The Burning Taper

Your political compass

2011-08-11T12:48:00.001-04:00

Where do you stand politically?

Take this anonymous online test called The Political Compass, and see your position on the grid between Authoritarianism and Libertarianism, between Left and Right.

You can answer each question Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree. You'll probably find several where you want to answer "No Opinion," or even "I Don't Care." But, there being neither of those options, you must chose between the given responses to finish the test.

Here is my result. I guess my middle-of-the-road libertarian philosophy is why I've clashed from time to time with more rigid, right-wing, authoritarian Masonic "authority figures."

What's your position on the graph?

Selfish? Or uncaring?

2011-08-09T12:57:00.000-04:00

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"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -- Stephen Colbert

Masons | Masonic Blog | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Let the sun shine in!

2011-08-08T12:53:00.011-04:00

It's been over a year since I've posted on The Burning Taper, and longer than that since I've posted anything actually relevant or even interesting.

It was burnout that kept me from writing, but more, much more than burnout, too. My life literally fell apart, layer by layer, until I ended in a hospital bed with doctors telling me that the emergency surgery they were about to perform might save my life, but that they could offer no promise. More than 50% of people who develop necrotizing fasciitis, a horrible condition resulting from bacterial infection, do not survive the first 48 hours. Depending on the location of their infection, survivors are often left without hands, arms, or legs, or if they do keep the infected extremities, they are unable to fully use them.

I consider myself blessed. I survived with hands, arms and legs intact and functioning.

Let me rephrase that: I am blessed because I survived. Period. Hands and arms and legs are a bonus. I'm alive!

I am today not only a modern medical miracle, but am now thoroughly a believer in the power of God, the Universe, prayer, positive thinking, the Law of Attraction, and most of all, in the incredible power of the love I felt from my friends and family during my three-week hospitalization and subsequent months of recovery and rehabilitation.

I am grateful I have hands to write with, legs to walk with, arms to hold my loved ones with, and a mind to think thoughts with.

No longer do I feel the desire or the need to rail against problems within Freemasonry. I hope that I have made some difference in Masonry and in the world through analysis and exposition of our brotherhood's "dirty laundry," and I hope that I have also published many good things about the fraternity and, with the "We All Shine On" series, about the brothers who make up this fraternity.

The Burning Taper blog lives on, but it is my desire and plan to use it from now on to light a path towards positive things. I hope not to succumb to the baser urge to point out the negative. Life is too short and too precious to spend it bitching and complaining and pointing fingers, even if that bitching, complaining and pointing of fingers brought about positive changes in whatever it was I was writing about.

Masons | Masonic Blog | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Guess who's coming to dinner?

2010-06-12T10:28:00.004-04:00

It seems many rank-and-file Masons, in many locales, are becoming more and more fed up with the actions of Grand Lodge leaders.

This short article was sent to The Burning Taper recently. The author wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of retribution for reporting events and expressing his opinion.

Arizona Grand Lodge Annual Communication began with the Royal Banquet on Wednesday evening, June 2, 2010 prior to the official opening of proceedings on Thursday morning.

The Head Table consisted of Arizona Grand Lodge officers and their wives. Seated near them were the visiting dignitaries representing various Masonic grand lodge jurisidictions. There were 13 listed on the list handed out to all attending members. Most were "line" officers representing their State or jurisdiction with two currently sitting grand masters.

The two grand masters attending the Banquet were Most Worshipful Martin E. Warren, Grand Master of Masons from the Grand Lodge, F&AM of Arkansas, and Most Worshipful Lewis R. Brent, Grand Master of Masons from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Arizona. They were not seated at the same table.

When the Grand Lodge opened in Due Form in the 3rd Degree on Thursday morning the MW Lewis R. Brent from Prince Hall was present, but the MW Martin E. Warren was conspicuously absent. He was not seen in any of the subsequent tiled lodge meetings all day Friday or on Saturday.

It is the custom of the Grand Lodge that, when a pedestal officer (Grand Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden) leave their stations during the proceedings that they place the Jewel of their office on one of the brothers in the room.

Several times during the proceedings on both days, the Senior Grand Warden Brook Cunningbrook chose a highly decorated Phoenix policeman, who is a member of one of the Arizona F&AM lodges and had been shot in the line of duty, to sit high on the chair located on a pedestal in the West to replace him temporarily. He is black.

There were two other black members of Arizona F&AM lodges present and the Senior Grand Warden had them also replace him in the West. It is quite an honor to do this.

In this case, in my opinion anyway, it was kind of an "in your face" type of gesture to some of the members of the Arizona jurisdiction who have moved to Arizona from one of the 10 states that do not recognize Prince Hall and have complained about having to sit in a lodge with a black man. Whether it was directed towards the Grand Master of Arkansas, I can only speculate.

What's interesting about this is that the Grand Master of Arkansas spent the money to fly to Arizona only to have dinner. Since it is customary for Grand Lodges to pay for the travel expenses of their grand masters, I wonder if the brethren of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas got their monies worth. Since he did not attend any of the business meetings by sitting in a tiled lodge with a black man but only attended the social functions, it seems to me that he spent a lot of money just for a free dinner and drinks, even if the cost came out of his own pocket.

This obviously was an example of the kind of “Imperial Leadership” prevalent in many jurisdictions and is not restricted to Arkansas alone.

Masons | Masonic Racism | Prince Hall Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas| Grand Lodge of Arizona | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Living with War: Memorial Day 2010

2010-05-30T17:30:00.005-04:00

For the past four Memorial Days [2006, 2007, 2008, 2009], I've honored the memory of those who have died in the War in Iraq, or whatever we're calling that quagmire this year, when we talk about it at all.

Since last Memorial Day, the number of American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq has grown from 4,300 to 4,400. Another 100 men and women have died; another 100 families will never see their loved ones again. Officially, 32,000 have been wounded, and God knows how many more are emotionally scarred from the insanity they have lived through.

For what? For nothing I can see.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad, I'm thankful, and I'm proud there are American men and women in the U.S. armed services protecting us.

I just don't see how their sacrifices in Iraq are at all protecting America's shores or America's interests. People in the Middle East have been warring amongst themselves for thousands of years. That hasn't changed in the seven years American troops have been there. 4,400 American deaths haven't changed that.

Weapons of mass destruction were never shown to exist in Iraq, and the terrorists who hijacked the planes in 2001 weren't from Iraq.

The Iraq War has never been properly explained or justified.

As I've said for the past five years: Bring 'em home, now!

Memorial Day 2010 | American Soldiers Dead in Iraq | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Is Freemasonry 'just as good' as Christianity?

2010-05-26T14:19:00.005-04:00

The Burning Taper received the following email a few days ago. Anyone like to take a shot at answering this woman's questions?

sir, as a Christian I've always been troubled with the mason being "yoked"as it would seem to non believers, which (to me) would give the non believer the inference that his religion is just as good as Christianity. The "all roads lead to the top" line would sorta fit in that category also would it not?.. Unless Jesus lied, His way is the only way to heaven, so why would the Craft allow the impression that there's more than one way? As such, how could a Christian remain in the bond with non believers without abandoning his stance on wittnessing,contending for the faith etc.?? curious.Appreciate any response. Because late in life my uncles ,for instance, finally had great difficulty remaining in the lodge ,especially, after their dedication to the church/knowledge increased.

Masons | Christianity | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'One battle over, but the war continues,' by Bro. Derek Gordon

2010-05-13T13:38:00.007-04:00

The following is reprinted from the website of Bro. Derek Gordon.

One Battle Is Over, But The War Is Not

A great man and Mason, who was overshadowed by the three-term Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, stated: “Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.” Harry S. Truman, a native of Missouri, was not from a political elite family. In fact, this pivotal man came from a farming family. He achieved an end to World War II after approving the use of two nuclear weapons on the Rising Sun of the Empire of Japan.

Many of us don’t realize how much power we have by defying the status quo and standing up for what’s right in life. We come from all sorts of families; I grew up in a blue-collar household. Certainly, we don’t grow up thinking we can drop a figurative nuclear weapon. But, there are times when each one of us must stand strong to shine that bright spotlight on those harming what we all stand for.

However, when we are leading a resistance, it is futile to continue a long battle that will continue to degrade into a slanderous quagmire. There would be nothing to gain from doing so. And, it would hinder one’s own desire to introduce change of disgusting policies designed to destroy those who defy the corrupt leaders; and it would bring about a notion that the fight isn’t as righteous as it truly is.

I stood down against the Arkansas Oligarchy in an effort to allow change to foster. Unfortunately for the time being, the reaction from the leadership is to portray me as a liar, a cheat, and a scoundrel. Some will believe their shallow attempts, but many will see the holes in the points they make. Every comment I made I offered proof. Each comment their cronies made have been backed up with more libelous statements.

A post below discussed that I resigned and did not expel myself. Accusations are rampant that I hid information. I would appreciate it if the oligarchy would provide the documentation. Further, I requested written documentation from the U.S.P.S. that there were not attempted deliveries between April 14th, 2010 and May 3rd, 2010. A phone call confirmed this; however, I feel such documentation added atop my continually-growing pile would be a wonderful addition.

The war against the evil lurking at 700 Scott St. in Little Rock will continue as the deep-rooted unprofessional ideologies are perpetuated by the leadership. There are many more abused Arkansas Masons who are just realizing how important it is to speak out. Once again, I point to the article detailing my life as a Mason in Arkansas and the provided phone logs. I’ve tried civil and professional means and have continually offered to let the issue end. I tell you, Grand Lodge, you still are playing a game that you miscalculate and under appreciate the importance of. I challenge those in charge to meet on neutral ground to end the matter professionally, orderly, and most important, as Masons “meeting on the level” would expect.

“It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.” — Albus Dumbledore; J.K. Rowling, The Half-blood Prince

Masons | Masonic Trial | Derek Gordon | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Follow the travelling man across the USA

2010-05-11T08:57:00.007-04:00

This is a message from Bro. Darrell Waddell.

Brethren,

One of our Louisville, Kentucky brothers has embarked on a tremendous journey across the United States! Iraq War Veteran Troy Yocum, who is an Entered Apprentice Mason with Jeffersontown Lodge #774, F&AM is hiking 7,000 miles across America, banging his drum and sounding the call for $5 million to help military families in need. With "Emmie the Super Dog" by his side, he took the first step of his 16-month quest on April 17, 2010. Tonight he is near Pittsboro, Indiana.

Here is the link to follow his travels. I'm sure he could use some Masonic encouragement. He's definitely a man on a mission.

Fraternally,
Darrell G. Waddell
Daylight Lodge #760 F&AM
Kosair Shrine Temple A.A.O.N.M.S.

Masons | Masonic Travels | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Not your grandfather's Freemasonry

2010-05-10T10:05:00.007-04:00

Bro. Fred Milliken has written an excellent piece titled "I Resign."

Though the information presented about Bro. Derek Gordon's ordeal with the Grand Lodge of Arkansas is interesting and enlightening, the real meat to the article is Bro. Fred's summary:

This is no longer your Grandfather’s Chevrolet... er, Grand Lodge. Freemasonry must stop living in the past as West Virginia and Arkansas are doing. Instead it needs to adapt to the mores of present day society.

Running a closed society that allows no freedom of expression and muzzles its members is antithetical to Freemasonry of the Enlightenment.

Operating a society with laws, rules and regulations that conflict with civil law and civil rights is not only not in the spirit of Freemasonry but also blatantly immoral.

An organization in this day and age, especially a nonprofit volunteer one, cannot realistically force a person against his will to remain a member. It should be the option of any Freemason to simply resign from any Grand Lodge.

Making up silly and vindictive rules such as prohibiting members from using the Internet or any electronic means to discuss Freemasonry is unbecoming and un-Masonic.

It’s been almost 50 years since Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement transformed America. It is past time that Grand Lodges reflected that change.

It is painfully evident that Grand Lodges can no longer operate as they have done in the past. This is the 21st century with new ways of looking at different lifestyles and morality. Grand Lodges are now in a public-private partnership yet they refuse to recognize their duty to civil law and their new commitments. Failure of Freemasonry to operate within the framework of present day moral, societal and political civil practice could be very costly to the Craft.

Arkansas Grand Lodge resignations confirmed

2010-05-05T10:58:00.008-04:00

Below is a recent email from Doug Simmons, Past Deputy Grand Lecturer and Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, published with his permission:

Your post referencing the resignations of the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer of the Arkansas Grand Lodge has all the trappings of the best of the "Tabloids," taken completely out of context, and devoid of any facts researched before publication...

Grand Secretary James Weatherall has been carefully planning his retirement for the last 4 years, due to culminate in the Spring of this year;

Grand Treasurer Garry Jones has been urged by his doctors to permanently curtail his activities due to on-going and increasing health problems. Knowing he would not want his medical history discussed with strangers, I will not elaborate.

I have known both of these honorable gentlemen for over 20 years, and have spent many, many hours in pleasant conversations with both of them, on personal and Masonic levels. Their resignations have nothing whatever to do with any current dealings of the Grand Lodge or any of its officers.

Doug Simmons

Arkansas Grand Lodge officers said to have resigned

2010-05-03T18:34:00.005-04:00

Update, May 5: The resignations of Bros. Weatherall and Jones have been confirmed by an officer of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas. I am awaiting his permission to publish his email on The Taper.

The Masonic backchannels are buzzing with unconfirmed reports that the Grand Secretary James Weatherall and Grand Treasurer Gary Jones of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, F&AM, both tendered their resignations on Saturday, effective June 1. Both men have served in their respective capacities since the early 1990s, my sources say.

If true, this is a most interesting development in light of the recent brouhaha over the Prince Hall license plates, the upcoming trial of Bro. Derek Gordon, and the many stories over the years that have alleged a general sense of vindictiveness and overt racism in the Grand Lodge.

If you have more information or official documentation, please post it in the comments section, or contact The Burning Taper via email. Your identity will not be disclosed.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'Remember the beginning! Prince Hall plates!', by Bro. Derek Gordon

2010-04-13T09:06:00.004-04:00

The following is by Bro. Derek Gordon.

Remember the beginning! Prince Hall plates!

by Bro. Derek Gordon

Someone asked how this whole mess began. So, I thought it would be best to remind people. The issue began with the ARGL barring Masons from purchasing Arkansas license plates because of Prince Hall being involved in their creation. I posted a note on Sebastian Lodge’s website to spread the word as the Letter required; I added a note that we did not condone the Letter because it stunk with racial undertones.

Many writers and bloggers saw this and copied our text in their articles. This sent the ARGL into a major defensive posture, something the ARGL can never be forced to take because it is too righteous. In retaliation, the whole issue with me started. Their latest and greatest charge is that I posted secret Masonic ciphers on the Sebastian Lodge website. In fact, should that have occurred, all data on the website came from the ARGL website and websites it linked to. By the way, they removed their website because so many bloggers mentioned this obvious connection.

But one thing is for certain: ARGL and Grand Master Warren will continue to deny that race has any part in their actions. BUT, this problem came from a racial letter sent out by ARGL. If it was not for that, there would be no action against me.

The website was known to ARGL prior to the RACIAL incident. I spoke with Grand Secretary James Weatherall requesting a link to be made to the site. I wanted him to let me know if content wasn’t acceptable. This of course was in the summer of 2009. Other comments were made throughout the rest of that calendar year. No problems, no complaints. But, amazingly enough the ARGL now has a cause of action against me AFTER the RACIAL incident.

I wonder, did they want to hold onto a cause of action in case it was ever needed? Is this how a Grand Lodge operates to make sure it can remove its dissidents? The ARGL has had its opportunity to make peace with the matter, but there is no desire on their part to resolve this matter in an ethical and moral fashion.

Want to really see how this unraveled? Take an open-minded approach by viewing some of the most prominent articles and blogs that kicked off the ARGL’s attack against me:

http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/02/arkansas-masons-forbidden-from-buying.html
http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2010/02/masonic-license-plates-in-arkansas.html
http://www.speculativemason.com/node/370
http://www.masonsoftexas.com/showthread.php/10670-Arkansas-masonic-liscense-plates?language=tl
http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2010/03/grand-masters-ruling-hurtful/
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/03/grand-lodge-of-arkansas-pulls-charter.html
http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2010/03/collateral-damage-the-aftermath-of-the-arkansas-license-plate-scandal/
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/03/gl-of-ars-letter-to-bro-derek-gordon.html
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/04/tell-grand-lodge-of-arkansas-what-you.html
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/04/text-of-letter-from-gm-of-arkansas.html
http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2010/04/the-handshake-of-expulsion/
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/04/handshake-of-expulsion.html
http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2010/04/mainstream-masonry-shooting-itself-in-the-foot/
http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/2010/04/searching-for-light-in-arkansas-night.html

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Searching for light in the Arkansas night

2010-04-09T10:17:00.005-04:00

The following article is by Bro. Derek Gordon, who is currently awaiting Masonic trial by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, for purported but unspecified "unmasonic conduct."

The Story of my Search for Light

This is an ongoing, growing effort to provide the history of the a problem in Arkansas.

by Brother Derek Gordon
Last updated April 8, 2010

I became a Master Mason in March, 2008. It took me four days to memorize all of the necessary material to return the Fellowcraft work perfectly, no errors. A week later, I was a Master. In May, 2008 I was sent away on military orders. I returned in October, 2008 and began to get involved with the lodge as much as possible. I was nominated, and accepted, for the position of Secretary.

Due to problems with the previous Secretary, I took over a month early. It was a real mess. Documents weren’t properly kept, money seemed to have gone missing before being given to the treasurer, and what not. I made it my personal quest to sort through and rebuild the lodge’s documentation. After completing my review, I reported to the lodge a list of recommendations. In March, 2009 the recommendations were accepted. One of those recommendations was to build a website.

The website was built in May 2009. In determining the content, I looked at other Arkansas lodge websites linked to on the Arkansas Grand Lodge website. I found that each website listed lodge information and history; but, there was also information regarding the degrees and historical lectures. Some Masonic information was taken from the Grand Lodge of Arkansas’ website as well. Seeing it on several sites that the Grand Lodge personally linked to, and in my opinion gave acceptance via precedent, I decided to post the same information on SebastianLodge.com.

The website was a great success. Being a hobby software developer, I knew how to write scripts to get the website listed on many websites and search engines. We ended up having over 20,000 visits before it was forcibly taken offline. The website became fully active in early July, 2009 after informing the Grand Secretary of it and requesting a link be made to it from the Grand Lodge website. The website met no objections until the license plate fiasco. The link request never came through. No discussion of the website came forward. The other websites continued operation. At the time our lodge lost its charter and I was given a notice of trial for expulsion, all websites remained online except for two that seemingly neglected to pay their bills.

For personal and Masonic reasons, I requested a letter of good standing so that I could enter into Masonic communications in Latin American countries. My request was first made in late September, 2009. The Grand Secretary was very reluctant on being helpful; however, on November 17th, 2009 a letter was finally mailed. It came too late for the trip it was needed for. As numerous brethren know, I decided to do a Masonic good deed in the name of Masonry of Arkansas. At least 350 children freeze to death every year in the Andean region. I decided to develop a network with Masons in Latin America to have coats made and handed out to the young children in a humanitarian effort. That was the sole purpose for obtaining the letter. And, with my upcoming expulsion, the Masonic good deed must be carried on by a good-standing Mason. I doubt the Grand Lodge of Arkansas wants to take on noble causes as that.

