Masonic Textbook

reply to post by XXX777

I guess its for those around him to notice the difference and for the member himself to notice.

Push ups? We're not in the business of push ups.

reply to post by ImAwareSC


Although a couple Masons including myself did try to convince the OP to return the book to the Lodge it belonged to, only one voiced strong objection to his keeping it or posting it. The OP did post portions that he had read from the book and several of us posted links to the Freemasonic Monitor this work came from back on page 5 of this thread. Let's not make this something that it's not.

Originally posted by p51mustang
i am a serious as can be- i have a hideout in costa rica and will be leaving soon.

Well pal, I guess you haven't noticed that all the world's volcanoes are acting up. You're going to set your nest just next to the bubbling fire? Good luck with that plan.

reply to post by DRAZIW

thats a fact - there's boats at golfito...

reply to post by p51mustang


I cannot think of a more beautiful area to go than Costa Rica, so even if it does get swallowed up by a volcano along with the rest of the world, you will have died with a much better view. IF you can find work there to live, I would go now. Not to escape world ending calamity, just to have nicer scenery. And cold corona's on the beach.

reply to post by no1smootha

My old First Sergeant ran a bed and breakfast down there for a few months. He loves it there.

per discussions of homosexuality in the lodge....if ever it went public the freakmasons would say again that it took place within an "appendate body" ( not on tiled floor ) therefore they would claim it was non masonic (plausible deniability again) When you ask a mason a question DON'T BE STUPID ENOUGH TO EXPECT A TRUTHFUL ANSWER they are only PERMITTED to reply with generic evasive answers that reveal nothing.

Originally posted by partycrasher
per discussions of homosexuality in the lodge....if ever it went public the freakmasons would say again that it took place within an "appendate body" ( not on tiled floor ) therefore they would claim it was non masonic (plausible deniability again) When you ask a mason a question DON'T BE STUPID ENOUGH TO EXPECT A TRUTHFUL ANSWER they are only PERMITTED to reply with generic evasive answers that reveal nothing.

Not sure what you're getting at. Are there gay members of my lodge? Yes. Do I have a problem with that? No. Masonry teaches that all are equal, regardless of color, creed, or sexual orientation. So I have as big a beef with redneck lodges that discriminate against gay members as I do those who would never vote on the ballot of a black man wishing to join. In my mind, such an attitude is at it's core against the principles of Masonry.

Now, if you're trying to suggest that homosexual ACTS take place in a Masonic lodgeroom, then you're just crazy. What happens in the privacy of your own bedroom between two (or more) consenting adults is fine in my book, but there's no sex in Masonry, just like there's no sex in your workplace, or in your church.

Originally posted by JoshNorton
Are there gay members of my lodge? Yes. Do I have a problem with that? No. Masonry teaches that all are equal, regardless of color, creed, or sexual orientation.

So, then, are their any black men in your lodge?

I thought Prince Hall had it's own lodges. Why can't gays have their own lodges too? Is there anything in Freemasonry that prevents gay only lodges? After all, members can blackball new recruits. So, practically speaking, gays could exclude straight men from their lodge if they were so inclined. Might that be the source of confusion?

reply to post by DRAZIW


We have many black members in our district, and several have sat in my lodge. We've had homosexual masons visit, we've had jews visit from Israel, etc., etc.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by DRAZIW

 

We have many black members in our district, and several have sat in my lodge. We've had homosexual masons visit, we've had jews visit from Israel, etc., etc.

This is all puzzling to me.

There are black freemasons in many districts. This I know.

I also understand that some Lodges recognize Prince Hall Lodges, so black men can visit and sit in some white lodges. However, my question was whether black men were regular members of your Lodge, not whether there were black masons present in your district, who could sit in on occasion with permission in Lodge meeting as visitor.

Also, while I understand it is fairly simple to identify a black man in a lodge, how does a mason know that a visiting mason is gay? Do gay masons carry some identifying mark? Are they required to reveal their sexual orientation before they are allowed to visit? Do they have a different handshake? Or is the mason's "second sight" so good that a gay mason could not hide his orientation even if he wanted to keep that secret?

reply to post by partycrasher

I say that there is no homosexuality in Freemasonry. Prove me wrong.

