HOLIDAY AKA HIPHOP HEAD's blog: "freestyle"

everything i did was all for you but you left me hurt and abandoned all alone in a world so cold a man had to be bold stand on his own look at the adversity and tragedy i been through just to survive had to lie had to live another life so i could satisfy you but no longer in your traps of lies and deciet i defeat the misconceptions to bad you never saw who i really was maybe you would have realized i'm a great man but now your dead to me had to sevre the ties the lies betrayal that you bought to me just remembered one thing i use to love you but now my heart has gone astray cold and lost among the masses watch yourself at night when life passes you by never knowing why you are who you are and can't see who i am a ghost to your eyes to your life just look beyond the past or the future of what will come will pass you by left in tears i spare my fear for the day i find another love

A long walk through the snow a trail of roses leading to some place some where only he knows he leads her through the snow arm in arm smiling at each other in love doves sing as the air grows thin nothing can be heard but the beats of their hearts withing as the sound of each others hearts drowns out the sound of the doves sing they arrive to their destinantion where there lies a dozen roses under a oak tree he gets on one knee and ask his woman to marry a tear falls from her eye in excitement she says they embrace each other in a long kiss simply this poem ends in bliss

I remember the first I saw you your'e beauty so radiant your fragrance so exotic your body so fufilling to my every senses I was stopped in my tracks short of breath and I thought if this girl was ever to talk to me I would melt at the sound of her erotic voice for the first in my life I was left speechless the grace of your'e walk my jaw dropped you were my light I was searching for along time and the first time saw you I felt complete

the moment it happned the connection the deep feelings of lust for spiritual emotional and the physical depth of your character had my mind spinning out of control like it never had been before the sudden urge to pick up the pieces of our existence from the ground to piece them to finish the puzzle life had thrown at us but were blind to see what destiny had done for us could we stop and rewind time for what had been done or would we leave the pieces of the puzzle there to never know what could have been an existence without love or one with meaning to life that could be captured by a picture of a thousand words yet to be said.

Much has been made of the death of an anti-Mason, 'Captain' William Morgan. What is not often revealed are the details surrounding this matter. Here, in brief, are some facts: William Morgan was born in 1774 (yes, well over 200 years ago!) in Virginia. In 1819 (at age 45) he was married to a girl sixteen years of age. Two years later he moved to Canada and became a distiller. Fire destroyed his brewery and reduced him to poverty after which he moved again. In 1823, he was at Rochester, New York and took up residence in Batavia, New York in 1826. While he had visited lodges before this time, there is no evidence to show where (or if) he was initiated, despite his rather complete knowledge of the ritual. He was denied admission to the local Lodge and Chapter (of York Rite Masonry) at Batavia for reasons unknown. (Refusal to admit a Mason to a lodge meeting is quite rare but does happen when a visitor's status as a Mason is in question.) However, it is confirmed that he received the York Rite Royal Arch Degree at LeRoy, New York in 1825. When a new Chapter was proposed in his own town, his name was on the petition but objection was made to his being included and a new petition was prepared without it. Resenting this action, Morgan apparently became bitter and sought revenge. He entered into a conspiracy with the local newspaper editor to publish a malicious book on Freemasonry. (Some reports indicate that David C. Miller, the newspaper editor, had received the Entered Apprentice - first - degree in Freemasonry but objections arose and he was prevented from proceeding further. This, some Masonic scholars assert, could have given rise to his interest in taking part in the scheme of Morgan's....) There was great resentment in the town and the newspaper building was set on fire but no serious damage was done. As a result of this hotheadedness, four Freemasons were indicted and three were sent to jail. In fact, the Masons themselves offered a reward for the guilty party and some assert that Miller set the fire himself. There is, however, no proof as to what actually happened. Morgan was arrested several times on various claims, some real and some apparently 'trumped up', possibly at the instigation of the local Masons. In one of these instances, a man