Post by Sir John on Oct 1, 2009 20:05:21 GMT -5
by Karla Perry
The National Treasure movies staring Nicholas Cage are exceptional. The quest for a treasure ensconced in historical mystery was tantalizing. However, the back drop of free mason colonial patriots was as fictional as the treasure hunt itself. It is a highly accepted myth that the majority of our nations Founders were Freemasons, so much so that Dan Brown just came out with a new riveting novel on this topic poised to reveal its supposed influence over Washington DC.
Truth be told, very few of the signers of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution were actually Freemasons and those who might be were extremely inactive at best in the organization. Recent research, including research conducted by Masons themselves, of original documents proves that the Founders who were widely believed to be Masons are not to be found among st any of their membership records. Even more, there are many statements made by such Founders found in primary documents that emphatically exclaim their disassociation with the organization.
Even if they were secret members who were lying about their membership and the Masons were covering up the records the freemasonry of their time was vastly different than today's organization. American Freemasons were men who built great cathedrals and castles out of stone. They were masons who traveled freely looking for work, thus called Freemasons. Eventually they formed a sort of Union with symbols and handshakes that distinguished them as a brotherhood of sorts. They had three levels based on the skill of the free mason. In time they codified membership requirements with the primary requirement after actually being a free mason by trade was to be a Christian. There was no distortions yet involved, these men were free mason Christians who were joined together by their trade.
(American Freemasons? There was no america in Pre 1000A.D.)
It wasn't until the need for skilled free masons began to dwindle, as building with stone was becoming obsolete, that the organization began to change. First it began to include non free masons as honorable members. Then years later it began to get into mystical spiritualism and gave spiritual meanings to its previous practical symbols. As time passed, it began to get more and more into universalism and further away from anything truly Christian.
They even began to claim that Adam was the first Mason and their Masonic tradition harkens back to the Garden of Eden. The popularized myth that most of the Founding Fathers were members of the secret society of the order of the
Freemasons brought credibility and notoriety to the organization. It would not be in their best interest to deny this as they also include Adam, Noah, Solomon, and Nehemiah in their historical foundation. There seems to be a lot of mythology being taught has history.
(Who say's its mythology?)
All of this information is verified by reading David Barton's book The Question of Freemasonry and the Founding Fathers. He unravels the myths and illuminates the facts concerning the Mason's in this particular time of history. David Barton has a personal library of thousands of primary documents where he pulls his research. His research is compelling, as it is not hearsay from secondary sources. He has tracked down the original documents and writings of the Founders that tell the real story.
(Real story as told by one)
Despite the mystical secrecy of the Masons, we must not extrapolate the current reality to a past culture when it is not to be found there. Conspiratorial organizations and secret societies have a fascinating allure and provide great fodder for a novel or movie, but when doing historical investigation we need to get our facts straight and not be taken in by intriguing mystery. The main reason most people bring up any Founding Father's connection to Masons is to discredit the Christianity of the Founders and subvert the idea of America's Christian heritage. Another reason is simply its mysterious nature that draws in the imagination. No matter the reason, we need to be more concerned with truth than myth and investigate all things to determine their truthfulness before accepting its reality.
(And without documented truth there is no reality?)
Let me ask this..What planet are these people on that they cant except anything without documented proof? If its not written it cant be true? Freemasonry has been around as long as there has been architecture and it didn't start out being a group of guys hoping to get out of the house every other Thursday night. The group known now as the Freemasons have absolutely nothing to do with What has happened in history.Also might i ask.. If the group was secretive how many documents are you going to find proving any one person was a member?It was a secret for Christ sake lmao! Excuse the pun
The National Treasure movies staring Nicholas Cage are exceptional. The quest for a treasure ensconced in historical mystery was tantalizing. However, the back drop of free mason colonial patriots was as fictional as the treasure hunt itself. It is a highly accepted myth that the majority of our nations Founders were Freemasons, so much so that Dan Brown just came out with a new riveting novel on this topic poised to reveal its supposed influence over Washington DC.
Truth be told, very few of the signers of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution were actually Freemasons and those who might be were extremely inactive at best in the organization. Recent research, including research conducted by Masons themselves, of original documents proves that the Founders who were widely believed to be Masons are not to be found among st any of their membership records. Even more, there are many statements made by such Founders found in primary documents that emphatically exclaim their disassociation with the organization.
Even if they were secret members who were lying about their membership and the Masons were covering up the records the freemasonry of their time was vastly different than today's organization. American Freemasons were men who built great cathedrals and castles out of stone. They were masons who traveled freely looking for work, thus called Freemasons. Eventually they formed a sort of Union with symbols and handshakes that distinguished them as a brotherhood of sorts. They had three levels based on the skill of the free mason. In time they codified membership requirements with the primary requirement after actually being a free mason by trade was to be a Christian. There was no distortions yet involved, these men were free mason Christians who were joined together by their trade.
(American Freemasons? There was no america in Pre 1000A.D.)
It wasn't until the need for skilled free masons began to dwindle, as building with stone was becoming obsolete, that the organization began to change. First it began to include non free masons as honorable members. Then years later it began to get into mystical spiritualism and gave spiritual meanings to its previous practical symbols. As time passed, it began to get more and more into universalism and further away from anything truly Christian.
They even began to claim that Adam was the first Mason and their Masonic tradition harkens back to the Garden of Eden. The popularized myth that most of the Founding Fathers were members of the secret society of the order of the
Freemasons brought credibility and notoriety to the organization. It would not be in their best interest to deny this as they also include Adam, Noah, Solomon, and Nehemiah in their historical foundation. There seems to be a lot of mythology being taught has history.
(Who say's its mythology?)
All of this information is verified by reading David Barton's book The Question of Freemasonry and the Founding Fathers. He unravels the myths and illuminates the facts concerning the Mason's in this particular time of history. David Barton has a personal library of thousands of primary documents where he pulls his research. His research is compelling, as it is not hearsay from secondary sources. He has tracked down the original documents and writings of the Founders that tell the real story.
(Real story as told by one)
Despite the mystical secrecy of the Masons, we must not extrapolate the current reality to a past culture when it is not to be found there. Conspiratorial organizations and secret societies have a fascinating allure and provide great fodder for a novel or movie, but when doing historical investigation we need to get our facts straight and not be taken in by intriguing mystery. The main reason most people bring up any Founding Father's connection to Masons is to discredit the Christianity of the Founders and subvert the idea of America's Christian heritage. Another reason is simply its mysterious nature that draws in the imagination. No matter the reason, we need to be more concerned with truth than myth and investigate all things to determine their truthfulness before accepting its reality.
(And without documented truth there is no reality?)
Let me ask this..What planet are these people on that they cant except anything without documented proof? If its not written it cant be true? Freemasonry has been around as long as there has been architecture and it didn't start out being a group of guys hoping to get out of the house every other Thursday night. The group known now as the Freemasons have absolutely nothing to do with What has happened in history.Also might i ask.. If the group was secretive how many documents are you going to find proving any one person was a member?It was a secret for Christ sake lmao! Excuse the pun