Originally posted by DRAZIW
So, then, are their any black men in your lodge?

Yeah, we have a few but as its Idaho there is not a huge black community.

I thought Prince Hall had it's own lodges.
Prince Hall Lodges are not exclusively black. White men may join and they have their own Grand Lodge system who must hold amity with others. Idaho does hold amity with most PHA GLs.

Originally posted by DRAZIW
So, then, are their any black men in your lodge?

Yes, many. And Muslims, and Jews, and Buddhists. At least one lapsed Mormon, and probably some Catholics, though I couldn't tell you for certain on those… most just self-identify as Christian if such a topic were ever to come up, which it doesn't.

I thought Prince Hall had it's own lodges.

It does. Who says Prince Hall is exclusively black? It may be historically black, but it also has a large presence in armed forces serving overseas, from what I understand.

Why can't gays have their own lodges too? Is there anything in Freemasonry that prevents gay only lodges? After all, members can blackball new recruits. So, practically speaking, gays could exclude straight men from their lodge if they were so inclined.

They, then, would be just as bigoted as a homophobic lodge. There's no room for such intolerance in Masonry.

Might that be the source of confusion?

Who's confused?

Originally posted by DRAZIW
However, my question was whether black men were regular members of your Lodge

Yes. Elected officers even.

how does a mason know that a visiting mason is gay?

Some make no effort to hide it from strangers. They're not ashamed of who they are. An overly flamboyant man in a hawaiian shirt with a huge handlebar mustache who brings his mother to holiday dinners is kind of hard to miss.

reply to post by JoshNorton


Wow! That is all so closed minded to the extreme. You think everybody is equal, huh? Why not go ahead and split everything up equally and we can all have equal portions of all resources.

No.

I think you are blind. You do a great job of spreading the disinfo though.

Originally posted by XXX777
reply to post by JoshNorton

 

Wow! That is all so closed minded to the extreme. You think everybody is equal, huh? Why not go ahead and split everything up equally and we can all have equal portions of all resources.

No.

I think you are blind. You do a great job of spreading the disinfo though.

haha! I liked your sarcasm so I had to give you a star.

reply to post by XXX777

So you don't think people are equal?

Originally posted by KSigMason
reply to post by XXX777

 

So you don't think people are equal?

How could people be equal?

I don't have the same amount of money as Bill Gates.

I neither had the opportunity Bill had, nor the fortitude to be at the right place at the right time, nor the contacts that Bill had in IBM that gave him his start, so that even if I looked exactly like Bill, and had the same brain we still wouldn't be equal by any stretch of the imagination.

People are only equal in general terms, but never equal in specifics. People are all equal in that every individual suffers the three poisons of "Greed, Anger, Delusion". But pick any individual person, that one has more or less of each of these poisons to overcome..

reply to post by DRAZIW

What a bleak and overly materialistic look on life.

Originally posted by JoshNorton

Originally posted by DRAZIW
So, then, are their any black men in your lodge?

Yes, many. And Muslims, and Jews, and Buddhists.

But Buddhists don't believe in a supreme being.

They, then, would be just as bigoted as a homophobic lodge. There's no room for such intolerance in Masonry.

Two freemasons, three opinions.

I hear different things from other masons.

Black Member Tests Message of Masons in Georgia Lodges


Mutual recognition does not alter the structure of either organization, each of which has a grand lodge in every state, but it does allow members to visit one another’s lodges. The main holdouts are the former Confederate states, including Georgia. Last year, a West Virginia Masonic leader was expelled for proposing to loosen the rules that kept the state’s mainstream chapters all white.

Source: www.nytimes.com...

Might that be the source of confusion?

Who's confused?

Masons, for one. There are several confused masons. As the news article shows, because of that confusion they file lawsuits to get a court to clear up the confusion for them, and even expel long standing members who try to let in non-whites.



Also, non-masons are confused, because masons themselves are confused.