By Guest Contributor: Bro. Christian Powe
When I became a Master Mason, I became one not as a sheep or flockling. I became a Master Mason as a man. I became a Master Mason as a man of Christian religious conviction who fears God and respects other people’s rights to seek God according to their own religious convictions. Religiously speaking, I have never thought of earthly ministers as absolute powers. I know that religion, no matter what religion, can be sustaining fire or a destructive blaze. In other words, I know how religious authority is often misused, and the mass confusion that can ensue when all someone has to say to back up baseless arguments is “God told me so” to gullible religious constituents. Like the gun, religion is a weapon which can protect and secure or it can abuse and manipulate. I direct the latter characteristics to the religious “authorities”, often self-ordained, that have used the “God told me so” punchline to bolster their own misinformed prejudices and market them as divine truth….sometimes even for profit…at the expense of the reputation of Masonry. Let me be clear, therefore. I am not anti-religion. I am anti-religious intolerance. My duty as a Christian man is to proselytize by way of daily exemplification. Within the doors of the Masonic Lodge, my focus is on fellowship with my Masonic brothers, a fellowship centered not upon a religious basis, not upon a political basis, not upon a racial basis, not upon a cultural basis, but upon a human basis. As a Mason I’ve been reminded through ritual the importance of integrity and fear of God. I’ve been reminded as a Master Mason that education, what we call “Light”, is the cure to superstitions based on radical religious assertions of nothingness…ignorance. Therefore, to my radical conspiracy theorist opponents, my only armament is my education…the sharpening of my mind with knowledge attained.
But before we get to the good part, fellow Traveling Men, let’s take a couple trips back in time…
I remember the first time I ever asked about Masonry. My Uncle Ed Wilder, a Brother Mason in Central Jersey, would come to my cousin and little brother’s AAU basketball games wearing a windbreaker with the square and compass on it. Up until that point I had heard nothing about the Fraternity other than that it was a Satanic and occultist secret society that ruled the US and Western European governments and was planning world domination. Obviously, that’s a pretty bad way to start the conversation as to what Masonry is. Be that as it may, the sight of a square and compass with a “G” in the middle of it (which I deducted must have meant “geometry”) on a casual windbreaker struck my curiosity. Something wasn’t adding up. Uncle Ed is a military veteran, retired at that. What strings could this guy have possibly been pulling? Even my brother, Kevin, an avid conspiracy theorist—who will boldly assert to anyone who asks that the government has satellites paying specific attention to my family and has clandestine agents profiling us—had to admit that the windbreaker was “hot”. Uncle Ed can’t be a Satanist, can he? He’s not even interested in politics, what government does he puppeteer?
I brushed it off. Those were questions which, quite frankly, I was too young—both physically and mentally—to worry about answering. For me it was easier to either just write him off or think that maybe he wasn’t “ranked in the Masons” high enough to have any say on matters that mean anything of national or financial consequence. Yes, that must be it. I was told that in Masonry there are specific levels of power called “degrees”, and that on the 33rd degree was the ultimate authority which dictated the on-goings of “lower-level Masons” often without them even knowing. Obviously that was the case with my uncle.
Around the same time, there was an unusual resurgence of Illuminati conspiracy theory fervor, this time asserting that rap moguls like Jay-Z and Kanye West were lower level members. I agreed wholeheartedly. Carefully and masterfully drawn out theories connecting simple body gestures, flashes of light in music videos, and references to historic artists and philosophers to the overall Illuminati government boogeyman (which strangely enough now was a term interchangeable with Masonry) kept me captivated for hours. Those were hours of conditioning to think a certain way about a certain group. This is called prejudicial conditioning. In other words, bigotry. Of course, I didn’t know it was bigotry, because after all, I was one of the good guys. Good guys can’t knowingly be bigots and still call themselves good guys. I was and still am a political activist. As such, my responsibility is to note abuses of power, no matter how charming or endearing they may seem, in order to promote freedom, enlightenment, and justice. Therefore, for guys like me, I had a field day politically opposing the Illuminati. My religious opposition, however, was a different matter entirely. Here’s the backstory on that whole debacle.
