I’ll keep this short and sweet, as I’ve written on this topic before.
But, when something is kept under a shrouded cloak — kept far away from all the “regular” people — I want to know what that something is.
The topic is the Freemasons. Now, I know as soon as I mention the word, I’ll get emails, messages, and comments, saying, “My Father / Brother / Grandfather was a Freemason…. and on.” Okay. So your Dad was a member of this big secret group. I’m sure he was a great guy, but why all the cloak and dagger-ness?
I bring this up because on this date, August 4, 1753, our future president, George Washington, became a Master Mason. He was a young Virginia planter back then, only 21 years old. But there he was in this secret group, reaching the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry.
First, let’s talk about its origins. Freemasonry evolved from the practices and rituals of the stonemasons’ guilds in the Middle Ages. Masons. Okay. For all practical purposes, let’s say back in the 1200s, these stone cutters needed an excuse to get together and drink ale. Was that the purpose of the group? Like Wednesday Night Bowling League before bowling alleys were a thing? Or was it something entirely different?
Anyway, the construction of cathedrals started to decline in the many years after. So the Freemasons opened up their membership and started to admit non-stonemasons to maintain their numbers. And, of course, their weekly dues.
It evolved into a secret fraternal order, growing in popularity in Europe. By 1717, the first Grand Lodge was founded in England. Freemasonry membership spread throughout the land. It even crossed the pond. The first American Mason lodge was established in Philadelphia in 1730, and none other than Benjamin Franklin was a founding member. Not many stone cutters were in the actual rosters, but instead, politicians, lawyers, judges, doctors, law enforcement, and on. And. Um. No women.
So what was the draw? What was the big holy secret that attracted so many? The likes of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere, John Hancock, the Marquis de Lafayette, and so many more?
Freemasons are governed by the order’s many customs and rites. The origins of Masonry go back to the erecting of King Solomon’s Temple in biblical times. The members are expected to believe in the “Supreme Being.”
But mostly, they are required to follow specific religious rites and maintain a vow of secrecy concerning the order’s ceremonies. And from me, that gets the big WTF? I mean. They have secret handshakes.
Let’s throw some other names in the ring because Freemasonry has continued to be important in U.S. politics. There have been at least 15 presidents, five Supreme Court chief justices, and numerous members of Congress in the group. The presidents include James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Gerald Ford. Today there are an estimated two million Masons in the United States.
The Catholic Church strongly opposes the Freemason organization for some reason. Perhaps they are the only ones who are allowed to have the smoke and screens.
But here is a thing. To this day, in the 21st Century, women can’t really be freemasons. To appease the cries of “Equal Rights,” the Freemasons have created a couple of spinoff organizations for women. Like one is called The Order of the Eastern Star. It doesn’t even have the word Freemason in the title. So, yeah. The groups are kept quite separate from the Freemasons, which is troubling to me.
Most other groups, like Rotary, Kiwanis, Shriners, and on, help the community with their efforts. But not the Freemasons. They keep everything internal.
Or do they?
Maybe it is all copasetic, and I am making too much of things. But. I have found that whenever there is a “secret” floating around, it usually means someone is up to no good.
With the exception of surprise birthday parties and the secret sauce on hamburgers.
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“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.”
― André Malraux
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The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep.
— E. W. Howe
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“I never understood why Clark Kent was so hell-bent on keeping Lois Lane in the dark.”
― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife
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Stone cutters no more. Shake my hand then, will you?
