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#21
12-10-2004, 02:37 PM
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Re: what\'s the deal with masons?
I am not a mason and will never be. So take it FWIW, but I think the reasons behind the start of the organization probably aren't known to many in the current membership. A pretty good history I read on the organization suggests that the masons started as a secret society to harbor the remnants of the Knights Templar in England. France killed them off more effectively one Friday the 13th, but in England they enjoyed some warning and had friends in high places. They still had to go on the run and hide one another and keep what they could. The rituals and practices make sense in light of a fugitive harboring organization. The idea of religious tolerance is a rare one for an old organization like that, but it makes sense when you would have a group of clerics who were declared heretics and denied salvation who then must protect themselves from death by torture. They certainly would have had disagreement among themselves about theological issues and beliefs. Later, the organization might have been a place for religious dissenters who couldn't easily find a safe group back in the day.
This history may not be right, but it hmakes a lot of sense to me. What the masons are about now is something different. If this story is true, their original purpose is unnecessary now and it is just a fraternal group. I don't put much stock in the conspiracy theories. 
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#23
12-10-2004, 07:07 PM
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Re: what\'s the deal with masons?
[ QUOTE ]
If this story is true, their original purpose is unnecessary now and it is just a fraternal group. I don't put much stock in the conspiracy theories. [/ QUOTE ] Not just a fraternal group, but a dying one. I remember reading a couple years ago that the average age of their members was over 60 and climbing, and their numbers had dropped by half over a 10-year period because so many of them keep dying, and nobody wants to join anymore. Sounds like fun to me, sitting through elaborate ceremonies in a room with a bunch of old guys wearing fancy robes.
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#24
12-10-2004, 07:23 PM
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Re: Masons rule the world
Have you all noticed that Mason now qualifies as Carpal Tunnel based on his post count, even though he still declares himself a Grand Poobah?
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#25
12-10-2004, 07:30 PM
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Re: Masons rule the world
[ QUOTE ]
Have you all noticed that Mason now qualifies as Carpal Tunnel based on his post count, even though he still declares himself a Grand Poobah? [/ QUOTE ] I think Sklanksy is getting the short end of the stick. He's only an addict. Even I'm ahead of him. Justin A
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#27
12-10-2004, 08:07 PM
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Re: Masons rule the world
quality
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