In late October, 2009 it became apparent that Sebastian Lodge was heading for the red financially because of financial losses in the recession. The timeline for the end of the savings account was less than four years away. A decision was made to move to another location which would save approximately $3,000 annually, creating a surplus in our budget. However, the Grand Secretary wasn’t too keen on supporting the maneuver and desired the lodge to dissolve or merge. I didn’t like his attitude of telling me that it wouldn’t happen because there was no legitimate reason to withhold support of this Masonic Endeavour. The Digest rules made it acceptable.

Needless to say, I stuck to my guns. I wrote a strong letter to, then, Grand Master Ronald Hedge regarding the need to move to another location stating the financial crisis and that the lodge had taken a loss in its annual income from the perpetual membership. The annual payments are controlled by Grand Lodge. As I understood it, the Grand Lodge had increased its withholdings from the perpetual interest to maintain its own operations. He responded in a very protective manner, as was expected. However, after much discussion about Masonic good and the like, Hedge granted dispensation and the move happened as of January 1st, 2010.

Upon the mailing the Dispensation to move the lodge’s meeting place, Ronald Hedge phoned me to discuss the issue. He read my letter intently and made sure to defend the actions of Grand Lodge as a necessary move to keep Masonry alive. I outlined that I understood the reasons and had no quarrels with it. However, I wanted him to understand that the financial crisis has taken its toll on lodges; a loss in extra income expected from the perpetual membership interest required that we move. In the end, everyone seemed to be fine. For the time being!

A couple of weeks prior to Grand Lodge 2010, Ronald Hedge sent his last mass mailing to the Secretaries of the Subordinate Lodges. I opened and read it at our February 1st, 2010 stated meeting. It outlined that Prince Hall’s are clandestine and that all lodges were to notify members that they were prohibited from buying Arkansas Masonic License Plates. The letter was poorly written and bled with what seemed to be racial undertones. Our lodge decided to post on the website the basic points and I added a personal note that the lodge didn’t condone the letter. I tried to play a politically-correct position for the lodge because we did not believe in what the letter stood for and did not want to be in a position to look as if we did. The post was made on around February 3rd, 2010.

After the election of the new Grand Master, I sent a petition for reinstatement of a brother who left Masonry in 2006. He left because his pastor declared that if the brother stayed in Masonry, he would not be allowed to participate in his congregation. I sought to resolve the issue promptly to welcome the brother back into our ranks. The secretary for the Grand Secretary explained to me that the petition need not be filled out entirely since it was for reinstatement. I took him for his word and didn’t stress the petition since we had the original from around 1987.

The new and current Grand Master, Martin “Gene” Warren, phoned me on March 10th, 2010. He informed me that the petition was wrong and that we needed to comply with some new digest directives. I said allright and that I would take care of it at the April stated communication. But, I did reiterate the point that the Grand Lodge feeds misinformation and there should be uniformity on these operations. He and I discussed many issues that are going to bring problems to Arkansas Masonry.

I brought up the Arkansas license plate letter and how racially-charged the letter came across. He told me that he understood and that it was a problem everywhere. He said it was all over the internet and causing Grand Lodge grief. I asked him what the lodge should do; he said that he knows lodges have to do things to protect their members and he understood I must do what was necessary.

Further, I suggested that we need to create a committee to open discussion with the Prince Hall Masons of Arkansas. He informed me that the Prince Hall people had no desire to be involved with “us” and that it would “ten years at least” before any communication would begin. I recall being told that the he (the Grand Master) has “a black friend at work” who is a Mason. But, the Grand Master doesn’t speak to him about Masonry.

On Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 I was in an airport flying to Peru. I received a call from our Worshipful Master informing me that the Grand Master has summoned us to a meeting on March 19th, 2010 and that I was required to attend with all lodge records. I said I couldn’t be there and the Worshipful Master said that most of our lodge members couldn’t attend with such short notice. We attempted to change the time but the Grand Master refused to do so. I left messages with his wife and the Grand Secretary informing them of my situation. They never returned a single call.

On Saturday, March 20th, 2010 I noticed a message from the Worshipful Master. He said the Grand Master spoke the “politically correct” language in assuring him that what was going on was “for the good of Masonry.” What was that you might wonder? The Grand Master demanded the charter of the lodge at the end of the meeting. This took everyone by surprise. We were led to believe it was just a general visit sit a Grand Master has not visited our lodge in several years. The Grand Master ordered the WM to notify me to remove the website immediately.

Rumors started circulating that I was to be expelled. No person at the Grand Lodge would return my phone calls. I called the Grand Master at home on March 24th, 2010. His wife answered; and when she heard my name, she got very quiet and her voice became shaky. This reaction told me that the rumors were true and that I would not receive an ounce of fairness and that my dignity would be wiped away.

Upon receiving the letter of expulsion, I had no further information was to what the real reason was. All it stated was for un-Masonic conduct in the “purchase, sell, or use of” Masonic ritual ciphers. Here I must note that the letter was not sent to me. The lodge treasurer received it (on March 25th 2010 approximately) and directed it to the Worshipful Master (WM). Then, the WM forwarded it to me. I received a copy on March 27th, 2010. The WM read it to me over the phone so that I would have an understanding quickly. Originally, various sources told me that the action was related to the website and license plate issue. Again, I reiterate that all website information came from other Arkansas lodges and the Arkansas Grand Lodge itself. However, the racial issue grew as I explain ahead.

After over twenty attempts at reaching the Grand Master via telephone, he returned my phone call from a phone on SPEAKER on Saturday night at 9:50pm. He tried several times in a row; he left a hateful voicemail that the last call, which I answered, was going to be the last one and then “it’s over.” Upon answering, I explained I was out with friends and didn’t have my questions in front of me. I requested that he return my phone call sometime on Sunday. He demanded to know the questions and laughed at the idea I didn’t know them all by heart. I asked a few of the main questions; he refused to furnish answers.

I was told that the COMMISSION has many questions for me and that I better be at the trial. Should I not be able to attend, I “better send someone” in my place. I explained that I didn’t know the charges, evidence, or testimony against me. He remained silent. I told him that this was a very un-Masonic reaction and this was beneath that of a Grand Master. He said “good bye.” I can only imagine who else was listening on the other end; one would bet that it was the upcoming COMMISSION as backed up by background noise in the voicemail left.

On Monday, March 29th, 2010 the Grand Master informed the former Worshipful Master of Sebastian Lodge that the website was not entirely offline. The Grand Master said that the lodge failed to comply with his mandate. The WM immediately notified me to remove all information, namesakes representing Sebastian, and to shut down the website immediately. Sebastian Lodge’s website expired on April 3rd, 2010. Immediately, I moved the letter and other information to my personal website.

During a discussion, with several friends, on Tuesday March 30th, 2010, the real issue came to light…the only issue that the Grand Lodge could use against me that no other Arkansas Mason has admitted to doing. In a prior conservation with Grand Master Warren Martin (Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 8:23 PM), I spoke of attending lodges in which Black Masons participating. I openly shared that I shook their hands and had other Masonic ties with them. These I was and will be happy admit. Some of those lodges were in Oklahoma and Texas, others were overseas. Nevertheless, all of the lodges were mainstream lodges. I have not had the honor to visit a Prince Hall lodge, though I hope to in the future. In the end, I told Grand Master Warren that no Mason can force me never to recognize another Mason because of his race, religion, or origin. I know he wasn't pleased by that statement.

The sole accusation poised is based upon entry 4.0.61 in the digest. That states:

The... use of cipher rituals of the three Symbolic Degrees of Masonry is forbidden; and ANY Mason who shall hereafter... use anything purporting to be a cipher ritual or written, printed or otherwise delineated ritual or exposition of Masonry shall be expelled from Masonry.

After debating any method of breaking such a by-law aside from the apparent Arkansas license plate and website stance, I realized that I overlooked one of the most obvious arguments. I gave the Masonic handshake (and another common sign of brotherly affection) to well over twenty Black Masons. I have sat in lodge with at least thirty Black Masons. I have spoken and had Masonic discussions with a Prior Grand Master of a Prince Hall jurisdiction. I have long-running Masonic relations with several Black Masons who served with me in the United States Air Force. They are some of my dearest friends and brothers.

If this comes down to expulsion because I have admittedly supported and fraternized with Black Masons (Prince Hall Masons), then I deem it to be a worthwhile adventure. Let's take a historical journey: it has been well over 250 years since the United States was given its freedom from tyranny. The Civil War took place 150 years ago. Importantly for Arkansas' racial crises, it was 59 years ago that the 101st Airborne drooped into Little Rock, Arkansas to force integration of Central High School.

On April 5, 2010 at 12:02pm I finally had a chance to speak with the COMMISSIONER of my pending trial. He refused to answer any of my questions about the cause of action and told me to figure it out on my own. I requested documents to assist in understanding the charge and he refused to send them. In the end, he said that so long as I provide proof that I’m in the military and was at drill, the trial date would be changed. I quickly offered to send him my calendar to ensure that the dates would be acceptable to everyone without any risk of conflicts on my end. This was outright refused. The phone call was enlightening in regards that I will not write about at this point, but may choose to do so once the verdict has been passed down. As of April 8, 2010 the new trial date has not been established and I cannot determine what will come next.

One can say that the Grand Lodge has always appeared been hostile. From the get-go, everything was difficult. However, I did my best to follow the rules and tried to get clarification at times when it was needed. I find that the lack of brotherly love was always apparent and I have no doubt that many more Arkansas Masons, expelled or good standing, feel the same way. Unfortunately, many are afraid to stand up and demand the change necessary to continue mainstream Masonry in Arkansas.

— Bro. Derek Gordon

Image: Bro. Derek Gordon

Masons | Masonic Trial | Redneck Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

The handshake of expulsion

2010-04-07T06:30:00.017-04:00

The following is by Bro. Derek Gordon, a young Freemason from Arkansas. The Grand Lodge of Arkansas has charged him with unmasonic conduct. If "convicted," he will be expelled from Masonry.

The Handshake of Expulsion: The true story about “un-Masonic conduct*” of a respectful brother

by Brother Derek Gordon Last updated on: April 5, 2010

After much reflection, I have concluded that the true crime for which the Grand Master wishes to accuse me has come to light. And it is a violation that I take no shame in committing.

As my brethren around the world have now seen, I did not provide secret information on the Sebastian Lodge website but used information from other Arkansas lodges and as well as the Grand Lodge itself. The Grand Master’s claim has been defeated by the massive trove of evidence gathered by many Masonic brethren in support of me.

As I was denied my right to due process, I am left to my own devices to determine why on this great earth and in this great country I would considered for expulsion. And then it occurred to me…what my violation will be. In a conversation with Grand Master Warren Martin I spoke of attending lodges in the presence of Black Masons. I openly shared my reflection of the warm conversations we had. The lodges were not in Arkansas but rather in two other states as well as overseas. All were mainstream lodges. I have not been invited to a Prince Hall Lodge; however, because of this process I can say that I would be honored to do so.

I realize now that I overlooked one of the most obvious arguments. I gave the Masonic handshake (and another common sign of brotherly affection) to well over twenty Black Masons. I have sat in lodge with at least thirty Black Masons. I have spoken with a Prior Grand Master of a Prince Hall jurisdiction. I have long-running Masonic relations with several Black Masons who served with me in the United States Air Force. They are some of my dearest friends and brothers.

The sole accusation poised is based upon entry 4.0.61 in the digest. That states: "The... use of cipher rituals of the three Symbolic Degrees of Masonry is forbidden; and ANY Mason who shall hereafter... use anything purporting to be a cipher ritual or written, printed or otherwise delineated ritual or exposition of Masonry shall be expelled from Masonry."

There is only one possible way to accuse me of violating the above quote from my Notice of Trial letter. Simply put, I would have to be accused of knowingly sitting in a lodge, mainstream aside, with Black Masons. And, being that the brothers were Black Masons, it is reasonable in the eyes of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas to assume those men must be Prince Hall. I must humbly point out to the Arkansas leadership that Black men can be Mainstream or Prince Hall; Arkansas tends to frown upon certain races, religions, or origins, yet this does not mean that all other Mainstream jurisdictions must act as a unified bigot.

These United States have stood in solidarity against tyranny for greater than nearly 250 years. The Civil War and great Abraham Lincoln brought emancipation to all nearly 150 years ago. Just over 50 years ago, Arkansas was at the epicenter of the death of segregation when “The Little Rock 9” entered a high school for white students supported by the 101st Airborne Division. How can it be that Arkansas is one of the three states that still forces segregation of the brotherhood? Why is this tolerated? Who will stand up to such hatred?

Let your voices be heard along with mine. Tell Grand Master Martin Warren and Grand Secretary James Weatherall what is truly “for the good of the Masonry**.” As the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called out, “Let freedom ring,” and this time let it be from the capital of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Whether the Grand Master still believes that my expulsion is “for the good of the Masonry” is for him to determine. In my heart and with a clear conscience, I can say that I will always hold the values of the Free Masons... the truly “free” Masons.

* I stand accused of “un-Masonic conduct” for reasons that the Grand Lodge of Arkansas refused to delineate. The Grand Inquisitor (Chairmen, Grand Lodge Trial Commission), John Penrod, was kind enough to inform me that I must determine the causes of action the Grand Lodge of Arkansas has against me. And, the Inquisitor refused to provide materials that might shed light on such issues.

** The Grand Master assured the Worshipful Master and other brethren of Sebastian Lodge that revoking its charter, and my expulsion, was "for the good of Masonry." I would disagree with that statement; but, I'm unworthy in their eyes of being a Mason.

Added note: The phone call discussing Prince Hall Masonry with the Grand Master of Arkansas took place on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 8:23P.M. CST.

— Bro. Derek Gordon

Images: Bro. Derek Gordon

Masons | Masonic Trial | Derek Gordon | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Letter from an expelled Arkansas Freemason

2010-04-02T11:35:00.009-04:00

The Burning Taper receives many emails from Freemasons and others interested in Masonry. With the writer's permission, I'm sharing with you a recent email from an expelled Mason from Arkansas.

Dear Brother WS,

I read the posts regarding the recent events in Arkansas Masonry with great interest and consternation for I had hoped this sort of thing was finished in Arkansas following the debacle of the schism of 2004-2005, sparked by the refusal of then Deputy Grand Master Franks to answer to the brethren their questions regarding the rules of succession in the event the Grand Master is unable or unwilling to fulfill his duty as specified in the Digest of Rules, Laws, and Edicts. I should clarify that statement: DGM Franks didn't "refuse" to listen to the questions of the Brethren — his reply simply consisted of an attitude of "because I said so" followed by a speedy threat of suspension pending Masonic trial. If one were so bold as to ask again, he would be met with stony silence and could expect a letter in the mail specifying time and place for his trial. Expulsion was the guaranteed outcome.

I should know, for I received trial in their kangaroo court.

Now, we find that Bro. Gordon is suffering the same fate, all because he chose to communicate via the internet to his Brothers the edict issued by the GL regarding the purchase of Masonic license plates for their vehicles.

I was always told that only the esoteric work of the Fraternity was never to be published in any form whatsoever and that anything found in print offered by the Grand Lodge was open to all. After all, the Fraternity is not a "secret organization" but an organization with secrets. Evidently, the GL of Arkansas has decided to close all communications to the "profane" or un-initiated unless it be spun, washed, and manipulated in such a manner to meet approval of the powers-that-be. I pity those who would choose to subjugate themselves under such a tyranny and would hope the eyes and minds of the Brethren in Arkansas and elsewhere be opened to the truth of such self-serving actions by those who are supposed to lead the fraternity.

As you might expect, I must ask that my identity be withheld as there are some I am proud to still call Brother and do not wish to cause them any harm from retribution by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.

Please feel free to contact me at your leisure if you have any questions.

Fraternally yours,
[name deleted]
Expelled Mason

What is the purpose of Freemasonry?

2010-04-02T11:00:00.003-04:00

"The purpose of Freemasonry is not charity nor is it a fraternal society. These are but attributes which have developed. The real purpose of Masonry is the eternal search for truth, the truth about God, and the immortality of the soul. The various degrees represent the different levels through which the human mind passes while moving from ignorance to knowledge. The collecting of all the symbols and mysteries throughout the ages is but man's search for the divine truth. As we say in our ritual, 'from darkness to light.'" — Rt. Ex. William Adrian Brown (Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Virginia), "Facts, Fables and Fantasies of Freemasonry," Missouri Lodge of Research, 1968

The above quote is the basis for an excellent article titled "From Darkness to Light," on one of my favorite Masonic blogs, Three Ruffians.

Masons | Masonic Philosophy | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Bro. Hodapp on Masonic racism

2010-04-02T07:43:00.004-04:00

In the comments section to his own March 30 blog article "Grand Lodge of Arkansas Pulls Charter, Files Charges Over Website," Bro. Chris Hodapp posted the following words, which I found especially direct and meaningful. With his permission, I am reposting his comments as a guest article here.

I have stacks of emails from Masons in many states with stories about frankly appalling decisions, actions and behavior by grand lodge officers over the last dozen years. I'm sure Fred Milliken and Widow's Son have them as well. I have no desire to drag them across the internet — much of it is gossip, much of it is hearsay, much of it is hard to prove. But much of it is not.

What is fast becoming clear is that some grand lodges have recently become nervous about embarrassing statements and edicts being leaked to the public, and worse, being posted on the internet. Funny thing about this technology, the way it shines a bright light on things that don't look so good when they are all lit up.

There is no question that not every grand master is perfect. The level of imperfection varies wildly, but there is a certain type of person who believes he has absolute power to rule with an iron whim, exact revenge, and in short, behave in ways that absolutely fly in the face of everything our fraternity teaches us. Fortunately, such men with a misunderstanding of their position and duties don't often make it to the Grand East. Unfortunately, enough do that there are Masons who live in fear every day for their dues card, who fail to stand up for what is right and proper because it's hard to do if the choice is shut up or be expelled. But allowing politics, revenge, racism, criminal misconduct, and worse to enter into the highest levels of the fraternity is something no Mason should stand by and allow to happen without demanding better leadership.

Both of my folks are from Louisville, Kentucky, and I have lived part of my life in Virginia. My father lives in Georgia now. I've seen racism in the Deep South, and in the North. Ignorance knows know boundaries, and I learned long ago not to get fooled one way or the other by accent and diction. I don't see "South" and automatically think of banjo music and rotten teeth. But there is no dodging the fact that all of the states left in the US that do not recognize their Prince Hall counterparts are, with the exception of West Virginia, members of the Old Confederacy. There are states where lodge officers and grand lodge officers are trying hard to make changes. There are other states where an entrenched old guard would rather that Freemasonry die than let a man of a different race pass the Tyler's door. And the same is true on both the mainstream side and the Prince Hall side.

We've all heard the excuses, and it's embarrassing that they are the same ones trotted out back in the days of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. You'd have thought the least that could happen would be some new ones invented. The point is, it's not 1954 anymore. I had an Atlanta police officer (much younger than I was) who was a Mason literally poke me in the chest and tell me I was destroying Freemasonry by allowing black men to join my lodge, that black men could NOT be Masons because of the Ancient Landmarks, and that "down here we know how to treat 'em." I'm sorry, but that cop needs to be up on Masonic charges (and possibly before a civilian review panel, as well). The same goes for any grand lodge officer who shares those sentiments. There is no place for it in a fraternity that trots out the cardinal virtues and proclaims universal benevolence in one breath, and then proves they know nothing about the subjects in the next. And I have no illusion that there aren't Prince Hall Masons who would rather open a vein than let a white man in his lodge, as well.

