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This is not to say ALL, or even many, masons are corrupt. It is just that in the UK (which I specifically mentioned), masonry and associated secrecy has been too easily and frequently used as a conduit for very particular forms of corruption to the extent that masonry, in the UK, has become quite tainted in the public mind.

Most social organizations have been put to this purpose, particularly those with the long histories.

If the sins of the few taint the whole, then you've just bought the BNP reasoning for why Muslims should treated with suspicion.

Should we treat all non-heterosexuals as suspect  because of Geert Wilders and the rainbow banners that the BNP have started carrying at rallies?

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Tue Sep 7th, 2010 at 05:05:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Er - not really. Masonic corruption is a matter of public record. It's not the only form of corruption, but when you have a club that's the exclusive preserve of mostly older males who work in business, law-enforcement and law, supported by rituals which promote explicit mutual aid, then mutal aid is likely.

I'm finding your defensiveness irrational. In the UK Masons are mostly seen as a rather boring and mundane back-scratching old boys' club - possibly slightly sinister, perhaps a bit comical, but mostly quite ignorable.

Outside the fringe, no one here associates Masons with either pro- or anti-Semitic sentiments, pro- or anti-Muslim sentiments, or with racism.

Which is not to say that - e.g. - some of the Police and judiciary aren't racist and/or authoritarian. They clearly are.

But that's because some of them are vile and ignorant people, not because of what they get up to on Lodge nights - if they belong at all.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 7th, 2010 at 05:20:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm deeply saddened that you can't see the point that I'm trying to make.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Tue Sep 7th, 2010 at 05:25:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I understand you personally had a good experience.

But you're ignoring everyone else's experience besides your own. And not a little British political history too.

Implying that any less than vehemently positive opinion about the Masons is equivalent to near-Godwin-ish anti-Semitism doesn't seem particularly rational in this context.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 7th, 2010 at 05:40:06 PM EST
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