Your political compass

Where do you stand politically?

Take this anonymous online test called The Political Compass, and see your position on the grid between Authoritarianism and Libertarianism, between Left and Right.

You can answer each question Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree. You'll probably find several where you want to answer "No Opinion," or even "I Don't Care." But, there being neither of those options, you must chose between the given responses to finish the test.

Here is my result. I guess my middle-of-the-road libertarian philosophy is why I've clashed from time to time with more rigid, right-wing, authoritarian Masonic "authority figures."

What's your position on the graph?

Masons | Masonic Blog | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Pimping the red, white and blue?

This article is not meant to be disrespectful to patriots, veterans, law enforcement officers, politicians, American flags, Freemasons, fifth-graders or Dollywood season pass holders.

Rep. David Davis is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 1st congressional district of Tennessee.

A news article yesterday reported that he had spent the day Thursday in Sevierville, Tenn., a town of 15,500 that is 95% non-hispanic white, tucked away in the Smoky Mountains in northeastern Tennessee, six miles north of Pigeon Forge, home of Dolly Parton's Dollywood, and about 12 miles north of the Gatlinburg resort area. I've visited the area many times; it's pleasant, peaceful and panoramic.

Rep. Davis, accompanied by Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals, spent the day giving away American flags. I assume U.S. taxpayers paid for the flags.

First stop was the local American Legion Post No. 104, where Davis discussed veterans affairs and talked about how he had been instrumental in getting Christmas cards to hospitalized veterans and to active duty military personnel. Davis presented post commissioner Frank Ham an American flag, citing the local American Legion post for providing "patriotic service" to the community since 1924.

"If you want patriotism, call on us, we'll help you in some way," Ham said.

Ham told a reporter that he is working with Davis to try to bring a veteran's clinic to Sevier County.

Next stop: Mountain Star Masonic Lodge No. 197, where Davis presented an American flag to W. Bro. Don Floyd.

To emphasize that the lodge is primarily a service organization to the community, the reporter quoted Bro. Floyd as saying, "If someone needs a porch, we'll build it."

Later in the day, Rep. Davis and Sheriff Seals went to Boyds Creek Elementary School to give away yet another American flag.

Again, I don't mean to be critical here... but I'm just asking: Is this an appropriate use of taxpayer funds and personnel? Is this what we pay sheriffs and U.S. representatives to do, go around to non-profit (American Legion, Masonic lodge) and government (elementary school) facilities, giving warm and fuzzy speeches while giving away flags?

Is this a function of their jobs?

Oh, did I mention — both Rep. Davis and Sheriff Seals are up for re-election this year? Actually, the sheriff is up for election, not re-election, since he was appointed to the position of sheriff less than a year ago, after the death of his predecessor.

So, is it appropriate that these two men spent the day giving speeches under the guise of giving away American flags?

Oh, did I mention? — I should be referring to Sheriff Seals as Brother Seals. He's a Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite, and a Shriner. How do I know that? His memberships are predominantly featured on his election campaign website. He's a member of Mountain Star Lodge No. 197, the lodge Rep. Davis gave the flag to.

A few weeks ago I was blasted by a Mason for using this blog to endorse a presidential candidate. Since I am a Mason, some felt it inappropriate for me to publicly state a preference for one candidate over another, as if free speech was something a man gives up when he becomes a Mason.

What do you think about Rep. Davis and Bro. Sheriff Seals, spending the day (and maybe other days) "politicking" under the guise of patriotic speeches and flag-waving? (Obviously Sheriff Seals is not acting in the capacity of bodyguard for the Congressman.)

Is this accepted Standard Operating Procedure for today's elected officials?

And is it appropriate for Sheriff Seals to list his Masonic affiliations on his campaign website?

Image: U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, of Tennessee's 3rd district, presenting a new flag to an elementary school in his district. Apparently, doing the flag giveaway thing at elementary schools is common practice, at least in Tennessee. Is this patriotism, or politics?

