WHAT DRIVES THE ANTI-MASONS?

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
"A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry"

"Everybody is worried about Masons taking over the world.
Heck, we can't even organize a picnic."
- A Mason from Washington state.

To find an Anti-Mason, you need look no further than the Internet for there
is an abundance of discourse on the Net berating and misrepresenting the
fraternity. As Freemasons, we are blamed for everything from the assassination
of JFK, to World War I, both Gulf Wars, and God knows what else. The same
people who track UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and Elvis, are the
same people tracking Freemasonry. Why? Because we make a convenient
target. As a "society with secrets" (not a "secret society") it is easy to draw
erroneous conclusions about our motives and activities. And make no mistake, the
Anti-Masons are capitalizing on the naiveté of the general public in the same manner
as the supermarket tabloids do and for the same reason: to make a buck.

In researching this subject, I visited numerous Anti-Masonic web sites on the
Internet. Even though they are all closely related, I have categorized the
Anti-Masons into three groups: Conspiracists, Religious Zealots, and Wackos.

Conspiracists

I like to refer to these type of Anti-Masons as Michael Moore "wannabees" as they
are alarmists claiming that the sky is falling. They are all self-proclaimed freedom
fighters acting as watchdogs of the fraternity. They write numerous exposes on
Freemasonry with just enough research to make them look authoritative
on the subject. What is disturbing here is that although Freemasons can easily see
through the malarkey in their writings, the general public cannot.

At the root of their argument is the premise that Freemasons are overtly concerned
about the social engineering of the planet. Under their scenario, the Masonic Fraternity is
an inherent member of the Illuminati, a group of international bankers and power brokers
who are obsessed with enslaving the human race and putting all of the world's
wealth into their hands. If this was true, I wish the Illuminati would share some
of their wealth with the many Craft Lodges who are struggling to make ends meet.

Religious Zealots

In a nutshell, the religious zealots portray Freemasonry as either an autonomous
religion or as one dedicated to Satan. We also have people claiming to have
been Masons but have "seen the light" and recanted their membership. Frankly,
their membership in the Masons are somewhat questionable as their description
of Masonic activities doesn't jive with what we have learned.

"Ex-Masons for Jesus" is an organization of Christian men and women who
claim to have been members of a Masonic Lodge or one of the affiliated Masonic
organizations such as Eastern Star, DeMolay, Job's Daughters or Rainbow Girls.
"We have left Masonry because of our commitment to Jesus Christ and a realization
that Masonry is not consistent with a sincere expression of the Christian faith.
We have found that participation in Freemasonry interferes with a close
relationship with Jesus Christ." Nuts.

Wackos

Finally, we come to the offbeat critics of the fraternity who attack it for a variety
of reasons, such as child abuse and other forms of sexual misconduct.

To prove their point, the Anti-Masons turn to Masonic and news quotations to support
their claims. In reality, the sources are either misquoted or quoted out of
context. However, accuracy of reporting and truthfulness is not the forte of the Anti-Masons.

CONCLUSION

As Masons we are charged not to suffer our zeal for the institution to lead us into
arguments with those who, through ignorance, may ridicule it. But because we often
cloak our ceremonies in secrecy, we make a convenient target to be cast in the
role of "bogeyman." Laugh as we might at our critics, they do have an effect on the
general public. Let me give you an example, I know of a young Mason in the Tampa Bay
area of Florida who was initiated an Entered Apprentice and passed to the degree of
Fellow Craft before falling in love with a young woman who frequents the Internet and
became suspicious of the fraternity her fiancé had joined. Frankly, I think she
jealously saw Freemasonry as something that would divert his attention from her. Nonetheless,
she read a lot of the propaganda and came to the erroneous conclusion that Freemasonry was
anti-Christian with hidden motives and, consequently, swayed her fiancé to halt his
Masonic involvement.

Whether we like to portray ourselves as a "secret society" or a "society with secrets,"
we have become fodder for every crackpot accusation imaginable. This puts us in the
unenviable position of having to defend ourselves of every charge brought against
us. As Masons, we can readily see through a lot of these falsehoods, but how do you defend
yourself against a crime you didn't commit? Unlike American jurisprudence where a
man is "innocent until proven guilty" we find ourselves in the predicament of being "guilty
until proven innocent." Our critics know this and use it to their advantage by charging
us with any ludicrous accusation they can dream up. Their motto seems to be,
"When in doubt, blame the Masons."

