"Masonic" Handshakes and Other Nonsense..., page 3

Originally posted by twitchy
Sabat-work, Listen to yourself, you're sitting there telling me that that you have to have the permission from the grand lodge, then claim in the same breath they are your equal. Permission/equal... Degrees, Shriners, Poobahs, whatever you want to call it, you answer to somebody, period. What thell kind of organization doesn't have a hierarchy? The first two degrees are lower than a third degree, that is a hierarchy. Step UP to Grand Lodges verses Joe Blow Lodges, Hierarchy. Christ man, buy a theasarus. Look up Head Honcho, cohceese, or Poobah. You gonna tell your worshipful master to sit down? Get real. Reality. The negative connotation of freemasonry is the fault of people like you who have a poor understanding of the functionality their own esotericism. Operative, speculative, I'm sure the difference in the two has nothing to do with structure eh?

Let's see if you can understand this just one last time. a 32nd degree mason IS NO HIGHER than a 3rd degree mason! Sure, it's a higher number, but there is no purpose to that! It's a category system! A higher degree number does NOT mean the degree is higher ranking! Look at the appendant Scottish Rite degrees. They don't even have numbers, just names! Why, because THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT, INDEPENDENT DEGREES. They all have a different theme, with different lessons taught! One degree does not elaborate on the previous one, etc.

So when you talk about a hirearchy in advanced degrees, I tell you there is no such thing because most masons receive ALL the degrees in one day! There's no time to be an 18th degree mason, or 28th degree mason, because a mason goes from being a 3rd degree master mason (the HIGHEST possible degree in Craft Masonry) to being a 32nd degree mason IN ONE DAY! How is it possible to have a hirearchy of degrees, when the majority of masons are all the same degree!?!?

Now on to a "structural hirearchy" in Freemasonry. I never said there was no such thing. I merely said that there is only a hirearchy AMONG THE LODGE'S OFFICERS! But degrees have NOTHING to do with being a lodge officer. You simply have to hold the highest degree in Freemasonry, the Master Mason degree! Once you are a 3rd degree Master Mason, you can do the same things in the fraternity as a 32nd degree mason! How would this be possible if degrees denote rank or position?

The lodge's officers are the ones that run the lodge, and the Grand Lodge's officers are the ones that run the Grand lodge under which local lodges are chartered. ANY officers in ANY lodge must be a 3rd degree mason. The Grand Master of California, a 3rd degree mason, has authority over ALL masons in the state, including 33rd degree masons!

Officer position denotes position and purpose in the fraternity. And, among officer positions, degree still doesn't matter. The master of a lodge can be a 3rd degree mason, and his wardens can be 32nd degree masons. He still has a higher position than them. DEGREES DONT MEAN ANYTHING. If you are not an officer, then you are simply a member. And ALL members in the fraternity, regardless of degree, are equal. You cannot argue with this, because it is simple fact.

I hope you can understand that I never meant there was absolutely no hirearchy in the fraternity, only that there is no hirearchy between degrees. You can take what I said and twist it up to try to make me look like a jackass all you want, but it doesn't take a genius to go back and read the succession of posts between you and I on this subject. I have always been very clear about what I claim, taking that out of context makes YOU look like the jackass.

Fin.

[edit on 26-5-2005 by sebatwerk]