Ohio Brother Comments ON The Frank Haas Situation

Ohio Freemasons

Ohio Freemasons

Some facts about Haas Yes he was expelled. I have the edict in front of me. He was not afforded a Masonic trial again. Our Grand Master cites a section (27.01c) that does in fact say that the EA and the FC should not be re-conferred. Doesn’t say that they can’t just says they shouldn’t. This is a lame excuse to take this action. If in fact this is this Grand Masters position they he should, he must, and is now bound to expel any Ohio Master Mason that has ever been a pro-tem candidate at their Lodge Inspection or any other time a pro-tem is used. There is no difference.

Lets be very clear about this WV is AF&AM and Ohio is F&AM. They are not the same degrees. So if I want to belong to AF&AM lodge then I must surely have to conform to their ritual and the same would also be true.

Frank was never given a masonic trial in WV and was never charged with a Masonic offense.; Even the Supreme Court of WV ruled that what they did did not follow their own rules. The only offense Frank was guilty of was trying to bring WV into the 21 Century.

It is well documented that WV Grand Lodge has taken their cause to other states to try to convince them to cut ties with Ohio over this issue. Our grand Master has chosen to take the easy way and has bowed to outside pressures. He has also basically slapped the 3 previous Grand Masters in the face by these actions. I will be sending a letter of protest to our Grand Master, maybe he can expel me in return.

Brother Jay Mayberry

Fred Milliken,Freemason Information,The Beehive

PGM Frank Haas Alleged To Have Been Expelled From The Grand Lodge Of Ohio Who Previously Granted Him Asylum

haasIt has been stated that the Grand Lodge of West Virginia has reestablished relations with the Grand Lodge of Ohio. It has also been said that PGM Frank Haas who was granted admittance into the Grand Lodge of Ohio has now been expelled. A Brother from the Masons of Texas Forum says that he talked to an Ohio Grand Lodge member who confirmed these developments.

If this is true, and I would like to see some more verification, then it is a travesty of justice. Some things that a Grand Lodge does cannot be revoked or reinstated as the case may be when Grand Masters change in a Grand Lodge. You cannot play with people’s lives in this manner.

Once the Grand Lodge of Ohio granted PGM Frank Haas asylum it should be permanent and not able to be reversed. What happens to the credibility of the Grand Lodge of Ohio should the next Grand Master re-reverse the decision and reinstate Frank Haas?

The question that needs to be answered is did Frank Haas receive a Masonic Trial from his Lodge in Ohio or was he just summarily expelled? On what basis was he expelled? What was the reason?

Let’s say that in the civil world the District Attorney of Ohio should grant immunity from prosecution to an individual in return for testimony he needs to convict someone else. The individual takes the deal but when a new Attorney General is elected he reverses the deal and throws the individual in jail.

Or let’s say that in the Masonic world that a Grand Master of a certain Grand Lodge decides to heal and admit all the members of a clandestine Grand Lodge. The next year a new Grand Master reverses the decision and throws all the former clandestine members out, expels them without a Masonic trial.

You just cannot do business this way. Your word is no good if you can’t keep it and maintain some constant policies.

If this story is true, then it demonstrates once again that some American Grand Masters have too much power and are using that power arbitrarily with no regard for their Constitutions or Masonic law. Such is the sad state of American Mainstream Freemasonry that is slowly dying an agonizing death. One only needs to look at the Grand Lodge of Arkansas where a despotic, tyrannical regime riddled with KKK has reduced that Grand Lodge by attrition to 4000 members. Meanwhile the Grand Lodge of Florida is expelling all who are not members of an Abrahamic faith (mostly non-Christians).

How long are the good Grand Lodges in this nation going to allow Freemasonry to be practiced in this manner?

When One Door Closes Another Door Opens

corey_brysons_adoption_into_delphi_1-200x300An Interview With Brother Corey Bryson

Many American Masons now know of the story of Brothers Corey Bryson and Duke Fortesque and their separation from the Grand Lodge of Florida. Both men were hit hard by having to leave Freemasonry.

But Bryson has gone from despair to joy in just a few short months. Sometimes when one door closes another door opens. And if you are observant and open to a new challenge then walking through that new door feels really awesome.

And that is where Bryson is now having just returned from Salt Lake City where he was adopted into Lodge Athena No. 2009 in the International Masonic Order DELPHI, mixed gender Freemasonry.

At one time in our history when the population was less mobile, Mainstream Lodges in each hamlet and village had a monopoly on the Craft.  But times have changed and so has our mobility.  But the biggest change has been the advent of the Information Age.  As Mainstream Masonry has squashed individual initiative, the free thinkers and has expelled far too many good Masons, alternatives to traditional Masonry are now available.