came to pay the bail for Morgan and from that day on, Morgan was supposedly never seen again. Some 'eye-witness' reports tell of him being taken away by a group of men carrying torches. Other 'eye-witness' reports indicate that he was given a horse and wagon and rode away alone. There were at least a half-dozen 'eye-witness' reports, all of which were at odds with the other. Since then, various explanations have been put forth over the years, the most common being that Morgan was murdered by Masons. A month after Morgan left the jail, a badly decomposed body was found some distance away. The now-widow of Morgan first said it was not her husband and was quite emphatic in so doing, citing total difference in body height, facial hair, etc. Later, she changed her story. Reports are that the corpse changed appearance several times as well leading to charges and counter-charges of skullduggery! A Mrs. Monroe claimed that it was the remains of her husband and those remains were turned over to her after an inquest. The foes of Masonry did not believe it then and they don't believe it now. There were subsequent stories of seeing Morgan in other lands but despite the interest of thousands of scholars and some 39 different official investigations, the mystery is just as obscure now as it was then. The Governor of New York, a Mason himself, offered a reward of $2,000 (an enormous sum at that time) for the identification of the murderer(s) and yet - despite SO many making claims that they 'knew' who did this heinous crime, no one ever claimed that reward. With a solid victory over the Britain and enormous changes taking place in the new country, Americans at this time faced a "villain vacuum" similar to our early-'90s directionlessness in the wake of the Cold War. Those in upper state New York in particular had been the 'subjects' of frequent and persistent visits by traveling preachers railing about the Hell-fires of damnation which would surely consume them - hence the reference to the 'Burnt-over District'. These people, along with many others in the Northeast of the relatively new United States sought a new 'bad guy' on whom to blame their troubles. Secret societies, it was believed, were a very real threat to the fragile new republic, and Freemasons because of their secrecy became public enemy number one. Their fervor was heightened by publication of works about the Illuminati which ostensibly sought world control. It was a difficult time for people facing difficult hardships of daily living and potential economic ruin due to rampant inflation. The 'targets' of their anger could be spotted easily: they were the leaders of the community and of business. They were the influential in all walks of life. They met together in mostly well-appointed buildings wearing clothes many others could only covet. There is little question, then, why they would be the object of such jealousy - and having William Morgan's disappearance as a rallying point, it became a wonderful 'popular cause' around which politicians could gain support. While Freemasonry promptly disavowed any sympathy with those who might have decided to punish Morgan for his supposed wrongdoing, it did little to check the resentment which grew and festered in this poor area where unemployment ran extraordinarily high and people were willing to believe anything that might explain their misfortunes. It's highly unlikely we'll ever know what really happened to William Morgan. 170+ years separate us from those involved and yet despite the furor which led to the formation of the Anti-Masonic (political) Party in the United States, even Morgan's contemporaries were unable to solve the mystery. It remains today a 'Masonic Mystery'. Despite the horrific and oft-made claims bandied about by the foes of Freemasonry, they don't know any more about this than the rest of us. There has never again been a similar incident anywhere in the world. To add further intrigue, it was later alleged that Morgan's widow became one of the wives of Joseph Smith who was then forming his Mormon Church. This connection gives anti-Masons with religious objections to both Freemasonry and Mormonism some type of 'hook' on which to hang their harangues. Of course, they ignore the facts that Morgan was against Masonry and his wife then chose to be with someone who would become a Mason.... Confusing, isn't it? It is important to remember that the strong sentiments which gave rise to the Anti-Masonic party were not limited to hatred of Masonry alone. In 1834, for example, an anti-Catholic mob set fire to a convent in Charlestown (now Somerville), Massachusetts and the following year, Samuel F. B. Morse (better remembered as a portrait painter and inventor of the telegraph) published his Foreign Conspiracy which became something of a textbook for those crusading against what they