Our petitions are color blind, and our fraternity should be too.

I'm not a big one for demanding that other grand lodges use the nuclear option and drop fraternal relations with the openly racist jurisdictions. It only hurts sojourning brethren, and it threatens the sovereignty of the grand lodge system. In the 1870s, New York accused Indiana of destroying the fraternity by prohibiting alcohol in lodge rooms, and threatened to withdraw recognition over it (They were probably right.). More recently, the imbroglio over the Grand Lodge of France and Minnesota brought down the wrath of Michigan, New York and other GLs, when clearly they had absolutely zero justification. One man's justifiable reason is another's personal grudge.

But the time HAS come for grand masters outside of the Confederacy to start making noise and whispering good council in the ears of their Southern brethren. Prince Hall recognition has been an issue since 1948. It's been 62 years, and for nearly 20% of the United States to still be having this argument is a disgrace. Young professional men don't find discrimination in their businesses, housing, transportation, or lunch counters. For it to exist in their fraternity is appalling.

— Bro. Chris Hodapp

Masons | Masonic Trial | Chris Hodapp | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Text of letter from GM of Arkansas forbidding purchase of Masonic license plates

2010-04-01T14:15:00.009-04:00

In January, 2010 the then-Grand Master of of Arkansas, Ronald Hedge, sent a letter to lodge secretaries forbidding Arkansas "mainstream" Freemasons to purchase or display Arkansas Masonic license plates.

The text of the letter reads:

January 25, 2010

Dear Brother Secretary:

I am sending this letter to your lodge in the hope of heading off a possible problem which has been caused by the State Revenue Department. It has been brought to my attention that the state has come out with a Freemason license plate. The best I can find out is this license plate originates from the Grand Lodge of Prince Hall Masons and part of the money derived from the sale of these license plates goes to a charity sponsored by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

After several calls to ascertain what the procedure was for obtaining these plates; [sic] I came to the conclusion that the method of screening individuals, to see if they were eligible to purchase the plates was not sufficient to ensure that our members could not purchase them. We have laws which strictly prohibit communication and Masonic intercourse with clandestine lodges and members of clandestine lodges. It is my opinion as your Grand Master that the purchase of these license plates would be in contradiction to our laws. Thus I am directing that no member of a subordinate lodge under the jurisdiction of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Arkansas purchase the license plates.

I am sending your lodge this letter to be read at your next stated communication. I am further directing that the Worshipful Master appoint a phone committee to contact every member of your lodge, who is an Arkansas resident; [sic] or that a letter be sent out to the same; [sic] informing them that they are not to purchase one of these license plates.

I appreciate your attention to this serious problem and will thank you in advance for your efforts to help ensure that our members are informed and do not inadvertently violate our Masonic law.

Fraternally,
[signed] Ronald Hedge
Grand Master

So many questions, thoughts and opinions race through my mind as I read and type this. Some of the issues have been discussed and debated in depth on The Burning Taper before.

The definition of "clandestine" is "hidden or unknown," not "unrecognized." Prince Hall lodges are hardly hidden or unknown, not even in Arkansas. How, in the 21st century, can G.M. Hedge cling to 18th century jargon and call Prince Hall lodges "clandestine"?

And has G.M. Hedge never spoken to a Prince Hall member on matters of Masonry? Maybe not... but if he has, did he commit the "crime" of conducting Masonic intercourse with a clandestine Mason?

How would purchasing a license plate from the state be an act of Masonic intercourse?

Masons take an obligation to abide by "edicts" of their grand lodge. Since when is an "opinion" by a grand master an edict? By tradition, an edict is proclaimed as an edict, and usually given an official name and number.

Is a grand master the presiding officer, judge and jury? By what right does a grand master claim this authority?

What do you think?

Masons | Masonic License Plates | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Tell the Grand Lodge of Arkansas what you think

2010-04-01T10:05:00.008-04:00

If you would like to make your voice heard to the officers of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, here is their contact list, adapted from the Arkansas Grand Lodge website, where you can see the full list of 2009 officers.

Grand Lodge of Arkansas
700 Scott Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-374-6408

Martin Warren, Grand Master
529 Ridgecrest Rd
Heber Springs, AR
501-362-9933
JMGWarren@argrandlodge.org

Garry C. Jones, PGM Grand Treasurer
17810 Middle Ridge Rd
Ozark, Arkansas 72949
479-782-8000
GTreasurer@argrandlodge.org

Robert L. Jackson, Grand Senior Deacon
5617 Applewood Dr
North Little Rock, AR 72118
501-758-4941

Richard Gambill, Grand Lecturer
1769 CR 342
Jonesboro, AR 72401
870-932-9409

Myles Oliver, Deputy Grand Master
503 Indian Bay Dr
Sherwood, AR 72120
501-833-3354
MTOliver@argrandlodge.org

Image: M.W. Martin Warren, Grand Master of Arkansas, 2010

Masons | Masonic Trial | Racism | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Comments welcome!

2010-04-01T09:33:00.004-04:00

Because of the huge amount of robot spam postings during the time The Burning Taper was temporarily dormant, the comment feature was deleted for a time.

The settings have now been changed, and we once again welcome comments to our posts.

Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

GL of AR's letter to Bro. Derek Gordon

2010-03-30T07:02:00.003-04:00

'Aftermath of the Arkansas License Plate Scandal' by Bro. Fred Milliken

2010-03-29T08:08:00.006-04:00

The following article by Bro. Fred Millikan appeared yesterday on his blog, The Beehive, a part of the FreemasonInformation network. Bro. Fred's article provides more information, and some insight, into the events The Burning Taper reported on March 26 surrounding the shutting down of a lodge website by the Grand Lodge of Arksansas and the upcoming Masonic trial of Bro. Derek Gordon.

Collateral Damage — The Aftermath of the Arkansas License Plate Scandal

March 28, 2010

What follows is the story of a young Mason who is caught in the middle between a Grand Master who is stuck in the past, in pre Civil War Masonry and those of us who have an improved 21st century view of life and practice Masonry accordingly. Far from being some firebrand, screaming reformer, Derek Gordon is a mild mannered, respectful Mason who has no ax to grind. He only wished to present his Lodge as favorable towards the civil rights of all citizens regardless of color. For that he is going to pay the ultimate price for being a human being.

This is his story as he told it to me:

You are secretary and webmaster of your Lodge, Sebastian Lodge #706, Grand Lodge of Arkansas F & AM.. You are a 23 year old student studying law in the neighboring state hundreds of miles from your Lodge. You have decided to volunteer to help Peruvians caught in northern Chile in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. As you stand in line to board your international flight to Peru your cell phone rings. It is the Worshipful Master of your Lodge with an important message – the Grand Master wants an immediate meeting with you. You convey to the Worshipful Master that will not be possible for a number of weeks, but that when you return you would be most happy to accommodate the Grand Master. The Worshipful Master is unable to tell you what this request is all about.

You immediately call the Grand Secretary and apprise him of the situation. He tells you that the Grand Master is in a meeting but that he will pass on to him your information and travel itinerary.

You make your trip to Peru and in your time there you make numerous phone calls back to Arkansas, leaving messages with the Grand Master’s wife at his residence and the Grand Secretary. None of your phone calls are ever returned.

You learn that while you were away that the Grand Master did not wait for your return but proceeded ahead all guns blazing! With just two days notice the Grand Master came to Sebastian Lodge to pull its charter and announce formal charges against you.

You can’t understand how this could all happen. What’s the beef? Friends notify you that the problem was the posting on the Lodge website of the Grand Master’s request that Arkansas Masonic license plates not be purchased by members of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas AF & AM. Other Lodges in the state made similar postings on their websites and their charters are still intact and their webmasters still honored members. Perhaps it was the sentence at the end that this was not necessarily the view of the Lodge. But you complied with the Grand Master’s edict that all members of the Lodge be notified of his ruling.

Other members get in touch with you to tell you that the Grand Master said in his visit to Sebastian Lodge to pull its charter that there were thousands of complaints received by the Grand Lodge about the website of Sebastian Lodge. They tell you that you are being charged with placing Grand Lodge and Masonic information on a public website in violation of a recent Grand Lodge ruling. You are also charged with posting Grand Lodge Resolutions to the Grand Lodge publicly.

You find this hard to believe. You have taken whatever Masonic information is posted on Sebastian’s website from three other Arkansas Lodge websites. A 1700’s lecture is really a historical document not an expose of Masonic secrets & ritual and other Arkansas Lodges have considered it so much a part of their Arkansas Masonic tradition that they have also posted it on their websites. None of them are having their charters pulled. Huntsville Lodge has ten times the Masonic information publicly displayed on its website. You had picked just a few interesting posts from this Lodge to include on Sebastian’s website. Boone Lodge, among others, has posted publicly on its website the Grand Master’s ban on license plates.

Huntsville has posted much more Masonic information publicly for a longer period of time. While you created Sebastian’s website in May of 2009, Huntsville and other Lodges have had posted Masonic information for up to 10 years. Your sources from which you copied the material you posted on Sebastian Lodge’s website included Crossett Masonic Lodge #576 F & AM and The Carroll County Mason, both of which were hosted by the now defunct Geocities. Another source was Key Lodge #7 – http://www.keylodge7.org/ None of these other Lodges are under indictment.

If the Grand Lodge is so concerned about electronic transmission of Masonic material why has it posted a link to Huntsville Lodge on the Grand Lodge website for years?

This makes no sense to you. The recent ruling on not posting any Masonic matter on a public website nor the use of the internet for any Masonic matters, including E-Mails was just passed at last month’s Grand Session. It was a little known resolution that received no debate and was passed with a vote made with it grouped with other matters. As secretary of the Lodge you have never received official notification of this ruling in the mail as is the usual custom. You also have not received any written notification of any charges preferred against you.

Perhaps the problem also stems from the fact that you tried to form a committee for Prince Hall recognition. But the Grand Master told you that Prince Hall did not desire to have anything to do with the Grand Lodge of Arkansas AF & AM. Recognition is ten years away if at all, you remember the Grand Master saying.

Later you are notified that the Lodge on 3/24/10 has finally received the letter of charges against you and the date for a Masonic trial. You are now back from Peru. This document should have been sent to you personally and you should have been the first person to read it. Along with the document of charges in the mail comes the official Grand Lodge notification of the ban on any and all Masonic electronic transmissions. You check with other Secretaries in other Arkansas Lodges. They have just received the same official notice of the new ruling and this is the first time they have heard of it. So it seems that you will be prosecuted for violating a ruling before it was officially put into place.

You are told the date for your Masonic trial is a date you will be on maneuvers with the Arkansas National Guard. You feel that the Grand Lodge knows that you are a member of the National Guard, knows that it is holding weekend maneuvers which require compulsory attendance and has thus scheduled your Masonic trial on the Saturday of these maneuvers deliberately. But the document is still not in your hands. Your information is second hand.

Finally the document of charges comes into your possession:

As a parting gesture you post this parting message on Sebastian’s website.

UPDATED: 27 March 2010.

SebastianLodge.Com is down for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for visiting.

We have had well over 20,000 visitors in our one year in operation. We hope that we can return and provide one of the most-visited Masonic website on the net.

Our charter was revoked for being un-Masonic as to our website. I, Derek Gordon, apologize for mentioning the order to not purchase license plates. As the order said, all members must be notified. This seemed to be a great way to get it there as many members visited.

I, being secretary, webmaster, legal domain owner, and creator of this website, never meant to upset Grand Lodge. Rather, I sought to protect our lodge because so many saw the letter as racist. I realize it was not meant to taken that way, but its poor penmanship didn’t get the proper message across. Other Arkansas lodges have the same kind of post, yet they still have their charter. Some Arkansas lodges and members have posted the entire letter from the Grand Secretary online and those two have yet to see punishment.

*REGARDING other information supplied and provided on the Sebastian Lodge website, it was all found on other Arkansas lodge websites. Some of those were created as far back as 2001; this site was created in May of 2009. I never typed a single word regarding the lectures and Masonic history. The page source-code made light of that. I posted the Masonic informatoin because it had been written by and posted on other Arkansas lodge websites for years; I thought it must be acceptable by precedent. As a Mason of 2.5 years, I was foolish to believe that if other lodges are allowed to do something (created by Masons who have been in much longer than I have), it would be acceptable for our lodge to display as well.

To my former brethren of Sebastian Lodge, I apologize to you for this instance. I felt that we were safe after finding the post on so many other sites. There’s much more to the story, but out of respect for Masonry and for the title of Grand Master and the Grand Lodge I will humbly refrain.

I further urge all Masons to support Sebastian Lodge in reobtaining its charter. By this I outline that I was doing what was seen as acceptable by precedent. The lodge itself was not involved in this directly. I am ashamed at the outcome.

Currently, I’m awaiting a Masonic trial for expulsion that I cannot make it to. It is scheduled for the weekend of April 17th, 2010 when the Military has summoned me to work. The Grand Lodge will not return my phone calls and one can only imagine the desired outcome.

Should you wish to contact me, it is possible by emailing webmaster706 @ sebastianlodge.com. I’d suggest removing the spaces around the @.

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” – George Washington

Fraternally,
Derek Gordon
Former Secretary, 706

Thanks.

All this was told to me by Brother Derek Gordon whose Lodge Sebastian Lodge #706 is no more and who awaits expulsion at a very young age from the Craft he loves. This is his story in his words.

But our observations are really questions. We are perplexed. What was the rush? Why could this whole affair have not waited until Gordon returned from his trip? Why would the Grand Master not wait for a personal meeting before proceeding unilaterally? Why prosecute a Brother for posting material that was already published 300 years ago and as recently as last month on other Arkansas Lodge’s websites? Why schedule Gordon’s Masonic trial on a weekend when you (GL) were told he was on maneuvers and why have you yet to make arrangements to reschedule? WHY HAS THE GRAND LODGE OF ARKANSAS’ WEBSITE BEEN SHUT DOWN?

To those who would like to support Brother Derek Gordon we urge you not only to get in touch with him but also to voice your opinion with the Grand Master of Arkansas.

— Bro. Fred Milliken

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Are Freemasons from another planet?

2010-03-28T11:42:00.007-04:00

The 13th Annual UFO Symposium was held this weekend at the Aztec, New Mexico Masonic Lodge, today's Durango Herald reported.

What a great setting for a UFO conference. The mingling of Masonry and aliens should convince our critics we really are involved in global conspiracies, magick and interstellar hijinks.

Featured guest speakers at the two-day conference included Stan Friedman, Kenn Thomas, and Lyn Buchanan.

Friedman is a long-time UFO investigator, author, and former nuclear physicist who has written books on the Roswell, NM alien crash in 1947.

Kenn Thomas is the long-time publisher of Steamshovel magazine. The mag's tagline is "All Conspiracy. No Theory."

Buchanan is a former military operative who came to fame in the 1980s for his involvement in the government's Stargate project. The character Lyn Cassady, played by George Clooney in the 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats, is based on Buchanan. Goats, of course, are widely associated with Freemasonry.

I'm sure it was an interesting weekend.

Image: Men examining Roswell crash debris, 1947

Masons | Aliens | UFOs | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Grand Lodge of Arkansas pulls charter of lodge for publicizing edict banning purchase of Masonic license plates

2010-03-26T16:52:00.010-04:00

On Feb. 27, The Burning Taper reported on the Grand Lodge of Arkansas's edict forbidding "mainstream" Masons from purchasing Masonic license tags from the state of Arkansas because the original project was developed by, and a part of the proceeds went to, the Arkansas Prince Hall grand lodge.

In that story, we mentioned a notice on the website of an Arkansas mainstream lodge, Sebastian Lodge No. 706.

The website has been removed, and the lodge has had its charter revoked for its post.

The following is now posted at SebastianLodge.com

SebastianLodge.Com is down for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for visiting.

We have had well over 20,000 visitors in our one year in operation. We hope that we can return and provide one of the most-visited Masonic website on the net.

Our charter was revoked for being un-Masonic as to our website. I, Derek Gordon, apologize for mentioning the order to not purchase license plates. As the order said, all members must be notified. This seemed to be a great way to get it there as many members visited. I, being secretary, webmaster, legal domain owner, and creator of this website, never meant to upset Grand Lodge. Rather, I sought to protect our lodge because so many saw the letter as racist. I realize it was not meant to taken that way, but its poor penmanship didn't get the proper message across. Other Arkansas lodges have the same kind of post, yet they still have their charter. Some Arkansas lodges and members have posted the entire letter from the Grand Secretary online and those two have yet to see punishment.

To my former brethren of Sebastian Lodge, I apologize to you for this instance. I felt that we were safe after finding the post on so many other sites. There's much more to the story, but out of respect for Masonry and for the title of Grand Master and the Grand Lodge I will humbly refrain.

I further urge all Masons to support Sebastian Lodge in reobtaining its charter. By this I outline that I was doing what was seen as acceptable by precedent. The lodge itself was not involved in this directly. I am ashamed at the outcome.

Currently, I'm awaiting a Masonic trial for expulsion that I cannot make it to. It is scheduled for the weekend of April 17th, 2010 when the Military has summoned me to work. The Grand Lodge will not return my phone calls and one can only imagine the desired outcome.

Should you wish to contact me, it is possible by emailing webmaster706 @ sebastianlodge.com. I'd suggest removing the spaces around the @.

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." — George Washington

Fraternally,
Derek Gordon
Former Secretary, 706

Thanks.

Deplorable! Arkansas Masons should be ashamed of their grand lodge and its officers.

An announcement similar to Sebastian's original statement still appears on the website of Boone Lodge No. 314:

NOTICE: Grand Lodge of Arkansas has declared that no Arkansas Freemason is to purchase a Masonic Arkansas license plate. These are for Prince Hall Masons, which Arkansas considers to be clandestine lodges.

This notice fulfills the requirement of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas for each subordinated Lodge to inform their members.

The publishing of this notice does not necessarily reflect the views of Boone Lodge or its members.

Christian cultists convicted of starving baby to death

2010-03-03T13:43:00.008-05:00

Long-time readers of The Burning Taper know that I find stories about the bizarre things people do in the "name of Jesus" fascinating. These stories to me are like train wrecks I just can't ignore.

Personally, I think the entire Christian religion could be pared down to two Bible passages: 1 John 4:8 and Luke 10:25-34. The first passage says, "God is love." The second passage is the story of the Good Samaritan, where the punch line is, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

All else is just further explanation of these two passages. Unfortunately, the rest of the Bible seems to confuse some people greatly, giving us whacked-out nutball Christians like Jimmy Swaggart, Tim Haggard, and those crusty bastards at the Westboro Baptist Church.

And now these idiots.

"Queen Antoinette," "Princess Trevia," and "Prince Marcus," starved to death one-year old Javon Thompson because he supposedly refused to say "Amen" after a mealtime prayer. Five other members of the Maryland household, including the baby's mother Ria Ramkissoon, also failed to feed Javon, under orders from their "queen."

