memphismason

I believe so. I don't remeber the name right off hand, but I do remember being told he was a PGM.....so I am pretty sure it was K I Wright. It was at the coon supper, in Somervile, last year. It was definitely funny.

Very nice indeed. I wouldn't mind owning one of those myself.

That was great

Thank you Mustangdave, I appreciate your words. I am an Architectural Draftsman, for a commercial casework and millwork company. It is really "neat" to use the tools that Masonry uses in its symbology. Whenever a Mason says that to another man, it is a great compliment. We are not supposed to ask anyone to join, but we tend to hint around good moral men, and hope that they will ask. Again Thanks Mustangdave

Absolutely nothing other than argue about what to do with it. Bass Pro was supposed to move into it, but that has been talked about for quite some time now, and has yet to happen.

That is a valid point.

If anyone isn't planning on attending the Sweet Sixteen Games or the Elite Eight Match up that will be held at the Fed-Ex Forum, then avoiding Downtown Memphis this Thursday thru Sunday, might play in your favor. That is unless you like to party, then I am sure Beale Street will be hoping the weekend due to all the traffic coming through. We are hosting Thursday Sweet Sixteen games: (1)North Carolina vs. (4)Gonzaga (2)Oklahoma vs. (3)Syracuse And the winners of the above mentioned games will play here on Sunday, with the winner of that Elite Eight match heading off to Detroit for the Final Four. I am kind of glad that the wife and I planned a trip to be out of town this weekend. I work Downtown and when something big is here, I hate driving into work the fast way, and usually wind up taking the longer route. Lunch time is always hectic, when the Forum has a big event scheduled. Any who just letting everyone know who might have planned on coming through for any reason other than March Madness.

Awesome. Its all about the children. Aww Crap, whe now have on video, that guns do shoot when no one is touching them. This will not be good.

That link was very interesting. I deal with numbers every day, and knew that One Trillion was a large number, but dang, that really puts it into perspective. I showed the wife and she said the same thing. Everyone should see this. Also I think the Messiah should start saying "One Trillion" or any sum of money in the fashion of Dr. Evil. LOL

I will have to agree with the majority, and say it is still in the "break-in" stage. My wife's Bersa .380 shoots everything I have fed it so far, except for Wolf. It hates wolf for some reason. I would also agree with giving it a good cleaning, to get all that factory gunk out of it, and then shoot the mess out of it.

Maybe in quoting Pike I was feeding meat instead of milk, and that was probably not the best approach, but I do not regret placing the words of Pike in context before someone could post them out of context. You are right, I am young in the fraternity.....and any other sentence I have typed behind this phrase sounds harsh, so I will refrain out of respect, Brother, but what I will say is "ouch".

Outside of the Lodge, not much, other than maybe making friends with someone you might otherwise have kept at a perpetual distance. Masonry offers no monetary gain, and this is gone over with a person who has petitioned for membership. The benefits are found within, they are not external; this is why Masonry does not seek members, because the decision for a man to join is not one we can make, but it is up to the individual. This is where we get the saying "To Be One, Ask One" or "2B1ASK1"

Deerslayer I am sorry, but the only problems we have are deciding what to cook for the next meeting. This conversation has no impact on us. We are the world's oldest, largest, and most charitable organization in the world. i think we have a pretty good handle on things, but thanks for your concerns.

You are right. Many things on the web are wrong. I started my journey into Masonic knowledge, by being on the "anti-mason" side. I read the books, watched the videos, heck I even preached it behind the pulpit in churches. All it took was my Uncle to ask "What is that book you are reading" and I said "A book that talks about the Masons and how they control the world", and he said, "Well I guess you didn't know this, but I am a Mason. Maybe the best insight into Freemasonry is not found in a book called The Circle of Intrigue,The Hidden Inner Circle of the Global Illuminati Conspiracy." It was about 6 years latter I asked that same uncle for a petition. I understand both sides, because I have sipped the Kool-Aid from both cisterns.

I guess bandwagon was just as bad as a term as "the Supreme Religion" closed minds play the part of prison cells.

+1 It is about being part of something larger than yourself, and making a difference in the lives of people who need a helping hand. Faith, Hope, and Charity, admonish us to have Faith in God, Hope in Immortality, and Charity to all Mankind. Can this be done elsewhere and by other means than joining the Freemasons. Absolutely. We are just one avenue to take in Making Good Men Better. I have found that my spiritual well being has improved since I have started inculcating the lessons taught in Masonry in my everyday life. I have found myself becoming a better Christian, a better Dad, and a better Husband. Not everyone takes from Masonry the same things, but it is not because it is not there for the taking.

LOL Alcohol is not allowed in the Masonic Lodge. It is acceptable in the Shrine. When we are at the Lodge, it is assured that there will be no drinking. this is one positive we have that appeals to the family man....well to some family men.

The so called secrets of Masonry are.......There aren't any In the age of the internet everything we do is printed on the web. There are no secrets left. Back in the day when the Stone Masons had their guilds, their secrets (geometry and the use of building tools) were not known to the common person. These were the secrets that they held so dear. During the enlightenment, men who were not stone masons were allowed to joined, and thus started the age of Speculative Masonry.