thought was a popish plot to gain control of the United States. Update: August, 2001 It is not our intent to cast the "Morgan Affair" as a 'conspiracy' by anti-Masons to defame Freemasonry. It simply was not! As a result, we have re-written a paragraph above in which the word was used making at least one reader misunderstand what we wrote. The early 1800s in the newly created United States were rife with conspiracy theories. The Illuminati - although by then only an imaginary organization - was seen by many as being the secret controller of the world. At a time when allegiances and alliances swayed by the whims of individual rulers and the United States still had yet to sort out what type of 'democracy' they had really invented, such theories were powerful indeed. Thoughts of hidden conspirators fueled by soaring inflation and lack of employment in places like Batavia, gave rise to many feelings of inadequacy. People sought consolation in the conspiracy theories of the day, regularly trumpeted from the pulpits of evangelists who were losing their 'flocks' to an increasingly more mobile society. While some of those who believed such wild theories were surely honest and forthright, others saw intrusions from each and every outside force even if there were none. The defining example of these conspiracy theories rampant at the time is, to us, the convent burning and the killing of innocent Catholic nuns in Massachusetts in 1834 - eight years AFTER Morgan - all because some few residents there thought the Pope was going to take over their country. The Morgan Affair reflects few differences. The fear of the Freemasons and Illuminati was palpable. The presumed murder of an individual was the final proof of all for some that Freemasonry was without law and would ultimately control them. If Masons killed Morgan, they should have been punished. No Mason is above the law and the SECOND duty that a Mason has is to his country and its laws (the first, to God) so clearly an act of murder is neither condoned nor pardonable. Dozens of inquiries and inquests and hundreds of scholarly inquiries since that time, however, have failed to produce proof that any such act really did occur. Today, anti-Masons like to use the example of Morgan to show the evils of Freemasonry while ignoring both the millions of men who've been members during the intervening nearly 200 years and the fact that such an event has never again reoccurred in the history of the organization. That statement is not - by any means - an attempt to say, "So what? It's only one...." Rather, we are of the belief that IF Masons murdered Morgan they should have been swiftly punished for their crimes and if they did not, the anti-Masonic faction should drop their use of this tired canard immediately. We repeat: there is no proof that Morgan was ever murdered.

Did Freemasons cause the assassination of JFK? That's what some anti-Masons and conspiracy theorists would have you believe. Of ALL the theories relative to U.S. President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, few can compare with the one found on a web page of a long-time conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier. The article begins: ==Preface to King-Kill/ 33: James Shelby Downard's Vision The essay "King-Kill/33" has been out of print since 1987 and the publication of the first edition of Adam Parfrey's conspiracy anthology, 'Apocalypse Culture.' Subsequent editions of 'Apocalypse Culture' (including the current Feral House edition), do not carry it. The Campaign for Radical Truth in History (http://www.hoffman-info.com) is pleased to make this landmark article available once again, on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the immolation of America's only Catholic president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. May his surviving murderers be yet brought to justice. "My study of place names imbued with sorcerous significance necessarily includes lines of latitude and longitude and the divisions of degrees in geography and cartography (minutes and seconds). Let us take as an example the "Mason Road" in Texas that connects to the "Mason No El Bar" and the Texas-New Mexico ("The Land of Enchantment") border. This connecting line is on the 32nd degree. The 32nd degree is the penultimate Masonic degree awarded. When this 32nd degree of latitude is traced west into the "Land of Enchantment" it becomes situated midway between Deming and Columbus, New Mexico. Slightly to the north of the town of Columbus are the Tres Hermanas (three sisters) mountains. It is approximately 32 miles between Deming and Columbus. The Three Sisters mountains are a minute and some seconds south of the 32nd degree line. When this line is traced further west it passes the ghost town of Shakespeare at a distance south of the town which is roughly equivalent to the