Now, whether new or discarded, male or female, Christian or not, Black, White, Red or Yellow, Americans can peruse the Internet and find Co-Masonic, Mixed Gender Lodges such as the International Masonic Order DELPHI, Prince Hall Freemasonry and others to choose from.  The monopoly of Mainstream Masonry is being broken and its arrogance thwarted.

Corey Bryson has found a new home and it is one he says he might have eventually gravitated to in time anyway.  He points to the non judgmental nature of Delphi, how open and unfettered the Masonic experience is when it’s not set up as a closed society.

Bryson explains that there is less focus on memorization and more emphasis on the meaning of the philosophy of Freemasonry.  Every newly initiated member receives a written copy of the degree and ritual for their own personal continued education.  Sometime later, they must present their “impressions” of their initiation to their Brothers and Sisters in Lodge.  Delphi Masons are required to think not just be a parrot.

Delphi uses Scottish Rite ritual rather than Preston-Webb.  This does make for some differences that former Mainstream Masons will notice.  For instance there is no cable tow nor exposed breast.  The configuration of the Lodge room puts the Senior Warden’s station in the North West. The connection between South-West-East forms a triangle. Delphi also uses the Chamber of Reflection.

The overall emphasis of Delphi mixed gendered Freemasonry, Bryson tells us, is on esoteric study and knowledge.  Delphi is more spiritually open, he says, and appeals much more to seekers than traditional Freemasonry.  It is far less a social club and much more a place of self improvement.

Bryson will be a member of Delphi’s latest U.S. Lodge in Tampa, Florida, Phoenix Triangle (UD).   There are 6 people who have already applied for membership.  They also have a place to meet.  Members of Delphi nationwide are now handcrafting brand new furniture for the latest Triangle.

For Corey Bryson a new day has dawned.  Before concluding my interview with him I asked him if this experience had changed him in any way.  He said that he was now far less cynical than he was just a year ago.  My faith in humankind has been restored, he said.  That means that for Corey Bryson the glass is now half full instead of being half empty.

A Mason Has A Mission

I sat in Mass last Sunday and listened to my Deacon give an excellent homily. His theme was- knowing your personal mission. One of the scriptures he drew upon was part of the first reading – Jeremiah 1: 4-5.

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Biblical Jeremiah thinking about God.

He explained to us that the Father gave Christ a mission and then told us that we each had a mission. We need to stop and think about what God has placed us here to do, he said. If we just go to work and then come home and plunk ourselves down in front of the TV, if we never contemplate our higher calling, then we are leading superficial lives and ignoring God. What kind of life are we leading if there is no purpose to it, no point to it, no goals to strive for? Are we existing or are we really living? Think about these things and know that the Father has called each of us to live a life with a mission was the Deacon’s message for the day.

That really stuck with me all week because I have already done that. I know my mission. What was bugging me was how I came to think about what my mission was. What was the catalyst?

The more I thought about it the more I realized that I got a push, a shove from Freemasonry. Freemasons talk a lot about making good men better but often can’t explain how that is accomplished. But aren’t we encouraging a Mason to realize his mission when we pump into him all the symbolism, virtues and tenets of the craft? Isn’t a part of making good men better filling them full of a spiritual awareness? Does not Freemasonry show its members that there is a lot of purpose and meaning to living?

And is Freemasonry not structured for the here and now. It is not showing a way to salvation it is developing a plan for living, and living is done on this earth. As a matter of fact Freemasonry teaches lessons, lessons in living – here and now. This is what separates it from worship.

The fact is all of this is interconnected – the life here on earth, the further existence in the hereafter and all that we do to accomplish these ends as best as we can are interrelated. There is crossover here but there is also separation. The church paves a path to future life and the Lodge shows us a way of life here on earth. To get from one plane to the next we need to have a mission that is more earthly than praise and adoration. The mission and the plan is for us to be all we can be and all that God has seen in us that is possible.

So we give a man working tools, tools to live his life here with – a 24 inch gauge to divide his time between God and a distressed worthy Brother, his usual vocations and refreshment and sleep, the plumb square and level, a trowel to spread the cement of brotherly love and affection, and many other tools to build his spiritual Temple.

We take our Entered Apprentices on a journey of 3,5 and 7 steps there to receive instruction on the wages of a Fellow Craft. Then we raise our Fellow Crafts from darkness into light and they are reborn into a new way of life. Now as Master Masons they have the opportunity to reflect on all that has transpired and to take those teachings from the Lodge room into the big outer world and live them. In the process those of us who are mentoring our newest Brothers are smart if we gently shove them into a contemplative or meditative state to ponder the meaning of it all and how this all fits into their individual paths of life.

