Anti-Mason denies being an anti-Mason

A few weeks ago I made note of Masonic Traveler's recent interview with the blog TruthLoveFreedom.org, which was posted as a podcast. My article was titled "Masonic Traveler gives anti-Masons an earful."

The next day, the blogmaster of TruthLoveFreedom.org posted an entry decrying my having called him an anti-Mason.

His denial of being an anti-Mason included these words: "I have and will continue to treat the topic of Freemasonry with fairness by allowing rebuttals to my claims, but I won't pretend that the organization is benevolent in any way."

I noticed his denial post at the time, but didn't really consider his denial noteworthy enough to post about it.

Another blogger, Bro. Robert Fischer, did find it worth discussing. His posts, and the responses by Karl, the deny-er and podcaster who interviewed Masonic Traveler, make for interesting reading. Click on over to Enfranchised Mind and join the conversation.

Image: Baphomet, for no real reason other than it scares the willies out of the anti-Masons

Masons | Anti-Masons | Blogs | Freemasonry | Podcasts | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Freemasonry: Is it a religion?

If you've been following the Taper's comments sections lately, you know we've had a troll called Jean bombarding us with pasted commentary from the anti-Masonic sites, going on about how Freemasonry is a religion. She (or he) is convinced Masonry has a plan of salvation, based on the Apron Lecture, and that Masonry is "Luciferian," based on a couple of lines from Pike's Morals and Dogma.

But for every yin there is a yang. Or as Sir Isaac Newton stated, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

There's a new Masonic blog, The Square and Compass, operated by an unnamed Entered Apprentice, who, judging from his choice of published links, is from Lewisville Lodge No. 201, in Lewisville, Texas.

Welcome to Masonry, brother, and welcome to the Masonic blogosphere.

I applaud his newfound enthusiasm for Freemasonry, and for blogging, but I question his direction.

His most recent article is a long list of reasons why Freemasonry isn't a religion. His list is lifted from a work titled "'Freemasonry and Religion' by Bro. Jim Tresner, Ph.D., 33rd degree."

The blogger says that he has made it his "priority to educate [himself], Masons and Non-Masons, as well as other Christians about the honor and joy of being a part of our Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons."

In doing so, in my opinion, he seems to be under the impression that Masonry is a Christian organization, or that it operates under Christian rules, a "fact" he wants to share with his fellow Christian travelers.

His interpretation of the Five Points of Fellowship is:

1. To Serve
2. To Pray for our Brothers
3. To Keep the Business of the Lodge Confidential
4. To Support All Who Are in Need
5. To Counsel

I've never seen an explanation of the Five Points like this before. Is this something taught in Texas?

Here's the line from his page on the Five Points that made me want to write this article: "Each day, we must serve first our church, then family, brothers, friends, and even strangers we see in need."

Is this what the Five Points of Fellowship mean to you? Serve first our church?

In the article meant to explain that Masonry isn't a religion that he has copied from Bro. Tresner's work, it says, "And [Masonic principles] are not in conflict with Christianity. Masonry has nothing to do with the religion taught in the Mysteries. Rather, we are concerned with the ethics and morality taught there, ethics and morality which have been ratified by Christianity."

And in yet another one, written by Bro. Rev. Neville Barker Cryer, it states: "As in the case of King Solomon’s Temple we, as Freemasons, can withdraw into our lodges from the rush of the busy world, and in a quiet and solemn atmosphere, find inspiration to put into practice, in the world outside, the lessons we derive from the Holy Bible and our Masonic principles."

So on one extreme, there is Jean's "Freemasonry is a religion, and a Satanic, unchristian one at that." On the opposite extreme, we have this Christian brother's "Masonry is not a religion, but we get our lessons from Christianity."

From various comments, I know that no one who regularly posts on the Taper agrees with Jean that Freemasonry is a religion. Masonry offers no dogma or religious creed, and no "path to salvation." But, as wrong as Jean is, does that mean that the new blogger's explanation that Masonry is not a religion, but since he is a Christian he's going to treat it, more or less, as if it is a religion or an extension of his religion, is correct by default?

I assume Jean colors her (his?) opinion of Masonry with a fundamentalist Christian worldview inspired by conspiracy-minded anti-Masonic websites. And I color my opinions by having been chewed up and spat out by a lodge full of evangelical Christians who see lodge meetings as a Tuesday night prayer meeting. I wonder if that's the kind of lodge our new E.A. blogging brother from Texas has joined.

