arranged adoptions in Freemasonary...

reply to post by gaia.chi.au

There are 29 other degrees in the Scottish Rite then an invitational 33rd, but then you have the York Rite and Shriners. The Lodge is the body for Craft Masonry not the Scottish Rite.

reply to post by gaia.chi.au


When you are convicted of a felony, you get kicked out of the lodge system that has three degrees. When you are no longer a member of that system, you are no longer eligible to be a member of any other system which predicates its membership on you being a Master Mason. So if the blue lodge kicks you out, you're out of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, the Shriners, and any other appendant Masonic body. No exceptions.

i do not agree OR disagree with what anyone has written so far but i do believe that at some stage you reach a point where the lodge and your fellow freemasons become more important than 'the outside' world...

i have no evidence but i am trying to find it... i have this feeling mostly due to my fathers secrecy about the whole freemason thing, never telling me anything about it and telling me to mind my own business when i did ask...

i will keep searching online for more information and welcome any information at all about the subject :-)

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
i do not agree OR disagree with what anyone has written so far but i do believe that at some stage you reach a point where the lodge and your fellow freemasons become more important than 'the outside' world...

And have you ever met a Mason who actually lived his life that way? Why do you insist they must exist when there's no proof to support such accusations?

i have no evidence but i am trying to find it... i have this feeling mostly due to my fathers secrecy about the whole freemason thing, never telling me anything about it and telling me to mind my own business when i did ask...

You could always join and find out for yourself...

reply to post by gaia.chi.au

At no time should the Lodge become more important than family, BUT you father not telling you what he promised not to tell to non-members is not a bad thing. He is keeping to his word. It's not elevating the Lodge above you, but just keeping his word. If you were to tell him something and ask him not to tell I'm sure he'd do the same and hold to it.

why do people believe that every masonic lodge on the planet follows follows the law to the letter? is there not a possibility that the lodge (or people within it) come to the belief that the lodge is the be all and end all of their existence ?

reply to post by gaia.chi.au

I'm sure there have been Lodge's that go beyond what they are created for (see P2 Lodge). These Lodges would lose their charter while the members could face expulsion. Masons are charged to be good citizens. No Mason should substitute Freemasonry for religion nor should one dedicate so much of his time that the rest of his life suffers.

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
why do people believe that every masonic lodge on the planet follows follows the law to the letter? is there not a possibility that the lodge (or people within it) come to the belief that the lodge is the be all and end all of their existence ?

Oh, I don't think ANY Mason here believes every lodge on the planet follows the law to the letter. We all know about irregular or clandestine lodges. The fact of the matter is, there is no trademark on the word Freemasonry or any of our symbols. Any group of thugs could get together and call themselves a "Masonic lodge" and there's not a damned thing the rest of us could do about it.

Likewise, I'm sure there are delusional members who have come to the belief that the lodge is the be all and end all of their existence. People are people. You're going to have some that are criminals and some that are saints, some that are zealots, and some that just don't really care, and any flavor in between.

The best we can do here is describe the ideals we aspire to, and our own personal experiences in attempting to conform to those ideals.

What nobody on ATS has ever been able to accomplish is to describe how a "bad lodge" or mythical "high level Mason" would have any power over the rest of Masonry or those of us who are doing good deeds.

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
why do people believe that every masonic lodge on the planet follows follows the law to the letter? is there not a possibility that the lodge (or people within it) come to the belief that the lodge is the be all and end all of their existence ?

Why do people believe that the hypothetical possibility of a wayward lodge is all they need to substantiate whatever flavor of conspiracy theory they're selling?

i'm not trying to SELL anything but when you have people like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H. Bush, and George W. Bush you can't tell me there isn't someone doing favours for someone in the struggle for power... they aint exactly poster boys now are they...

if all you freemasons said to me "i haven't seen any examples of this in my lodge" then i'd believe you but some people seem to stick up for the entire movement of freemasonary worldwide!

catch my drift?

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
i'm not trying to SELL anything but when you have people like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H. Bush, and George W. Bush...

What do those men have to do with your adoption? I am not following.

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
i'm not trying to SELL anything but when you have people like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H. Bush, and George W. Bush you can't tell me there isn't someone doing favours for someone in the struggle for power...

I have no doubt that there IS someone doing them favors, but it's not Masonry. None of those men were Masons.

Edit to add, perhaps at least the Bushes were helped by Batman?

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus


i could ask the same thing about some of the arguments here.... what does being convicted of a felony have to do with adoption? a lot if you are caught but if you are not then who would know?

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
most masons would only reach the 3rd degree but there are another 30 degrees in masonry...

Not in Australia. The Scottish Rite isn't practiced there. Seems like you've got Royal Arch Chapters and Mark Lodges, but degree-wise, that's as high as it goes in AU.

reply to post by gaia.chi.au

Is there a "Goold Ol' Boys" network in government? Oh I have no doubt. Is it Freemasonry? No. Reagan was given only honorary membership by Shriners and I think Scottish Rite, but that doesn't confer the actual degrees on him. Clinton was only a DeMolay in his youth, and both Bush's were never in the Freemason, only in the Bones.

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
i could ask the same thing about some of the arguments here.... what does being convicted of a felony have to do with adoption?

I was under the impression that convicted felons are not able to adopt children with certain types of felony convictions. Some may be expurged while others can not. A judge may take these into consideration when determining which persons are most fit to adopt a child.

Now please answer my question.

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus


you are only a felon if you get caught...

Originally posted by gaia.chi.au
you are only a felon if you get caught...

Why do you refuse to answer my question?

Originally posted by JoshNorton
Not in Australia. The Scottish Rite isn't practiced there. Seems like you've got Royal Arch Chapters and Mark Lodges, but degree-wise, that's as high as it goes in AU.

There is a Supreme Council of the 33rd degree in Australia. It practices the English system of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, and therefore admits only Christians.