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originally posted by: undo
you realize of course, that you've done things here in this country, that would be considered felonies in other countries (lol of course in other countries, women are worse then house furniture).
i believe in the ability of people to change. i don't think that if you make a mistake, it's genetic and should be held against you for the rest of your life. i find such a concept incredibly inhumane.
originally posted by: undo
the point of bringing up the shawshank redemption is he was considered a felon and murderer his whole life, but he was innocent. he would have to wait his whole life just to be released, and by then, he still was considered guilty -- just rehabilitated. so masons would pass him up, as he was never exonerated.
originally posted by: undo
i believe in the ability of people to change. i don't think that if you make a mistake, it's genetic and should be held against you for the rest of your life. i find such a concept incredibly inhumane.
originally posted by: noonebutme
originally posted by: November5
a reply to: noonebutme
So to me, that's the "higher existence" or higher being - impartial, unbiased energy that we're all apart of and we all belong to.
That kind of flies in the face of "making good men better". That line(making good men better) excludes a lot of people, so, impartial and unbiased energy? You'd have to walk me through it.
a reply to: Saurus
It's no secret that most Lodges are ruled from the North, much to the dismay and frustration of many new incumbent Worshipful Masters...
originally posted by: Sump3
a reply to: November5
I would pray and talk to my dad in heaven to help
originally posted by: KyoZero
I understand you are looking for the hypothetical
now...would I be listened to? I have no idea...but I sure would try
!
What does that say about the Masons who aren't invited to join?
originally posted by: KSigMason
a reply to: November5
No worries, I belong to so many groups that I mix them up from time to time.
The North is a term used in Masonry to talk about darkness and as a joke often Past Masters sit there. Saurus was making a joke that Lodges are ran by Past Masters. Sometimes Past Masters think they are still in charge and try to run things from the sideline.
Ah Krampus, thank you Germans for your awesome children's stories. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
a reply to: November5
There really isn't any connection between my Lodge and the headquarters of the Order of St. Thomas of Acon, other than me being a member and officer of both.
Behavioral expectation? Can you clarify this?
What does that say about the Masons who aren't invited to join?
Well, the way it works is that you don't know if you are nominated or not. The only time you find out about the nomination and invitation is if you are accepted and they contact you. This is done so you don't have your feelings hurt for being turned down.
originally posted by: November5
originally posted by: undo
originally posted by: November5
a reply to: undo
I tried it, but to no avail. I even tried here but it won't post, even tho this will. Weird. The Universe is trying to tell me something. Perhaps the content of my replies are unsuitable?
I was able to get the reply to Network through, but not yours. Very weird.
erm. i can't imagine why what you say about a subject would be outlawed by the universe, as you put it. you're the same as the rest of us--innocent due to lack of relevant information.
Let me try removing the content I think might be problematic, see if that helps:
originally posted by: undo
a reply to: network dude
i don't believe we burn in hell but yeah, i have had someone do that to me. i'm more of a....well let's put it this way, i think more along the lines of every human being is innocent, this due mainly to things like genetics, environment, education or lack thereof, and especially lack of comprehensive data pertinent to making the really big choices. in effect, we are almost completely clueless about the bigger mysteries, thru no fault of our own.
Yea, I would have to agree with that for sure. At least that is my current awareness of things. I would add, that those who 'know', without knowing what is going on, and maintain their position of ignorance, have none to blame but themselves for not being open to the information first, and critical of it once an understanding had been formed. Nicely put!
i just couldn't hold 2 completely different ideas in my head about the same subject at the same time, without it resolving into cognitive dissonance.
I believe the trick here, is to retain the different ideas in your mind but I think what you obviously wouldn't want to do, is try to hold them at once(simultaneously). Situational awareness determines which aspect of a [positve or negative] interpretation you're going to move forward with. ie One day you believe in the New World Order conspiracy, and you want to further your understanding of that perspective. The next day you want to believe that evil could never get a foothold over the world to support such a claim. You order your day's research accordingly.
In my opinion, awareness shifts when you overcome the limits of thought applied by the western logic thought process (ie duality). Admittedly, to overcome this mental paradigm, dysfunction and chaos are required, am I right?
[Edit add-in]Interesting....very interesting...
originally posted by: KSigMason
I have yet to hear a standardized version of what "upper echelon" or "higher level", so again being sarcastic, I decided to say that I was. I am in a lot of bodies though:
originally posted by: KSigMason
a reply to: Sacri
The 33rd is only relevant to the Scottish Rite though and is only one body out of several in Masonry. Conspiracy theorists see the numbering system and lose their mind.