Masons | Masonic Politics | U.S. Rep. David Davis | Freemasonry | Sheriff Ron Seals | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Of Masonic political correctness and hissy fits

Verily, it is written, that I am a bad Mason for having endorsed a political candidate here on The Burning Taper.

"There are even some who feel they can take public political positions as masons on candidates and issues. This is a practice that is totally anathema to true freemasonry," the Grand Pontificator and Self-Proclaimed Champion of "True" Masonry wrote in the midst of his recent hissy fit.

"Hissy fit" is what Middlesex-Fire blogger Bro. Ben Rowe, of London, England, called Bro. Theron Dunn's silly rant today about flying monkeys and Masonic anathema.

Hissy fit. I love that term. I haven't heard it since my mother used it when I was a wee lad crying over broken cookies and spilled milk. I thought it was an American colloquialism used only by southern belle mothers; I'm pleased to hear it's a phrase used in the UK, too.

Anyway, Bro. Dunn has reposted his hissy fit all over the Net, in all those seriously somber "Masonic forums" where, I suppose, it's politically incorrect to talk about politics.

It's ironic that the recent "dust up" on the Taper, as Bro. Chris Hodapp called it, over freedom of speech is regarding the mention of a candidate whose platform is about protecting and restoring American freedoms.

Masonic blogger and author Bro. Hodapp sent me the photo captioned "Let's End All the Discontent, Elect a Mason President" that you see above. It was a recurring campaign poster used by Republican presidential candidates Bro. William McKinley. Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, and Bro. William Howard Taft in 1900, 1904 and 1908. All three men were elected president.

Politics and Freemasonry have been married a long time.

Some Masonic background on the three brethren who became president:

• William McKinley joined the Union Army as a private and rose quickly to become a major during the Civil War. At the age of 22, near the close of the war, he was impressed by the interaction he saw between Union and Confederate Freemasons. He petitioned Hiram Lodge No. 21 in Winchester, Virginia, and took the three degrees on three successive days, May 1, 2, and 3. A Confederate chaplain, J.B.T. Reed, presided in the East. McKinley later took the full degrees of the York Rite. He became an attorney, a congressman and governor of Ohio, and President of the United States. Upon his death (by assassination in 1901), his casket was accompanied by 2,000 uniformed Knights Templar. We see here that politics and Masonry go hand in hand, and that some Masons have always been more equal than others. I don't think 2,000 Masons will come out for your funeral. I know they won't for mine.


• Theodore Roosevelt was initiated in January, passed in March, and raised by the Grand Master of New York in April of 1901. He was governor of New York. In May, he became Vice President of the United States for McKinley's second term. By September of that year, he would become President, after McKinley's assassination. Roosevelt was a hearty, active man, and often attended lodge meetings, large and small, and was always given the floor to speak and entertain his brethren. Again, politics. I mean, he was raised by the Grand Master while he was governor of New York. Bully for him!


• William Howard Taft was a big and happy man, but terrible at being a politician, it's been said. He gave an eloquently humble speech to a joyous assembly of brethren in Massachusetts during the 1914 Feast of St. John the Evangelist while he was president. His father and older brothers were Masons. He became an entered apprentice on Feb. 18, 1909, and was "made on sight" a Master Mason in 1909 or 1910 (records indicate it was 1901, but perhaps the "09" looked like "01," or maybe it was reversed into "10." My guess would be it was in 1909, just before he became president on March 4, 1909. He served until 1913). If my speculation about him being made on sight quickly to become a Mason before his inauguration, then again, we see politics and Freemasonry having a special relationship.

I'm not being critical of these brethren, nor of the fraternity, and not even of "politics as usual." Politicians and political leaders have always been given special treatment. It is what it is.

And what it is, is this. These men didn't stop thinking politically or acting politically because they were Masons, and neither should we.

If you favor a candidate, or have an opinion on an action taken by Congress or the President or your local mayor, feel free to say so. As Bro. Hodapp pointed out, you don't have to hide your Masonic ring or Masonic belt buckle or Masonic tattoo before you talk politics with your neighbor, or with your brother. Speak up. The only taboo is talking about it during a tyled lodge meeting.

