This file is copyright (c) 1997 The Philalethes Society and all rights
including any redistribution rights are reserved by the copyright holder.
Permission to quote from, redistribute or to otherwise use these materials
must be obtained from the copyright holder directly by contacting The
Philalethes, Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt
Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel: 416-293-8071 Fax: 416-293-8634 or
nking@freemasonry.org or nking@onramp.ca




Calling Masons Satanic is Folly

by Paul Harasim
Copyright (c) 1993 The Houston Post, Reprinted by permission

(What follows is a reprint of an article
that appeared in The Houston Post on Feb-
ruary 24, 1993)

If Dr. James Holly of Beaumont is
right, George Washington, the father of
our country, was a devil worshiper. Mar-
vin Zindler has to be one, too. Ditto for
Sam Houston and Presidents James
Monroe, William McKinley, Teddy
Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Har-
ding, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Tru-
man, Gerald Ford.

To take Holly's argument to its logical
conclusion, Irvin Berling was under the
influence of Satan when he wrote "White
Christmas." So was John Wayne when
he played in TRUE GRIT on the silver
screen. And astronaut Buzz Aldrin did
devil's work when he flew to the moon.

What makes these people satanic? Well
Holly says, its because they're Masons,
members of the most widely known fra-
ternity in the world--a fraternal group
that spends $250 million each year in the
United States on charities, including free
treatment of children at its network of 22
Shriners hospitals.

Now if we start thinking Holly's way--
that Masonry "springs from the pits of
hell and from the father of lies, Lucifer"
because the fraternity accepts people

from different religious groups as broth-
ers--chances are our friends would sug-
gest we get our heads examined.

But when Holly the Baptist wrote a
tract arguing that Masonry is satanic,
the Southern Baptist Convention de-
cided a study should be undertaken to
determine whether membership in a
Masonic Lodge conflicts with its beliefs.
It was not called Holly's Folly. It should
have been. Too many people had too
much time on their hands. If they had
become Masons, like one million other
Baptists, they could have found people
to help.

In Saturday's POST you probably read
that Masons are breaking their tradition
of keeping silent when criticized.
They've realized ignorance isn't bliss.
They worry that a negative finding
against their 4 million member organiza-
tion by the 15.3 million-member South-
ern Baptist Convention when it meets in
June could cost membership.

That should worry all of us who care
about children. The Shriners hospitals
alone have helped more than 500,000
children at no cost. It's a shame that the
Rev. Ed Young, the brilliant preacher at
Second Baptist Church and the presi-
dent of the Southern Baptist Convention
hasn't used his position as a bully pulpit
against this nonsense. With Amerlca s
charities hurting badly, as has been evi-
dence by United Way's problems, this
isn't the time for him to utilize a "don't
make waves" leadership style. Some-
thing tells me he understands the five-
pointed star sometimes used as a Ma-
sonic symbol is not a symbol of witchcraft
by the oldest symbol of man--the five
points refer to the head, the hands and
the feet.

Holly tries to argue Masonry is a reli-
gion. The Rev. Norman Vincent Peale,
himself a Mason, says no way. " Freema-
sonry has no dogma or theology," he
says. "It teaches that it is important for
every man to have a religion of his choice
and to be faithful to it...A good Mason
is made even more faithful to the tenets
of his faith by membership. "

Toleration, according to Holly, is
Masonry's blackest sin--a definite link
to the devil. Masonic leader Allan D.
Large has a memorable response to the
charge. "When you consider," he says,
"what intolerance has produced--the
Inquisition, the massacre of the inhabi-
tants of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, the
burning of Protestants at the stake, the
horrors of Hitler, the mass murders of
Stalin, the killing fields of Cambodia--it
is hard to believe that toleration springs
from the devil.

Oh, by the way, I'm not a Mason.

[This article will also be found on Com-
puserve in the Masonic Forum]
