willing for a new understanding of God and Life to now be brought forth, an understanding that could produce a new way of life on your planet.

4. You can choose to be courageous enough to explore and examine this new understanding, and, if it aligns with your inner truth and knowing, to enlarge your belief system to include it.

5. You can choose to live your lives as demonstrations of your highest and grandest beliefs, rather than as denials of them.

These are the Five Steps to Peace, and if you take them, you can shift everything on your planet.

Omar Bakri | Lebanon | Muslims | Christians | BurningTaper.com | Jews | God | Burning Taper | Conversations with God | Neal Donald Walsch

Another Alabama Mason quits Blue Lodge in protest of racial and religious intolerance

Bro. Aaron of the blog Seeker's Observations, recently demitted (resigned) from his Blue Lodge. He had been a Mason less than a year. His open-minded and sincere searching for Masonic truth did not "sit well" with his less enlightened Alabama brethren. Here is the letter he wrote to his lodge to explain why:

I do hereby demit my membership to ___________ Lodge. It is with much sadness that I send this letter, but I cannot with good conscious continue to participate in a system that promotes racial and religious intolerance. Freemasonry is supposed to be a system that promotes tolerance and freedom and will fight the powers of injustice and oppression. My hope is that the current system will learn from its mistakes in the future, reconcile itself with the true goal of Freemasonry, and bring Freemasonry back to its former glory. On its current path, all I see is a road that will ultimately lead to its downfall as the old passes to the new. Younger men as myself are not interested in a social club. We are interested in Freemasonic education, which is not to be found in most lodges.

Masons | Demit | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Alabama | Racism | Burning Taper

The Burning Taper blog celebrates 250 posts

The Burning Taper blog passed a milestone of sorts yesterday by publishing its 250th post.

I didn't notice it at the time, but it's good that #250 was the one about censorship in India and Pakistan. I've always been a big advocate of freedom of speech, expression, etc. Unlike many blogs, here you'll always find the comments section wide open — no trying to control the flow of conversation or moderate or pre-approve a comment before it's posted. (Now watch someone go and try me on this.... I will delete spam and overly-offensive comments if they don't further a point or cause.)

The Burning Taper blog was born out of my need for expression when my right to speak my mind was suppressed in my Masonic lodge upon order of Grand Lodge of Georgia officers. Of that you've read more than enough. Since that time, Burning Taper has gone in several directions, sometimes all at once, posting articles not only on Masonry — the good and the bad — but also on world events, science and technology, religious ideas, conspiracy theories, funny stuff and generally wacky things.

We first posted on BT in September, 2005. In February, 2006 we began counting visitors, and since then, we've had over 41,000 pairs of eyeballs check out the site. A more recent counter we installed last week shows vistors so far from 41 different countries.

We're a featured "related link" on the very popular About network's AltReligions site, hosted by Jennifer Emick. We were the Link of the Month for June on the Masonic website Freemasonry.fm.

Technorati.com currently tracks 2.7 billion links and 49 million blogs. Of those 49,000,000 blogs, it considers Burning Taper to be #30,504. A special thanks to all of you who have linked to Burning Taper.

BT spun off a sister site in January, 2006: SacredFems.com, where Mary and I (with the occasional help of others as well) share writing duties.

We have several hundred friends at Burning Taper's MySpace space. Visit us there, too.

We've made many friends, Masonic and non-Masonic, online and offline, since Burning Taper began. We thank each of you for your friendship and for continuing to make Burning Taper a regular part of your blogospheric reading experience (BRE).

It's probably not a good idea to thank people individually in public, because inevitably you always forget someone, but we want to thank certain people anyway for their special support and input, which has helped make BT what it is today: GrouchoGandhi, all the members of the United Grand Lodge of America, Greg Stewart, Tim Bryce, Tim Boucher, Rod, Arod, Darren, two Toms, Jeff Peace, Donna, George Ann, Jennifer Emick, Janice, Eris, John Ratcliff, two Davids, the Wayfaring Man, Patrick, all my Masonic brothers everywhere, Sandy Frost, Eric Julien (don't know him, never corresponded with him, but his 73-P comet impact story in May brought us more traffic than any other topic, ever), Robert Anton Wilson, Bob Dobbs, the late Ron Bonds — and even Josh the Baptist, 'cause without conflict, a magazine or blog just reads like an old issue of Grit Magazine.

— Mary and the Widow's Son


Masons | Masonic Blogs | Blog About Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | SacredFems.com | Sacred Fems | Burning Taper

Shriners ban water except for bathing

The 1947 Project has spent the last year immersing itself in the history and lore of Los Angeles, circa 1947, digging up old newspaper articles and other historical documents to paint a picture of a very different time than that in which we now live.

Regarding a Shriners' Convention in L.A. that year:

Singing loud praises to Allah that strike a curious note in 2006, the special train of Shriners is flying across the Nevada desert brimming with Freemasons and their families pondering the ancient mystery: “What Makes the Wildcat Wild?”

The official communique from the Imperial Potentate reads:

“I send greetings and assurances that with the continued protection of Allah, the God of our Fathers and the Controller of our Destinies accompanied by a distinguished escort it will be my great pleasure to pitch the Imperial tent in the delightful Oasis of Al Malaikah Temple Sunday May 5.

“Word has been brought to me of the great welcome which the people of the Oasis of the Angels are preparing for us. My wise men have told me of the beauties of the sea, valley and mountain which will greet us at our pilgrimage’s end. The great Allah has so endorsed your Southland that our pathway will be bordered with trees and flowers of wondrous beauty.

“For this, all praise to Allah and for the festal days’ joy which are before us thanks to the faithful of the Southland.”

The Times notes that the Imperial Potentate has forbidden the use of water while crossing the desert, “consequently upon this edict comes the addition of two fully stocked commissary cars to the imperial train. Never in its history has Los Angeles had the opportunity of welcoming a more jovial party or one more interested in her feast of flowers than this one which is escorting its Imperial Potentate. When Owens River comes to Los Angeles, prohibition of water may be raised.”

The Imperial Potentate also warned all Shriners:

“Red fezzes of Shriners, visiting or home, are not good form in thirst parlors, shooting galleries, billiard parlors and other places to which the wearers would not take their wives, sisters or sweethearts. Potentate Flint has thrown out the hint that the little red top-piece should be taken by the nape of the neck by the man underneath upon entering such places and stowed away in a pocket or carried in hand.