If we are smart we encourage our newest Brethren to formulate a mission, even write their own personal mission statement. Then we can say that we have shown the Brethren a way to add purpose and meaning into their lives.  Knowing and living your mission in life is having a joyful and fulfilling journey, this journey we call life.

And  better men have been made.

Fred Milliken,Freemason Information,The Beehive

Turn The Other Cheek Freemasons

A Brother E-Mailed me a response to Greg Stewart’s article on the Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl Ad which I had sent him.

“So we go online and speak out against this atrocity and in doing so we link ourselves to the myth.  How many years had masonry survived with this type of public outcry?  Unless we begin to teach masons to live the lives taught by our fraternity and stop trying to be a social icon, Masonry will continue to be ridiculed.  It is only when you can show that the myth is in fact a myth and that we prove it every day by the way we live our lives, that Freemasonry will regain it honored reputation. The more we bend to clamor in public, the more the critics come after us. If we disregarded the critics they have no one to argue with, thus the argument dies for want of a debate. Sadly you and others do not understand this. But I urge you to really reflect on it.  A well spent life is mightier than the sword or any media response.”

I guess I just don’t get it. At least he thinks I just don’t get it. But I would say that he doesn’t get it.

This is the attitude of Freemasons of 50 and 100 years ago – never talk about the fraternity, never mention to anyone that you are even a Freemason. Everything about Freemasonry is secret. Not one word about the Craft should escape a Mason’s lips.

This is one of the reasons Freemasonry missed many good candidates back then. A guy 50 years old would finally say to his buddy, “I have been waiting 20 years for you to invite me to join Freemasonry. How come you never asked me?”

Old time Masons never asked another to join. Those who desired to join Freemasonry had to ask a Mason. Some Masons would demand that they ask three times before they would consider recommending them.

Anti Masons that spread lies about Freemasonry are not to be answered. Leo Taxil’s Masonic hoax, even after he recanted and admitted he made the whole thing up, was still believed by many people because Freemasons never would refute it.

“Turn The Other Cheek Freemasons” do not believe that disputing or refuting lies about the Craft are a productive use of Masonic resources. They do not believe that Masons should stoop to the level of their detractors. Masons are above all that, they say. What Masons need to do is lead by example and all these crazy charges will just die the death of untruth all by themselves.

And problems within the Fraternity, well we don’t talk about them either. The refusal of some Masons to allow African Americans in their Lodges, their constant black balling of any applicant who isn’t Christian, Grand Masters expelling Master Masons without a Masonic Trial, Grand Masters closing Lodges and pulling charters without reason or recourse, are all problems that Brethren must solve without discussing these problems in public. “Airing dirty laundry” is definitely a no-no with “Turn The Other Cheek Freemasons.”

And if these problems emanate from other jurisdictions, well sticking one’s Masonic nose into other people’s business is a double no-no. That’s their business, that’s their problem.

And so stand “The Turn The Other Cheek Freemasons.”  Withdraw from society, have nothing to do with it, let people do what they may but Freemasonry will live on, no matter what.

But it won’t. The younger generation will never join an organization that refuses admittance to non Whites and non Christians. It just ain’t going to happen. And who would join an organization that is in league with the Devil?  And someday soon Malecraft Freemasonry will have to change its policy on women. The fact is Mainstream Masonry is dying a slow, agonizing death.

THE MERCEDES-BENZ HOAX IS A 21st CENTURY REMAKE OF THE LEO TAXIL HOAX.

Goebbels

Freemasonry was never designed to be a Monastic Brotherhood or a Cloistered Sect. Paul Revere is rolling over in his grave right about now. So is Joseph Warren who died at the battle of Bunker Hill fighting for liberty in America.  As a Grand Master he used Freemasons to transmit anti British communications among the Patriots.

Not answering your critics is naïve and very detrimental to your cause. The big lie repeated over and over again without refutation will gradually stick. No one knew this better than Goebbels, Hitler’s Propagandist Minister.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”- Goebbels

The fact is turning the other cheek doesn’t work. This is the real world where the truth doesn’t always become self evident. Sometimes we must help the truth be known. Failure to do so only empowers our enemies. And the big lie is believed because it must be true if no one will stand up for the truth and dispute it. People interpret silence as acceptance of guilt.  If you were unjustly charged with sexually molesting a child, would you remain silent in hopes the truth will win out or would you deny the charges and do everything you could to refute them?

“Turn The Other Cheek Freemasons” are hurting this beloved fraternity and are hastening the demise of the Craft.

Mercedes-Benz links Freemasonry with Satanism in Super Bowl Ad

The following comes from Mark Koltko-Rivera’s blog, Freemasonry: Reality, Myth, and Legend, and is cross posted here to communicate as far as possible.

mercedes-benz, satan, square and compass

In his piece, Mark skillfully reminds Mercedes-Benz of the atrocities during the holocaust that befell European Freemasons under the Nazi regime using Satanist Masonic propaganda like their commercial (see below) to put to death many members of the fraternity.