Queen Antoinette said that Javon had a "spirit of rebellion" in him.

The child's mummified body was found in a suitcase over a year after he died. The "queen" said that one day Javon would be resurrected.

The trio submitted only one piece of evidence at their murder and child abuse trial: a handwritten application for non-profit status for her organization, "1 Mind Ministries." In the application Queen Antoinette, whose real name is Toni Sloan, describes herself "as a chosen daughter of the most high God and a queen of Jesus Christ."

I could rant on this all day, but why bother? Read the story for yourself. Read 'em all. There are details in each story not in the other one.

And then tell me what it is about Christianity that brings out the crazy in so many people?

Image: Left, Ria Ramkissoon and her son Javon Thompson; top right, Queen Antoinette aka Toni Sloane; bottom right, Trevia Williams, who is Sloan's daughter.

Christianity | Cults | Child Abuse | Queen Antoinette | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Accidental shooting devastates Masonic family

2010-03-03T12:35:00.008-05:00

The Burning Taper offers its condolences to Bro. Randy Reddick of Deerfield Beach, Florida, in the aftermath of the tragic accidental shooting death of his 11-year old son by his 10-year old son last Saturday, Feb. 28.

As the father of an 11-year old, I find this senseless accident particularly heartbreaking.

Bro. Reddick had sent his sons to his truck to get the Masonic tophat and topcoat he had worn earlier in the day in the Sistrunk Historical Festival parade in Fort Lauderdale. Blood inside the hat indicates his son may have been wearing the tophat when his younger brother accidentally shot him.

Masons | Masonic Parade | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Florida | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Arkansas Grand Lodge forbids Masons buying state Masonic license plates

2010-02-27T08:51:00.011-05:00

While more and more mainstream state grand lodges seem to be joining the 20th century by accepting the existence of and/or "recognizing" Prince Hall Masons as actually being brother Masons, the grand officers of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas are still being racist asses.

Recently the State of Arkansas began issuing Masonic license plates.

Because these plates are also available to brothers of Prince Hall Masonic lodges in Arkansas, the Grand Master of Arkansas has apparently issued an edict forbidding mainstream Masons in Arkansas from purchasing or displaying an Arkansas Masonic license plate.

Sebastian Lodge No. 706 of Fort Smith, Arkansas currently has this statement atop its homepage:

NOTICE: Grand Lodge has declared that No Freemason of Arkansas is to purchase a Masonic license plate. These are for Prince Hall Masons, which Arkansas considers to be clandestine lodges. Sebastian Lodge does not condone the viewpoint, nevertheless we are to notify everyone of this decision. 2 FEB 2010

Halcyon Lodge prevails in court case brought against them by Grand Lodge of Ohio

2009-12-22T20:04:00.004-05:00

This is post number 1,000 on The Burning Taper. What a long, strange trip it's been.

Just in time for Christmas there's a reason for the brothers of Halcyon Lodge in Cleveland, Ohio to celebrate. Earlier today the following was posted on the Clerk of Courts website for Cuyahoga County.

DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ARE GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. SUMMARY JUDGMENT IS GRANTED IN FULL AS TO NON-OFFICERS MICHAEL HOWARD, JOEL MICHALEK, CHRISTOPHER MICHALEK, TOME COSTE, HALCYON CHARITIES. SUMMARY JUDGMENT IS GRANTED IN PART AS TO DEFENDANT OFFICERS CHRIS SNOW, TODD WARMINGTON, LYNN ERIC CHIPPS, SCOTT KELLY. ONLY ISSUE THAT REMAINS FOR TRIAL IS RETURN OF "PERSONAL PROPERTY MASONIC IN NATURE AND UNPAID DUES." ALL OTHER CLAIMS FAIL. DEFENDANTS OWED NO FIDUCIARY DUTY TO GRAND LODGE AND DEFENDANTS ACTED IN GOOD FAITH TO PRESERVE ASSETS OF LODGE. THE COURT FINDS THAT THE VOTE TO TRANSFER ASSETS WAS DONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH BYLAWS. IN REGARDS TO NOTICE, ALL HAD NOTICE OF THE STATED (NOT SPECIAL) MEETING AND NO EVIDENCE WAS PRESENTED THAT ANYONE COMPLAINED. THE COURT ALSO DETERMINES THAT WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE ACTION WAS NOT REQUIRED BEFORE THE VOTE ACCORDING TO BYLAW 21.04, WHICH REQUIRES NOTICE ONLY FOR SPECIAL MEETINGS NOT STATED MEETINGS. FINALLY, THE COURT CONCLUDES THAT BYLAW 9.01 IS NOT APPLICABLE AS "ANY OTHER SUCH POLICY OF TEMPLE OWNERSHIP *** SUBMITTED TO TEMPLE COMMITTEE" AS THE ACTION WAS NOT FINANCING OR CREATING INDEBTEDNESS. PRE-TRIAL SET FOR 01/12/2010 AT 02:45 PM. PRETRIAL SET TO SCHEDULE ADDITONAL COURT DATES INCLUDING TRIAL DATE. CLPAL 12/22/2009 NOTICE ISSUED

According to the court's ruling, the brothers of Halcyon Lodge acted in accordance with the Masonic bylaws and in good faith.

Our congratulations to the brothers of Halcyon Lodge.

Case #CV-08-649002
Link: http://cpdocket.cp.cuyahogacounty.us/p_CV_Docket.aspx
Search on "Halcyon Lodge"

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Bro. Dean Kennedy interviewed at B2B Expo

2009-10-27T11:06:00.005-04:00

Bro. Dean Kennedy, co-creator of the podcast Masonic Central, was interviewed on Oct. 20 by the Canadian website Haligonia.ca at the B2B Expo in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Check it out.

And check out Bro. Dean and Bro. Greg Stewart's weekly podcast at Masonic Central.

Masons | Masonic Central | Freemasonry | Dean Kennedy | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

AMC's 'The Prisoner' miniseries debuts Nov. 15

2009-10-22T21:21:00.005-04:00

AMC's mini-series The Prisoner debuts Nov. 15-17, 2009. Based on Patrick McGoohan's British television series from the late 1960's, the new version stars Jim Caviezel as Six and Ian McKellen as Two.

According to the AMC website:

The Premise: A man, known as Six, finds himself inexplicably trapped in The Village with no memory of how he arrived. As he explores his environment, he discovers that his fellow inhabitants are identified by number instead of name, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. Not knowing whom to trust, Six is driven by the need to discover the truth behind The Village, the reason for his being there, and most importantly — how he can escape.

The tagline for the new version is "You Only Think You Are Free."

Find what channel AMC is in your area.

Watch the nine-minute trailer of the new miniseries.

Be seeing you.

Image: Six being pursued by Rover.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Where the tide ebbs and flows?

2009-10-18T02:20:00.002-04:00

Police found the beaten and mutilated body of a man in his late 50's, with its tongue cut out, hanging by its neck from a bridge in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday. There were "cuts on several parts of the body."

Mutilated bodies turning up in Tijuana is nothing new, news reports claim. Nearly 14,000 people have been killed since the Mexican government began a crackdown on drug traffickers in 2006.

Masons | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol'

2009-09-14T11:42:00.006-04:00

Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol, hits bookstores tomorrow. Will the wait have been worth it?

He'll sell a zillion copies, probably the first day.

What will be the effect on Freemasonry? Will there be an upswing in people wanting to become Masons? Will there be a groundswell of opposition to Masonry by conspiracy theorists and fundamentalist Christians? What will be the effect on the world?

For fun, go take a look at the "leaked" notes by Dan Brown which our sister site SacredFems.com posted over THREE YEARS ago, in anticipation of this book, whose working title, we all thought, was "The Solomon Key."

Tomorrow we'll know if it was all smoke and mirrors.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Frank Haas lawsuit against GL of WV trial date set for November 2, 2009

2009-09-13T12:31:00.008-04:00

According to Masonic-Crusade.com:

The MW Grand Lodge of WV and MW Brother Frank J. Haas's attorneys met in mediation and failed to meet any agreement. The Judge has set a trial date of November 2, 2009.

Looks like expelled former Grand Master of Masons in West Virginia Frank Haas will finally get his day in court.

For background on this most unusual Masonic case involving West Virgina former grand masters, read these posts on The Burning Taper:

Past Grand Master of West Virginia expelled from Freemasonry, November, 2007

West Viriginia's expelled past grand master invited to speak at Philalathes Society; his name disappears from Grand Lodge of West Virginia website, December, 2007

Frank Haas, Halcyon Lodge honored as outstanding Masons of 2007, February, 2008

"Masonry Through (Rearview) Looking Glass": Frank Haas' speech to the Philalathes Society, March, 2008

Haas sues Montgomery, Coleman, and Grand Lodge of West Virginia for fraud, defamation, invasion of privacy, outrageous conduct, conspiracy, and more, June, 2008

Bro. Haas lawsuite moves to discovery phase after judge denies motion to dismiss, September, 2008

Homophobic Florida mega-church boots Pepsi

2009-09-10T09:56:00.004-04:00

Who needs comedians when you have Christian mega-churches to make fun of?

Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida, is making news today after removing 10 Pepsi vending machines from its property.

Why did they do that?

"We would like to send them a message," said Terry Kemple, president of the Community Issues Council that is organizing a boycott of Pepsi products because he says it "advocates the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle."

But that doesn't mean the church will become un-caffeinated.

They've brought in Coca-Cola vending machines.

The Coca-Cola Company is as supportive of gay rights as Pepsi is, but apparently facts don't get in the way of a good publicity stunt masquerading as a protest against "diminishment of the ability of Christians to speak what the Bible says."

Thou shalt not drink Pepsi. Yeah, I read that in the Bible.

Anti-Gay | Homophobia | Terry Kemple | Bell Shoals Baptist Church | Pepsi Boycott | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Jester Ronald Tills sentenced to 18 months, fined $25,000, for human trafficking

2009-09-09T14:49:00.006-04:00

In a recent Huffington Post article about human trafficking, Robin Sax, a former district attorney, writes:

Trafficking happens right here at home, not just in poor places by "pimps." Surprisingly, it often involves people you would never expect. For example, just last week, Ronald H. Tills, 74, a retired US State Supreme Court Justice, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on a felony charge of transporting prostitutes across state lines.

In this case, Tills was trafficking a young illegal woman to serve as a prostitute at a convention he was attending. A human trafficking task force investigated the case. Its members included investigators from the FBI, U. S. Border Patrol, and U. S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, as well as the Erie and Niagara County sheriff's offices. But this never really made the news — few people heard about it.

As I pondered the case, I couldn't help wondering why most of us hadn't heard about it. Perhaps there were other pressing news bits, but what is more pressing then protecting children and other victims of sexual assault? Is it more important to know whether Dr. Conrad Murray is going to be charged for manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death? Or is it more likely that human trafficking is a crime we simply don't understand — mostly because of a simple problem with semantics?

Former New York State Supreme Court Judge is also a Mason. He was convicted of violating the federal Mann Act by transporting a woman across state lines to have sex with his fellow Masons, all members of the Shrine subgroup the Royal Order of Jesters.

At one time, according to the Buffalo News (as posted by New York attorney Scott H. Greenfield on his blog Simple Justice, "Tills had the reputation as one of the toughest sentencing judges in Western New York during his ten years as a State Supreme Court judge." He was particular hard when sentencing... wait for it... prostitutes!

Former judge and former brother Tills was sentenced in August to 18 months in federal prison and a $25,000 fine. The woman he took with him to a Jester meeting, called a "book," was an illegal alien who could barely speak English.

Tills is a recovering alcoholic and suffers from heart disease. In his statement before Judge William Skretny, Tills talked about the "possible harm" he caused his victims.

"I pray for their help and recovery if there is any damage, and I pray for their forgiveness."

Tills had also once served as a State Assemblyman and head trustee of his church.

Masons | Royal Order of Jesters | Ronald Tills | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of New York | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Georgia edict forbids negative references to race of petitioners

2009-09-03T08:16:00.006-04:00

On August 19, 2009, the Grand Lodge of Georgia finally moved into the 20th century. (Yes, I know it's the 21st century now.)

Grand Master of Masons in Georgia J. Edward Jennings issued Edict 2009-1, which states, after the whereas stuff, "Be it resolved [t]hat no negative reference be made by any officer or member of any Lodge chartered under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, Free and Accepted Masons, in reference to a petitioner’s race, color or national origin, who believe in a Supreme Being, during any Lodge Communication, conferral of degrees, proficiency practice or proficiency examination...."

Image: Grand Master of Masons in Georgia J. Edward Jennings

Masons | Masonic Edict | Racism | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Be seeing you: AMC's 'The Prisoner' trailer

2009-08-17T20:43:00.007-04:00

This nine-minute trailer for AMC's mini-series The Prisoner debuted at Comic-Con last month.
The "re-creation" (not remake, they say) of Patrick McGoohan's 1967 iconic British television show stars James Caviezel and Ian McKellen. The mini-series will air later this year.

Be seeing you.

The Prisoner | James Caviezel | Ian McKellen | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Georgia congressman goes berserk at town hall meeting

2009-08-10T11:07:00.006-04:00

Georgia on my mind....

Watch below, or read about it here.

Georgia | Congressman David Scott | Town Hall Meeting | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Burning Taper gets racist Masonic hate mail

2009-07-27T18:47:00.014-04:00

It's been way too long since The Burning Taper has received hate mail.

Finally, over the weekend, we got one, and it's from an old hater-mongering Mason from way back.... Bro. Robert Williams of Monroe, Louisiana.

We first heard from this Bubba-brother in May of 2006, when he emailed us in response to an article about Bro. Alex Harris's 1999 speech to the Alabama Grand Lodge about racism.

Back in '06, Bro. Williams announced IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, "That doesn't make us racists, we just like our lodges the way they are." (See his entire 2006 email here.)

I can only imagine how our "not a racist" Bro. Williams is feeling these days, with a black man in the White House, a black man the head of the Republican Party, and a black man having become a member of an Atlanta "mainstream" lodge.

Today, Bubba Williams sent us this (grammar and spelling are his):

You would bring a gorilla in the lodge if they would let me. To me, you should have joined a Prince Hall Lodge from the start and be just as clasdestined as the rest of them. Now I see you have some foolish/nosense website called the Burning Taper, what a Farce. Blacks don't need to be in any lodge, I have seen apes in zoos.

It's not clear which recent article on The Taper, if any, prompted our racist Louisiana brother to honor us with another email.

Feel free to write Bro. Williams. I'm sure he'd like to hear from you. His email address is rwilliams25@sw.rr.com.

And we'd like to hear from you, our racist Masonic brethren.

How do you feel about a black man being raised a Mason at Gate City Lodge No. 2 in Atlanta?

How do you feel about the Grand Master of Kentucky having issued an edict in June ordering

[t]hat no negative reference is to be made by any officer or member of any lodge chartered under the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F.&A.M. in reference to a petitioner’s faith, creed or race at any time in the conferral of the Degrees — i.e. lectures, obligation, by proficiency lecturers, etc. — or during any lodge Communication.

Freemasons arrested for sorcery

2009-07-24T16:37:00.004-04:00

"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" Glinda asked Dorothy.

Apparently in Fiji, it doesn't matter what kind of witch you are... or even if you're a witch at all. Sorcery isn't allowed there, apparently.

Police arrested 14 Freemasons Tuesday night when their meeting was "interrupted by a banging on the door, and there were these village people and the police demanding to be let in."

Wands, compasses and a skull were also seized from the lodge

One Freemason, after spending a "wretched" night in jail, told reporters "dopey village people" were to blame for the raid.

Police director of operations Waisea Tabakau told Legend FM News in Fiji that the group was being investigated for "allegedly practicing sorcery," the Fiji Village website reported.

The Masons were released Wednesday morning, allegedly at the order of the Prime Minister.

Masons | Masonic Arrests | Mobs | Freemasonry | Fiji | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Cats don't go to Heaven!

2009-07-24T10:43:00.008-04:00

This excellent essay was submitted by Bro. James C. Stewart of North Bay Lodge No. 617, in Canada. Thank you, Bro. James.

Cats Don't Go to Heaven!
by James C. Stewart

I was accused of being a Satanist today.

Let me pause to assure you, dear reader, I do not believe in, let alone worship the devil. Those that do are naive, pathetic, confused and/or criminally insane.

My own personal beliefs are pantheistic. I believe God and the Universe are one in the same, that there isn’t anything above or below that isn’t God. I think someone who is looking for proof of God is akin to someone trying to find the sun with a flashlight.

But that’s just me.

As for the devil... well, that’s an excuse. I don’t have time for ‘the devil made me do it.’

That’s a cop out.

You let you do it.

If you’ve transgressed, no one made you except your own dark urges. What some call ‘the devil’ I believe are the baser aspects of our humanity. To place the onus on an outside force or some sort of supernatural temptation is absurd. You are your own devil.

Besides, evil is a relative thing isn’t it? It is, more often than not, a matter of perspective. Consider the cat and the mouse. If a cat eats a mouse is the cat evil? The cat is merely following his instincts. But if we look at the cat from the mouse’s perspective, the cat is most certainly evil; and from our perspective what we see we call ‘nature.’

But I digress.

A Christian called me a Satanist today. Why did the Christian call me a Satanist? Because I made the mistake of telling him I was a Freemason.

The following are my opinions, not the opinions of any organization, group or society.

Now let’s discuss Christianity.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” — Mahatma Gandhi

By my tenth year on this rock I was having issues with Christianity, and the various horrors that were and are being perpetrated in its name. My mother is an Anglican priest. While no longer a Christian, I myself was baptized, raised and confirmed in the church. And naturally my first brush with Christian intolerance was through the church. Watching my mother become a priest was a sketch... this was in the 1980’s. One can well imagine the interesting (and occasionally cruel) things said to and about a woman attempting to minister “The Word of Christ.” Now that I think of it, the most hurtful acts of intolerance I have witnessed have been committed by Christians. And if I look beyond that, the picture becomes quite grim indeed. One need only type ‘residential schools’ or ‘inquisition’ into Google to see what I mean.

Christians are capable of extremely warped thinking. Anyone who has watched the Oscar-winning documentary Jesus Camp can tell you that. William S. Burroughs put it best when he said, “Christianity is like the inevitable course of some unsightly disease: criminal ignorance, brutish stupidity, self-righteous bigotry and paranoid fear of outsiders.” A former Roman Catholic priest turned Freemason crystallized it for me when I asked him why he’d left the church. “Well,” he said, “it occurred to me I was on the wrong path when I considered the outcry there’d be from Rome if the planes that were dropping napalm on villages at that time were dropping condoms instead.”

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.” That’s Christ in Matthew 22:37-39. Note he didn’t say, “Unless they’re non-Christian, or homosexual, or something else you personally don’t agree with.”

It’s part of what I like to call the Build Your Own Christianity Syndrome... given the various inconsistencies, vagrancies and outlandish assertions in the New Testament, Christians are forced to pick and choose exactly what it is they believe. Some agree with this part or that, others not so much. A sect of Christians may even decide another sect of Christians is heathen, even though both sects fully believe they have the Way and the Truth. The result is often very bloody. We see this play out in history with schisms within the church, quickly becoming schisms within the churches. Once you pick one piece of scripture over another, anything becomes possible. Just ask the family of an abortion doctor who’s been shot dead by the Pro-Life Movement.