I have no answers, just questions. What do you think?

Update, Wed., August 29: All the links listed above to the Square and Compass blog have disappeared. It seems the blog has been taken offline.

Image: The Letter G from inside the lodge room at Lewisville Lodge No. 201 in Lewisville, Texas, from an online collection of G's from Texas. It's one of a handful in the collection that appears to be made with stained glass, and the only one that is superimposed with a cross.

Masons | Masonic Religion | Anti-Masons | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Texas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Video says Masons 'ride the goat' to 'conjure up the Babylonian gods of war'

Just when I thought I'd seen all the stupid anti-Masonic videos that whacked-out fundamentalist Christians could create and upload to YouTube, along comes Masonic Pet Goat of Nine-One-One: Presidential Bow Before Bel.

The video is produced by a Christian group calling itself "Protestant Separatist," whose motto seems to be drawn from 2nd Corinthians 6:17, which says, "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."

The group "Protestant Separatist" appears to be the brainchild of Stephen Michael Schroeder, an Indianapolis man with a grudge against Catholics and Freemasons. On the group's home page we learn that the character of Uncle Sam is based on Baphomet. No, really. Superimpose the images and you get, well, you get a superimposed image of Uncle Sam over Baphomet. That's proof enough, isn't it?

Judging from the article on his webpage called "I Stand Alone," we can assume his group is made up of, oh, maybe one person.

Warning — Low blow but I can't help myself: Stephen Michael Schroeder wears his hair in a mullet cut. How can you take anyone seriously who sports a mullet? Even Billy Ray Cyrus had to get rid of his mullet before anyone took him seriously.

The video is a rambling, convoluted and ultimately ridiculous 10 minute montage of video and graphics, narrated by a man (Schroeder, I'm guessing) who sounds like he scarfed down a barbiturate cocktail before he began.

No facts, no information, no references... just idle chatter telling us that "the secret Masonic ritual of riding the goat" is how the "Masonic-controlled Skull & Bones" group controls the world.

It begins, accompanied by The Listening Wind by Talking Heads, by pointing out that when President George W. Bush was told about the first plane that hit the World Trade Center tower, he was in an elementary school, reading a story called The Pet Goat (not My Pet Goat, as the video says) to children.

I agree that's a pretty nifty "coincidence," and given a few minutes to think about it, I could probably write a darn good "those Satanic Masons done it" conspiracy screenplay or short story beginning with this premise. I mean, the authors of the story, which is a part of a much larger collection of children's tales designed to help kids learn to read, have conspiratorial, Bavarian-sounding names, like Siegfried and Bruner.

The video uses images of Glinda the Good Witch of the North and Popeye the Sailor to let us know, somehow, that stars and goats are the way to "conjure up the Babylonian gods of war to continue to destroy the earth, and finally to make war in heaven, until all acknowledge the goat as god."

This guy falls flat on his face with this one. I have to give this video Four (Inverted) Stars for utter stupidity.

Watch it here or on YouTube.



Masons | Riding the Goat | Baphomet | Freemasonry | Protestant Separatist | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Confronting the critics: A visit to the anti-Masonic exhibit in San Francisco

In April, the Taper mentioned an anti-Masonic exhibit going on through October 1 at the Grand Lodge of California.

Bro. Erik visited the museum recently, and sent us his report. Thanks, Bro. Erik!

Confronting the Critics

"Confronting the Critics," on view at the California Grand Lodge headquarters in San Francisco through October 1st, takes a look at the history of anti-Masonic propaganda beginning with the Morgan affair all the way to the fevered imaginings of contemporary religious extremists.

As a member of a French obedience unrecognized by American Grand Lodges, this small exhibit was particularly interesting to me for the way in which it sheds light on the differing histories of continental European and Anglo/American Freemasonry and how the nature of our critics and our response to them has shaped our vastly different histories.

The exhibit begins with a look at the Morgan affair of the 1820s and 30s and how this scandal shaped the American lodge. Curator Adam Kendall says that American Masons reaction to the scandal, "was really the beginning of Masonry as we know it today in the United States, and it also created an unprecedented level of openness. At the same time, it started a process that took mainstream American Masonry in a different direction than its European counterparts."