“The suggestion of the potentate was quite generally observed last night. It was a common sight to see hatless men ranged in rows at drink troughs in various cases about the city, the red fez protruding from their pockets and dry red tongues hanging from their mouths.”

The Times reports that with the arrival of the first three groups of Shriners, the Aloha Temple of Honolulu, Islam Temple of San Francisco and Murat Temple of Indianapolis “the fizz of fezzes began to flow.”

Visiting Shriners received baskets of California fruit and a special presentation of what was described as the world’s largest orange, which weighed 2 pounds, 3 ounces and was 17½ inches in circumference.

Even Chinatown is preparing to take part in the welcoming parade with a wagon of young Chinese children that The Times is careful to point out were all born in California.

Masons | Shriners | Masonic History | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Shriner Convention | Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine | Burning Taper

Anal-retentive veggie-counting censors run amuck in India, Pakistan and China

The clock of Progress may have slowed in the U.S. during the current administration, but in places like India and Pakistan, it seems the calendars have been reset to 1984.

First we hear that India has banned blogs. Now, Reuters reports that India's neighbor Pakistan has shut down 156 FM radio stations to "stop the spread of religious extremism and anti-state sentiments," a government spokesman said.

And China is so anal-compulsive in controlling everything that they've launched a massive "Know Your Vegetables" campaign for the 2008 Olympics. They plan to track every individual vegetable from field to table in case there is a "safety incident" during the Games.

Control Freaks | Government | China | India | BurningTaper.com | Pakistan | Censorship | Burning Taper

Update: Indian blog ban spreads to other blogging sites

Here's an update on the blog-banning in India, reprinted from Nancy Gandhi's blog Metroblogging Chennai.

According to a report on NDTV 24X7, an Indian news channel, the Indian government's clampdown on blogsites (and some websites) is NOT connected to the recent blasts in Mumbai, but is an effort to curb the propagation of religious extremism on the Net. If that's true, the ban may not be lifted any time soon. The Indian government, however, has yet to issue an official statement on the subject.

If it's not clear from what has been said so far, the Indian ban applies to ALL blogs from these sites, not just those originating in India: ALL blogspot, typepad, geocities blogs worldwide. If you have a blog from one of these providers anywhere in the world, I cannot read you.

It's odd that we can still post to our own blogs, and read the blogs that we have had the foresight to subscribe to through RSS. These loopholes may be closed soon, if this is to be a long-term policy.

The list of blocked sites includes:

• hinduunity.org
• hinduhumanrights.org
• princesskimberley.com
• bloodspot.com
• dalitstan.org
• clickatell.com
• blogspot.com
• geocities.com
• typepad.com

More to come when we know more to tell.

Blogging | India | Censorship | Blog Ban | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

India bans blogs: Blogspot, Typepad, Geocities blocked

On Monday Boing Boing reported that last Friday the nation of India enacted a ban on blogs. Specifically, the government ordered that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) block all websites affiliated with Blogspot/Blogger, Typepad and Geocities.

That means BurningTaper.com and SacredFems.com as well as millions of other blogs can no longer be accessed from India. I guess India will just have to figure out how to survive without us until their government stops acting like they are China.

By Monday, most but not all of India's major ISPs were in compliance.

When asked why this had happened, Dr. Gulshan Rai, director of CERT-IN, the only body authorised to issue directives to ISPs, responded, "Somebody must have asked for some sites to be blocked. What is your problem?"

What would Gandhi do?

Our thanks to our friend GrouchoGandhi for the heads-up on this.

India | Censorship | Blogs | Bans | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper | SacredFems.com | Sacred Fems

Christian rewrites "Da Vinci Code" ending; Robert Langdon converts to Christian fundamentalism

Remember Josh the Baptist and his myrmidon anti-Masonic pals at Practical Theological Discussions blog?

One of his fellow fundamentalists, Chipley McQueen Thornton, once said of me: "My heart grieves for your soul."

Ol' Chip's heart must be grieving for the whole world now. He's written a long and occasionally interesting if not totally predictable diatribe against The Da Vinci Code.

Not content to just debunk Dan Brown's admittedly fictional version of Christianity, Chip takes it upon himself to re-write the book's finale. Have a barf bag handy.

Chip's finale:

The True Gospel Of Jesus Christ

Dan Brown exercised his literary license to embellish the historical record. In like fashion, I would like to exercise the same literary license to embellish his novel. In the closing sentences of the novel, Harvard professor Robert Langdon is found kneeling and praying at the feet of the outcast one, Mary Magdalene. The novel’s last two sentences record,

“With a sudden upwelling of reverence, Robert Langdon fell to his knees. For a moment, he thought he heard a woman’s voice... the wisdom of the ages... whispering up from the chasms of the earth.” (DVC, 489)

But, now let me share with you the rest of the story....

As the upwelling of reverence began to rise, Robert recognized the woman’s faint voice. It took him a moment, but the recesses of his mind identified the compassionate tone of the sweet voice. It was the voice of a Harvard student he had taught ten years ago. She had died from an epileptic seizure during her last year at Harvard. He did not recall her name, but the voice... he remembered that pleasant voice. The one conversation she had with him was after class one day. She politely shared her testimony that Jesus Christ had died for her sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. She lovingly urged Robert to believe that Christ paid the penalty for his sins and to place his faith in Jesus Christ. She died that night. Her last words to him had haunted him since that day: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

As she walked away... she turned as if to say something, but simply whispered across the room, “...and not after Christ.”

Now, as Robert was on bended knee praying to the sacred feminine... he was suddenly struck with the sobering realization of his sin. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. The words would not leave him. After the tradition of men. The faint voice in his head seemed to grow stronger, yet compassionate. After the rudiments of the world. The smooth, sweet voice became clear and confident. And not after Christ.

At that precise moment, Robert came to understand sin. The weight of his condition before the Holy God sank into his soul. He fell on his face and wept.

He wept as he recalled the ancient words of the Apostle Paul, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one” (Romans 3:10-12), knowing that the Apostle was speaking directly to him.

Robert began heaving sobs of anguish as he realized there was nothing he could do to undo the sins he had done. There is none that doeth good, said the Apostle. No, not one.

