RELIGIOUS ANTI-MASONIC PERSECUTION

   We are accused of the most heinous crimes against the
church, the world, and God.  Supposed crimes against the young 
and old, against gender and race, against governments and
kingdoms, are built up into the fabrication of a world wide
conspiracy.  Popes have issued bulls against us, political
parties have been formed and now we face a religious purge
by the Southern Baptists.  Why are these people attacking us?
Who do they think we are, or what do they think we are trying
to do that makes us seem so dangerous?

   Those who attack usually take issue on theological grounds.  
Our rituals are studied piece-meal and the living (esoteric)
interpretations of our allegories have never even been approached.  
More over, few of our detractors have the necessary theological 
background to judge our ideal.  Yet many have already found us 
guilty, and have begun an active campaign of persecution.  Some 
who have the necessary qualifications are found to have ulterior 
motives.  What position can we take against these seemingly
theological assaults?

   In 1884, Pope Leo XIII came out against us with a document
from the encyclical "Humanum Genus", titled "The Masonic Sect".  
It begins by dividing the world in half:

     "The Human Race, after, by malice of the devil,...
  divided itself into two different and opposing parties,
  one of which assiduously combats for truth and virtue,
  the other for those things which are opposed to virtue
  and to truth...The one is the Kingdom of God on earth...
  The other is the Kingdom of Satan..."

   "...those who follow the evil one seem to conspire and
  strive all together under the guidance and with the help
  of that society of men, spread all over, and solidly 
  established, which they call Free-Masons."


   Not only does Pope Leo place us in Satans camp, but also
makes us out to be the leaders of all who follow evil.  Generals
and commanders of Satans army in a great biblical war against
all that is good.  But what is it that we are specifically
accused of?  

   First, we are accused of naturalism.  From the pulpit of
naturalism, we then deprive the Church of its divine privileges.
We then wage war against the Apostolic See by opening our gates
to persons of every creed, promoting "the great modern error of
religious indifference and parity of all worships, the best way 
annihilate every religion".  We are further accused of promoting
civil authority, independence, realism, public education, 
separation of church and state, equality of all mankind; and 
worst of all he says we teach that:

   "...the people are sovereign; those who rule have no
   authority but by the commission and concession of the people; 
   so that they can be disposed, willing or unwilling, according
   to the wishes of the people.  The origin of all rights and
   civil duties is in the people or is the State, which is ruled
   according to the new principles of liberty..."
   
   Among the many conclusions that are drawn, he finalizes his
battery against our institution in saying, "Its tenets contradict so 
evidently human reason, that nothing can be more perverted."

   Let's hear from a few more of our detractors before formulating 
our position, for although we may understand who we are in our own 
hearts, we should at least hear those crimes we are accused of.  

   The New Christian Crusade Church, lists Masons under the 
'Secret Societies and Subversive Movements' category of their books 
for sale listing they publish in a newspaper called 'The Sons of 
Liberty'.  Perusing their lists of titles, we may place them in
our list of hate-mongerers.  They are anti-semetic, pro-KKK, pro-
neo-nazi, racist, white-supremasists, who claim to be the protectors 
of the Aryan race.  

   The titles under the heading they've given us include: The 
Mystery of Freemasonry Unveiled, which is a reprint of the Humanum 
Genus by Pope Leo XIII (whose contents we excerpted above); Grand 
Orient Freemasonry Unmasked as the Secret Driving Force Behind 
Communism; Lightbearers of Darkness; Freemasonry as the Secret 
Political Weapon of the Jewish-English Imperialism.  The gist of 
their rhetoric is the supposition of a Jewish-Communist-Masonic 
conspiracy culminating with the supra-secret order 'The Illuminati' 
who are the perpetrators of the United Nations in an age old master-
plot of world domination.

   This position is also found in the Humanum Genus document
which alludes to the Freemasonry-Communism connection: 

   "...subversive revolution is the deliberate aim and open 
   purpose of numerous communistic and socialistic associations.  
   The Masonic sect has no reason to call itself foreign to 
   their purpose, because Masons promote their designs and 
   have with them common capital principles."