Post-Morgan affair Freemasonry in the US went on to emphasize charitable work and operates relatively openly. But the story of continental Freemasonry evolved very differently largely because of the power and fervency of its critics, mainly the Catholic church and repressive anti-democratic governments. You’ll see no Masonic bumper stickers on the continent even today and the middle portion of "Confronting the Critics" shows why, detailing a sordid history of repression and anti-Semitism that stretches from the 18th century to the Nazis. This very different history explains in part why French Freemasonry has maintained its progressive political stance in defiance to its opponents.

The bizarre depictions of continental Masonic rituals by our opponents is a highlight in the exhibit culminating in a series of photos of a Nazi-staged reenactment of a third degree ritual replete with an incomprehensible bunch of skeletons perched on boxes scattered about the lodge room.

The exhibit ends with a set of books and a few comics by the irrepressible right wing fundamentalist nut-job Jack Chick that demonstrates that today Continental and Anglo/American Freemasonry are once again united by the fervency of our religious extremist opponents.

One sad note is the exhibit's location in a dark corner of a second floor balcony above the lobby. The Grand Lodge used to have a much larger exhibit space on the ground floor of their swanky Nob Hill headquarters but it appears to have been closed for lack of interest. Nevertheless, the content of this exhibit is much more
interesting than the miscellaneous Masonic memorabilia that I viewed the last time I visited the now closed museum and “Confronting the Critics” is well worth seeing.

The exhibit is open until October 1st and can be viewed Monday 10 to 3, Wednesday 10 to 6 and Thursday 12 to 8 or by appointment. An article and some of the artifacts from the exhibit can be seen in the newsletter of the California Grand Lodge.

Masons | Masonic History | Anti-Masonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of California | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Burning Taper's 500th post: And so it goes

This is my 500th post on Burning Taper.

I had noticed it was getting close a week or so ago. There's supposed to be something magickal about numbers that end in zero, especially if they begin with a five, like 50 and 500 and 5000, like they're milestones or somehow related to the Law of Fives. So I'd been thinking of writing some special self-celebratory post, or maybe a deep and meaningful "look to the past, look to the future" introspective article, or something equally ludicrous.

But it's just a number, and this is just a blog. Hitting the Big Five Oh Oh isn't that big of a whoop to me — any semi-literate simian with ten fingers and a keyboard could write this blog (and some days does!) — and it's even less of a woo hoo! to you, so let's just treat it like any other post and talk about something strange.

Someone in England today began an online petition to force British Freemasons to out themselves, to register with the government that they are a Mason. Petition-signing will go on for one year.

Here's the actual text of the e-petition, which has, as I'm writing this Friday afternoon, exactly one signer, the creator of the petition, S. Warriner.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to establish an open register of freemasons as a first step towards making them an open society in line with other societies in a free democracy.

It was recognised 200 years ago that secret societies were subversive to the government and centres of sedition. Secret societies are the antithesis of what a free democracy is about. It is understood the freemasons have now developed into a cult which may use its secret membership to develop and promote its business interests to the detriment of non members. Secret membership makes it possible to take over business and property of non freemasons by a form of insider trading using fifth column tactics before the non freemasons become aware of what is happening.

I swear to Elvis, I don't know which breed of anti-Mason is more insane, the religious anti's in the U.S. or the political anti's in the U.K.

Read — and sign if you want to — the petition here.

Image: The Widow's Son

Masons | Petition | Anti-Masons | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of England | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Who is the Anti-Mason?

Warning: Contains the F-word.

We seldom get any good Masonic mysteries and drama in real life, so I thought I'd share this unfolding "saga" with you. It's fairly adequate entertainment, unless there's something good on television right now.

It looks like we need to rename MySpace Mike. Let's call him Drama Queen Steve from now on.

You might remember him from last September. On the Burning Taper's MySpace site, we received several emails from him, full of tired old anti-Masonic jibberish. His first email to us ended with "FUCK THE MASONS AND FUCK THE ILLUMINATI."

We reposted several of his emails in an article about him on Sept. 22. He then filled the comments section with even more anti-Masonic claptrap, copied from various religious and conspiracy websites.