To have never known, before tonight, that Masonry has been accused of being a religion, show that you have not been exposed to many discussions in the field of Freemasonry. Which is fine, and I see it as a blessing. "Masonry is the Universal Morality".........Morality found within Masonry is universal, and Masonry only teaches universal morality. It does not teach a morality that would only apply to a certain sect of people, but it encompasses the thoughts and basis of all religions. "Hi-Point is the universal pistol" "Glock is the universal combat pistol" Both above statements are as true as my name is Jason, but again they are just opinion. Albert Pike was one man, who wrote a great deal about a Fraternity he loved, in an era when words meant different things then they do now (1871). If something in Pikes writings has caused you to believe something that is not taught in Masonry then so be it, I am not the one to try to convince you otherwise, and you are not the first to be on this bandwagon. However, to take from that quote, the things you have, makes me believe you came into this discussion with a preconceived notion about Masonry, and there is nothing I or any other Mason can say to change that. The words I have chosen to use to debate this issue are not the words of any specific Masonic body, but they are my own. There may be Masons who disagree, and that is fine to each his own, this is just my understanding.

The quote is what I thought to be the best way to convey the thought that Masonry is not a religion, from the most quoted author on Masonry, to everyone. twisting the words is what has to be done to get from the quote that Masonry is the supreme religion. To take from the quote that "Masonry is the supreme religion" is to ignore the wording that "the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religions." It is saying that Masonry teaches the cardinal tenets that can be found in all religions. Masonry is universal, and accept men from every country, sect, and opinion. That is why a particular religion is not required, just a belief in a monotheistic god, which includes Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. For someone who doesn't give a rodent's rump, you seemed to have formed an opinion or "observation" toward the negative very quickly. The definition of religion is: the service and worship of God or the supernatural. Masonry does not teach any form of worship. It does teach morals that are found in religions,also found in the boy scouts, the girl scouts, the royal rangers, the YMCA, business courses, etc. Look I don't believe your intent was malicious, it is just that Masonry has battled with this argument for years, and it is because people only take from what is written what they want to. All Masons would know what that quote was saying, and I would think everyone else could see it too. It is saying that people argue over religion every day, wars are fought based on these arguments, but the funny thing is, God is understood the same in each religion. The people have allowed their hearts to be hardened by the rules of men, and can not see that the "Golden Rule" has existed since time immemorial, and is part of the foundation of both sides. Masonry acknowledges this, and tries to expound on this thought, teach its members "to regard the whole human species as one family; the high and the low, the rich and the poor, who as created by one Almighty Parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support, and protect each other". I mean no harm in my words, just offering a glimpse into Masonry. Deerslayer I hope you have not taken this as an attack on you, for it was not. You were able to question something, which allowed me the slot to explain what I understand to be fact, and for that I am thankful.

The misconception that is showing in your post is that Masonry "represents an original supreme religion". This statement was never made. Masonry preserves "the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith", which was in existence before the concept of Masonry. This is not promoting Masonry as a "supreme religion".

Let me reiterate that most religions promote Brother Love, Relief and Truth, and the practice of Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance, and Justice. Masons know this because it is taught in the first degree, so when we read the quote, "But Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religions." We know it is referring to the moral lessons taught in the first degree. However, to a person who does not know what Masonry teaches the quote could be twisted to say that Masonry is the supreme religion, which is one of the reasons Masonry gets a bad light shown upon it.

I know that you are not trying to pick a fight, but what is happening is that a quote from Pike is taken out of context. The above quote is not dealing with the Supreme Being, but instead is dealing with the thought idea that what Masonry teaches is found in the foundations of every religion. Brotherly Love, Relief, Truth, practicing the virtues of Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance, and Justice, is found in most religions. Lets look at Genesis 37:31 "And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;" Taken out of context this scripture could say "And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid, and dipped the coat in the blood;" Not saying that is what you did, for you didn't remove any of the words, but what you are doing is applying a quote to something it is not intend to represent. In that instance "on the surface" we can make anything say whatever we want. Lets look at a symbol known to all Masons. The Square, now on the surface a square is used to create true 90 degree angles, but to Freemasons we are reminded to square our conduct by the principles of morality and virtue. Things on the surface are not what they always appear, especially when the "surface" is made to represent something other than what the was intended.

I am glad you placed the quotation marks around the word secret, because if Freemasonry were a "Secret Society", I doubt we would be having this conversation. As far as being a religion Albert Pike wrote in Morals and Dogma... "Masonry is not a religion. Hew who makes of it a religious belief, falsifies and denaturalizes it. The Brahmin, the Jew, the Mahometan, The Catholic, the Protestant, each professing his peculiar religion, sanctioned by the laws, by time, and by climate, must needs retain it, and cannot have two religions; for the social and sacred laws adapted to the usages, manners, and prejudices of particular countries, are the work of men (page 161) "But Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religions. ... Masonry is the universal morality which is suitable to the inhabitanta of every clime, to the man of every creed. It has taught no doctrines, except those truths that tend directly to the well-being of man." Altough Pike is not the "end-all, be-all" in Masonic teaching, I do take his side on this particular subject.

Thanks for the kind words, Clownsdd. I appreciate it. I have not been a mod. long enough for that to matter, plus I only mod the hunting forum. LOL