- What makes you think the Church has no understanding
of them?
- If an organization demonstrably opposes
your religion, and publicly claims to teach things
contrary to the Gospel, is that not enough?
The objection the Church has, is not to Masons
being secret, but to:
- their beliefs, as they
are known
- their practices, and
- their historical
attempts to oppose and undermine the Catholic
faith.
Also, from our perspective, Masonry
is a religion in its own right, and so being
a Catholic is incompatible with being a Mason.
Here is just one example. Being a Mason involves
blood oaths — threats
of bodily harm if a member discloses Masonry's
secrets. Obviously, there are moral problems
with this, even if you argue no one follows
through on the threats. There are secret Masonic
signs you can use to enlist the aid of another
Mason.
For example, if you're on trial, and you make
the Masonic sign to the jury, any Mason on
that jury is supposed to do whatever they can
to derail the case and ensure you aren't convicted.
This is contrary to justice.
Of course discussing this with a Mason is
fruitless since they can't admit they have
such things by definition. Otherwise . . . across
the throat. On the other hand, you can't exactly
call up your local Masonic lodge and order
a copy of the rituals to prove I am correct,
I'll grant you that. Nevertheless, there are
lots of reasons, some demonstrably provable,
some less so, to oppose Masonry.
A secret society doesn't mean that
no one knows about it. It means that their rituals
and knowledge are not disclosed by the organization
who strives to keep them secret.
Non-members are not invited to Masonic rituals,
and in fact there are multiple levels of initiation
so those of the first degree don't know the secrets
of the 33rd degree. |