Christianity is a control system. It seeks, first and foremost, to control your mind. It does this by controlling your beliefs with rigid and inflexible rules which in turn control your body, your speech, your ideas, your afterlife and even your sex. Allow me a single example (though there are many) for each:

Your body: the Pro-Life Movement and other like-minded Christians seek to control the female body. Simple. You are not allowed to abort. Therefore, you have no control over your womb. Therefore you have no control over your body.

Your speech: A short quote from a spam email I received. It was the most legible of the bunch, “...Please boycott of the children’s movie “The Golden Compass” and books. Also, pass information along to everyone you know (including church leaders). This will educate parents, so they know the agenda of the movie. I am sending this to those of you who have kids or friends with kids, grandkids or have influence with kids. So many today are darkness concealed in what appears to be innocence....”

Your ideas: Christianity has always opposed new ideas. Think of poor Galileo, confined to house arrest for contemplating that maybe... just maybe... the Earth revolved around the Sun. In the natural sciences, all discoveries and new theories not supported by the Bible were opposed. Sciences that flourished in Antiquity, ground to a halt in the early centuries AD. The church historian Lactantius (ca 250–320 AD) called the natural sciences utter nonsense, and church scholar Ambrosius called natural sciences an attack on God’s magnificence. To this day the concept of Evolution is under constant harassment by Christians.

Your afterlife: if you are a Christian, and you contravene the rules, you are going to hell... a place of unimaginable suffering and pain for all of Eternity.

This brings me to... your sex.

“Christianity: The doctrine that there is an absolutely powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is deeply and personally concerned about my sex life.” — Andrew Lias

I have a desire, a genuine desire, to sit down with one of these Christians and ask them, “Why do you care? What is it about what the rest of us are doing in the bedroom that interests you people so much?”

Christian control in this area starts at pre-marital sex and it doesn’t really end. They refuse to teach their children (and would prefer you didn’t teach yours) about birth control, instead opting for abstinence, then they wonder why teenage pregnancy rates spike. As AIDS ravages Africa, they’d prefer the rest of us not give out condoms. And I seriously believe there is something insanely malicious at the heart of the Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality. I had my first inkling of it in 1987 when I saw a group of Christians outside a hospital having a rally against homosexuality based upon their understanding of the AIDS virus. There, screaming alongside her parents was this girl, maybe eleven or twelve years old, her pretty face twisted with hate and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, “Thank God for AIDS... God hates Fags.”

Since then I’ve seen families divided, teenagers forced off to bizarre camps to become ‘straight,’ and in one case a man badly beaten because a group of Christians thought he might be gay (he was, in fact, heterosexual).

Christians are quick to say, or perhaps fanatically shriek, “It’s in the Bible!”

I guess. But your Jesus never said it. Not once.

The symbol of Christianity is the cross... a symbol of execution, a symbol of death. How many blood-soaked battlefields has this flag flown over? I wonder... if Christ had been executed in the 1950’s would Christians be wearing little electric chairs around their necks today?

My guess? Absolutely.

“Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” — Voltaire

Christianity seems focused on a man who may have claimed he was God, rather than focused on God. Yet Christianity asserts it’s monotheistic. I debate this. I say Christians have not one, but rather three gods: Jesus Christ, God the Father, and for good measure, The Holy Spirit. The so-called triune god. Now, to be fair, Christians claim the three make one, but you must have faith in all three to be saved. You must believe in three separate entities which mystically make up a single god.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot wrap my mind around God separating Himself from Himself to incarnate as a human being for thirty-three some-odd years. And for God to then concentrate on our dour little rock in a lonely galaxy in a far corner of space?

The Universe is a Big Place.

No, what it seems has happened is they’ve made God into a man. I’m not going too deep into it here, but there are many fascinating books regarding the formation of the early church, the Roman emperor Constantine and his questionable interpretation of the New Testament. In the final analysis, Christians have turned a man into God... it’s only on their faith Christ becomes divine. Frankly, it’s an idea older than Christianity. But again, there are many well-researched and wonderful books devoted to the topic of Christianity as a form of theological-plagiarism.

“What is Freemasonry? A beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.” — A Mason

It has been said no man needs a priest to find God, and nowhere is this truer than within The Craft. And perhaps this is truly what lies at the heart of Christian hatred toward it. My grandfather was a Mason, as is my father. I became a Mason after realizing Freemasonry was the most reasonable, if not most fascinating, institution I’d come across. Just a couple of points I’d like clear up:

Freemasonry is not Satanic. In fact, all discussion of religion and politics is forbidden within a Masonic Lodge.

Freemasonry is not a religion, nor has it ever claimed the prerogatives of religion, yet Freemasonry’s detractors continue to believe since Freemasonry doesn't define God, it cannot be their God. Freemasonry believes that men of all faiths can dwell together in peace. Freemasonry requires its members to believe in God but will not dictate those beliefs.

One of the more insidious falsehoods I’ve heard regarding Freemasonry holds it responsible for, or directly involved with, the Third Reich. For Masons who are veterans of World War II, including my grandfather, I can’t imagine a larger slap in the face. I’ve seen this lie repeated on various anti-Masonic and Christian websites. Incidentally, on fundamentalist Islamic websites, I’ve seen Freemasonry referred to as Jewish-Zionist front. Amusing when you consider I have witnessed Christian, Islamic and Jewish brethren sitting side-by-side within the Lodge.

In fact, on Hitler’s rise to power, the ten Grand Lodges of Germany were dissolved. Many among the prominent dignitaries and members of the Order were sent to concentration camps. The Gestapo seized the membership lists of the Grand Lodges and looted their libraries and collections of Masonic objects. Much of this loot was then exhibited in an “Anti-Masonic Exposition” inaugurated in 1937 by Herr Dr. Joseph Goebbels in Munich.

Hitler’s hatred of Freemasonry is clearly documented. In 1931 Nazi party officials were given a “Guide and Instructional Letter” that stated, “The natural hostility of the peasant against the Jews, and his hostility against the Freemason as a servant of the Jew, must be worked up to a frenzy.”

To say Freemasonry was behind the Third Reich is tantamount to saying Judaism was behind the Third Reich.

What a hateful and offensive piece of stupidity.

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin, writer, humorist, ambassador, inventor and Freemason

The following is a short list of famous Freemasons for your perusal:

Sir John A. MacDonald
George Washington
Giovanni Giacomo Casanova
Sir Richard Burton
Tommy Douglas
Harry Houdini
Mark Twain
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Voltaire
Mozart
Robert Service
Oscar Wilde
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Sir Alexander Fleming
Salvador Allende
John Glenn
Harry S. Truman
Peter Sellers

And so many, many more....

The following is a short list of groups and people opposed to Freemasonry:

Pope Benedict the XVI and the Roman Catholic Church
Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition of America
Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich
Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority
The Palestinian Islamist Movement Hamas
Ted Haggard and the National Association of Evangelicals

Interesting. Compare and contrast. I showed these same lists to a Christian once. He looked it over, looked at me, and declared, “Well, I’m on the list with the Lord.... I’m on the list for paradise!”

Christians say my cat can’t go to heaven. He has no soul therefore he cannot find salvation through Christ. It’s an idea I chose for the title because I find it indicative of the entire faith. It reminds me of something I read once, and maybe it’s the most appropriate way to close…

“No heaven will Heaven ever be,
If my cats are not there to welcome me.” — Epitaph in a pet cemetery

© James Stewart 2009

Masons | Masonic Essays | Cats Don't Go to Heaven | Freemasonry | Christianity | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Monkey burglarizes Texas gardening store

2009-07-21T11:22:00.007-04:00

This just in to our All-Monkey News Network news desk:

Owners of a Richardson, Texas gardening store were burglarized by a monkey, surveillance video shows.

"You can see the back legs, the front arms and the white head, co-owner Jerry Duncan said while pointing the monkey out in the dimly-lit video.

About 40 plants were missing, and pieces of concrete were shattered in the parking lot, according to primate-pun-riddled news reports.

"They need to train him better," Duncan said. "Especially if he is going to do the big jobs."

Image: The alleged monkey in his getaway car.

Monkeys | Crime | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'For the children': Shriner Potentate arrested on child porn charges

2009-07-20T10:22:00.003-04:00

Shriner and former Potentate Ray Highsmith, of Khedive Shrine Temple in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is in federal custody after agents discovered over 1,000 images on his computer of child pornography, some of it showing acts of sadomasochism, NewsChannel 3 has reported.

Highsmith admitted to having not one, but two memberships to an online child porn site.

Highsmith, 68, was first arrested in 2007, and was ordered by a judge to keep away from the Internet and from anyone under the age of 18. Apparently he couldn't keep his fingers off his keyboard. When he didn't show up for a court hearing, he was re-arrested, and investigators found his new stash of kiddie porn on his computer.

Masons | Shriners | Ray Highsmith | Freemasonry | Khedive Shrine Temple | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Masonic racism in Georgia

2009-07-07T00:42:00.008-04:00

For years, Bro. Chris Hodapp of Freemasons for Dummies fame and I have had an unofficial competition going on, even if he didn't know it, to see who could write first about unusual breaking Masonic news. Back in the heyday of The Burning Taper, sometimes I won, sometimes he did.

That was before I became a real Traveling Man. I'm on the road to somewhere, or coming back from somewhere, 10 to 14 hours a day for the past several months. No longer do I have the luxury of net-surfing my way through my day.

It's now nearly 1 a.m. Tuesday, and I just read a story about Michael Jackson's doctor having allegedly become a Freemason to enlarge his network of potential patients.

I wasn't terribly surprised to see that Bro. Chris had scooped me on that. Besides being offline as much as I am, I have purposefully avoided as much Michael Jackson "news" as has been humanly possible. Still, I was tugged into reading the story because of the headline saying his doctor, Conrad Murray, was not authorized to prescribe certain drugs in California.

Hodapp, 1. Widow's Son, 0. No biggie.

What I am ashamed of and, sadly, alarmed by, is that the entire Masonic blogging universe scooped me on the news from my own home state about the legal and Masonic wrangling regarding an Atlanta "mainstream" lodge raising a black man.

I'm still catching up on the published events about the brouhaha over Atlanta's Gate City Lodge No. 2 raising Victor Marshall to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.

Coverage of this has been extensive, in the mainstream news [Associated Press, New York Times, even the Georgia Insider Advantage] as well as in the Masonic blogosphere and forums, since late June.

I missed it completely until yesterday.

Everything I've ever written about Georgia Masonry, and everything you've doubted about what I've written about Georgia Masonry, was leading up to this story...

And I missed it.

All that stuff I wrote above about scooping and being scooped is just good-natured fun. I don't really care who breaks what.

But I feel that not only have I let down you, the reader of The Taper, for not being on top of this story, but I have let down myself.

For years, I have been a sometimes solitary voice in Georgia, at least online, decrying the institutionalized racism and bigotry of Georgia Freemasonry. I've been in Georgia lodge after lodge and heard the same racist comments. I've called out every new Grand Master by name shortly after his "election," urging him to offer recognition to Prince Hall Masons.

But I have of late neglected all that, online and offline. I haven't participated in Georgia Masonry in a long time. I haven't darkened the door of my own lodge or any other lodge in so long, I doubt I can remember the due guard and sign. I probably cannot remember some of the names of one-time friends in the lodges I used to attend. While still a Mason in my heart, I have become a Mason in name only.

I'm exceedingly proud of my brothers at Gate City Lodge No. 2 for doing what is right. I had no idea a lodge as progressive as Gate City existed in Georgia.

And I'm exceedingly disgusted by those members of Metro Daylight Lodge No. 743 in Chamblee, and Philologia Lodge No. 178 in Conyers, who brought their complaints about Bro. Marshall's raising to the Grand Lodge. If ever charges of unmasonic conduct should be brought against brothers, this is the time. Questioning the legitimacy of a man lawfully and properly raised by a chartered lodge, and demanding that lodge's charter be revoked, is truly unmasonic. It defies what Freemasonry purportedly stands for: Universal Brotherhood.

I welcome Bro. Marshall to our brotherhood.

Image: Brother Victor Marshall, flanked by two brothers of Gate City Lodge No. 2, Atlanta

Masons | Masonic Racism | Michael Jackson | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Footloose: Christian school suspends student for attending public school prom

2009-05-24T16:27:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago Toldeo, Ohio's Heritage Christian School principal Tim England suspended 17-year old student Tyler Frost after Frost took his girlfriend Becca to the prom at her neighboring high school. England banned Frost from the Christian school, and would not let him participate in graduation ceremonies.

Frost was warned this would happen. Frost's family has threatened a lawsuit against the school and the principal.

England shared his bizarre reasoning with a television reporter in Toledo before the prom, but has refused to give more on-camera interviews since Tyler and Becca "disobeyed" him.

At a prom, there will be many young ladies who'll be dressed in the current styles, which will be low-cut dresses and things like that. There will be dancing.

Twenty-five years ago, Rev. Shaw Moore, played by John Lithgow, said pretty much the same thing in the film Footloose:

Even if this was not a law, which it is, I'm afraid I would have a lot of difficulty endorsing an enterprise which is as fraught with genuine peril as I believe this one to be. Besides the liquor and the drugs which always seem to accompany such an event the thing that distresses me even more, Ren, is the spiritual corruption that can be involved. These dances and this kind of music can be destructive, and, uh, Ren, I'm afraid you're going to find most of the people in our community are gonna agree with me on this.

Principal England told FoxToledo that Jesus wouldn't approve of Tyler going to the Findlay High School prom with his girlfriend, that Tyler should be more like Jesus.

Christianity is a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, and if you're gonna grow and be more like him, you gotta be obedient to what he says.

Didn't Jesus hang out with the "common people" and not with the pious? Didn't he thumb his nose at the "moral police" of his day, the Pharisees? Didn't he count among his closest confidantes a temple harlot?

Jesus never forbade dancing, best I can tell from my many readings of the Bible. In fact, Jesus's multi-great granddad King David, "wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets."

In Jeremiah 31:4, God Himself tells the nation of Israel to "take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful."

Principal England, with his Puritanical mindset, disgraces not only the educational system but also millions of rational Christians.

Christians | Christianity | Morality Police | Footloose in Findlay | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Living with War: Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-24T15:01:00.005-04:00

So we're now living in the Era of Change, are we? New president, new vice president, new name for the War in Iraq.

For the past three Memorial Days [2006, 2007, 2008], I've honored the memory of those who have died in the War in Iraq, now known as simply a part of the Overseas Contingency Operation. George Orwell would have been proud of the way the name of the War in Iraq has been changed to lessen the reminder that our young men and women are still dying for no obvious Cause.

Other than the name, has anything changed?

Yes. Its results are increasingly doubleplusungood.

The American death toll in Iraq has now reached 4,300. Since last Memorial Day, another 219 Americans soldiers have died in Iraq. Another 219 American families will never again see their sons and daughters, their fathers and mothers.

We can no longer blame the War in Iraq on George W. Bush's oil tycoon friends or on dastardly Dick Cheney's secret identity as Dr. Strangelove, or on the non-existent WMD's non-possessed by a now long-dead Saddam Hussein or even on our national need for revenge for 9/11 against a country that wasn't involved in those horrific attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

The responsibility now firmly rests on Barack Obama, who has already waffled on his own timetable for troop withdrawals from Iraq.

As I've said before: Bring 'em home, now!

Memorial Day 2009 | Death Toll in Iraq War | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'Freemasonry's use of hip hop to deceive and destroy souls'

2009-05-24T10:57:00.005-04:00

I'm perplexed as to what the point is of this video (see below).

It seems to be something produced by your typical conspiratorial "Freemasons Rule the World" crowd, and accuses the Masonic/Illuminati cabal for creating urban hip-hop music to keep the black community in poverty.

I found the video linked on a website that proclaims itself "Your hip hop music culture and lifestyle portal." They're proud to say "We eat breathe & sleep hop hop."

The article containing the video is titled "Freemasonry's Use of Hip Hop to Deceive and Destroy Souls."

Frankly, the video is a nine-minute mishmash of interviews and music that isn't worth viewing, in my opinion. Don't bother watching it all unless you've got time to burn. It includes weird statements such as Bill Gates' father created Planned Parenthood to lead to the elimination of the black race. How'd that work out?

But...

The material between roughly 5:45 minutes and 7:00 minutes is kind of intriguing, but not necessarily from a conspiratorial point of view.

Apparently at least one hip-hopper, KRS-ONE, has taken his cue from the same idea that led to the book and movie The Secret. Here is a line from his rap:

When someone says the rich get richer
Visualize wealth and put yourself in the picture.

If you're not familiar with The Secret, it is simply this idea: "Your thoughts create your reality." It's a simple philosophy, and it's true, as I've found in my own life. When I focus on the negative, more negative comes along. When I focus on positive, happy things, then positive, happy things and events appear in my life.

It's a secret I personally too often forget, but thankfully, usually I catch myself before I've created too much negativity and can turn things around by changing my perspective and beliefs and thoughts.

The conspiracy-minded video producer doesn't see anything positive about thinking positive. KRS-ONE's rap is followed on their video by these words:

Here KRS is pushing the "New Age Agenda," that says you are poor because of your thoughts (Translation: BLAME THE VICTIM!)

It is a way of thinking that leads to a lack of care and/or empathy for others who are suffering, because you are rationalizing it as, "Oh... it's their fault they are poor, or starving, or homeless, or raped, etc... due to their thoughts...."

One the one hand, the video-maker is saying that there is poverty in society because the Grand Cabal keeps it that way, and on the other hand is saying that to encourage those in poverty to think their way out of that poverty creates a "lack of care and/or empathy."

Confused? Me too.

Which is solid proof the Discordians must be the real Men Behind the Curtain.

Masons | Hip Hop | Illuminati | Freemasonry | Conspiracy Theory | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Doing the dog

2009-05-23T09:26:00.011-04:00

The sadness in Robert John Ward's eyes in this photo reminds me of the look on the face of alleged Mason and alleged murderer Leroy Tellgren, shown in the previous article on The Burning Taper.

Perhaps the lives of both of these elderly gentlemen could have been redirected into less destructive channels had they been invited to become members of the Royal Order of Jesters (search "Jesters" on The Burning Taper), where they could have played out their sexual fantasies behind closed doors.

Ward, 66, has been charged with sexually abusing his family dog.

Robert John Ward | Bestiality | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Texas Mason charged with murder of younger woman

2009-05-12T15:41:00.012-04:00

An "alleged" Texas Mason has been charged with murder in the disappearance of his female friend.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Coppell (Texas) Police Department need the public's help. If anyone saw {Leroy] Tellgren, [Kathleen] Garza or Tellgren's vehicle along the Texas/Oklahoma border or in the state of Oklahoma around April 16th, please call the OSBI hotline at 800-522-8017.

Tellgren's vehicle is a dark green 1997 Chevy S-10 extended cab pickup with a Texas license plate of 46XWC5. A Masonic Lodge insignia is on the driver's side back of the truck.

Leroy Tellgren, 74, and Kathleen Garza, 49, had for the past five years been buddies from work in the local school district. Tellgren was a school bus monitor; until last May, Garza was a middle school business and computer skills teacher.