At some point, Mike's MySpace.com profile was re-tooled into what looked like, at first glance, a pro-Masonic website, full of Square and Compasses and other Masonic graphics, where he called himself "Brother of Light." However, reading his postings and articles revealed it was actually an anti-Masonic site containing the same twisted Taxil tales he had become infamous for here.

I checked a few minutes ago, and his MySpace account has been closed.

This afternoon at 3:17, the first comment since January was added to the original article about MySpace Mike. Posted anonymously, it is written by, supposedly, someone in Pennsylvania claiming to be soon becoming a Mason.

(Comments and emails that follow are verbatim.)

That anonymous post said:

This guy is a nut and ruining the Mason name. I don't where in the hell he got his information but he obviously watches too many movies. I have pettioned to join a local lodge and Johnstown, Pa. Once i'm in, this guy will go down.

I have no idea if this was actually from someone in Pennsylvania about to join a lodge. Could be. But it doesn't sound very Masonic to be saying something like "this guy will go down." (Note the missing words, bad grammar, misspellings and lower case "i'm," all trademarks of Andy Warhol.)

More likely, it was MySpace Mike/Drama Queen Steve setting up today's dramedy.

Less than an hour later, another anonymous post appeared on the MySpace Mike article, this one admittedly from MM/DQS. It said:

That's real nice. So now I will have a radical masons coming after me. That picture is not even me. So if something happens to this person would you even give a crap. This just goes to show what a great charity organization you are. Do you all normally put up pictures of anti-masons. For what purpose? In hopes of getting somebody killed? I have posted widows home address and still have it. Maybe I'll start posting it calling him a child molester that should get plenty of people stoping by widows house. I think I'll do that. I'll be back and give you link so you can see. Now well see who goes down.

This is where he admits to being Andy Warhol, when he talks about my address.

He also says that the photo, which appeared on his original MySpace site and was atop the original article posted here about him, is not of him.

For a couple of months earlier this year, he re-appeared as the foul-languaged troll Andy Warhol, repeatedly spewing misspelled profanities. His favorite term for me was "asshat." Warhol also dirtied the waters with expletives at other Masonic blogs, including Bro. Tom Accuosti's Tao of Masonry. Mike/Andy Warhol was the reason the Burning Taper has on occasion temporarily changed the settings to not allow anonymous or unmoderated commenting.

My first article about Mike was posted on the Taper's MySpace site as well as here. About a month ago I received email there from a brother in Washington State, who has had his own go-round with our Drama Queen. You can read about Mike's run-ins with those Masons here.

Warhol once posted my physical address in a comment here, which he got from domain registry records, and urged people to pay me an unfriendly visit.

About 45 minutes after the second comment was left, an email arrived in Burning Taper's emailbox. The sender's email address was a first (Steve) and last name (I'm not posting it, but it was a surname that doesn't appear in records anywhere, according to Yahoo's Peoplefinder) at inbox.com, a free email service.

The email said:

I have noticed that again I'am at the top your little blog. I have reported you for posting my picture on this blog. It was all fun and games but now I'am being threatened here is a copy of what was said on your blogger site.

This guy is a nut and ruining the Mason name. I don't where in the hell he got his information but he obviously watches too many movies. I have pettioned to join a local lodge and Johnstown, Pa. Once i'm in, this guy will go down.

If you don't remove all there pictures from your sites the two at blogger.com and the one at myspace I will contact the proper authorities. I'am not kidding I give you 24 hrs from 4:44 p.m. to this. You have been warned.

In paragraph one, he says he's reported us. In paragraph three, he warns that he will report us. Come on, man. Make up your mind who you are and whether or not it's even your photo, Mike/Andy/Steve.

Sheesh.

MySpace Mike | Anti-Masons | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Full-length anti-Mason video now available

Remember that ridiculously strange 'Corn, Wine and Oil' video excerpt that "exposed" Masons as Baal worshipers that we talked about a couple of weeks ago?

The full three-hour movie became available today at the website 666 Mark of the Beast in exchange for a donation to their "ministry."

The website "is dedicated to the study of the End Times, the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Prophecies in Revelation. We believe that Bible prophecy is to be understood in a literal way and the expressed view of this site is of a pre-millennial return of Christ and pre-tribulational Rapture of the Church. Therefore, this website is dedicated to bring fellow believers the latest news, stories, events and signs that brings us closer to the End Times."

Such happy people.