I don’t think I need to go into great detail as to how the right-wing conservative televangelist mega-ministries have relentlessly slandered the name and philosophy of Masonry. You hear it every day. Still, I will. There are various opponents to Masonry. The grand-daddy of them all is the televangelist machine, at one time spearheaded by Pat Robertson. Either way, their message of intolerance, misinformation, and—let’s face it—bold-faced lies are broadcasted to smaller evangelical ministries through literature and, more pandemically, television airways. Evangelical ministers with smaller ministries read this literature and, with the intent to honor God by exposing evil, inadvertently spread this misinformation to their church members. These church members normally don’t question their leaders or use their reason when they hear these theories which are promoted as divine revelation. You know how church folk think of themselves. The spiritual leader is the “shepherd” and the church folk are his “flock” or his “sheep”. Sheep don’t ask questions, they just follow. Sheep don’t reason, they act in whichever direction they are herded. So then, these sheep go into the workplace, to school, to regular outings, and basically make a cross with their two index fingers any time they see someone that they were told to stay away from.
I was raised in a right-wing conservative Pentecostal (or “evangelical”) family. My father has a towering persona, 6’5 in height. When he speaks, you feel the bass rumble in the floor beneath your feet. When you talk with him, he will more than likely go from casual conversation to an informal sermon, even if it is right in the supermarket. His language is English, his dialect is Scripture. He is a born leader, a persuasive and charismatic speaker…and a radical evangelist minister. He never really read much about Masonry from an actual Mason, now that I think about it. He always read criticisms of Masonry from “former Masons who were in that stuff for years” who—according to him—realized that Masonry was occultist and Satanic and “came back to Jesus”. He relayed those criticisms to me and my three other brothers. My mother, an English teacher, stands by his side accordingly. She admonishes him as the head of the house and the spiritual leader. (Since she’s the deputy, we will mainly focus on leadership as it pertains to the context of this article.) Therefore, the chain of information, as it was to me, is as follows: I heard from a guy (my father) who heard from a guy, who heard from a guy who heard from a guy that Masonry is the Illuminati and the Illuminati is the devil. I was expected to accept this as absolute truth, not because of careful study, but simply because I was told to by men who were told to by someone else. Dizzying, I know. As pandemic as I just depicted ignorance…would you not agree that ignorance is a sickness? When you need clarity, do you flip the light switch up or down? You flip it up so that light can help you understand your surroundings with clarity. Ignorance is darkness, education and clarity are Light. Keep that in mind.
Through casual text message conversation I told my mother that I was a Mason. I was at work at the time and my phone was on silent, so when she frantically called, she had to leave a voicemail. She then left a text message about how I had been “tricked by the devil and would continue to be blinded if I didn’t denounce that occult right now.” Harsh words from the deputy. Of course, she went and told my father. I told him we would speak on the phone after I got off work. When I called, the conversation began by him asking me why I had become a Mason. I told him because I agreed with literally every single one of the principles, that I had been studying Masonry from the outside looking in for almost two years, and enjoyed the ideals of humanitarianism, philanthropy, and religious tolerance. Finally when I finished, he began his sermon, “You don’t know, son. That stuff is not of God. I know people that were in that stuff for years that denounced that stuff and they say it’s not of God.”
The long and laborious debate began. He was telling me things about ritual that I personally have been through and know to be untrue. He condemned the idea of men being united in a fraternity that requires a belief in a Supreme Being, because to him that requirement was not religiously exclusivist enough for any “real” Christian. He was upset about the secrecy of Masonry: “Y’all got secret handshakes and passwords. That’s not of God, son.”
My counter-points, which I will demonstrate throughout the course of this article, went in one ear and out of the other with them. They had no intention of respecting anything I said. Because I held my ground, they said I was arrogant. Keep that also in mind. Finally, my mother resolved to say “Christian, if we send you some DVDs on that stuff (whenever I quote my parents, they will refer to Masonry as ‘that stuff’ quite often, just a heads up) will you watch them?”
I accepted the challenge, because I knew that’s what it was, under the condition that they both had to read John J Robinson’s “A Pilgrim’s Path”, a book written by a non-Mason (at the time) to disambiguate and debunk much of the misinformation surrounding Masonry. Before they even mailed the DVDs I looked up the DVD series on the internet and watched them in their entirety that same night. You guessed it, it was a televangelist who I will not name, but whose fallacies I will gladly expose and clarify later on. That same night, I ordered a copy of “A Pilgrim’s Path” and had the shipping expedited to my parents. It was delivered. That was months ago. They haven’t mentioned the book since. Keep that in mind.
So, let’s return back to Uncle Ed. The year is 2012 and I am a senior in undergrad. My curiosity had arisen once again. I messaged Uncle Ed on Facebook, this time being a little blunter. The conversation went something like this.
“Unc, can I ask you a serious question?”