Then he suddenly remembered Christ’s words to His disciples, Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you... (John 15:16). A glimmer of hope flickered in those beautiful words. Instantaneously, his mind began racing. The understanding of truth was coming in waves now. The Scripture said that God hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:4-5). Scriptures long forgotten began coming to his mind immediately. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Robert humbly bowed his head: “God chose me in spite of my failures.” The thought comforted him in an inexplicable way. It all fell into place now. Robert thought, “God will not say of me, ‘Robert lacks my righteousness.’ No, my righteousness is Jesus Christ Himself. My sin was transferred to Christ. His righteousness was transferred to me. God chose me. Christ paid for my sin. Yes, He paid the penalty for all the sins of all those who believe. I see now! I believe! Yes, Lord, I believe.”

Robert felt free at last. He felt peace. He prayed for forgiveness. He now believed and understood how Jesus Christ had saved him from his sin. He believed that Jesus Christ would one day take him to heaven. He felt an urgency to tell others of his conversion. The code of the gospel was so simple. Yet Saunière, Sophie, and Teabing could not see it. Then the young Harvard student’s voice hearkened back to him softly, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

Robert dedicated his life to Christ at that moment. He solemnly vowed never again to spoil the minds of young men and women through philosophy and vain deceit. He vowed to protect and uphold the truth of the gospel. Robert Langdon rose from his feet a new man in Jesus Christ. Tears were already beginning to dry on his cheek. He looked up to heaven, took a deep breath, and smiled. Then he left.

He had to find Sophie.

Da Vinci Code | Chipley McQueen Thornton | Freemasonry | Christian Fundamentalism | Fan Fiction | Robert Langdon | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Quick! Read this story while it's still news!

How long does it take for new news to become old news?

Thirty-six hours, tomorrow's New York Times will report. The research paper, written by University of Notre Dame professor Albert-László Barabási and others, is called Fifteen Minutes of Fame: The Dynamics of Information Access on the Web.

That's the half-life of a news story — in 36 hours, half of everyone who will read a news story online has read it.

So be quick! Read the short version of this story. Or read the long version of this story (registration required at the New York Times). Or read the abstract from Physics Review E. Or heck, go all out and and read the whole research paper. Just read something before it's old news.

Actually, the research paper was published in May. The New York Times just decided to make a big deal out of it tomorrow.

News | News Cycle | Internet | Notre Dame | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Fizz Fountain of Diet Coke and Mentos!

What could you do with 101 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke and 523 Mentos?

If you're as theatrically creative as Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe, you can put on one helluva spectacular Fizz Fountain show!

These guys have recently been featured on Late Night with David Letterman and the Today show, and probably countless other television shows and websites, but hey, like they say, if it's new to you, it's new!



For more info, go to eepybird.com.

Diet Coke and Mentos | Diet Coke | Mentos | Fizz Fountain | Stephen Voltz | Fritz Grobe | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

White House design based on Ireland's first Masonic lodge building

The first public building to be erected in Washington, D.C., was The White House, originally called "the President's House."

A competition was held in 1790 to find a suitable design for a presidential mansion. A prize of $500 would be awarded to the winning architect. Hundreds of hopeful American architects submitted designs. Even Thomas Jefferson submitted a design, anonymously. But the $500 award went to a young Irish immigrant, James Hoban.

Born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1758, Hoban later went to Dublin and studied architecture under Thomas Ivory. He later won a gold medal from the Dublin Society for his "Drawings of Brackets, Stairs, Roofs, etc." At some point while in Dublin he became a Freemason.

Hoban moved to Philadelphia in 1783, shortly after the end of the American Revolution, and set up shop as an architect.

In 1787, Hoban moved to Charleston, S.C., and his career took off. He designed both a theatre and an orphan asylum, as well as a plantation house on Edisto Island, 20 miles south of Charleston.

On July 18, 1792, he was awarded the $500 and invited to "oversee and implement construction of the President's House."

One writer reports "Hoban based his design on the Leinster House in Dublin (1745-1751)... Late Georgian in style, with a giant portico bisecting a rectangular, three-story building, its facades were organized according to a traditional Renaissance-derived palace type with the principal story raised above ground, its tall windows surrounded by pediments marking its importance."

The mansion was to be built in what was called "The Barrens," chosen by Piere L'Enfant for its notable panoramic view of the Potomac River.

Construction on the Leinster House began in 1745, by James Fitzgerald, the 20th Earl of Kildare. Two years later, Fitzgerald married Emily Lennox, the daughter of Charles Lennox, the Duke of Richmond, and a godfather to King George II. As a result of this favorable marriage, James was made Viscount Leinster in 1749 by George II and later the Duke of Leinster in 1766 by George III.

The Duke was also a key figure in Irish Freemasonry. Though original lodge papers of Knights Templar Kilwinning Lodge No. 75 and the Grand Master's Lodge of Dublin disappeared in the 1790s, Fitzgerald's great-grandson the then-Duke of Leinster claimed that a century earlier, on January 3, 1749, James Fitzgerald, the 20th Earl of Kildare, had founded the Grand Master's Lodge.

A letter shows that on April 26, 1779, James Fitzgerald and Dr. George A. Cunningham of Dublin wrote to Thomas Arthur of Irvine, Scotland, Master of the Mother Lodge in Kilwinning, and requested permission to "form a Lodge of the same name in Dublin." This lodge was approved, and became Kilwinning Lodge No. 75, also known as the High Knights Templar of Ireland.

The Leinster House was the first home of Kilwinning Lodge No. 75.

According to The History of the Knights Templar, Maurice fitzGerald, one of James Fitzgerald's ancestors, invited the original Knights Templar to organize banking houses in Dublin. In 1204 a delegation of Templars under Roger le Waleis moved to Dublin 1204 from Templemore on Ireland's southern coast.

According to researcher David Ovason, "a letter submitted by 'a gentleman' offers the only surviving eyewitness version of the Masonic cornerstone laying, which was held on Saturday, October 13, 1792, when the Georgetown Lodge No. 9 of Maryland gathered for the ceremony."

A news story appeared in the Charleston City Gazette for November 15, 1792 and reads, in part, "On Saturday the 13th inst. the first stone was laid in the south-west corner of the president's house, in the city of Washington, by the Free Masons of Georgetown and its vicinity, who assembled on the occasion. The procession was formed at the Fountain Inn, Georgetown... The Ceremony was performed by brother Casaneva, master of the lodge, who delivered an oration well adapted to the occasion."