While I doubt Mercedes-Benz is purposefully linking Freemasonry and Satanism, by including the Masonic square and compass in such a manner could not be taken in any other way and is a thumb in the eye to the history of the fraternity.  For context, all one need to do is examine the connection between Anti-Masonic Nazi propaganda and it’s horrific effects on the fraternity in Europe.

Mark and I both strongly urge you to let Mercedes-Benz know how offensive the commercial is which you can do on their online comment form or on their Facebook Page, or sign the petition on Change.org.

From Mark Koltko-Rivera:

Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl Commercial Links Freemasonry to Satan

Mercedes-Benz, commercial, Super Bowl, Satanism

Tomorrow, during the television broadcast of the Super Bowl, Mercedes-Benz will officially unveil its commercial for the all-new CLA-class automobile. It’s a terrific commercial. Unfortunately, it also is a monumental libel upon Freemasonry.

You can see the commercial for yourself here. The commercial features the talented Willem Dafoe (shown above) in a great turn as Satan.

(the video has since been taken off-line)

No, Dafoe’s character is never actually named Satan, but the soundtrack features the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” (available here with lyrics in the notes). More to the point, Dafoe’s character presents the protagonist with a contract to sign, a contract which has already been executed under the seal of “the Master of Devils and Demons” (translating the Latin, seen below). No reasonable person could see the commercial and think that Dafoe’s character is anyone other than Satan or one of his minions.

William Dafoe, devil, satan, mercedes benz

Here’s the thing: Satan is depicted as wearing a Masonic ring—on his left ring finger, yet!—easily visible at several points in the commercial, some of which feature close-up shots of Satan’s hands (two shown below).

1 Mercedes-Benz 2013 Super Bowl Commercial
satan, masonic ring, mercedes benz


(The pointy fingernails, à la the Devil in the film Rosemary’s Baby, are an especially nice touch, don’t you think?)

The implication is clear: Mercedes-Benz links Freemasonry to Satan. (Yes, I know, this particular ring shows that the Devil hasn’t gotten very far in Masonry, but that’s not the point.)

There are, of course, those who would say we should just ignore this in the spirit of good fun. Except that it’s not good fun to have to answer to people who think that Freemasons are devil-worshipping Satanists.

Last Wednesday night, I attended the Special Communication of the American Lodge of Research, at Masonic Hall, in New York City. (Facebook page here.) Those in attendance heard a paper on the topic, “Freemasonry and the Holocaust,” by Brother C. Moran (which will appear later this year in the published Proceedings). During the presentation, I was struck by the parallels between the situation of the German Masons in the 1930’s, and our Masonic situation today.

To a surprisingly large extent, these Masons faced the same outrageous accusations that Masons today are faced with: that Masonry is an international conspiracy, and so forth. The Taxil hoax occurred only about forty years or so before the Nazis came to power, and many people throughout Europe believed that Masons worshiped Lucifer. Sound familiar? All of this helped to create a climate where thousands of thousands of German and other European Masons would be imprisoned in concentration camps—and many murdered—by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

The Mercedes-Benz people, knowingly or not, are perpetuating a dangerous myth by linking Freemasonry with Satan. I think we should complain about this—in great numbers. The following is the text of the e-mail that I am sending to Mercedes-Benz through their online comment form. Feel free to adapt it for your own comment, if you wish:

During the 2013 Super Bowl, Mercedes-Benz /plans to show/showed/ a television commercial, titled “Soul,” about the new CLA. It features a character portraying Satan, who clearly wears a Masonic ring in plain sight on his left ring finger.

This linking of Freemasonry to Satan is no joke. It was rumors like this that set the stage for the imprisonment and murders of thousands of Freemasons in Europe by Nazis during the Holocaust. The false rumor that Freemasons worship Satan is alive and well among millions of Americans today. Mercedes-Benz is adding fuel to the fire of that defamation with this television commercial.

Surely, to sell cars, Mercedes-Benz would not jokingly link Jews to Satanism (another popular rumor during the Nazi era). It would be good to not jokingly link Freemasons to Satanism either.

There are over a million Masons in the United States. None of them are pleased about this.

Sincerely,

Mark Koltko-Rivera
Master Mason
Winter Park Lodge #239 Free and Accepted Masons (Florida)
The American Lodge of Research (New York)

Masons need to stand up to people who make outrageous slanders and libels against our community. Let’s do that here.

Masons need to stand up to people who make outrageous slanders and libels against our community. Let’s do that here.