And if we run the right guy in 2012, I might even hang that "Let's Elect a Mason" poster in my window.

Masons | Masonic Presidents | Masonic Politics | Freemasonry | Hissy Fit | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Masonic Senator Trent Lott under the microscope

Scottish Rite poster boy W. Bro. and U.S. Senator Trent Lott, 33°, KCCH, Grand Cross, is making news this week.

On Monday, he announced he would resign from the Senate after 35 years on Capitol Hill. He was re-elected only last November.

Some political pundits think he's leaving by December 31 to take advantage of legal loopholes that will allow him to become a lobbyist after one year, instead of waiting two years as he would have to do if he retires after Dec. 31, thanks to a new law kicking in on January 1.

Bro. Lott's brother-in-law, Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, is also in the news this week.

Attorney Scruggs, famous for winning huge lawsuits against the tobacco industry, was along with his son, two other attorneys and the Mississippi state auditor, indicted for conspiracy Wednesday in bribing county circuit judge Henry Lackey.

Scruggs' office was searched by the FBI on Tuesday.

Lackey was presiding judge in a series of suits against insurance companies over non-payment of claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Trent Lott's home was destroyed in the hurricane, and he was party to one of the lawsuits being handled by Scruggs, reports say.

Bro. Lott became Senate Majority Whip in 1995 when fellow senator and Masonic 33° brother Bob Dole resigned to run for president.

The website Big Head DC gives us more — a lot more — news about Lott. The site has outed the conservative anti-gay rights Republican as being gay.

Gay male escort and freelance writer Benjamin Nicholas, it is alleged, has been "involved" with the 66-year old senator.

Said Nicholas on Monday: "Here's my public comment, on-the-record: Senator Lott and I have no current affiliation with one another. I’m sure he would appreciate no further scrutiny." [emphasis mine]

Big Head DC is known to sometimes mix news with satire, so your guess is as good as mine whether the allegations against Bro. Lott are true.

However, Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, has confirmed that the magazine has been investigating Bro. Lott for several months. Flynt has offered up to a million dollars for "documented evidence of illicit sexual or intimate relations with a Congressperson, Senator or other prominent officeholder."

Bro. Lott is no stranger to controversy. In 2003, he was heavily criticized for his statement at the 100th birthday party for South Carolina Senator (and 33° Brother) Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Bro. Thurmond ran an overtly racist campaign for president in 1948 on the States' Rights Party "Dixiecrats" ticket. Lott said of Thurmond: "I want to say this about my state [Mississippi]. When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either."

Bro. Thurmond, an avowed racist for much of his life, fathered a mixed-race daughter in 1925 by his family's 16-year old black maid Carrie Butler. The Thurmond family confirmed this as fact, shortly after his death in 2003.

Bro. Lott's first political job in the 1960s was as an aide to segregationist Democratic Congressman William Colmer.

According to the Scottish Rite website, it took Bro. Lott nearly eight years to progress from Entered Apprentice to Fellowcraft. His "busy schedule of a congressional aide and freshman House member made advancement a challenge."

It then took him six days to go from Fellowcraft to Master Mason.

Amazingly he found time to get involved in Masonry, because within a few years, though busy as House Minority Whip, he was invested with the red cap of the Knight Commander of the Court of Honor (KCCH), followed soon after with the 33° Inspector General Honorary.

The Scottish Rite site concludes: "On October 3, 1997, he was elected to receive the Grand Cross, the highest honor the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, can bestow. Only a few modern political figures have attained this exalted rank."

Masons | Trent Lott | Dickie Scruggs | Freemasonry | Strom Thurmond | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Politician gives stump speech on Masonic temple steps

A few days ago I wrote about the United Grand Lodge of England donating over $10,000 to the building fund of a church a thousand miles away from them.

Some readers said that Masonic support for a specific religious institution was appropriate; others think that it is unmasonic for a Masonic body to show favoritism to a particular sect.

Masonic rules in general only say that the discussion of politics and sectarian religion is forbidden in a tyled lodge meeting. Individual Masons are certainly free to have their own opinions about religion and politics.

