Freemasony - Two Organizations, one visible, the other invisible

Originally posted by akilles
Man is supreme over institutions

Absolutely.

Doesn't this just advocate the use of an institution to benefit the individual?

The purpose of legitimate institutions is to serve individuals.

Does each offshoot organization also have a Treasury? I assume so.

If you mean Masonic Lodges, yes, each Lodge has a treasury. The Secretary receives the Lodge's revenues (usually member dues), books them, pays the cash to the Treasurer, takes his receipt and records it. The Secretary also gets all the bills, writes vouchers to the Treasurer to issue checks for the expenses (which come from the treasury), pays the bills and records them. At the end of the year the Secretary's and Treasurer's books are audited. The process is identical to non-Masonic non-profit civic organizations.

Couldn't you say, that from the opening quote, at the very least, there are two kinds of Masons, those who have read Morals and Dogma, and those that haven't.

Yes. I could also say there are two kinds of Masons: those who have read The Hobbit, and those who haven't. But that doesn't really mean anything. All Masons are Masons, regardless if they've read M&D. In fact, M&D was adopted as an official only by the Southern Jurisdcition of the Scottish Rite, USA. Other jurisdictions have generally ignored it.