   This brings us to Dr. James L. Holly of Beaumont Texas and 
his crusade to expel Freemasons from the Southern Baptist Churches.  
He portrays Masons using the "Satanic cult" imagery popular during 
the witch-hunting days when over 400,000 innocents across the 
western hemisphere were ripped apart and burned at the stake.  A 
powerful, but deadly ploy used by the politically religious 
ambitious.  Of course, any church has the right to accept or reject 
anyone they wish.  But let us gather the weight of their accusation 
so as to comprehend the point of view by which we are attacked.

   During 1992, Dr. Holly mailed an estimated 10,000 booklets to 
fellow Baptists condemning Freemasonry as  a "spiritually devastating 
and ungodly brotherhood of Satanic darkness",  Its "occultic, Satanic 
and sensual nature" is "an evil that must be removed from the church", 
that it "is incompatible with being a faithful Christian or a Southern 
Baptist".  Further, that Masonry is "nonbiblical, anti-christian, 
and wrong in its doctrine about God".  Just short of calling us
cannibalistic!

   Where does Dr. Holly get this prospective? It would be 
hard to say with out talking to Dr. Holly himself.  But I would 
point out the similarity to the first paragraph as related above; 
of yes, once again, the Humanum Genus.  The logical extrapolation 
is a sophistry, a fabric of fallacy that uses 'us-and-them' tactics, 
woven with professional stratagems known to philosophers as 
'Argumentum ad Populum' (argument to the people), also known as 
the 'Appeal to Popular Attitudes'.  In this case, fears.

   Another sophistic technique used here and by most of our self 
appointed antagonists is the fallacy known as 'Arguementum ad 
Ignorantiam' meaning 'argument to ignorance'.  It goes something 
like this: claim X has not been shown to be false, therefore X 
is true.  In other words, because Freemasons have not revealed 
their ritual 'proving' that they are not satanists, they therefore 
must be satanists.

   I've gathered only a few of the religious views regarding
anti-masonic movements.  There appears to be a thread to be traced
back to the Humanus Genus of 1884.  Pope Leos' original accusations
have echoed through the ages, now and again picked up by those who 
would perpetuate their own careers and agendas.  But what was it that 
was feared.  A deeper look into the Humanus Genus document would 
reveal less of a theological concern and more of a political fear.  
In fact, it would seem that through the ages, anti-masonic episodes 
have been based upon political motives.

   By political, I mean, the preservation of the body politic.
That which leaders perpetrate upon the masses to convince them of 
the necessity for self-integration and the purge of the non-
conformist.  This usually lethal manipulation may be motivated 
for reasons of self-preservation of the leaders themselves, but 
is usually guised by flags of nationalism or religious purity.  
Scapegoat tactics have been used since tribal times and have only 
grown more insidious as our societies have grown in complexity.

   When the absolute power the Catholic church had known for a 
millennium came to an end, aggressive positions were taken.  
Defensive posturing against the perceived attacks of a great 
conspiracy gave a sense of self-righteousness.  "We are good and 
they are evil" is a wide paint brush of many shadows; camouflage 
tactics designed to take attention away from hierarchical, 
organizational, and theological short-comings.

   The concern for loss-of-power is reflected in this same 
condemning document by Pope Leo.  He complains, that "The 
ecclesiastical revenue is in a thousand ways tied up" and that 
the Roman Pontiff was "deprived of temporal power".  That the 
state has assumed the power of matrimonial bonds and that "in 
education of the children, no religion (is) applied, and when 
grown up every one will select that which he likes."

   He then presents his argument:
 
   "Once granted that men through Gods will are born for civil 
  society, and that sovereign power is so strictly necessary 
  to society that when this fails society necessarily collapses;
  it follows that the right of command emanates from the same 
  principle from which society itself emanates, hence the reason 
  why the minister of God is invested with such authority..."
  
  "...it is a capital error to grant to the people full power of 
  shaking off at their own will the yoke of obedience."
  
