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Freemasonry on the Internet, the Good the Bad and the Looney |
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Freemasonry on the Internet, the Good the Bad and the LooneyBy Timothy Bonney
There was a time when men found out about Freemasonry from relatives or friends who are part of the fraternity. But, over time as the fraternity has become less visible in our society and with the advent of the internet, the World Wide Web has become the major source of Masonic information for the interested non-Mason.
Of course, like many things on the internet, this creates problems. While there are numerous excellent Masonic sites out there written by fellow Masons, Grand Lodges, and Masonic organizations there are also sites that make claims about Freemasonry that are silly, false, or both.
These claims tend to come from two kinds of people. First are the conspiracy nuts who makes claims about Freemasons ruling the world along with the United Nations and the WTO. For anyone who has ever been part of a Masonic lodge such claims are more than laughable.
Masons get together to share in lessons about morality, truth, and living a good clean life. We talk about being better citizens and giving back to our community. We have the occasional social event with some food and fellowship. There are no top secret meetings with world leaders who fly off in black helicopters.
The second group are religious organizations that object to Freemasonry. These come in two stripes. We have well meaning Christians who have been fed all kinds of untrue information about the tenants of Freemasonry and have been convinced that it in some way conflicts with Christian teaching. They are mistaken of course, but honestly so.
They don't realize that good men of all religious faiths are and have been Freemasons and have found no conflict with their religious faith and Freemasonry because Freemasonry isn't a religion, it is a moral, ethical, and philosophical society that teaches friendship, morality, and brotherly love.
The others are those who have purposefully concocted lies and half-truths about Freemasonry for the purpose of selling books, tapes, and flyers to the well meaning unsuspecting Christians as well as Christian extremists. They cater most to fundamentalist groups that are already suspicious of anything and anyone outside the church. Some of these groups, besides opposing freemasonry, are also anti-catholic, anti-semitic, and even anti-Rotary, and anti-Boy Scouts. In other words, folks that are nearly anti-everthing.
Like everything else on the internet, sites about Freemasonry must be taking with a grain of salt. Don't assume that a person putting up a website claiming to be an ex-Mason giving out the secrets of Freemasonry really is who he says he is. Don't assume that sites by non-Masons about Freemasonry are accurate.
This can be said about nearly any subject on the internet. Anyone with an internet connection can claim to know something they don't know and be someone whom the aren't.
Let the Reader Beware! |
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