They met for coffee-to-go just before 9 a.m. on April 16th, video surveillance cameras at a grocery store coffee shop show. An indoor camera shows them together at the counter; an outside camera shows them walking toward and then getting into Tellgren's pick-up truck.

That's the last time anyone saw Kathleen Garza.

Police have charged Tellgren with her murder, though her body has not been found.

Garza's husband said that his wife looked up to Tellgren as a "father figure." An employee at the coffee shop where they were last seen says Garza and Tellgren were regulars there, and had been seen on occasion holding hands and acting "romantic," something Garza's husband Raul strongly denies.

Tellgren was taken into custody by police who were at his home talking with his wife when he returned late that night. He gave police permission to search his truck. They found that the passenger seatbelt, along with patches of material from the passenger seat, had been cut out. Blood was present on areas that had not been removed. A large bloodstain was found on the shirt Tellgren was wearing.

A few hours later, police found bloody seatcover material and a bloody seatbelt inside a trash bag in a dumpster less than a mile from Tellgren's home.

Two rings and a watch that have been identified as belonging to Garza were found in his pocket.

Tellgren has been uncooperative. He remains in custody with bail set at one million dollars.

Police and the OSBI are asking anyone who may have seen Tellgren, Garza or his truck on April 16th to call them with any information.

Google the news stories.
Read the OSBI statement.
Read the Coppell Police arrest warrant.

Image #1: Leroy Tellgren
Image #2: Kathleen Garza

Masons | Masonic Symbol | Leroy Tellgren | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Texas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Jester Michael Stebick avoids jail time for role in prostitution scandal

2009-05-12T15:26:00.004-04:00

Here's more television footage from Buffalo's WIVB on the Royal Order of Jesters scandal. This one is about former law clerk and prosecutor Michael Stebick's sentencing.

If you prefer to read the news story rather than view it, click here.

Masons | Masonic Scandal | Michael Stebick | Freemasonry | Royal Order of Jesters | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

TV footage of Jester's court appearance

2009-05-10T11:24:00.004-04:00

Trends in Masonic blogging

2009-05-10T09:45:00.007-04:00

Our blogging brother at The North Eastern Corner wrote the other day about how the face of Masonic blogging has changed over time. He notes three trends: centralization, blog fatigue, and extraction.

He points out that the trend towards centralization tends to sublimate the personality of the individual bloggers, and I agree. Part of the pleasure of surfing Masonic blogs is in noting the design, graphics and layout of a particular brother's blog, as well as seeing which links he chose to put on his blog, and what, if any, advertising he showed. All these things, together with his writing, created the individual blogger's online identity and "personality." The centralizing of blogs, such as has been done recently at Bro. Greg Stewart's Freemason Information, lessens the appeal of reading Masonic-theme blogs, for me anyway. I'm not knocking the trend; I'm just adding to the discussion of it on The North Eastern Corner.

Personally I've been suffering blog fatigue for while. Regularly pumping out interesting stories is hard work. My dwindling interest in local Masonic events coupled with my growing knowledge of "improprieties" related to Shriner and Jester activities simply led me to abandon my keyboard for a while.

The North Eastern Corner article points out a third trend in Masonic blogging: extraction, or Masonic blogs going dark or totally disappearing from the web. We've seen a lot of that. For a while there were many newly raised younger Masons who eagerly jumped into blogging with an impressive enthusiasm. Most of these blogs didn't last long; there's only so much a new Mason can say about "next Tuesday I'm returning my Fellowcraft catechism."

The most notable "extraction" in the past year was the unexpected death of well-known Masonic know-it-all Bro. Theron Dunn. Next Wednesday will mark one year since he moved on to the Celestial Lodge.

Bro. Dunn and I seldom agreed on anything.

And I liked that. I found him pompous and self-righteous and often unmovable in his opinions and stance. In that, he was a lot like me.

Debating and arguing with him kept me on my toes. Publicly disagreeing with him helped me hone my writing and my logic skills and often made me think long and hard about an issue. Our "confrontations" strengthened us both, and made us both better Masons. Masons don't have to like each other — we never did — but Masons should ultimately respect each other and treat each other as brothers.

And that we did, even if sometimes it was begrudgingly.

The world of Masonic blogging, like all of life, is constantly changing. I'm glad I'm still here to enjoy it.

Masons | Masonic Blogs | Theron Dunn | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Retired police captain sentenced in Jester-prostitute probe

2009-05-07T18:30:00.005-04:00

One of the three Masons who pleaded guilty to transporting prostitutes across state lines to service brothers at Royal Order of Jesters' weekend "Books" has been sentenced to two years probation for his crimes, the Buffalo News reported today.

Former Lockport, NY police captain John Trowbridge said he was sorry.

"The more I thought about it, the more I didn't like it," Trowbridge told U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. "They [the illegal alien women] come here with great expectations.... These people are way too often overlooked. They're victims."

"When confronted with the ugliness of his actions, [Trowbridge] did the right thing," U.S. Attorney Robert Moscati said.

One of Trowbridge's partners in crime, former law clerk Michael Stebick, was sentenced in December, 2008 to four months of home confinement, 250 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine. I hope he didn't spend those 250 hours standing at an intersection wearing a fez.

Former New York Supreme Court Justice Ronald H. Tills, the Moe to Stebick and Trowbridge's Larry and Curly (those rascally imps!) returned to court today for his slap on the wrist.

U.S District Judge William M. Skretny called the crime a "very serious matter," but went easy on the former police officer because he cooperated in the Jesters probe.

"It's not a matter to be taken lightly," Skretny said of the crimes. "It involved the dehumanization of victims of human trafficking.... What you did was a disgrace to you, an insult to your wife and a disgrace to your profession."

Human trafficking is the politically correct term for slavery. This "very serious matter" is apparently punishable by four months' of having to stay home and a bit of community service, or at most, occasionally reporting in to your probation officer who is probably already a friend.

Of passing interest: The March 2008 press release by the FBI announcing Trowbridge's guilty plea

Masons | Royal Order of Jesters | John Trowbridge | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in

2009-05-06T11:18:00.012-04:00

Last weekend I was driving home from the grocery store. As I approached an intersection, I noticed a fez-wearing Shriner standing in the road, shaking his paint-bucket at drivers as they crawled past him.

Arm after arm appeared from a car or truck, each dropping coins or bills into his bucket.

"It's for the children," I'm sure most of the brains attached to those arms rationalized to themselves, as they blew their own kids' lunch money in an attempt to feel charitable.

"Brother, don't you know where most of that cash is going?" I wanted to cry out.

"Somewhere between two and twenty-five percent of what you collect might make it to 'the children.' The rest is for the parties, for the booze, for the hookers... and you, good brother, probably won't even be invited!"

Yeah, I'm still jaded. Ignorance is bliss, and I'm no longer ignorant about some of the "secrets" of Freemasonry.

The financial misappropriations and the sexual improprieties in the Shrine and in their subgroup the Royal Order of Jesters are no longer secrets. Investigative reporter Sandy Frost, as well as the New York Times and the Buffalo News have splashed their findings across their front pages.

Three Masons/Shriners/Jesters — a judge, a former police captain, and an attorney — have pleaded guilty in upstate New York to transporting prostitutes across state lines to service "brothers" at Jester parties. Gary N. Martin, the head of the Jester organization, claims the group knows nothing about such activities, and says that the actions of these men were "extremely isolated events."

While the ROJ leadership denies everything, more and more Jesters and former Jesters have been spilling the secrets about what goes on at a "Book": humiliating hazings including having to walk around naked all weekend carrying a brick tied to a string tied to your penis, fellatio contests, rampant alcohol and drug use, and more.

Is it true? I can't say; I can only report what I've read and what I've been personally told by brothers who were members of the ROJ.

According to an article in the May 4 Buffalo News:

Retired State Supreme Court Justice Ronald Tills; his former law clerk, Michael R. Stebick of Orchard Park; and retired Lockport police Capt. John Trowbridge all pleaded guilty to transporting prostitutes across state lines. Trowbridge is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in Buffalo’s federal court, and Tills is scheduled for a pre-sentencing conference Thursday.

The FBI is still investigating a "human sex slave" network that involves a "massage parlor" where prostitutes who are said to have been at Jester functions "worked."

And Brazilian authorities have now brought charges against an American who allegedly organized "fishing trips" for Jesters which were really alcohol-drug-sex party cruises with underage Brazilian girls.

Why bring this up again, and why now?, you might be asking. Didn't I write months ago that I was done talking about the problems within Freemasonry, and that I would only write about "good stuff"?

Apparently, no news has been "good news," because I haven't written very much on this blog since I said that in early March.

In hindsight, though, I realize that despite my disgust, The Burning Taper exists and always has existed as a Point of Light in the Masonic World, a Light that has for nearly four years shined on the good and the bad within Freemasonry.

For most of its existence, The Burning Taper had one or the other, sometimes both, of these quotations as its masthead:

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. — Arlo Guthrie

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. — John 1:5

It's time these powerful statements were placed back into their positions of prominence, and time for The Burning Taper to return to its mission of shining the Light of Freemasonry upon Freemasonry.

Be Seeing You.

—W.S.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Ronald Tills | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Tornado kills Eastern Star sister in Arkansas

2009-04-14T11:08:00.009-04:00

The powerful thunderstorms that had my son and me in my basement playing cards by candlelight Friday evening pummeled north Georgia as far south as Atlanta, but didn't produce any major damage here even though we were under tornado warnings for hours.

But those same storm cells reeked havoc a day earlier as they passed through Arkansas.

A brother from Arkansas sent in these reports on Saturday and Sunday:

Last night (April 9, 2009), a tornado struck the town of Mena, in western Arkansas, devastating a large part of the town. One of the buildings that was apparently destroyed was Dallas Lodge #128, which was located at 1601 Hamilton Street.

As I understand it, the lodge was a cinder block building, and it was razed to the foundation while an Eastern Star meeting was in progress. One survivor said that about 20 people had been inside the building, but no word has yet been released about the total number of casualties.

It's probably safe to assume that all of the participants were injured, and it's very likely that some may have been killed. The most recent reports from the area say that at least one person has been confirmed dead, while more than 20 are reportedly injured, but it will be after daylight before a complete assessment of the damage can be made.

By all accounts, it would appear that a lot of people in Mena, Arkansas, could use some relief right now. I have no idea if the Masonic fraternity will attempt any sort of organized relief effort, but if they do, I presume donations would be accepted through the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, Most Worshipful Brother Ronnie Hedge, Grand Master.

Their contact information is available at the following link:

http://argrandlodge.org/

His follow-up a day later reads:

The latest word I've heard is that three people were killed by the tornado in Mena, but only one of those deaths occurred in the Masonic lodge. Apparently, a 70-year-old woman there was crushed beneath rubble of the building.

I haven't heard of any Masonic relief efforts, but the Shriners at Scimitar Temple in Little Rock have made the local news repeatedly seeking contributions for their efforts to assist the victims, presumably Masonic and otherwise.

Gathering of 8,000 Drums

2009-03-16T11:11:00.006-04:00

This Saturday, March 21, is the first day of spring. You are invited to celebrate the season by participating in The Gathering of 8,000 Drums, a continent-wide day-long event to "reactivate cosmic energy, heal historical wounds, and heal our Mother Earth...."

The local event will take place in the Cohutta Wilderness near Ellijay, Georgia. Other events will take place simultaneously at several locations across the United States and Mexico.

My friend Monika Ponton-Arrington, wife of a brother Mason, is coordinating the event here in the north Georgia mountains.

Children are welcome, as are all members of the brotherhood of humanity. I will be there with my 10-year old son to enjoy the spring equinox.

From the flyer:

You Are Invited

The Indigenous First Nations, Peoples, Communities and Organizations of the World and all Humankind According to a Prophecy of all Indigenous Peoples.

It is time to re-unify ourselves and rediscover for ourselves all the Seeds of the Four Directions in order to reactivate cosmic energy, heal historical wounds and heal our Mother Earth by respecting life and the liberty and dignity of our Peoples.

Coming together of all Peoples.

Indigenous Keepers of the Ancestral, Ceremonial and Medicinal
Sound of the Sacred Drums; Councils of Elders, Sages and Leaders of all Indigenous Nations, Peoples and Organizations; Indigenous Guides, Guardians and Spiritual Leaders, and All Traditions of Humankind and Elders of Georgia.

There will be a central fire.

On March 21, 2009, 11:00 a.m. to ? We will begin Drumming in Prayer and Song

Please bring your Drum.

This will be held on Old Cherokee Ball Field in the Cohutta Wilderness outside of Ellijay, Ga.
There will be "Primitive Camping"!! No Electricity. There are local hotels. Please call for more info.
You will be able to have your own personal area among the trees.
Please bring your own firewood, food and water.
This is a Gathering, not a Pow Wow. No vendors.
This event is not limited to just Native Americans. All people are welcome.

Directions: Hwy 52 West toward Fort Mountain. From town circle of Ellijay, Ga. Go 5.0 miles to Gates Chapel Rd. on right. Stay on Gates Chapel till you hit gravel, then bear right on Wilderness Trail F 90 to Forest Road 68. Make a sharp right towards lake. Go to top of a large Y. Turn left going toward to Consuaga Lake. You will see signs stating the area. It is exactly 13.5 miles from Gates Chapel. Bring your tent or camper, or reserve a room at one of several hotels in the area. There is camping near a lake about a mile down from the Gathering area, with bathrooms. Please note this is the Wilderness area, with the nearest town 14 miles away. [Map]

Please email questions to drums8000@yahoo.com or contact Monika at 706-636-4919 and leave a message.

Note: This will coincide with other Nations and with Mexico's ceremony of Mayan, Aztec and Toltec traditions on the Otomi Grounds.

Masonic brother shares hand-painted tracing board

2009-03-15T10:11:00.005-04:00

Brother Emmanuel Dumigron from Mount Hermon Lodge No. 118 in Asheville, North Carolina recently completed this impressive hand-painted in watercolors Third Degree Tracing Board.

The original size of this painting is 19" by 28". The designs were created using only a square, a compasses, and a 24-inch gauge.

A limited run of 50 reproductions was then created. Contact Bro. Dumigron if you would like one of these posters.

Masons | Masonic Tracing Board | Freemasonry | Masonic Artwork | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Jennifer Emick's symbol dictionary now online

2009-03-09T17:55:00.006-04:00

Our friend Jennifer Emick is no longer affiliated with About.com. Her exquisite collection of symbols is now hosted at SymbolDictionary.net.

Subtitled "Religious Symbols: A Visual Glossary," you'll find page after page of religious and spiritual symbols and icons, along with their histories.

Here you'll find Asian, Celtic, Eastern, Egyptian, Norse and Wiccan symbols, along with astrological and alchemical symbols and designs, plus a whole lot more. Parts of Jennifer's collection was seen in the Ron Howard film The Da Vinci Code, in an early scene showing Prof. Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, addressing students. The symbols flashed by on a screen behind him.

Surf on over to Jennifer's new site, and spend a while browsing through this astounding display of the world's symbolic history.

Symbols | Symbolic Dictionary | Jennifer Emick | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Eyes wide shut: A kinder, gentler Burning Taper?

2009-03-09T08:15:00.012-04:00

I once wrote that the flame of The Burning Taper may flicker and burn less bright for a while, but that it would never be extinguished.

And that's true.

But as you may have noticed, The Taper ain't what it used to be. Once (or so I choose to believe) it was the most-read Masonic-related blog in the world. Up to 14,000 unique visitors dropped by each month. I was sometimes writing two or three posts a day, often stirring up controversy or shining a light on the darker side of Freemasonry.

I enjoyed it immensely.

So what happened? Burnout? Apathy?

No.

Like the survivors on the television series Lost, who for a while were having their lives changed over and over by shifts in time, my life changed, in a couple of ways.

For most of the time I've published The Burning Taper, I had a nice, cushy job with an ample salary. Much of my work I could do with a few keystrokes on my computer. Writing articles for The Taper just came naturally, mixed in between button-pushing for work.

The recession hit the company I was working for early, late last summer, and along with several co-workers across the country, my employment contract was not renewed. I had to find new work, and join the majority of workers who actually get up and leave their house each morning.

So, obviously, my mind and my time were taken up with things non-Masonic and non-Burning Taper-related.

My intention over the past three and a half years in publishing The Burning Taper has never been to "destroy" Freemasonry, as some have suggested. What I have been doing is exploring and investigating Masonry, to discover what it "really" is, from my own perspective. From the first day I spoke to my investigating committee, it has never seemed like what I expected it to be, or what it is billed to be, or even what those men on the investigation committee assured me that it truly was.

I've discovered Freemasonry is a "whole 'nuther animal."

It isn't a giant conspiracy to control the world as the fundie Christian wackos would have us believe, though, as I quickly found out, there are conspiracies and cabals galore in Masonry, even in my own lodge.

Neither has it appeared to really be "dedicated to the holy Saints John, erected to God..." as we're told. Religious hypocrisy abounds, as I also soon discovered, again in my own lodge.

Don't get me wrong. I still love Freemasonry — the concept, anyway — and over the years I have come to know, love and trust many Masons who, like me, see in Masonry a real brotherhood based on compassion and mutual respect for our fellow human.

But by and large, especially here in the South, I've met or heard about way too many Masons who use their supposed "power" to try to control (and sometimes wreck) others' lives, or who use Masonry as a "cover" for their shenanigans, racism, and intolerance.

Even worse than that, though, are the Masons who remain in denial about the wrongs they see done in the name of Freemasonry, and the many sheep who blindly follow their "leaders" because they think their "obligations" are to men, not God.

A certain set of events last autumn is what directly led to me posting less regularly to The Taper, and to my having much less interest in Masonry in general.

I interviewed two Masons — one by email, and the other face-to-face in a three-hour conversation. One was a former member of the Royal Order of Jesters; the other was still an active member of the Jesters. One of the men is a fourth-generation Mason; his grandfather was Grand Master of his state's grand lodge. I saw an official printed "program" for a recent national Jester meeting. On that program I saw that a recent Grand Master from my own state was a Jester, and I recognized the names of other "high-ranking" Masons from Georgia.

Everything you're heard or read about the Jesters is true, according to my sources. The Jesters meet regularly, in four-star hotels all across the country, for what can best be called "sex parties."

My two sources told similar stories. They both said the actions of former judge Ronald Tills and his Masonic Jester pals in New York state, who have pleaded guilty to transporting prostitutes across state lines to attend Jester parties, are typical of Jesters, and are not simply "isolated incidents" of a "few bad apples."

I have no reason to doubt them.

Upon advice of several brothers whose counsel I value and trust, I never published these interviews, and won't, because neither source wanted his identity revealed. And without "verification," who would believe them?

Would these interviews put The Taper on the front page of The New York Times? I doubt it. Corruption, law-breaking and "perversion" don't attract headlines like they once did, unless the subject is mega-famous. People still love Michael Vick and Michael Phelps and Michael Jackson. Why would they care that a bunch of wrinkled old Freemasons like to get naked and jack off while watching a hooker go down on the new guy?

Would most rank-and-file blue lodge Masons even believe my sources? I doubt it.

I'm not disgusted that this kind of activity goes on. Whatever consenting adults do behind closed doors is okay with me.

But I am disgusted that it goes on under the umbrella of Freemasonry.

That's the last I intend to say about the Jesters, and hopefully the last "negative" thing I write about Freemasonry. If you want to know more about the Jesters, search this blog. There have been several articles about them in the past year or so.