Masons | Anti-Masons | Christians | Freemasonry | Fundamentalist | 666 | End Times| Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Calif. Masonic museum displays anti-Masonic art and propaganda

The Grand Lodge of California opened the Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum in 1997 at the California Masonic Memorial Temple on California Street in San Francisco.

The museum contains over 8,000 titles and includes Masonic art and artifacts from California and around the world.

The Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library and Museum seeks:

• To tell the story of Freemasonry in California to Masons and to the general public.
• To serve as a research source for both lay and professional Masonic scholars and researchers.
• To assist Masons who seek to increase and develop their personal knowledge of Freemasonry.

From now until October 1, an exhibit of art and propaganda by anti-Masons will be on display.

The following is reprinted from the Masons of California website:

Confronting the Critics: A new exhibit

Submitted by: Allan L. Casalou

Chances are that most Masons today have never heard of William Morgan, but his mysterious disappearance in 1826 was a watershed event in American Freemasonry. The episode, commonly known as the "Morgan Affair" served as a galvanizing point for critics of the Craft and fueled a national political movement dedicated to banning Freemasonry.

Rather than ignoring the efforts of anti-Masonic activists, the Grand Lodge of California is hosting an exhibit of art and propaganda that opponents of Masonry, including those inspired by Morgan-related fervor, have created to sway public opinion against Masonic institutions. Some of the pieces, which will be shown at the Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library & Museum in San Francisco from March 30th to October 1st, 2007, were created by individual artists who object to Masonry, while others were actually distributed by governments and political parties to promote official anti-Masonic policies.

"It may seem unusual to have this kind of art on display at the Grand Lodge, but Anti-Masonry is really an integral part of our history," says the library and museum curator Adam Kendall, who also serves as Fraternal Services Representative for the Grand Lodge."Whether we like it or not, there has always been strong opposition to Freemasonry and we shouldn't be afraid to confront it. In fact, I think we owe it to ourselves to try to understand what opponents are saying - and why they are saying it. In many ways, anti-Masonic rhetoric and art has been a major factor in how our identity has developed, and it is impossible to ignore the profound impact that our critics have had on the development of Masonry as we know it today. I think it's fair to say that we've simplified what we do as part of our effort to address the criticisms that have been leveled against Masons over the last few hundred years."

The exhibit will be open to the public April 2 through October 1, Monday and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 8:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Adam Kendall at 415-292-9137 or akendall@freemason.org

Masons | Anti-Masons | Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of California | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Little Johnny goes to Hell

What is it about Christianity that makes some people act not only stupid, but cruel? Why, in their zeal to do God's bidding, do they forget their Lord and Savior's greatest commandments, given in the book of Matthew, which are to love God, and to love your neighbor? Why do they hate those who don't think like they do?

Rev. Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church is a prime example. They travel the country, attending funerals of gays and soldiers shouting and holding signs saying "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for IED's" (improvised explosive devices).

Zealous whacked-out fundamentalist Christians hate the Catholic Church. A recent forum thread on a Catholic website shows that it's not just Masons that are the targets of fundie hatred. Protestant hate-mongers "prove" the Pope's Satanic ties by pointing out that the staff he carries has a crook in it, instead of being straight up and down, or that some of the crosses in the Vatican appear upside-down.

Today I found a website called Ex-Masons for Jesus. Affiliated with the anti-Mason website Ephesians 5:11 (they share a heavily-trafficked forum), this site is particularly disturbing, in that it purports to be run by ex-Masons turned Christian.

They've posted the usual claptrap about how Masons worship Satan, etc. They've even posted a full description of the Master Mason's raising ritual, calling it "baptism" into Freemasonry. How's that for being good Christians, breaking their word by publishing Masonic secrets?

But what I especially found disgusting and disturbing was their page "Where is Little Johnny now?" They tell a fictional story of a boy born with medical problems, who as he grew was unable to walk.

The parents were Christians, and were offered hope by their pastor.

But oh-no! The pastor was also a Mason, and preached only about "good works," but never spoke about being "saved."

The minister takes Little Johnny to a Shriners' hospital, and through surgery and therapy, the child is able to walk and function normally.

Young Johnny, the story goes, grows to manhood and, because he'd been helped by the Shriners, wants to become a Mason and a Shriner. He doesn't realize it was God, not Shriners, who healed him.

