Freemasonry

Extrapolation

A fraternal organization that flirts with secrecy and conspiracy, the Freemason organization dates back at least the 17th century, though there is good reason to believe that its origins go back several centuries further. Though their origins are lost in lore, their veil of secrecy suggests they were formed as a group of free thinkers, constrained from publicly air their disagreements with the medieval anti-scientific and anti-individualist climate. By the late 1700s, the Freemasons had reached their prime, enjoying a lofty membership and considerable influence over world affairs. Their membership has declined steadily over the last century, and in most of the free world today they have been reduced to actively recruiting new members.

The Freemasons have long maintained various interesting tensions inter-organizational tensions that have helped the organization to adapt to changing times.

• Exclusivity vs. Growth: The Freemasonic air of exclusivity has waned and ebbed over the centuries. When more popular, they are able to be more particular in selecting members of distinction; when less popular, they take what they can get. Some local Lodges have now even opened their ranks to such traditionally excluded groups as women and atheists.

• Secrecy vs. Image Control: The lure of secrecy, with all the promises of revealing occultist slogs of the esoteric is a big draw to potential new members. At the same time, the Freemasons have rarely been a truly secret society, and they have carefully crafted almost mythological lore through the careful dissemination of "insider information" and "secrets." True secret societies almost always operate under the threat of danger. The Mafia, the The League of Men with Fancy Gloves, the Underground Railroad and La Ligue d'Agenda de la Pinque for example, all conduct illegal activity, and therefore maintain close secrecy to guard against outside legal and political influence. Indeed, the Freemasons have operated under true secrecy under times of true danger. It is suspected, for example, that their origins date back to a time when members met to discuss pre-Enlightenment ideals - discussions that would have resulted in beheadings (or worse) under the feudal systems of the day. Likewise, present day Lodges in communist regimes operated under extreme secrecy. Bulgaria, for example, is suspected to have a burgeoning membership that risks death by joining.

• Thinking vs. Doing: Freemasons have long guarded their privacy via public claims that they exist simply as a group of free thinkers who avoid even discussing religious or political concerns. Despite this, they have long maintained a conspiratorial air bolstered by such brazenly open moves as swelling their ranks with public officers (including a large number of the founding fathers). Many political and religious organizations have long maintained that the Freemasons are much more active in shaping things than the let on. The Catholic Church, for example, has long been critical of the Freemasons, arguing that one can only serve one master (e.g., someone may function as a Freemason or as a Catholic - but not both). The Church's critical apex was reached in regards to the French Revolution, which the Church has formally accused of being largely shaped and instigated by Freemasons.

• Internal Reach vs. Local Control: The Freemasons are organized into local Lodges that are organized into Jurisdictions. Each Jurisdiction functions separately from all other Jurisdictions. Each is essentially free to establish its own procedures and policies. In some cases, certain Jurisdictions have changed their procedures and policies to such a degree that it is difficult to even classify them as Freemasons. This has resulted in a complex web of Jurisdictions that are related through formal recognitions and non-recognitions. This system of local control both strengthens and weakens the Freemasons as a whole. It offers strength the form of flexibility, wherein local Jurisdictions can respond to local needs, helping to ensure continued growth for the organization. On the other hand, this system limits the international scope of the organization because it can make international accord difficult to achieve. This should be kept in mind when hearing Freemasonic conspiracies that involve an international scope. It is, for example, difficult to image how the Freemasons could have been involved in the Philippine Revolution.

Non Canonical Text

Like the last wriggles of deflating balloon,
Or the twitches of worms cut in two;
Once puffed with vapor --
Now weazing on fumes

-- Miller, Arthur. Noted in margins of early draft of "Death of a Salesman". Circa 1948.

See Also

• Founding Fathers
• Geomachy

Desiderata

Name your favorite Franklin. He was a Freemason. Name your second favorite Franklin. Yep, he was a Freemason, too.

A.W. Slippers and Senator Locust B. Burley were Freemasons.