When I begin posting regularly again to The Burning Taper, I intend to focus on positive, uplifting ideas about how we can heal and improve ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The Taper won't be about Freemasonry per se, but it will, I hope, encourage true Masonic tenets and ideals. Life is much too short to focus on the negative, as I have for the past few years, and now that I've taken both your consciousness and mine to the lowest of the low in the "family" of Freemasonry by discussing the Jesters' whoring around, the only place we can go is Up.

Masons | Royal Order of Jesters | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

It ain't Bible

2009-02-11T07:27:00.009-05:00

Religious people continue to amuse me and sometimes baffle me.

Whether it's the Pope being asked to resign over lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying priest, or the Reverend Ted Haggard making talk-show rounds hawking a book about his sexual sins, the behavior of godly men often provides a chuckle.

But it's the fundamentalist Christians who often make me do a double-take.

A few days ago I was driving along a highway in north Georgia, the buckle of the Bible-belt. I came up behind a late-1990's lavender-colored pickup truck.

Attached to the rear of the truck were two large white vinyl magnets. One of them bore a representation of the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. I couldn't read the wording over the tablets.

I had no trouble reading the other magnet, though. Emblazoned in huge block letters, it said:

IF IT AIN'T KING JAMES
IT AIN'T BIBLE

Eventually, I passed the truck, and couldn't resist checking out the driver. Long blond hair was all I could see. Just as I was thinking, "Aha, a young woman caught up in a Christian cult!," the driver turned, revealing a thin, 50-something year old man with a cheesy pencil-thin blonde mustache of the type I haven't seen since the 1970s. He looked more like an aging hippie than he did a "mountain man."

After I passed him, the incongruities increased again. The front of the truck bore a license plate painted with what I always considered a Catholic symbol: the bleeding heart of Jesus.

Christians | King James Bible | Religion | North Georgia | Christianity | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin

2009-02-04T13:35:00.006-05:00

In our never-ending quest to bring you news of anything even remotely related to monkeys, The Burning Taper invites you to participate in Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday Celebration.

Nearly 34,000 Facebook users have already joined the Facebook group "Happy Birthday Charles Darwin." The group is shooting for 200,000 members by Feb. 12, Darwin's birthday.

For more information, to join, or to submit movies of your favorite monkeys singing "Happy Birthday" to Chuck, check out the Happy Birthday Charles Darwin website, or go directly to the group's Facebook site.

I've found no evidence that Charles Darwin was a Freemason, but based on both "legitimate" Masonic websites and conspiracy websites, we find that Chuck's grandfather, whom some conspiracists say passed on his evolutionary beliefs to Charles (nevermind the fact that grandpa had been dead seven years when Chuck was born), was in fact a Mason, as was at least one of his sons and grandsons. This passage reportedly from Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, as quoted in John Daniel's book Scarlet and the Beast Volume II, discusses the Darwin-Masonic connection:

Before coming to Derby in 1788, Dr. [Erasmus] Darwin had been made a Mason in the famous Time Immemorial Lodge of Cannongate Kilwinning, No. 2, of Scotland. Sir Francis Darwin, one of the Doctor's sons, was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge, No. 253, at Derby, in 1807 or 1808. His son Reginald was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge in 1804. The name of Charles Darwin does not appear on the rolls of the Lodge but it is very possible that he, like Francis, was a Mason.

Help for the Widow's Son

2009-01-28T14:28:00.010-05:00

After hearing about several brothers and friends being laid off their jobs or fearing potential layoffs, and especially after reading the sad story on Bro. Greg Stewart's Masonic Traveler blog today about the brother who took the lives of his family and himself as a result of his financial difficulties, I decided to do my part in helping relieve brothers who may also have found themselves facing financial or employment difficulties.

I have created an email list wherein Freemasons can share information about job opportunities and job needs, post their resumes, and otherwise share brotherly love by helping each other in these financially uncertain times. The list is a way for Masons to share with other Masons on a more personal level than on an open forum or blog.

For now, this list will be unmoderated and open to anyone, Freemason or not, who wishes to contribute to it or read it.

It is my hope that the list will enable Masons with opportunities to connect with Masons who are seeking opportunities, and to bring together brothers who just need someone to listen or talk to on a more personal level.

The list is not intended as a place to discuss Masonry; it is a service to help others and to find help. Spam, arguments, and unmasonic comments are not acceptable, and those who violate this will be removed from the list.

To join the list, simply sign up here ( http://lists.burningtaper.com/listinfo.cgi/masonicjobs-burningtaper.com ).

Once you have created your account, you will be given the email address to send your posts to.

Your email will be forwarded to everyone else who has joined the list, and they can reply to the list as a whole, or to you privately.

Be patient; the system may take a day or two to properly propagate across the Internet.

Feel free to post the link anywhere Masons gather — online as well as on your lodge's bulletin board. Tell your grand lodge officers about the link. Let's network all of Masonry to help each other weather this economic tsunami.

Though I personally have been using the screen-moniker of "Widow's Son" online for the past several years, I am well aware, as I hope you are, that we are all The Widow's Son, and that yes, there is help — and hope — for us all.

Masons | Masonic Charity | Jobs | Freemasonry | Employment | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

The stink of the missing link

2009-01-27T09:30:00.005-05:00

The Burning Taper has long been fascinated by monkeys, and has written many times about them.

I believe it was the late Robert Anton Wilson who once wrote that the basic difference between monkeys and men is that monkeys mark their territory by flinging feces, and men mark their territory with ink on legal documents.

The two concepts clashed on Monday in San Diego when a defendant in court suddenly smeared his attorney with feces, then hurled poo at the jury box.

The judge declared a mistrial and increased his bail from $250,000 to one million dollars.

Monkeys | Feces | Anthropology | Robert Anton Wilson | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

... And the Great Architect is thus honored

2009-01-27T08:40:00.006-05:00

Michael Hoffman's article began reasonably enough, by quoting the New York Times.

His story was a look into last week's Great Flub, when Justice John Roberts misquoted the Presidential Oath while swearing in President Obama.

Was Obama officially president at noon, or not until he actually took the Oath? Or was he not president until he properly repeated the Oath verbatim later? These are interesting questions, though not earthshaking except perhaps from a (now) historical point of view.

Or is there something more sinister going on, he wonders.

The Great Reveal only comes in the final few paragraphs.

Yep, it's a Masonic conspiracy!

Read it here.

And then read the comments following the article. Wingnuts from both sides of the axle have offered up their own conspiratorial tangents.

Masons | Masonic Conspiracy | Great Architect | Freemasonry | Barack Obama | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Wishing you the best in 2009

2008-12-31T16:24:00.003-05:00

I wish for all my brothers and sisters, Masonic and otherwise, a New Year filled with all the best. May all your visions, goals and dreams come true in 2009.

— Widow's Son

Image: New Year's Eve 2007, Sydney, Australia

Masonic Corral #2

2008-12-08T12:01:00.006-05:00

For the past week or so, there's been a hitch in the giddy-up over in the Masonic Corral. It looked like newer comments weren't being posted, yet the "new posts" section over on the right of every page indicated there were new posts.

It seems the Corral has outgrown its fences after a nine month pregnancy.

The newer posts are actually being logged. However, on the main pages, apparently there can only be 200 posts.

But if you click on the fine print "- 208 posts -" (currently, 208; this will continue to increase if you continue to leave comments there) just below the title "Masonic Pissing Contest Gets Corralled," it will take you to a page showing the 200 original comments. There's a link at the bottom of that page that says "newer." Follow that link to comments numbered higher than 200.

But let's make things simple.

Consider THIS entry, the one you're now reading, as your new Masonic Corral.

If you've forgotten its purpose, please read the original post again. Then return to THIS post if you feel the need to violate your obligations by speaking ill of your Masonic brethren, or if you want to play "My Masonry is better than your Masonry."

— W.S., still sheriff of these here parts

Masons | Masonic Corral 2 | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

That's bleeping bull bleep!

2008-12-05T18:15:00.007-05:00

Some anonymous someone said, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Bro. Rudyard Kipling wrote, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

And the late George Carlin informed us that, at least in 1978, seven particular words will "infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war... 400,000 words in the English language and there are seven of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is. 399,993 to seven."

What makes a word "dirty," or "vulgar," or "profane"?

Earlier this week, on consecutive days, a judge in Cincinnati sentenced two men — one a black gangmember unhappy his trial wouldn't begin until February, the other an attorney representing himself in a civil matter — to six months in jail for contempt for using one or more of Carlin's dirty words in his courtroom.

Millions of English-speaking people use Carlin's words in their normal daily dialogues, and their listeners aren't offended. Millions of other English-speaking people are also familiar with those words, but find them objectionable and offensive.

Why do some consider certain words proper for use anywhere and at anytime, and others feel they are so "bad" that people should go to jail for using them?

Does the offensive power of certain words reside in the words themselves, in the sound vibrations of the words, in their meanings, or is it that some people are just "programmed" to be offended by them?

Jamel Sechrest reacted to the judge telling him he would have to remain in jail until his case came to court in February by saying, "That's fuckin' bullshit." The judge immediately said, "You don't say bullshit in my court," and cited him for contempt.

The next day, as attorney Michael Brautigam and opposing attorney Peter Koenig turned to leave the bench after conferring with the judge, Brautigam called Koenig a "fucking liar." The judge overheard him, and cited him for contempt, sentencing him to the same length of time behind bars as he had Sechrest the day before.

I'm not saying the judge should have, or shouldn't have, done what he did. That's his prerogative. His house, his rules.

I'm just wondering why some words offend some people.

Some of you probably winced when you read those two "awful" words above.

Why?

Both are simply descriptions of natural functions that all humans and animals do regularly. Neither act is foreign to any of us.

And, oddly, if we use Latin words to describe those same acts, no one takes offense. In fact, we tend to "worship" people, like medical doctors, for example, who use Latin words to describe bodily functions and body parts.

Coitus. Feces.

Those words have little or no "power," and usually offend no one.

Yet their Anglo-Saxon synonyms do.

Why?

Why do words that describe copulation and defecation upset people, yet words like "hate" and "kill" have no ill effect?

Granted, I don't like it when I'm out in public with my 10-year old son and we overhear someone — usually a teenager or young adult — using certain words. I don't want my son to hear those words, or to ever use them. I'm certain he knows them, and he knows — because we've discussed it — that certain words are "crude," or that they offend certain people, and his mother and I have taught him to be respectful, courteous and thoughtful.

But still... I wonder WHY those words, and not others, are offensive.

In the case of the two men in court, yes, they were being disrespectful to the judge's sense of courtroom decorum. But would the judge have reacted the same way had Sechrest said, "That's a load of crap!" (which would mean the same thing as what he did say) or "That's not fair!"? Was the judge upset that someone would question his authority, or was it that someone used one (or two, in Sechrest's case) of the Carlin no-no's?

To those of you who winced when you read the actual "dirty words" I wrote above when I could have used the modern newspaper codes of "the F-word" and "the S-word," I ask: Why is the code less offensive to you than the actual words, since you most certainly know what words the codes refer to. Those words are already in your brain and nervous system. You've simply chosen to have a different response/reaction to those words than other people who don't find them offensive.

These are things I wonder about when instead I should be doing something more productive.

In closing, let me quote the words of Jason Mraz, who sang, "Well, I'm almost finally, finally out of words."

Words | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Black and white North Carolina Masons sign 'peace treaty'

2008-12-02T08:07:00.006-05:00

Last week the "white Masons" and the "black Masons" in North Carolina stopped pretending each other didn't exist, and got together in a two-hour "ceremony full of formality and speeches" to sign a resolution of recognition the Charlotte Observer called a "peace treaty" and a "reconciliation."

"Today's a historic day, because we're here to say we're brothers again," said M.W. Bro. David Cash, a Methodist minister from Kannapolis and grand master of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina.

Sitting at the same table in the old House chambers of the state Capitol where North Carolina's resolution to secede from the Union in 1860 was signed, Bro. Cash and M.W. Bro. Milton "Toby" Fitch Jr. of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Its Jurisdictions, signed the document officially recognizing each other's Masonry.

"We are of the same family," said Bro. Dan Blue, a Prince Hall Mason and state legislator from Raleigh. "This is an opportunity to complete a circle."

Congratulations, North Carolina brethren!

Okay, now it's Georgia's turn. As I've done each year since The Burning Taper went online, I call upon the newly "elected" Grand Lodge of Georgia and its new grand master, M.W. Bro. Edward Jennings, Jr., to recognize Prince Hall Masons.

Just do it!

Image: N.C. grand masters Toby Fitch and David Cash in prayer, Nov. 21, 2008

Masons | Prince Hall Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of North Carolina | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

For what are you thankful?

2008-11-27T07:34:00.005-05:00

It's Thanksgiving Day, 2008.

Our nation, our world, our economy, our politics, our brotherhood, and perhaps even your own life, are in disarray, change, flux.

What eternal ideals and anchors remain for you? For what are you eternally thankful? What does Thanksgiving Day mean to you?

Masons | Thanksgiving | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Pentecostal preacher provokes protests of pot pipe peddling

2008-11-14T09:32:00.031-05:00

That old maxim taught in Quantum Mechanics 101, the one about how the experimenter always affects the experiment, holds true in the Macro World as well. Yesterday, my observation of a public event led to some strange interactions.

About 4:30 Thursday afternoon, I was driving home from a business appointment in Dawsonville, Ga., about 40 miles from my hometown. As I passed a shopping center with a gas station/convenience store out front, I noticed a large gathering of people lined up along a 200-yard stretch of the highway. I was driving too fast to read most of their signs, but I was able to catch one of them: "Bongs are wrong."

I turned around as soon as I could, and pulled into a nearby bank's parking lot, and took in the scene. Next to the bank was a Chevron station/convenience store. Four or five teenagers were playing catch with a football, and four sheriff's cars were in the parking lot, with a small group of people and the officers standing around. Along the highway were about 80 people, including probably 20 children aged 10 or under, holding paperboard signs. I couldn't read the signs, as their backs were to me, but on several of the signs' backsides, I could make out pro-life, anti-abortion messages. Apparently, the people were into conservation, getting double-use out of their poster paper. (I found out later this group also used to conduct protests outside an adult bookstore a mile further down the road.)

I walked into the store's parking lot, and hearing nothing of interest other than an employee from the nearby McDonald's trying to get a deputy to stop people from blocking access to the restaurant, I went towards the man with the megaphone and his nearby disciples.

"Don't shop at Chevron!," Megaphone Man (later, I found out he was a local ~~Pentacostal~~ Pentecostal pastor) shouted. "You can buy that gas elsewhere," he yelled at people at the gas pumps.

I was wearing a business-suit yesterday, looking quite spiffy in a white shirt and tie. I'd left my jacket in the car. I looked quite out of place, and apparently ominous, in the crowd of sweatshirted, bluejeaned protestors.

"What's going on?," I asked someone in my best blog reporter voice.

"We're protesting this store selling drug paraphernalia," one man told me. I asked if the gathering was impromptu or planned, and who was behind it. Apparently, one or more local churches had been planning it for some time, and it had been mentioned the day before on local TV. Interesting, local TV in Dawsonville would mean one or more of the Atlanta stations, as there is no local TV in north Georgia. Odd, there were no reporters at the event yesterday. Except, well, me.

Apparently, for the past two years, several stores in the area had been selling rolling papers, bongs, and, according to the protesters, "crack pipes." In Georgia, these items can legally be sold to adults by stores holding a license to sell tobacco as long as they pretend they are just for tobacco.

Four of the five stores had bowed to public pressure and stopped selling the offending merchandise, I was told. The Chevron station was the last holdout, and the fundamentalist churches were hopping mad.

"We love you," the preacher shouted at the store, "but we love our children more." This line varied during the event, with "children" sometime being replaced with the word "community."

"Stop killing our children!," the preacher continued.

I politely asked a few questions, and politely listened to the answers, remaining neutral, just wanting to know what was going on. I had no dog in this fight. I don't buy bongs, I don't go to a ~~Pentacostal~~ Pentecostal church, and I didn't need gasoline.

Then one man asked me, "Do you support us?" and I politely replied, "I'm just an observer." Apparently in this particular religious community, you're not allowed to not have an opinion, as I found out soon enough. It's more of that "either you're for us or against us" mentality that was so obvious during the recent national election season, a topic I've been thinking of writing about here on The Taper for the past couple of weeks.

One man proudly beamed, "Isn't it great Christians can come together in civil disobedience like this?!"

A man further down the line told me just as proudly, "We even have a permit for this gathering!"

Some civil disobedience, huh, having a parade permit?

I moved on down the line of people, taking snapshots with my cellphone camera. Everyone was happy to smile and have their picture taken, proudly showing off their signs.

About ten prepubescent girls were doing a series of cheers and a dance routine, singsonging something about Jesus being their "high."

I was about halfway down the line when a woman, probably around 30 years old, someone whom I'd already passed by without photographing, shouted out, "Don't let the man in the white shirt take your picture!"

Of course, I immediately turned around, walked in front of her, and said, "Say cheese."

Before I could snap her photo, she screamed at me, "You take my picture and I'll sue the pants off you!" I can't recall the last time I saw anyone flare up with so much anger so quickly.

From out of nowhere, a self-appointed bouncer [see top photo] stepped in front of her and said, quite menacingly, "Don't you take her picture!" I took his instead.

This man, whom I found out later was an off-duty sheriff's deputy, spent the rest of the time I was there walking along behind the line, watching my every move, like one of those big security guys you see standing in front of the stage at a rock concert.

Why would a woman standing along a public highway, supporting a cause by waving a sign, think she wasn't fair game for being photographed? It was attention she and her fellow sign-wavers were seeking, wouldn't you think?

I meandered on down the line, snapping more pictures of the protesters without protest. Like before, the sign-toters smiled and waved their signs as I walked by.

I went back to the parking lot and leaned against my car, still fascinated by what was going on. My workday was done, so I just kicked back and watched the show, pondering how interesting it was that two tenets of our national way of life were clashing here, free speech vs. free enterprise.

Cars and trucks were zipping by on the highway, many slowing to repeatedly blow their horns. One car slowed, beeped, and then "burned rubber." Immediately, an unmarked law enforcement vehicle took off after him, and pulled him over still within sight.

More people were showing up to participate in the event, and parked near me. A few cordially greeted me as they walked by. A couple of older gents stopped and chatted with me. One told me the man with the megaphone was Ricky Stepp, the pastor of a local ministry known as "The Father's House." (Google it — I'm not giving them a free link. The pastor's website shows that he has two congregations, one in Dawsonville and one in Toccoa, Ga. His evangelical churches are affiliated with the donation-supported Crown Financial Ministries, which teaches scripture-based home-budgeting, as well as with A Beka Book home-schooling curriculum programs which teach creationism to its students. That fact might also explain the many misspelled words I saw on their hand-printed signs.)

And still, the Bouncer stared at me.

On the highway, a pickup truck slowed, and its youthful passenger shouted to the crowd, "Fuck you crazy Christians!"

Other than the foul-mouthed passenger, most passersby seemed to be honking their horns in agreement with the protesters.

Suddenly, the man (he was no older than 25, perhaps much younger) who had asked me earlier if I supported them walked up to me. He introduced himself, and proffered his hand to shake. I shook his hand, and told him my first name.

