Lecture at Scarborough Lodge 1214

Last Tuesday I gave a lecture at Scarborough Lodge http://www.scarborough1214.co.uk/. Scarborough Lodge meets in Batley in the Province of Yorkshire West Riding. (It was named after the Earl of Scarborough).

The theme of the talk was "The Marquess of Ripon: The Grand Master from Yorkshire West Riding". Written material for this talk can be found on www.truth521.org.uk.

Visit to the Lodge of Hope No. 302

Last Monday I went to visit the Lodge of Hope, which meets in Bradford http://www.lodgeofhope.com/. The ceremony was a Third Degree.

Guernsey Freemason list criticised by Grand Master

Again, it seems Freemasons are being discriminated against.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-18063287

Dr Who and the invasion of the Freemasons

Well, not quite. Whilst watching an episode of that fine piece of BBC output, Dr Who I noticed a rather strange thing. About 26 minutes from the beginning (sorry, that includes adverts) of the episode "Smith and Jones" Dr Who and his temporary assistant go into a stuffy hospital consultant's office, only to find he has been murdered by aliens. On the wall behind his desk is a Grand Lodge Certificate. Whilst subscribers to the craftaphobic fantasy would insist that this is the sort of thing that goes on, I can assure people outside the Craft we do not display this certificate on our walls. As Commander Higham, a former Grand Secretary who had been hauled before a Commons Select Committee put it, Freemasons do not advertise their membership promiscuously.

I can only assume the props department at the BBC wanted something that looked authentic and that would blend into what one would expect a consultant's office to look like. Sorry BBC props, bit of a gaff this one.

RICHARD BROWN: Parents should help teachers on discipline

A balanced article on a thread I have commented on before (seriously, thanks!). One point I would make is about the language of 'admitting' to being a Freemason. This is far from the only example of this. If one 'admits' to something it implies that something is 'wrong'. I prefer the word 'disclosed' or even 'volunteered', after all it is the Freemasons who are being discriminated against here by a people who have a negative stereotype of our organisation (to put it mildly).

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/RICHARD-BROWN-Parents-help-teachers-discipline/story-16106251-detail/story.html

Councillor defends right to be a Mason

This is another example of the 'correlation versus causation' argument I have written about before. Just because people are Freemasons does not cause them to act in a particular way. How sad. How misguided.


http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Councillor-defends-right-Mason/story-15991070-detail/story.html

More craftaphobia - this time in Devon

More negative stereotyping of Freemasons - this time it is from North Devon:

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Councillor-defends-right-Mason/story-15991070-detail/story.html

If it was a different demography Cllr Murdoch's alleged comments could be formulated as sexist, racist or ageist. Apparently, though, it is acceptable to stereotype Freemasons as conspiratorial and untrustworthy.