According to the Gazette, "the inscription on the brass plate," placed inside the cornerstone, "ran:"

"This first stone of the President's House was laid the 12th day of October 1792, and in the 17th Year of the Independence of the United States of America."

George Washington, President
Thomas Johnson
Doctor Stewart, Commissioners
Daniel Carroll,
James Hoban, Architect
Collen Williamson, Master Mason
Vivat Respublica.

Evidence shows that George Washington was not in the nation's capital on October 12, but was in Philadelphia (the former capital). Mainstream tradition now says that the cornerstone was laid on October 12, 1792, to commemorate the Tricentennial anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Masonic traditions, though, says that it was actually laid on the 13th, not the 12th, to commemorate Black Friday, the original "Friday the 13th," October 13, 1307, the day the Knights Templar were overthrown in France.

On September 6, 1793, Hoban and two other Masons petitioned the Grand Lodge to form a new lodge. The petition was granted, and Hoban became Master of the newly-formed Federal Lodge No. 15.

Hoban returned to the Federal City full-time, and spent the rest of his life working on the White House, as well as establishing Washington's first Catholic church, St. Patrick's, as well as later working on St. Peter's. He was a devout Catholic as well as a Freemason, though years earlier Pope Clement VII had banned Roman Catholics from becoming Masons.

During the War of 1812, much of Washington, D.C., was set ablaze, including the White House. Rain extinguished the fire, and Hoban immediately began restorations. He was assisted by his friend and fellow Mason, Benjamin Henry Latrobe.

Before the War, Latrobe had tried to convince President Jefferson to allow him to add two porticos to the White House, one on the north side which resembled the entrance to a Greek temple, and one on the south side in a semi-circular shape reminiscent of an ancient solar temple.

During restoration, Jefferson approved the changes. Hoban supervised the project, completing the south portico in 1824, and the north portico in 1829, two years before his death.

The White House's south portico faces the sun and the 555-foot obelisk we now call the Washington Monument. The obelisk stands at the exact center of the city.

According to researcher Ovason, if you were to draw a straight line from the White House's south portico to the Washington Monument (cornerstone laid on July 4, 1848, delayed for 20 years and not completed until 1884), and then continue that line in the same direction, it would take you across the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia, and the George Washington Masonic Memorial, built in 1923, which is an exact replica of the original lighthouse that guarded the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt.

America's presidential mansion, The White House, was modelled after the first Masonic Lodge in Ireland.


This article was written by the Widow's Son, based on information from rense.com and other sources.

Images: 1. The White House. 2. Leinster House, rear view. 3. Leinster House, front view. Click on the images to enlarge.

Masons | Masonic Architecture | Washington, D.C. | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | White House | Leinster House | James Hoban | James Fitzgerald | Burning Taper

Filipino Masons declare independence, form new Grand Lodge

Masonic brethren in the Philippines this week announced that two Masonic districts, comprising nine lodges, have declared independence and formed a new Grand Lodge called the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.

The wording of their Declaration of Independence was patterned in part on the Declaration of Independence presented by Georgia Freemasons in 2005 when they left the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Georgia and formed the United Grand Lodge of America. The UGLA's Declaration was in turn based upon the original Declaration of Independence, written when the American colonists declared independence from England in 1776.

The good Brothers of these lodges met and discussed at length last week their plight and their dissatisfaction with their then-Grand Lodge. The complaints in their Manifesto were three:

1. Funds which had been specially collected and earmarked for relief of brothers in a destitute condition were instead allegedly squandered by the Grand Lodge
2. The Grand Lodge never sent official visitation and never provide any requested assistance to individual lodges
3. There were alleged voting irregularities in violation of Masonic Code designed to keep current Grand Lodge members entrenched in their offices

Here's the text of the Filipino Masonic Declaration of Independence:

Declaration of Independence

WE, the officers and members of the Masonic Blue Lodges herein jointly assembled, do hereby DECLARE that:

Freemasonry is, and has always been, a progressive science whose growth, throughout the ages, has been borne on the wings of change. From its inception in the early 17th century, the Fraternity has spread and in the unrelenting pursuit of light, new Grand Lodges were constituted which process of continuous regeneration is the very life blood and binding force of the Craft.

WE hold the following ancient Masonic landmarks as the rule and guide of the craft by which all masons must abide by and comply with:

That all Freemasons are obligated only in so far as that obligation will not interfere with the duty that they owe to God, their country, their neighbors or to themselves. That the Craft is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols and its aim has been, and will always be, the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. And, that Grand Lodges are instituted among Freemasons and derive its just powers only from and with the consent of the governed.

WE hold it to be true that all Masons are created equal, endowed with certain unalienable rights such as to assemble in lodges, elect officers to govern their affairs, make new Masons according to the ancient traditions and landmarks of the Craft, visit lodges, celebrate fellowship at festive boards and engage in all activities that traditional Lodges of Freemasonry, since time immemorial, have practiced in the pursuit of happiness.

However, human frailty is the enemy of all human institutions and through the passage of time, philosophical ideals are enshrined into rigid rules and practices that eventually become destructive to the aims of the original principles upon which they are based.

It is at this juncture that all institutions should be altered and NEW ONES INSTITUTED based upon the original principles and ancient landmarks of the Craft in order to effect and protect the HONOR, INTEGRITY and GENERAL WELFARE of those who are subject to them.

WE acknowledge that among all human beings, Freemasons willingly capacitate themselves to practice the virtue to await a time with patience and know fully well that the change in the system of government in Freemasonry should not be enacted without due cause.

But the reality and in the course of the past and present events, it has become inevitably necessary for us to dissolve the political bond which have connected us with The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines and assume the powers of Freemasonry, that is, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and that of the Great Architect has entitled us.

The geographical situation of the country hinders the efficient and regular official visitation by the Grand Lodge of subordinate lodges which is the important duty to maintain and improve harmonious relations among brethren and that management thereof has been outgrown by its present size.

In the light of these due causes, WE are now compelled to assert our rights, as freemen and masons, to abolish our former system of Masonic government and institute a new one based and founded upon the original principles and ancient landmarks of the Craft.

Thus, WE, the Freemasons herein jointly assembled hereby do ordain and unanimously declare our independence and institute and constitute THE MOST WORSHIPFUL UNITED GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF PHILIPPINES.