Let's explore for a moment the political side of things.

Once, I was chided here on the Taper for a mere reference to the war in Iraq. I don't remember the details, but someone took offense that I would even mention it, as if admitting that it's even going on is a violation of some Masonic obligation, and a jab at President Bush.

This is simply a blog written by a Mason. I don't speak for Freemasonry, Inc. No one man does.

But officers do speak for their lodges, and grand officers speak for the grand lodges.

So what does it say about a lodge that invites a sitting Congressman to show up for a "flag ceremony," and then let him pontificate and campaign on the steps of the lodge?

Is it no big deal, or is it terribly inappropriate?

U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, a North Carolina Republican, spent a while hanging out with Freemasons, Cub Scouts and townspeople at Greenville Masonic Temple No. 284, giving the lodge a flag that had flown recently over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The Daily Reflector, a Cox newspaper, reported that Jones talked in great detail about the war in Iraq, bragged about his "record," talked about his same-party opponent (though the next Congressional election is still 15 months away), promised to build a new Vietnam War Memorial in D.C., and discussed various issues of state and local interest, like farm bills and the importation of fresh seafood.

Question: Is a Masonic temple, being used by Masons (and not being rented out to a third party), an appropriate venue for an incumbent politician to be making stump speeches?

Image: Cub scouts at Greenvile, NC, Masonic Lodge No. 284, raising an American flag that once flew over the U.S. Capitol

Masons | Masonic Politics | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Friend to friend: Freemasonry lives in the heart

Two Masonic articles, both about lecturers, hit my radar screen this morning.

The first began with a probable crackpot, Bill, who gives weekly talks on how Freemasons rule the world. His proof? The eye in the pyramid on the dollar bill.

To my relief, Bill's story isn't what the article is really about. It's about power and money and American politics, about how corporations funnel through "campaign contributions" just enough money to "underpaid" politicians to get them elected, who then grant favors to the corporations. This is nothing we don't already know, but it's interesting to read about it from the point of view of someone writing a blog in Singapore.

So... if some of the CEO's of the Fortune 500 happen to also be "high level" Freemasons, then I guess you could technically say, "Freemasons rule the world!"

The second article is about Dr. Kendall Wilson, who will give a talk titled "Freemasonry During the Civil War — How Each Affected the Other," on Saturday, May 19, 2007, in the auditorium of the Greenbrier Valley Campus of the New River Community & Technical College in Lewisburg, West Virginia as part of the Battle of Lewisburg Living History and Reenactment, May 18-20, 2007.

We've probably all heard that during the Civil War, Freemasons from the North and the South laid down their weapons on occasion to sit in lodge together, then went out the next day and continued to try to kill each other.

The article relates a story of brotherly love on the battlefield, quoting an uncited Justin Lowe:

As the battle (Gettysburg) waned, it became clear that Armistead's injuries were fatal. Knowing that his old friend was somewhere behind the Union lines, Armistead exhibited the Masonic sign of distress. This was seen by Captain Henry Harrison Bingham, the Judge-Advocate of Hancock's Second Corps (Chartiers Lodge #297, Canonsburg, Pa.). He came to the fallen Armistead, and declared that he was a fellow Mason.

The two men spoke for a time, and when Armistead realized that Bingham had direct access to Hancock, he entrusted some of his personal effects to him. Among them were his Masonic watch, the Bible upon which he had taken his obligations, and a number of other items. Bingham said his farewells, and then returned to the Union camp to deliver the items.

Armistead died two days later.

The fact that Armistead chose to use the Masonic sign of distress signified that his war was over, and that there was another, more pressing matter on his mind, even on the field at Gettysburg. What could lead one of the highest ranking and most intelligent officers in the Confederacy to lay aside all of the ideology of the war and call for a brother of the Craft from the other side?

In a world where civility is woefully lacking, among profanes and Masons alike, this story is a reminder of what Freemasonry is about: Brotherly love of and between all God's children. We should all take a lesson here.

Masons | Politics | Civil War | Freemasonry | Battle of Gettysburg | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com