“Sure…”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the conspiracy theories surrounding your ‘organization’. People always say Jay-Z is a part of Masonry and that he is showing Masonic symbols in his music videos. Is this true? If so, why is he being so secretive, wouldn’t that be something to be proud of, given the great men in history who have been Masons? Also, are you the Illuminati and do Masons worship the devil?” [as you can see, I tried to butter him up in the beginning, then swing for the fence in the end…]
“First of all, I’ve been a Mason for over 30 years and not once have I even heard the word “Satan”, all Masonry teaches is for you to be a better man. There is absolutely no devil worship. Our ritual comes straight from the Bible. As for the Jay-Z thing, Jay-Z is not a Mason, and even if he was, Masonry is nothing to ‘brag’ about. If it’s really in your heart, you don’t need to brag. You would make a good Mason.”
Those last six words hit me hard.
Years of being conditioned to oppose an organization I knew nothing of other than mere hearsay began to crumble. Entering four years of being a history major, a major in which arguments are only meaningful if they are backed by primary sources and reality, I neglected to do so in the case of my perspective toward Masonry. That day my Masonic journey began…though only in my mind. Needless to say, I was a little caught off-guard to think that this organization that I was taught to disparage could possibly have shared any remote philosophical or humanitarian commonalities with my own personal convictions. Perhaps, then, it was disbelief and a desire to prove him wrong that led me to research the history and philosophy of Masonry. Still, if for over 20 years I was raised to believe that Masonry was Satanist, Luciferian, paganist, and antithetical to Christian values, and all of a sudden someone says that I would make a good Mason, I would have to research for myself. In the end, I thought, someone would certainly have some serious explaining to do. Someone, though I didn’t know who, was giving me misinformation. Whether it was intentional or not, I was not really concerned with. I decided a different approach…to get my information straight from the horse’s mouth…or the Mason’s mouth, you get what I mean. What did Masonry stand for? Where did these allegations of Satanism, extortion, murder, and paganism originate? What’s with the secrecy? What were the Masons’ defenses against these allegations? How did these defenses fare with reality and historicity? Was Masonry really a religion? If it is not, then what is it? What is the structure of authority within Masonry? These were questions I needed answered, most of which would not immediately be, but through time would become clearer. Keep that in mind.
That brings me to you, Brothers. To this current generation of newly raised Masons who have had similar experiences to that of which throughout this article I will describe, this is not a matter of one religion against another. Don’t be fooled, the opposition will try to frame it this way so that you can be made to believe that you are opposing God. Their misuse and misinterpretation of Biblical scripture in juxtaposition to their misuse and misinterpretation of Masonic literature and principles will have you questioning what you already know to be true in your hearts. They will cause you to unnecessarily question your faith. Our Masonic Fraternity has had a long history of turning the other cheek when libeled and slandered by the intolerant. That takes strength and patience. However, it’s easier to not care what allegations someone throws at you when you have no emotional attachment to them. It’s not so easy when your family members are the ones throwing them at you. It’s downright heartbreaking, I know. It’s difficult to visit your parents for the holidays and sit across the dinner table from the same people telling their church members that you’re a member of a satanic anti-government occult. It’s difficult to take your little brother out after you haven’t seen him for months and he suspects you to be a fraternal antagonist to the religion you strive so hard every day to adhere to. The most difficult part is when none of these accusations hold weight in reality. They are wild stabs in the dark at trying to slander an organization which has served the good of mankind for centuries. Therefore, this is not Masonry vs Christianity. This is not the Illuminati vs the Free World, this is Enlightenment vs Intolerance…Light vs Darkness…Education vs Ignorance. Keep that in mind.
Hence the purpose of this article. If all goes according to plan, this will arm you with the mental defenses against allegations which often seem logical and Biblical, but upon deeper observation are incompatible even with common sense. It will help you. It will encourage you to stay the course and seek further Masonic Light. At the very least, this article will give us a basis of commonality so that we will be connected by the heart through a common hardship, though we may be miles apart. To those of you who have been Masons for decades, this may serve as a reminder of the persecution you had to endure when you first entered the Fraternity. I hope it does, so that it can possibly bridge any existing disconnects between older and younger Masonic generations. Let’s begin.
Bro. Mark Lea, PM. is a Veteran of the US Naval Reserve. Thirteen year member of the Craft and has served as Master of Leesville Lodge #240 F&AM, Leesville, LA, in 2006, 2010 and 2011. Spends as much of his time as possible either learning more about masonry or sharing his experiences with newer members and visiting other lodges. Bro. Lea has always held the dream of being a writer to someday share what he has learned. He has recently began writing reviews for cigar review group composed of Brothers of the Craft who enjoy cigars and talking about them.