Done in the City of Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, on the 8th day of the month of July, in the year of our Lord 2006.

Signed:

The Worshipful Masters, Senior Wardens, Junior Warden and Brethren of:

Masonic District RVIII-B
1. Makabugwas Lodge No. 47
2. Tacloban Lodge No. 221
3. Santiago Chua Lodge No. 336
4. Ormoc Lodge No. 234
5. Sogod Bay Lodge No. 337
6. Biliran Lodge No. 337

Masonic District RVIII-A
1. Mt. Huraw Lodge No. 98
2. Northern Samar Lodge No. 211
3. East Gate Lodge No. 232

Bro. Nicolas C. Risos, PDGL
Secretary — Makabugwas Lodge No. 47
Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines

The Burning Taper wishes the best to these brave brothers in their quest for excellence and honor in the Masonic Fraternity. Godspeed!

Masons | Masonic Declaration of Independence | Philippines | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

Muslim Conspiracy Theory: What do Freemasonry, Hugh Hefner, punk rock, the Pill, Karl Max, Charles Darwin and international bankers have in common?

I'm not sure what to make of this.

In tomorrow's online edition of the Greater Kashmir newspaper there is an article titled "The Clash of Systems," written by Mumtaz Yaseen Balkhi, a Kashmiri student working on his Doctorate at State Centre for Cell and Gene Therapie, Halle, Germany.

It's a rambling piece of conspiratorial pseudo-history that somehow blames all of the ills of the Muslim world on Freemasonry, Hugh Hefner, punk rock, the birth control pill, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and the international banking cartel.

If this was tucked away on some conspiracy-nut website, I wouldn't even mention it. But it being written by a doctoral candidate in Germany and published in what appears to be a respectable newspaper in India just begs the question: What exactly does the rest of the world believe?

Image: Hugh Hefner and a few of his girlfriends. You didn't think I'd run a photo of some Muslim woman in a burka when I can run this instead, did you?

Masons | Muslims | Conspiracy | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Karl Marx | Hugh Hefner | Burning Taper

Why are southern Masons still racially segregated?

W. Bro. Elliot Burns, who runs the American Mason website, recently posted this letter from a new Mason, along with his response to the letter.

I just received this email from a masonic brother who had, in my opinion, a very compelling question for American Mason. But I will not print his name or email address. After all, I am a "beacon" of discretion, right? Other than deleting the sender's personal info, I have reprinted his email verbatim as I have received it:

Q. I was raised and made an obligated Master Mason on xx/xx in 2005 in XXXX Lodge. I have but one question.

Being from the South, in every essence, we are behind the times. I have been informed that the Free & Accepted (masonic) Lodges in the north USA are integrated. Is this true? And if so, why not in the south?

Several brothers who have been Master Masons for more than 40 years have informed me that the day they sit in lodge with someone who is not white is the last day they will be a mason. Please help me out with this question. Thank you.

A. Sad to say, old habits die hard, no?

To answer your question, most lodges in the north (USA) are, in fact, fully integrated. My masonic lodge in New York is fully integrated in terms of both race & religion and the sublime spirit of friendship and brotherly love is everything that a mason could possibly hope for. But enough of my boasting.

It's hard for me to point an accusing finger at another masonic lodge. But I gotta' tell ya, in this case I certainly don't hesitate!

I don't get how a mason could seriously take his "Solemn Obligation" to love and honor all mankind and, at the same time, harbor racism and predjudice in his heart. This truly baffles me. If someone is a racist, why bother to become a freemason? It's a perfect contradiction in philosophy and mindset.

My only guess is that the members of your southern lodge use masonry as a social club to benefit each other rather than use masonry to broaden their outlook and better themselves through the masonic principles. But it's not just the south that has this problem.

I am sorry to say that I have personally heard the same remarks (privately whispered) in a another lodge in New York! It's real rare, but apparently it still exsists. I find all of this racism abhorrant and loathesome and I never want to associate with these morons on ANY level... let alone the Masonic level. They are not "brothers" to me!

Good luck to you and I believe that since you do have a problem with your lodge's racism, you should seriously look into affiliating with another lodge that is closer to your heart and mind and ideals of our honorable craft

Best Fraternal Regards, Elliot

Thanks to TubalCain420 for the heads up on this site.

Masons | Masonic Brotherhood | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Racial Segregation | Racial Integration | Burning Taper

Freemasons, Rotarians, Lions on al-Qaida hit lists

Did you know that the Rotary Club was originally purely intended to be a social club, and that some early Rotary Clubs (in the 1910s-20s) required their members to be Masons? And that the name comes from their early practice of rotating the location of meetings between members' places of business? Or that the first Rotary Club's first community service project was to build a public restroom in Chicago?

The Catholic Church once lumped Rotarians in with Masons. In 1928 several Spanish bishops declared that Rotary was "nothing else but a new satanic organization with the same background and teachings of masonry" and deemed it "a suspected organization" that "should be considered as execrable and perverse." Soon afterward the Vatican decreed that Catholic priests could not join Rotary clubs.

And the Muslims don't like any of us, either. (We must be doing something right if two of the three major world religions hate us!) Masonic lodges, Rotary Clubs, and even Lions Clubs are considered "nests of saboteurs and sabotage," according to the Hamas charter and al-Qaida documments found in the homes of Osama bin Laden's associates?

Apparently, when the hoax conspiracy document Protocols of the Elders of Zion was translated into Arabic, it was required reading for Muslim extremists and fundamentalists.

Read more at Slate.com....

Masons | Rotary Club | Rotarians | Freemasonry | Lions Club | Hamas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com | al-Qaida | Osama bin Laden | Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Put a Smile on your face!

Ever wonder what the backside of a Smiley Face looks like?

Click here to find out.

Thanks to Cindy Broeker for the smiles.


Smile | Smiley Face | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Who built the Moon?

Reprinted from New Dawn magazine

Many New Dawn readers will know of British writer Christopher Knight from his first book The Hiram Key, which he co-authored with Robert Lomas and published in 1996. Quickly becoming a best seller, The Hiram Key was acclaimed a classic in the field of alternative history, going on to influence a generation of researchers among them The Da Vinci Code’s Dan Brown.

In the last ten years Knight has written six books, four with Robert Lomas and two, including his latest Who Built the Moon?, with Alan Butler.

