From: ptrei@bistromath.mitre.org (Peter Trei)
Subject: Re: The Devil
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 19:48:39 GMT


      Hmmm... If anyone's interested in finding out more about
Freemasonry, I run the Masonic Digest mailing list, and can add them
to it.

In article <BxFny3.2qJ@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> sl313028@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (The black guy.) writes:
>In article <1992Nov8.142931.1@acad.drake.edu> bbe001@acad.drake.edu writes:

>>So
>>anyway, while everyone's on the subject, what about the whole Masons thing?
>>Malcolm didn't mention it a whole lt, except that Masons were especially
>>devilish white people (this was wrote in a pre-Mecca chapter) and that they
>>only had a 33 degree span of knowledge, as opposed to 360' like the Nation.
>>(360' sound familiar from any recent songs...?) So I don't know shit about
>>Masons, and I've only met one- he was a blackman (yeah he was black) that I 
>>worked with on a
>>construction site two summers ago. He just said there were all these little
>>secret handshakes, foot things, passwords, etc. So does anybody know about 
>>this shit?
>..deleted...
>>Someone inform me.

      I've not read The autobiography of Malcom X, so I don't have the
background to understand the context of the quote you give, but it
suggests that X didn't know much about Masonry. The "33 degrees" he
refer not to an angular distance, but a hierarchical one - more like
degrees on a thermometer. Also, refering to Masons as "white people"
is inaccurate - there are plenty of black Masons, in the Prince Hall
affiliation, and increasingly in the mainstream lodges.
b
>well, the masons are a "religious" organization.  if you've ever heard
>of job's daughters & the demolay, they are the "youth" sprout of the
>fraternal order of Masons.  if i'm not talking about the same masons,
>sue or flame me, but i think i hit the nail on the head.  yes, they do
>have *lots* of secret stuff, and a lot twists all kinds of stuff around
>their rituals usually consist of a secret word, some of them ranging
>from the devils name, to a formation of a couple of false idols & stuff
>(baalim & those others).  i've  a short article that i could send to
>anyone that wants it.  it's not *really* that short, but it contains
>facts taken from a book written by the masons, so it's not like
>something that someone tried to do an expose on, it's stuff that they
>let the public know, and it has some pretty crazy bugged ideas in it.
>so i guess you could say that they were devilish.  IMHO, i think they
>are, but the sad thing is that a lot of modern day people are still
>joining but don't know what theyre getting into.  at the risk of having
>to have followups to alt.religion, i'll say that i'm out.

>>				Peace Out
>>				B.......E
>shalom,
>the anointed nubian,
>jon.

    Jon, I've read the article you sent sent me (thanks!) It appears
to be off of some fundamentalist (Berean Christian) BBS. It's a fairly
typical piece of hackwork, consisting of out-of-context quotes and
outright fabrications. I'd find some of the errors and
misrepresentations hilarious if I didn't know that many readers will
take them at face value.

     Freemasonry is not a religion, but it does require that it's
members believe in a Deity. Thus, Christians, Jews, Moslems, and
members of other faiths can all be members.

						Peter Trei
						ptrei@mitre.org
						Editor: Masonic Digest
						Master: Wilder Lodge AF&AM
							Leominster MA.

PS: For info on the Masonic Digest, write me at the above address.

PPS: What do people think of the opera "X"?

Disclaimer: I am not representing my employer in this post.
Organization: Senior, History, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA