Washington D.C. And the influence of Freemasonry

[Clio]

Posted on Wed, May. 18, 2005

Exhibit traces influence of Freemasonry

CARL HARTMAN

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Some of the most famous buildings in Washington, including the White House, are deeply marked by Freemasonry, the brotherhood that goes back to the cathedral builders of the Middle Ages, says a new exhibit.

The show is called "The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry and the Architecture of Washington D.C." It opened to the public Wednesday.

Peter Waddell, 49, a history painter born in New Zealand, contributed 21 pictures to the show. Now an American citizen, he puts emphasis on George Washington, shown as he dons his ritual Masonic apron on the way to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1792. Washington and 14 of his successors have been Freemasons, down through Lyndon Johnson.

Among the artifacts on view are a narrow white coffin strap, painted with Masonic symbols, used to lower Washington's body into the tomb at Mount Vernon.

Today's Freemasons owe their origin to associations of workmen who built cathedrals in Britain 700 years ago, though some believe in a connection with the mines where King Solomon took material for his Temple more than 2,000 years before that. Over the centuries the nature of Freemasonry changed. British lodges began to accept members who were not stonemasons. By the 1700s many lodges were called "speculative" - that is, they dealt in ideas rather than stone.

Members included people who were anything but workmen: the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington's aide and French statesman; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the musician; Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the German poet, scientist and statesman; King Frederick the Great of Prussia and four brothers of Napoleon.

On July 4, 1848, President James K. Polk, a Mason, presided over the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument, with the widows of Alexander Hamilton and President James Madison in attendance. Using the same Masonic trowel that Washington had used at the Capitol, Benjamin Brown French as Grand Master of Masons in Washington and clerk of the House of Representatives presented the symbolic Masonic tools and defined the meaning of the symbols to Freemason Robert Mills, the architect.

"The square, level and plumb are the working tools you are to use in the erection of this monument," he said. "You, as a Freemason, know to what they morally elude: the plumb(line) admonishes to walk upright in our several stations before God and man, squaring our actions by the square of virtue, and remembering that we are traveling on the level of time..."

Despite definitions, Freemasonry has met serious antipathy, embodied in a hostile edict from the Vatican in 1738. In the early 1800s there was an anti-Masonic Party in the United States, which won seven electoral votes and elected a governor in Vermont. The movement faded by 1836.

In the 20th century the governments of Benito Mussolini in Italy, Adolf Hitler in Germany, Francisco Franco in Spain and East European regimes under Nazi influence actively persecuted Freemasons along with Jews, often linking the two.

In the 1950s, the structure of the White House was found so weak that it was unsafe for the tenants, President Harry Truman and his family. The house was gutted, leaving only the outside walls, and rebuilt. Truman, who held high office in Masonry, explored the framework. He found several of the original stones with marks made by Freemasons among the construction workers, had them inscribed and sent them to Masonic lodges around the country.

"Congress put a stop to that," Waddell noted.

James Hoban, the original architect of the White House, was a Mason, and stonecutters he brought from Scotland formed a Masonic lodge of their own, naming him as charter member.

The exhibit is housed in a historic building, The Octagon, one of the oldest houses in Washington, where the treaty was signed ending the War of 1812. President Madison and his wife Dolley stayed there after British forces burned much of Washington, including the White House.

The exhibit and a series of lectures have been organized by the American Architectural Foundation and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia. The show will be on view through Dec. 31. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children and seniors.

ON THE NET

The Octagon: http://www.archfoundation.org/octagon/

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/11678587.htm

[Gail]

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Members included people who were anything but workmen: the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington's aide and French statesman; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the musician ; Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the German poet, scientist and statesman; King Frederick the Great of Prussia and four brothers of Napoleon.

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Re: Mozart: One of the theories to his death was that he disclosed Mason symbols in his opera "The Magic Flute" and was killed for it...

[Clio]

Wouldn't surprise me in the least... although now days... they're getting much more open...

Eyes to see and ears to hear.

[Restin]

I've run into something distressing over and over in the SDA members I meet. They are trained to have a reaction to so-called "conspiracy theory". Try to tell them about the Illuminati and jesuit subversion in world politics, and they land on you for being "paranoid" or sensationalist, and "just work on your faults instead of worrying about the world".

Well, I think it's time we see the handwriting on the wall. Tho we need to be as harmless as doves, we need also to be as wise as foxes. Satan is plotting and scheming to take the world. He doesn't do this in a vacuum, sitting on a cloud high up in the sky. He does it thru his agents in official positions, in the leadership of the nations. It is HOW Lucifer plans his final, last stand, rebellion against God.

Adventists are going around deliberately blind when they refuse to read about the Illuminati, Free masonry, and Jesuit movements in America, and elsewhere. Most people still think the Jesuits were just with the 1700's Conquistadors. This how the "very elect" will be deceived.

A good recent SDA book to read on this is "The Secret Terrorists", by Bill Hughes, available at most Adventist churches and book stores. and SDA healthfood shops.

[Nicodema]

I've run into the exact opposite: SDAs who see illuminati, etc. conspiracies everywhere -- Jesuit infiltration in the church, etc. It's like seeing a demon behind every bush.

If you'd ever been actually involved in any occult organization you'd have a much different viewpoint.

For the record, I have actually been involved.

[Nicodema]

Quote:

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Does that mean 'a demon in the bush is better than two in the hand'...or is it the opposite?

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Discussing demons in one's bush is not polite for mixed company.

[Nicodema]

Speaking of conspiratorial and nefarious influences ...

[]http://wilsonhellie.typepad.com/for_the_record/pictures/koolaid7.jpg[/]

[Gail]

Traditionally, Adventists haven't had as much problem within the church with Masonry as other denominations, particularly because EGW warned against it

There is an author who is an expert in this field who comes into our store periodically. He is called to speak in other churches about Masonry and that is his ministry. When we showed him some SOP counsel concerning the topic he was very interested

He has a very difficult job and does receive opposition from Christians regarding the Masons

One thing that I have noticed, though, is that nowadays there are more ex-Masons who are willing to disclose the secret ceremonies and signs. That has got to be progress

[Bravus]

For me there's a certain amount of 'well, duh!' factor about the Masonic influence in the US: have you looked at your cash lately? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Clio]

Bravus, most US Citizens have no clue as to the immense level of Masonic symbolism found throughout our country's monuments, capitol city, and currency.

"Well D'uh" is not a reaction most US citizens would have.

Clio

[Naomi]

Actually, I think many, if not most, US citizens are aware of the symbolism found throughout the country. Yes, even our own church members. However, they treat it as just that, symbolish. It appears that the popular thought process is that a symbol really doesn't mean anything unless you give it meaning.

[Clio]

I'm willing to stipulate that... I think...

But I find it difficult to reconcile such a thinking population with the plethora of comments of the following type:

"did you have difficulty exchanging Alaskan currency for US currency?"

"Does the current exchange rate favor your Alaskan currency?"

"I don't understand why Alaska is so cold. It's an island out in the Pacific according to the maps. Shouldn't it have a climate like Hawaii?"

"How do you heat your igloo without melting it?"

"Do you have indoor plumbing yet?"

"Oh! You have roads? When did they pave them?"

(I have been on the receiving end of each of these questions by people I considered of average intelligence and education prior to their asking!)

I am not sanguine that the average American or even the average Adventist does comprehend the symbolic meaning of the Masonic symbols used in our monuments, capitol, and currency.

Clio

[Gail]

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(I have been on the receiving end of each of these questions by people I considered of average intelligence and education prior to their asking!)

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Lord, help them