In Who Built the Moon?, Knight and Butler raise some fascinating and challenging questions, foremost: Could it be that the Moon is artificial? Could it even be hollow? And does the Moon really exist through some happy accident, or is a blueprint apparent — and if so, who was the architect?

New Dawn recently spoke with Christopher Knight about his controversial new book and his astonishing conclusions.

New Dawn: All of mankind’s visits to the Moon have not answered some of the most basic questions about its origin and importance. Your new book Who Built the Moon? (co-authored with Alan Butler) brings to light some extraordinary facts about the Moon, and comes to a mind-blowing conclusion about its origin. Could you briefly outline some of these little known and ignored facts?

Christopher Knight: The Moon sits very close to the Earth yet it is widely regarded as the strangest object in the known universe. It is a bit like knowing that every person in the world is completely normal except the person you live next door to, who has three heads and lives on a diet of broken razor blades.

The book lists the strangeness of the Moon, which includes the fact that it does not have a solid core like every other planetary object. It is either hollow or has a very low-density interior. Bizarrely, its concentration of mass are located at a series of points just under its surface — which caused havoc with early lunar spacecraft. The material the Moon is made from came from the outer surface of the Earth and left a shallow hole that filled with water and we now call the Pacific. This rock left the Earth to produce the Moon very quickly after our planet had formed around 4.6 billion years ago.

The Moon is not only extremely odd in its construction; it also behaves in a way that is nothing less than miraculous. It is exactly four hundred times smaller than the Sun but four hundred times closer to the Earth so that both the Sun and the Moon appear to be precisely the same size in the sky — which gives us the phenomenon we call a total eclipse. Whilst we take this for granted it has been called the biggest coincidence in the universe.

Furthermore, the Moon mirrors the movement of the Sun in the sky by rising and setting at the same point on the horizon as the Sun does at opposite solstices. For example, this means the Moon rises at midwinter at the same place the Sun does at midsummer. There is no logical reason why the Moon mimics the Sun in this way and it is only meaningful to a human standing on the Earth.

ND: What led you to write Who Built the Moon? And does this latest book relate to your earlier research when writing Civilization One and Uriel’s Machine?

CK: All of the six books I have had published over the last ten years are part of a continued single piece of research. I came to write Who Built the Moon? with Alan Butler after we had finished Civilization One, because our research led us to study the Moon very closely.

We had found that the superbly advanced measuring system in use over 5,000 years ago was based on the mass, dimensions and movements of the Earth.

However, for thoroughness we checked every planet and moon in the solar system to see if there was any pattern. Amazingly, it worked perfectly for every aspect of the Moon but did not apply at all to any other known body — except the Sun.

It was as though we had found a blueprint where the Moon had been ‘manufactured’ using very specific units taken from Earth’s relationship with the Sun. The more we looked, everything fitted — and fitted perfectly in every conceivable way.

ND: Most astoundingly, you found that an ancient system of geometry and measurement used in the Stone Age works perfectly on the Moon. What exactly is this system and how could the ancients have attained this knowledge?

CK: It is not possible to describe the greatness of this ancient system of geometry and measurement without repeating the content of Civilization One.

The work of Alexander Thom, a brilliant professor of engineering from Oxford University, was our starting point. He identified the existence of what he called the Megalithic Yard. This was a precise unit of measurement that was the basis of late Stone Age structures across Western Europe — such as Stonehenge. Most archaeologists have written his work off as a mistake but when one looks coldly at their objections they are baseless.

Alan and I were able to show how they made these highly precise linear units based on the rotation of the Earth and how they were also the basis of all time, capacity and weight units in use today. Once again these are exact — not approximations or close fits.

Where the ancients got such knowledge is quite baffling. All we can be certain of is that they were way ahead of us today! It’s easy to check out by anyone with a calculator.

ND: Your conclusion is there are more than enough anomalies about the Moon to suggest it is not a naturally occurring body and was quite possibly engineered to sustain life on Earth. How did you reach this conclusion?

CK: Not only is the Moon an apparently impossible object, it has some unique benefits for us humans. It has been nothing less than an incubator for life. If the Moon was not exactly the size, mass and distance that it has been at each stage of the Earth’s evolution — there would be no intelligent life here. Scientists are agreed that we owe everything to the Moon.

It acts as a stabiliser that holds our planet at just the right angle to produce the seasons and keep water liquid across most of the planet. Without our Moon the Earth would be as dead and solid as Venus.

ND: If the Moon is an artificial construct, what are your theories on who or what built it, and why?

CK: In Who Built the Moon? we explain that we could not come to any other conclusion than the Moon is artificial. Because it is certain that it is 4.6 billion years old that raises some interesting points. Another factor was the obvious message that has been built into the Moon to tell us it’s artificial. The language of the message is base ten arithmetic so it looks as though it is directed to a ten digit species that is living on Earth right now — which seems to mean humans.

The question of why the Moon had to be built is easy to answer: To produce all life, especially humans. As to who did it — well that’s a lot tougher! We give the three possibilities we can think of, namely: God, aliens or humans. The only one of these that is 100% scientifically possible is the last one. Time travel is universally accepted as being physically possible and a number of scientists are close to sending matter back in time. We can envisage that machines could be built in the future that could be sent back to remove matter from the young Earth to construct the Moon — probably using mini black hole technology.

© Copyright New Dawn magazine. Permission granted to freely distribute this article for non-commercial purposes if unedited and copied in full, including this notice.

Moon | Sun | Technology | Christopher Knight | Civilization One | Hiram Key | Who Built the Moon? | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

The Masonic Compact

To celebrate the 225th Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of New York, this Masonic Compact was created.

I like it. I wish these sentiments and beliefs were what I had found when I joined Freemasonry under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.

Because I am a Freemason...

• I believe that freedom of religion is an inalienable human right and tolerance an indispensable trait of human character; therefore, I will stand in my Lodge with Brothers of all faiths, and respect their beliefs as they respect mine, and I will demonstrate the spirit of Brotherhood in all aspects of my life.


• I know that education and the rational use of the mind are the keys to facing the problems of humanity; therefore, I will bring my questions and my ideas to my Lodge, and strive to advance the growth of my mind alongside my Brothers.


• I know that the rich tradition of Freemasonry and its framework of Ritual are important platforms for growth and learning; therefore, I vow to stand upon these platforms to improve myself as a human being, and I vow to help in the mission of the Craft to provide tools, atmosphere, challenges and motivation to help each Brother do the same.