What our critics don't seem to understand is how we investigate the background of
everyone who petitions to join the fraternity. The only general criteria for joining
is that a person believe in a Supreme Being (based on their religion of choice), that
he does not believe in the overthrow of his resident government, and that he hasn't
committed any heinous crime. From this perspective, we are God-fearing peaceful
citizens who happen to enjoy the company of other God-fearing peaceful citizens. If
this is a crime, I plead guilty, most guilty.

In reality, our critics are well aware of this, and if they were to honestly answer you,
they would have to admit as such.

So what is their motive? Why do they find it necessary to harass Freemasons? Is
it because some of them were blackballed? Perhaps a woman feels scorned? Perhaps. More
likely, it goes back to a simple human trait: Greed. If you look at the background of
the Anti-Masons you will find people who have failed in business, but having an
aptitude for writing, have concocted inflammatory stories which appeal to conspiricists, the
religious right, and other wackos. Bottom-line: they are out to make a buck at the expense
of Freemasonry. To do so, they build arguments out of minuscule incidents from our past
and paint a picture of distrust and felonious activities with the truth sacrificed in the
process. Even the noted author, Dan Brown, uses this to his advantage with his highly
acclaimed books, such as "The Da Vinci Code" and the upcoming "The Solomon
Key." But unlike the Anti-Masons, and to his credit, Brown is quick to point out his
stories are works of fiction. Bottom-line, the Anti-Masons are capitalizing on the ignorance
of the public to sell books and make public appearances. Plain and simply, it's all about
money. They take a little Masonic knowledge and blow it out of proportion knowing we
cannot or will not defend ourselves.

One interesting attribute of all of the Anti-Masons is that they strongly safeguard
their identity. In fact, they are cloaked in more secrecy than a Masonic
Communications. You won't find too many photos of our detractors, and their
whereabouts on this planet are strongly guarded. To communicate with them, you
must go through a "cloak and dagger" e-mail process which I find to be particularly
ironic as they often accuse Freemasonry of being too secretive. Fortunately, their
anonymity hurts their credibility with the public.

Understand this, Freemasonry wouldn't be plagued by such voluminous false accusations
today had it not been for the Internet, a powerful communications medium that
can carry the Anti-Masons messages to the masses at little cost. Sure, Freemasonry has
had detractors in the past, but the Internet has accelerated the volume of contrived
nonsense being presented to the public.

Also, many young people are caught up in the Anti-Mason movement which may
be natural since young people find it fascinating to discuss cover-ups and conspiracies
of world domination. Let us not forget that we live in a day and age of extremists
who can readily communicate through this powerful medium.

So what should Masons do, turn the other cheek and let our critics run all over
us? As Masons we are taught to subdue our passions and not directly engage
our critics. Maybe. However, when flagrant errors appear in print, they should
not go uncontested, otherwise the public will think the detractor is correct.

I do not encourage our Brothers to get directly into arguments with our critics, but I
think we have a responsibility from time to time to clarify our position, if for no
other reason, to dispel misinterpretations that might hurt our membership. I
am reminded of what M:.W:.Harold G. Ballard, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge
of Louisiana, said, "Masons should never forget, nor miss an opportunity to inform the
uninitiated that Freemasonry is a fraternity of men from all walks of life who meet as
equals in a common quest for knowledge and a better life, both philosophical and
material, for all mankind."

In other words, I recommend we become proactive in our communications with
the general public, not reactive as we have been.

Just remember, the anti-Masons are not interested in the truth. If they truly
did their homework, they would inevitably arrive at a different conclusion.
As evidence, consider the work of Dr. Jessica Harland-Jacobs who wrote "Builders
of Empire," (ISBN 978-0-8078-3088-8) a non-Mason who thoroughly researched our
background and "gets it."

So, what drives the anti-Masons? In a nutshell: Money. Why do they continue
to argue with the fraternity? Because we represent a threat to their livelihood.
It's as simple as that.

Keep the Faith!

NOTE: The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not necessarily represent
the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction or any other Masonic related body.
As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic
publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida).
When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author.

Please forward me a copy of the publication when it is produced.

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Copyright © 2007 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.