Flash forward to Johnny's death. Even though as a teenager Johnny had "professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" and attended church regularly, because he had become a Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite and Shrine, and had a Masonic funeral... Little Johnny goes to Hell.

What kind of sick minds come up with this crap?

Image: Page from a Jack Chick tract. Copyright 1991, Jack T. Chick.

Masons | Christianity | Fundamentalist | Freemasonry | Anti-Masons | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'Corn, Wine and Oil' film concludes Masons are creepy Satanists

A 14-minute trailer called "Corn, Wine and Oil," an excerpt from a 3-hour film, touches on, in no particular order, the architecture of Washington, DC, Skull and Bones, the hidden meaning of "corn," Masonic cornerstone ceremonies, Baal worship, the Morgan Affair, Royal Arch ritual, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and much more. Using spooky music and gee-whiz narration along with interviews with Masonic authors, Christian ministers, Scottish Rite spokesman Brent Morris, and others, the film concludes that Freemasons are creepy Satan worshipers. One interesting clip shows author and Co-Masonry member Dr. Robert Heironimus trashing Skull and Bones as "the most powerful and one of the darkest of all secret societies." There's even a clip of Pres. George W. Bush saying "it's so secret I can't talk about it."

Here's the movie's blurb, from Google Video:

New 14 Minute Trailer — "Riddles In Stone: Secret Architecture of Washington, D.C.," will continue to explore the fascinating history behind the origins and focus of the world's most powerful nation: America. Why was this nation founded? How was the precise location of Washington, D.C., determined? What is the meaning of the seemingly countless occult images in our nation's capitol?

Volume II zeroes in on the Masonic & Rosicrucian influence so prevalent amongst our Founding Fathers as they planned, and began to implement, the layout of America's Capitol. For years, extreme controversy has abounded as to the exact meaning of the occult symbols found within the street layout, the buildings, and the monuments of Washington, D.C.

Is there really an inverted Pentagram formed by the street layout just north of the White House? We have discovered the esoteric reason why this Pentagram is missing one segment.

Was this city laid out to reflect the vision of a Masonic Christ foreseen by Sir Francis Bacon? Is it true that America's capitol was laid out "according to the stars", i.e., in the astrological shapes of certain planets and stars so revered by occultists?

Why did our Masonic Founding Fathers perform "Corn, Wine, and Oil" ceremonies at cornerstone layings and at the dedication of the finished structure?

Does this occult "wisdom" represent the interests of America, or a hidden agenda?

As with Volume I, this "Secret Mysteries" series will continue to explore current — and possibly future — events by examining America's past. What can these realities mean for the unfolding destiny of America and the world? Now you will know that, when President Bush said he was fulfilling the "Ancient Hope" of the "New Order of the Ages" (as we show in Volume I), he was merely acting out the plan reflected in the street layout and in the architecture of Washington, D.C.

Watch the video at Google Video or below.



Masons | Masonic Ritual | Anti-Mason | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Wisconsin brother refutes anti-Masonic statements leveled by Lutherans

Are you tired of hearing fundamentalist and evangelical Christians repeatedly making the same dumb accusations against Freemasonry?

W. Bro. Joshua M. Armstrong, the current Master of Excelsior Lodge No. 175 F & AM, in Excelsior, Wisconsin, is. He has created an excellent web page for his lodge that refutes five common oppositions to Freemasonry leveled by evangelical groups. Specifically, he is responding to statements made by Missouri and Wisconsin Lutheran Evangelical Synods.

Read W. Bro. Armstrong's responses to these charges:

• Freemasonry is a religion.
• Freemasonry holds the belief that all faiths are equally valid pathways to salvation (or that Freemasonry is "unionistic").
• Freemasonry requires that men of different faiths pray together.
• Masonry promotes good works and personal betterment as a means of salvation.
• Masons swear blood oaths.
• Masons swear to protect other Masons from punishment for their crimes.

W. Bro. Armstrong has done a great job, not only with this article, but with the entire website he has created for Excelsior Lodge. His site has a nice mix of local news for brethren of his lodge, plus articles of general, universal interest. The site also includes an aggregator that stays up to the minute with new articles from all your favorite Masonic blogs, including The Burning Taper. Well done, Brother!

Masons | Masonic Attacks | Fundamentalist Christianity | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Evangelical Christianity | Excelsior Lodge | Burning Taper