• I know that charity is the distinguishing human virtue, and that personal community service is the best demonstration of one’s commitment to humanity; I acknowledge that words without deeds are meaningless, and I vow to work with my Lodge to provide service to the community, and to promote charity, friendship, morality, harmony, integrity, fidelity and love.


• I know that my obligation to community extends beyond my local sphere and is partly fulfilled in my patriotism: love of my country, obedience to its laws and celebration of the freedoms and opportunities it symbolizes.


• I know that leadership is best demonstrated by commitment to serving others; I will therefore participate in, and help work at improving individual leadership skills, and serve the Brothers of my Lodge to the best of my ability.


• I know that friendship, fidelity and family are the foundations of a well-lived life; I therefore vow to be a faithful friend to my Brothers, as I expect my Lodge to respect my personal obligations, and to treat my family as though my family were their own.


• I know that the last great lesson of Freemasonry — the value of personal integrity and the sanctity of one’s word — is a lesson for all people in all times; I therefore vow to be a man of my word.


• I know that Masonry’s power is best exercised when its Light is shared with the world at large; I therefore vow to bring the best of myself to my Lodge, in order that my growth might be fostered and nurtured, and to present myself to the world as a working Freemason, on the path to building a more perfect temple.

Because I am a Freemason, these values and aspirations are guideposts for my progress through life.

Thanks to Ars Masonica for originally posting this Masonic Compact.

Masons | Masonic Compact | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of New York Burning Taper

Old Tiler's Talk: Book on the Altar

The Old Tiler is a character in a series of short vignettes by Bro. Carl H. Claudy, written between 1921 and the late 1940s. The story usually involves a conversation between the Old Tiler and a newly raised Mason called "the New Brother."

This is the second in a series. We published the first one, "What is Masonry?", on May 28.

"I heard the most curious tale," began the New Brother seating himself beside the Old Tiler during refreshment.

"Shoot!" commanded the Old Tiler.

"Friend of mine belongs to a midwest lodge. Seems they elected a chap to become a member but when he took the degree he stopped the work to ask for the Koran in place of the Bible on the Altar. Said he wanted the holy book of his faith, and the Bible wasn't it!"

"Yes, go on," prompted the Old Tiler. "What did they do?"

"The officers held a pow-wow and the Master finally decided that as the ritual demanded the 'Holy Bible, Square and Compasses' as furniture for the lodge, the applicant was wrong and that he'd have to use the Bible or not take his degree. And the funny part was that the initiate was satisfied and took his degree with the Bible on the Altar. I'm glad they have him, and not this lodge."

"Why?"

"Why, a chap who backs down that way can't have very much courage; I'd have had more respect for him if he'd insisted and if he couldn't have his way, refused to go on with the degree.""

"All wrong, brother, all wrong!" commented the Old Tiler.

"The Mohammedan initiate wasn't concerned about himself but about the lodge. He showed a high degree of Masonic principle in asking for his own holy book, and a great consideration for the lodge. This man isn't a Christian. He doesn't believe in Christ. He believes in Allah, and Mohammed his prophet. The Bible, to you a holy book, is to him no more than the Koran is to you. You wouldn't regard an obligation taken on a dictionary or a cookbook or a Koran as binding, in the same degree that you would one taken on the Bible.

"That's the way this chap felt. He wanted to take his obligation so that it would bind his conscience. The Master would not let him, because he slavishly followed the words of the ritual instead of the spirit of Masonry.

"Masonry does not limit an applicant to his choice of a name for a Supreme Being. I can believe in Allah, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Mithra, or Christ, or Siva, or Brahma, or Jehovah, and be a good Mason. If I believe in a Great Architect that is all Masonry demands; my brethren do not care what I name Him."

"Then think you this chap isn't really obligated? I must write my friend and warn him —"

"Softly, softly! Any man with enough reverence for Masonry, in advance of knowledge of it, to want his own holy book on which to take an obligation would feel himself morally obligated to keep his word, whether there was his, another's or no holy book at all, on the Altar. An oath is not really binding because of the book beneath your
hand. It is the spirit with which you assume an obligation which makes it binding. The book is but a symbol that you make your promise in the presence of the God you revere. The cement of brotherly love which we spread is not material-the working tools of a Master Mason are not used upon stone but upon human hearts. Your brother did his best to conform to the spirit of our usages in asking for the book he had been taught to revere. Failing in that through no fault of his own, doubtless he took his obligation with a sincere belief in its sacredness. Legally he would not be considered to commit perjury if he asked for his own book and was forced to use another."

"What's the law got to do with it?"

"Just nothing at all, which is the point I make. In England and America, Canada and South America, Australia, and part of the Continent, the Bible is universally used. In Scottish Rite bodies you will find many holy books; but let me ask you this; when our ancient brethren met on hills and in valleys, long before Christ, did they use the New Testament on their altars? Of course not; there was none. You can say that they used the Old Testament and I can say they used a Talmud and someone else can say they used none at all, and all of us are as right as the other. But they used a reverence for sacred things.

"If you write your friend, you might tell him that the ritual which permits a man to name his God as he pleases, but demands that a book which reveres one particular God be used, is faulty. The ritual of Masonry is faulty; it was made by man. But the spirit of Masonry is divine; it comes from men's hearts. If obligation and books and names of the Deity are matters of the spirit, every condition is satisfied. If I were Master and an applicant demanded any one or any six books on which to lay his hand while he pledged himself to us, I'd get them if they were to be had, and I'd tell my lodge what a reverent Masonic spirit was in the man who asked."

"Seems to me you believe in a lot of funny things; how many gods do you believe in?"

"There is but one," was the Old Tiler's answer, "Call Him what you will. Let me repeat a little bit of verse for you:

'At the Meuzzin's call for prayer
The kneeling faithful thronged the square;
Amid a monastery's weeds,
An old Franciscan told his beads,
While on Pushkara's lofty height
A dark priest chanted Brahma's might,
While to the synagogue there came
A Jew, to praise Jehovah's Name.
The One Great God looked down and smiled
And counted each His loving child;
For Turk and Brahmin, monk and Jew
Had reached Him through the gods they knew.

"If we reach Him in Masonry, it makes little difference by what sacred name we arrive," finished the Old Tiler, reverently.