   This demonstrates the popes concern; the power center had 
shifted from the iron fist of Rome into the humanitarian hands of 
civil government.  A political, not a theological concern.  In fact, 
the hole document is a political concern.

   The real issue can be focused into the line above that reads, 
"...it follows that the right of command emanates from the same
principle from which society itself emanates", here we find the root 
of conflict; we all agree that God is the principle "from which 
society itself emanates", and thus we are perceived as a religion.  
For our journey as Masons begins with God.  It is the one fact that 
all true Freemasons 'must' agree.  Yet, while we believe that 
sovereignty belongs in the hands of the people, by the people and 
for the people; they believe that all authority belongs in the hands 
of the pope. 

   There is no teaching in Masonry that specifically attacks or
condemns the Roman church or any other church.  But many of our
Masonic forefathers did take a stance regarding the empowerment of
civil authority:  for the protection of 'all' religious beliefs,
including the Catholic.

   We teach about Virtue, life beyond the grave and we judge
who will be apart of 'our' society.  We empower the individual and
chasten him toward moral rectitude.  And we invoke the Great 
Architect of the Universe into our gatherings.  This was knowledge 
and power that the Roman church theologically justified that only 
they had the right to dispense. 

   The reasons why men come to Masonry are as many as there are 
men in it.  While it's true that some members join because of 
disagreements with church hierarchy or dogma; the craft recognizes 
the true Mason as one who joins not for mercenary motives but rather 
by a favorable impression of the Craft.  

   So now we must consider many things.  It can be seen that 
at a certain point in history the power structure of the church 
changed.  That men the world over turned toward a belief in 
representative government empowered by the people.  It was claimed 
by the Apostolic See that this civil authority undermined the 
authority of the church.  And it was perceived that our Masonic 
fathers supported a democratic civil republic rather than a 
theocratic monarchy governed from Rome.  This is the ground for 
the original attacks from the church.  Truly, the Roman Church 
had less of a conflict with Freemasonry and more of an embitterment 
toward civil government.

   The Roman church theologically believed that they were the 
one and only sovereign authority on earth, by right of succession.  
They therefore considered any authority not privileged from the 
Holy See to be against all Catholicism, thus derived from the 
powers of Satan.  This would have included the Southern Baptists 
and any other Protestant denomination; all civil powers; and all 
dogma not derived from Rome.  In the Humanus Genus document the 
words Free-mason could just as easily have been exchanged for 
Southern Baptist.  If the civil powers did not exist and all 
authority came from Rome, the skies would be black with smoke 
from body piles at the stake.  The Vatican Army would have rounded 
up the Southern Baptists long ago.

   Can we Freemasons, who are ever searching for that which 
was lost, even with open minds searching our own sources, are 
we to discover absolutes from our detractors? An analysis of 
the original accusations brought against us turned out to be 
political rather than theological.  The issues brought forth 
by the Southern Baptists are the misunderstood echoes of these 
Catholic documents.  Groups like the New Christian Crusade Church 
a/k/a 'The Sons of Liberty' are only using these misconceptions 
to promote their own hate doctrines; a compliment in its own way, 
yet their activities promote the sort of beliefs that affect the 
likes of Dr. James Holly.  So nothing can be derived from the 
perspectives of our accusers regarding our true nature.

   There is a difference between the ideal presented by our 
craft and the source material.  In that difference are found 
many manifestations, a checker-board of good and bad.  As 
Masonry impresses itself upon the mind of an individual, he 
changes.  And his points-of-view change as his prospective 
gains stature.  If the ideal is followed, then he should grow 
into an upright citizen; civil in his responsibilities toward God, 
his country, his family, his neighbor and himself: in that order.  
We are accused of reversing that order.  Dis-order begins in 
darkness, the process of illumination is the revelation of order.  
We are illuminaries; Sons of the Enlightenment.  Our Craft: 
harmonious, loving and divine.  Let the Craft be judged by its 
ideal, its methods and its finished product; not by the course 
material it uses, nor the satanic imaginings of its accusers.
  
By
David R. Grooms, P.M. Hesperia #411 Chicago
November 17, 5992