Sorry but I just can't say that you are saying truth, I have spoken with freemasons of scotish rite, and when we bring Baphomet theme to the table, they change completly in their faces, as hiding something, the make any effort to say that we outsiders do not understand its meaning, that they are not going to speak of it any further, the truth is, that Masonic is satanic,
Alonso,
That is always what gets disturbing to me in conversations about Freemasonry with some non-masons. You aren't a Mason. You may have no idea what is in our ritual and you've read some oddball website and now assume that Freemasonry is Satanic? Absolutely not. Did you read the link I provided? The Baphomet thing is one of the oldest hoaxes out there and long disproved.
If Masons look uncomfortable when you start asking questions about the Baphomet hoax it could easily be because it is one of those false accusations that gets brought up by persons with anti-masonic sentiments. It gets old defending the Fraternity from accusations that are generations old, been proven not to be true over and over again, and yet people still come back with them and still believe them. Masons get tired of some people calling us Satanists, etc.
For some reason people like to believe conspiracy theories. I don't know why, but often people would rather believe a wild story about satanism than the simple truth that Freemasonry is just a very old fraternity which teaches moral lessons and promotes charitable and social activities. It isn't run by aliens, it isn't Satanic, it doesn't rule the world, and I don't own a black helicopter or have a magic decoder ring.
You don't know me so of course it is hard for you to gauge truthfulness. But I'm an ordained United Methodist minister. I've been ordained for nearly 25 years. I am the Senior Pastor of a very active UM Church in Iowa. I am a devout Christian with a lot of theological training.
I've also been a Freemason for fourteen years. I am a member of two Craft Lodges in Iowa, I'm a Past Master, I am a certified Masonic Instructor, I'm a member of the York Rite the Scottish Rite along with quite a few other Masonic organizations.
All that it to say is that I know my faith as a Christian, I know what my Church teaches, and I know what Freemasonry teaches. Freemasonry isn't Satanic or incompatible with the Christian faith.
You can choose to believe me. Or you can choose to believe the wild conspiracy theories. That is up to you. But all you'll get from me in this thread is the absolute truth.