"You've reached me, anyhow," said the New Brother, shaking hands as if he meant it.

Masons | Masonic Oath | Bible | Muslim | Koran | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Old Tiler's Talks | Book on the Altar | Burning Taper

Shriners caught off guard by Sandy Frost allegations

Investigative reporter Sandy Frost has recently published parts 4, 5 and 6 of her investigation into the Shriners' questionable financial practices.

Part 4 tells that Shriner whistleblower Vernon Hill has called on the Florida Bar Association to take action against Shriners corporate attorney Jay Fleisher. In a four page complaint, Hill accuses Fleisher of misrepresentation, intimidation, violating IRS disclosure law, unwarranted censorship, chilling free speech and violating John Doe cyber space protections.

Part 5 is titled "Follow the Money," and asks: "What would you think of a charity group that lost over 99% of its cash assets in one year? In 1998, the Shriners Hospitals for Children started the year with a cash asset balance of $354 million. By the end of the year, they were down by $351 million. They lost 99.1% of what they started with. If you had started the year with, say, $30,000, you’d have lost $29,730 and be left with only $270."

Part 6, by Sandy's own admission, is a real yawner unless you're into finance and bookkeeping. It follows the numbers and shows where the skeletons are buried.

Masons | Shriners | Freemasonry | Sandy Frost| BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Georgia Grand Lodge pressures Order of Eastern Star to ban membership in Co-Masonry, reports say

According to Bro. Simpson at The Modern Freemasonic Journal, the Grand Lodge of Georgia has pressured the Georgia Order of the Eastern Star to issue an edict/resolution banning OES members from also being members of any non-recognized Masonic group, such as Co-Masonry. Co-Masonry, founded in the early 20th century, is comprised of both male and female Masons, but is not "recognized" by conventional (Antient) Masonry.

Bro. Simpson has published a copy of the recent resolution as well as transcripts from a Masonic-themed online forum of rather heated communications between an OES/Co-Masonic woman named Barb Thames and a Master Mason from California named Manny Blanco.

The reported OES resolution states:

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, State of Georgia, does hereby state, avert and affirm that no member of its Grand or Subordinate Chapters in the State of Georgia can be a member of any Masonic organization that is not recognized by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Georgia, F.& A.M.

On Monday I asked Bro. Thames (yes, women Masons are referred to as Brethren) for her comments or to write an article about this issue for publication here on the Burning Taper, but so far she has declined my offer. I'd certainly like to know more about Co-Masonry and Co-Masons who are also members of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Bro. Barb writes in her messages that "all of the women Masons in Georgia that I know are in the process of resigning from the OES."

Masons | Order of the Eastern Star | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | OES | Co-Masonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Georgia | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

Let there be light... an eerie, glowing radioactive cloud sort of light

Rodney Hoffman submitted this to Boing Boing recently:

In the early 1950s, several above-ground atom bomb tests at the Nevada Proving Ground were visible in Los Angeles. Here, the March 1, 1955 blast lights up the pre-dawn sky behind the Los Angeles City Hall.

This photo and five similar ones from 1951-1955 are from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Database. Search for "bomb nevada" to bring up all six thumbnail photos with descriptions.

No photographer name is credited with this [or other] photo[s], but the library database description reads:

An A-bomb blast set off in Nevada at 4:36 a.m., on April 18, 1953, was judged by early risers to have been the most sensational of any seen so far. The blast made the eastern horizon as "bright as day."

See all six photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Nuclear Test | Nevada | Atomic Bomb | Los Angeles | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Floating Entered Apprentices, or, "Has anyone seen our candidate?"

The following short piece was originally published in W. Bro. Harry Bruno's Sunday Masonic Newsletter, and then reprinted in the Masonic Messenger, the official magazine of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, June 2006, page 11.

I could make half a dozen smart-ass remarks about what this article says about the state of Freemasonry in Georgia, but why? It speaks for itself.

— W.S.

Floating Entered Apprentices by Harry Bruno, PM

Brethren,

I heard a story the other day about this young man who had petitioned a Lodge here in Georgia. He submitted his petition, he was investigated, he was visited and then he was FORGOTTEN. They just let him float around without any word on what was happening. He didn't know if he was "turned down" or just forgotten.

I know this Lodge eats at every meeting and they didn't even invite him to come for the meal at the meetings prior to his Degree. I've just found out they were waiting for another petitioner so they could have a couple of Entered Apprentices go through together, which is a very common practice. But while it's a good idea and [a] nice thing to do, we as Masons cannot let those petitioners just "float" around like a piece of drift wood, not knowing what's going on at the Lodge.

It's our duty to keep in touch; have a cup of coffee or glass of tea with him at a local coffee shop and just talk with him. I'd like to think that this is an unusual occurance, but I feel it happens quite often, so let's ALL look at OUR "almost Masons" and take them under our wing.

— Harry Bruno, PM

Masons | Entered Apprentice | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper

Would you pass the American citizenship test?

Among other requirements, people who apply for American citizenship must pass a test about U.S. history and the American constitutional system.

MSNBC posted twenty questions that may or may not be on a particular test. Would you pass?

I scored 95%. How well can you do?

Post your score in the comments section, and indicate whether you're an American.

United States of America | USA | Citizenship | Constitution | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

GrouchoGandhi asks: Who has the biggest Dick?

The movie A Scanner Darkly opens on July 7, and to celebrate, GrouchoGandhi wants to show you his Dick.

A Scanner Darkly is not the first book by Philip K. Dick (PKD), genius/whacko pulp masterpiece science fiction writer, to show up on the Big Screen, but it is the first one to show up under its original title and to show up with the storyline more or less intact.

Previous PKD-inspired movies include Schwartzenegger's 1990 Total Recall, which was based on Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," and 1982's Blade Runner with Harrison Ford, which was based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

If Hollywood would only look at more Dick, there would be a lot more good movies being made.

But I digress.

GrouchoGandhi has exposed his Dick to the world — 30 full inches of his Philip K. Dick love: his bookshelf. See photo above.

He's sponsoring a contest 'cause he wants to see yours. The winner gets bragging rights for having the biggest Dick.

If you don't have any Dick, you need to get some Dick.

Groucho Gandhi | Books | Philip K. Dick | A Scanner Darkly | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

This article cross-published on SacredFems.com.