"And...?," he replied.

"And what?"

"Most people who introduce themselves to me give me their first and last names."

"Do they?," I responded, and left it at that.

He then asked me, quite seriously, assuming he already knew the truth, if I was the attorney for Chevron. See what wearing a dress shirt and tie in north Georgia will do to you/for you?

I told him, "No, I'm just passing through and found this interesting."

I'm certain he didn't believe me.

We chatted for a couple of minutes. I asked him if he was a Baptist, and he proudly said, "No, ~~Pentacostal~~ Pentecostal."

What began as a discussion of the meth problem in north Georgia (not that bongs in a convenience store have much to do with crazy meth addicts blowing themselves up cooking the stuff or killing themselves using the stuff) quickly turned into him ranting about how "God's will as given in the Bible must be done before the end times." I stopped paying attention. He clearly had already made up his mind about everything, and discourse and communication became impossible. Besides, in his mind I was an unrepentant, sinful, lying lawyer intent on "killing the children."

He went back into the crowd, and probably reported me to the pastor and the bouncer as being Chevron's on-the-spot attorney.

Too bad he didn't see the Masonic emblem on the back of my car. What would he have thought then?

A man from the protest line shouted at me, "Brother, do you want to hold one of our signs?!"

"No, thank you," I replied.

From the parking lot came a young man of maybe 22, an educated, nerdy-looking guy, talking on his cell phone. I couldn't help but overhear his part of the conversation, which went something like this: "We should all take off work right now, get our "Bongs not Bombs" t-shirts, and get over here."

It was starting to get dark, so no one would have noticed his t-shirted friends anyway. The bullhorn preacher called his flock back into the fold, i.e., a large huddle, where they all joined hands.

I overheard one young man say to another as they were walking back to the preacher, probably in response to a car that had flashed its headlights at them, "Lord! Blind them!"

"They're already blind," his partner replied.

As I expected, the hand-holding huddle held a prayer, the words of which I could not make out. Perhaps they prayed for me, too, the "man in the white shirt."

A megaphoned "Amen!" accompanied each participant's shouted "Amen!," and the crowd erupted in applause. Several horn-honks from cars who had been taking up space in the Chevron's parking lot filled the air.

As the crowd broke up, one man shouted to me, "We love you, brother!"

I got in my car and drove home.

Images: A protest rally at the corner of Ga. 400 and Ga. 53 in Dawsonville, Ga., November 13, 2008. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Update, Nov. 25: This article has been revised to correct the spelling of the word "Pentecostal."

Pentecostals | Protests | Dawsonville, Ga. | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

How to be a (modern) gentleman

2008-10-28T08:04:00.007-04:00

I came across some advice originally printed in the London Times, advice that all of us might well follow, but more especially, those of us who are Freemasons.

Feel free to add your suggestions to the list.

How to be a (modern) gentleman

1. Some things don't change: say please and thank you and ask questions about other people rather than talk about yourself.

2. Be punctual. Tardiness does not make you look important, it turns you into an arrogant incompetent who thinks that his time is more important than other people's.

3. The modern gentleman cares about the planet. Be environmentally aware (but not obnoxious about it).

4. Open doors for people and stand up when they enter a room, but do this for men as well as women. The modern gentleman doesn't treat women like porcelain.

5. Be modest. Bragging is distinctly ungentlemanly.

6. Be a good father. Nothing is less charming than a man who leaves childcare to women.

7. Be honest about wherever you have come from in life. Pretension is spineless.

8. Flirt — with everyone. Good flirting is a form of politeness. Pay compliments and put your companion at ease.

9. Do not phone/text/check your BlackBerry incessantly.

10. Dress tidily. Whatever style you are going for, scruffiness just isn't in.

Masons | Masonic Gentlemen | How to Be a Gentleman | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Toward a stronger, more vibrant Freemasonry

2008-10-20T08:51:00.005-04:00

This is the ninth in our series of essays from guest bloggers on the topic "Masonic harmony, unity and discord." This one is by Bro. Nick Johnson, publisher of the Masonic blog "Millennial Freemason." My thanks go out to Bro. Nick and to all who are participating in this project.

Toward a Stronger, More Vibrant Freemasonry
by Bro. Nick Johnson

All nature is but art unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,
One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.

— Alexander Pope

Before I begin with my analysis of the theme, Masonic harmony, unity and discord, I would like to thank the Widow's Son for giving me this opportunity to take part in this wonderful and insightful series of essays.

Let us begin: What's the problem with discord? It is my simple belief that although conflict may promote the problems of Freemasonry, it can also carry the hope of our Fraternity's future. In fact, through the promotion of both discord and harmony, in equal measures, we, as a Fraternity, can grow stronger and more vibrant. While studying conflict and human societies (particularly Freemasonry), it is essential that we look to history and the modern research in Conflict Studies to fully understand this subject.

The word "Discord" originates from the Roman goddess Discordia who had a counterpart in Greece named Eris. In Greek, the name Eris means "strife." Strife was commonly regarded in Greece to have two different personas. The first was equally abhorred and praised, as she caused harm but also strengthened the constitution of men. The second was feared and involved the murderous killings of war and was the sister of Ares. The most famous incident involving Eris was when she threw the Apple of Discord amongst the three major goddesses in the Pantheon, Aphrodite, Athena or Hera, when she was uninvited to a banquet for Peleus and Thetis’ wedding. Inscribed on the Apple was the phrase, "καλλιστι" or transliterated, "Kallisti" meaning "for the Fairest." As Zeus did not want to get involved, he gave the choice to Paris. As we all know, this choice eventually led to the Trojan War. This little trinket, a single apple, led many men to suffer and die.

As is always the case in the pantheon of Greek Gods, Eris had an opposite named Harmonia; in Rome, she was Concordia. As her name implied, she was the goddess of Harmony and represented a love for civic order and unity. And as always seems the case in Greek mythology, she was to be cursed. As a wedding gift, she was given a necklace, a necklace which brought misfortune to all who wore it.

We, as Freemasons, seek to receive the Golden Apple only to find it is out of our reach or in the hands of someone else. We become jealous with our neighbor, and find faults to take away from him what we believe rightfully belongs to us. Yet, this will to strive for what is better or what we deserve is not, in and of itself, an evil characteristic. Also, at times when we are given gifts, we become complacent which attracts misfortune. In fact, conflict occurs everyday and it is how it is dealt with which determines if it is constructive or destructive. Conflict is actively explored in academic circles to understand its origins and quell its harmful effects.

While attending law school, I participated in the Dispute Resolution Institute's certificate program. One of the required classes was Theories of Conflict. Theories of Conflict explores these themes of harmony and discord, separate struggles and unifying causes. The underlying theme in the course was not if conflict was inherently bad; it was the exploration of controlling conflict, especially when conflict becomes escalated.

According to Pruitt and Kim, authors of the book, Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement, conflict is a "perceived divergence of interest." Conflict is not merely a battle between parties, with winner takes all as the goal, but what we perceive as a divergence that leads to a zero sum game. This divergence gives parties the impression that there is only one solution, "mine not yours."

Sometimes conflict is very constructive. The best, current example is the presidential election. Both candidates disagree on certain issues and we, as citizens, must decide who we believe will do the best job as president. We may yell at the TV during the debates and chastise the attack ads, but we all agree that a President must be chosen and our emotions must be in check once the election is over.

Conflict involves both physical and psychological aspects. So if, as a Freemason, we find a policy unacceptable, for example, PHA recognition, we perceive a divergence of interest with the brother on the other side. We become physiologically shaken and psychological shocked by what our brothers say, but we may still live in relative peace. It is when a conflict is escalated, that it can become more destructive and lead to acrimony among the parties, and can quickly get out of control.

Escalation is the concept whereby one party begins to use stronger tactics to put increased tension on the other party. During a conflict, parties regularly use tactics to “win” a conflict. However, as these tactics become more and more contentious, the parties will increase the type of tactic used to match or beat the other's tactic. This trading of barbs slowly turns into a spiral of escalation until the conflict reaches violence or another factor has begun to slow the climb and halt its progress.

Escalation is incredibly common in Freemasonry. Every person, from regular Mason, irregular Mason, and anti-Mason, uses power and stronger tactics to attempt to win a Masonic argument. We may attempt to ingratiate a person to come to "our" side. We may attempt to belittle the other side. However, it is often the case that these arguments begin up the spiral of escalation. I, myself, have been wrapped up in these fiery debates throwing words as darts instead using them as tools. As the Masonic conflict continues, we become less concerned with the disagreement and more concerned with "winning." It is at this time, that we become entrenched and it is only by deescalating the situation that we can keep Masonic harmony. But how do we deescalate this contentious situation?

We can deescalate it by remembering the precepts of our Fraternity: Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. When we get into an aggressive argument, we lose our fraternal bond, we become less concerned about relieving his suffering and we lose sight of what the truth is. So, what can we, as Masons, do about all this discord? Here is my advice: to those that believe that discord only brings destruction and suffering, remember that it is only through chiseling into a block and destroying its original character that we create something beautiful. And to those that believe that harmony must always be continued, at all costs, why is your gavel and chisel laying on the ground? The work is not over and you are behind schedule. We may have a disagreement with how we are working but we all agree that we are building a better society. Only by understanding both discord and harmony can we appreciate the unity that Freemasonry gives to all of its members.

"Our life is full of discord; but by forbearance and virtue this same discord can be turned to harmony." — James Ellis

— Bro. Nick Johnson

Masons | Masonic Harmony | Freemasonry | Millennial Freemason | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Small town fun at the drive-in theater

2008-10-14T14:38:00.006-04:00

There's a drive-in theater just up the highway about 15 miles from me. It's one of a small handful left in Georgia, and the only one within at least 100 miles of me. They always play first run movies, and it's always a lot of fun, whether I take my young son and his friends or I take a date there.

Just a moment ago, I checked its website, to see if there was anything playing this weekend that my 10-year old son (and I) would enjoy. There isn't. Beverly Hills Chihuahua is this weekend's feature. Even my son isn't entertained by those talking animal movies anymore (thankfully!).

But I noticed something kind of interesting is happening there tomorrow afternoon and evening, and thought I'd share it with you. It's a benefit for the local Shrine Club. From the Swan Drive-In's website:

The Swan Drive In Theatre is hosting a Fund Raising Event for the North Georgia Shrine Club on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008.

100% of all proceeds, admissions and concessions will go to the North Georgia Shrine Club.

From 5 PM until 7:30 PM will be Karaoke provided by Jimmy Stanley's "Showtime Karaoke." This is an open mike event. We encourage everyone who wants to participate in Karaoke to come out and sing.

Harold Lee will be performing as Elvis from 7:30 PM until 9 PM.

9 PM, the movie "Hancock" starring Will Smith, Rated PG13

Bring your lawn chairs and/or blanket, wear your poodle skirts if you want to, Elvis will have you Rocking! A Full Concession will be available, TRY OUT THE FUNNEL CAKES!

Classic Cars and Motorcycles, Car Clubs, Street Rods, etc. are urged to participate.

You can arrive at any time from 4:30 PM thru the entire evening.

Movie will end at approx. 10:30 PM

Admissions will be $6.00 for Adults, $3.00 for children, ages 4 thru 11.

Come join the fun and help raise funds for a good cause. This is a great opportunity to have fun and give support to North Georgia Shrine Club.

Space ice conks sleeping woman on head

2008-10-10T19:06:00.004-04:00

Tin-foil hats probably won't be much protection, but you might want to consider sleeping in a hard hat, after a six-pound chunk of "space ice" crashed through a sleeping woman's roof and bonked her in the head.

"Something woke me up," said Mary Ann Foster, who lives in York Township, Pennsylvania. "I felt my head and I had kind of a big — a kind of a bump."

The giant ice cube left a two-feet-across hole in her ceiling, WGAL reported. The iceball broke into three pieces after hitting her.

"If I had been over further, if I had be laying on my back, if a bigger piece had hit me, I could be dead," she said. "Just remember, you never know what's going to happen. Just enjoy everyday."

There you go. Enjoy every day. You never know when you'll get conked on the head by space ice.

Space Ice | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

CSA: The Confederate States of America

2008-10-10T08:07:00.015-04:00

This week I've been working with a 26-year old, college-educated, happily married black man in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He's not a Mason, but after noticing my Masonic ring, he struck up a conversation about Freemasonry. He knows a few Prince Hall Masons from Pennsylvania, men he went to college with.

After getting past the "do you guys really worship Satan?" stuff that had gotten into his head from too much Internet surfing, we discussed Masonry in an interesting and unique way, with him telling me some things he knows about the workings of Prince Hall lodges.

He also provided me with a unique perspective on what it's like to be an African-American in the South.

He lives in Georgia, right on the border with Tennessee, which is much more "integrated" than the lily-white county where I live in rural north Georgia. He asked how he could join a regular lodge in Georgia. We talked about how he'd never be allowed to do that because of the unwritten rules of racism here.

Granted, I've known him less than a week, but I've spent all day with him several days, and based on what I've seen so far, once I've known him the required time, I'd have no problem with signing his petition and recommending him based on his character.

He's as law-abiding as you or I, yet he's had much more interaction with the police than most of you reading this. Traffic stops, he says, have been and are so routine that he checks his brake and tail lights every couple of days, and always drives under the speed limit.

Once, he told me, sitting a stop light, he was approached by a police officer who told him he'd done a "random" license-plate check and discovered that the car he was driving was not the same color as shown in the records. The tag was on the proper make and model of car, but was light blue instead of white. He'd recently had the older model car repainted.

Apparently, this type of thing is fairly common when you're black in the South. Not being a cop or a black man, I wouldn't know.

But imagine how much worse it would be if the South had won the Civil War.

That's the premise of an intriguing 2004 film called CSA: The Confederate States of America. It's showing tonight — Friday, Oct. 10 — on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). Set your DVR to record it; parts of it you'll want to see more than once.

Imagine a world where the South won the War. Slaves weren't freed. Abraham Lincoln wasn't assassinated; he fled on the Underground Railroad, was captured, imprisoned and then exiled to Canada, where he died in 1905 lamenting that he had never "truly cared for the Negro." Jefferson Davis moved into the White House to run the country. Mexico and South America were eventually conquered by the CSA. America supported Hitler. Television programs and commercials were blatantly racist; you can even buy slaves from home shopping channels.

The movie is presented as if it's a British documentary about the history of America, and you get the feeling that you're watching it on a cheesy UHF channel late at night. During station breaks you're presented with news updates and local and national commercials.

Parts of the movie are high comedy and satire, but some of it is dead-on frightening in its depiction of institutionalized racism.

First in the alternative history of the nation, and later in news updates about current events, you meet a Kennedy-esque dynastic clan that has been involved in national politics since the Civil War. What happens to a fifth-generation senator with higher political ambitions is cruelly hilarious.

In this alternative world, blacks in America were kept subservient and uneducated; this point is counterbalanced with interviews with educated blacks from England and Canada, discussing the state of their brothers and sisters within the CSA borders.

I hope you get a chance to see this film. You can watch a trailer here.

Masons | Racism | Confederate States of America | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Bro. FDR's fireside chat: More comforting than anything Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, McCain or Obama has said

2008-10-09T21:01:00.010-04:00

If you're feeling stressed these days over the world's financial, moral and intellectual meltdown, you're not alone.

As Bro. Paul Harvey liked to say, "In times like these, it always helps to remember there have always been times like these."

If Bro. Harvey's colloquialism doesn't especially comfort you, perhaps words from another famous Freemason, one who steered this country through our previous economic depression and through much of World War II, here's a link to Brother and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Fireside Chats.

His very first fireside chat, given via radio on March 12, 1933, was titled "On the Banking Crisis." If you prefer to listen to the chat instead of read it, click here.

FDR was born in 1882, and died in 1945 while serving as the 32nd president of the United States. He served as president longer than any other person, being elected to four consecutive terms. He died in office, and was succeeded by his vice president, Bro. Harry S Truman.

Bro. Roosevelt was initiated October 11, 1911 in Holland Lodge No. 8, New York City. He participated in the Raising of his son Elliott (1910-1990) on February 17, 1933, in Architect's Lodge No. 519, also in New York City. He was present, but did not participate in the Degrees when two other sons, James (1907-1991) and Franklin D., Jr. (1914-1988) became members of Architect's Lodge on November 7, 1935.

FDR was made the first Honorary Grand Master of the Order of DeMolay on April 13, 1934 at the White House.

He was governor of New York from 1929-1933.

Bro. Roosevelt concluded his first chat, about the banking collapse of 1933, with the following words. They're more inspiring than anything coming out of Washington or New York these days:

...[T]here is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.

Casting your fake-vote for fake-president

2008-10-09T10:42:00.004-04:00

Paris Hilton | Fake-President | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's....

2008-10-07T06:20:00.009-04:00

Maybe it's baby Kal-El streaking to earth from the doomed planet Krypton.

Astronomers yesterday discovered an automobile-sized meteor hurtling towards our planet. It is predicted to burn up over Sudan this evening at 10:46 p.m. ET, according to Wired Science.

"A typical meteor comes from an object the size of a grain of sand," Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, which made the prediction, said in a statement Monday. Objects this size are what cause the nighttime streaks that many people think of as shooting stars. "This meteor will be a real humdinger in comparison!"

I hope it really is a red and blue cradle carrying a child who will grow into the Man of Steel. The world needs Superman.

Update, Thurs., Oct. 9: Earth survived. And Great Caesar's Ghost!, it was a big bang.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Superman.

Superman | Meteor | Sudan | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

1776-2008: America as we knew her, may she rest in peace

2008-10-03T15:04:00.009-04:00

Welcome to the New World (Dis)Order, and to the United Socialist States of America. Or is it still the same ol' place?

Just moments ago, Pres. George W. Bush signed into law the "Wall Street Bailout," shortly after the House approved the pork-laden "new" version of the bill they had rejected earlier this week.

Seven hundred billion dollars, a "really big number," in one dollar bills laid end to end, would stretch from the Earth to the Sun over 3,700 times (or 370 or 37,000 — knowledge of math doesn't seem to be a requirement anymore, especially in accounting). That's a lot of macaroni and cheese and tomato soup Main Streeters (and their children's children's children) will have to eat while the Wall Streeters renew their standing orders for caviar and champagne.

If you were against this bailout, how can you in good conscience now vote to elect either senator as U.S. president? Both Barack Obama and John McCain supported and voted for this bill that "gives away the farm" and our country.

Here is the list of U.S. representatives who voted yea and nay on Monday. It will be interesting to see who changed their votes today.

U.S. Representative Ron Paul warned against this financial meltdown many times. As you saw during the primaries, the mainstream media wouldn't let Dr. Paul express his views during the debates, and seldom wrote anything positive about him during his campaign.

Former U.S. Congressman Bob Barr is now the Libertarian Party nominee for president, and is being ignored by the press almost as much as Ron Paul was. If you don't like the direction our country is now heading — and as of today, it's heading in a direction we never thought possible — consider the only alternative we may have left. The bailout votes this week should have proven to the world that there really isn't a dime's worth of difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

Image: The U.S. flag flown upside down is a sign of distress, not of disrespect. Long may she wave.

Congress | Wall Street Bailout | Bob Barr | Libertarian Party | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com