distance which the 32nd degree line passes north of the Three Sisters mountains. The names "Shakespeare" and "Three Sisters" find a connection in the tragedy Macbeth which comprises such a large part of JFK assassination imagery. When this 32nd degree line is traced a little distance farther west, into Arizona, it crosses an old trail which meandered north of what is now another ghost town but which at one time was called the town of "Ruby." Part of the old winding trail became known as the "Ruby Road." The town of Ruby acquired its name officially on April 11, 1912, and was notorious for many brutal murders which had ritual aspects. Four of these homicides occurred in a store attached to the post office which had been erected over the grave of a Catholic priest. Continuing on with mystical toponomy, one encounters the fact that Ruby road twists north into the area known as the Kennedy and Johnson mountains. Johnson Mountain is supposedly named after the general manager of the Peabody Mining Company who also had a town named after him which was the location of the Keystone and Peabody copper mines. The 32nd degree of latitude is but a few seconds from Johnson. In this frontier town on a December evening, 1883, a Colonel Mike Smith and a man Mason were ambushed by gunfighters described as being of questionable reputation and questionable character. These terms are employed in Masonic writings: He [Captain William Morgan, victim of an early 19th century torture-murder by Masons] was a man of questionable character and dissolute habits, and his enmity to Masonry originated in his refusal of the Masons of Leroy. (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry). A "keystone" is the designation for which, when set in place, "keys" or locks the whole. A symbolic keystone is vital to the legend of the Masonic Royal Arch Degree of York. The earliest known record of such a degree is in the annals of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 22, 1753. Fredericksburg is also the location of the "House of the Rising Sun," a masonic meeting place for such notables as founding fathers George Washington and Benjamin Franklin (of Hell-Fire Club fame) and George Mason. President Kennedy and his wife left the Temple Houston and were met at midnight by tireless crowds present to cheer the virile "Sun God" and his dazzlingly erotic wife, the "Queen of Love and Beauty," in Fort Worth. On the morning of November 22, they flew to Gate 28 at Love Field, Dallas, Texas. The number 28 is one of the correspondences of Solomon in kabbalistic numerology; the Solomonic name assigned to 28 is "Beale." On the 28th degree of latitude in the state of Texas is the site of what was once the giant "Kennedy ranch." On the 28th degree is also Cape Canaveral from which the moon flight was launched-made possible not only by the President's various feats but by his death as well, for the placing of the Freemasons on the moon could occur only after the Killing of the King. The 28th degree of Templarism is the "King of the Sun" degree. The President and First Lady arrived in Air Force One, code-named "Angel." The motorcade proceeded from Love Field to Dealey Plaza. Dealey Plaza is the site of the Masonic temple in Dallas (now razed) and there is a marker attesting to this fact in the plaza. Important "protective" strategy for Dealey Plaza was planned by the New Orleans CIA station whose headquarters were a Masonic temple building. Dallas, Texas is located ten miles north of the 33rd degree of latitude. The 33rd degree is the highest in Freemasonry and the founding lodge of the Scottish Rite in America was created in Charleston, South Carolina, exactly on the 33rd degree line. Dealey Plaza is close to the Trinity River. At 12:22 p.m. the motorcade proceeded down Main Street toward the Triple Underpass, traveling first down ("Bloody") Elm St. The latter was the scene of numerous gun fights, stabbings and other violence, and it is the location of the Majestic Theatre, the pawn shop/negro district, and industrial district. It was also the home of the Blue Front Tavern, a Masonic hangout in the grand tradition of "tavern-Masonry": Sam Adams and the Masons of the American Revolution did much of their conspiring at the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston. One of the many bars claiming the honor of being the first Masonic lodge is the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, also in Boston. The Blue Front was the site of the "broken-man" ritual in which various members of the "Brotherhood of the Broom" swept the floor and tended some fierce javelino pigs. The Blue Front was once a fire-house and was still sporting its fire-pole in the late 1920s. This is extremely germane symbolism. The national offices of the Texaco Oil Corporation are located on Elm St., Dallas. Its chief products are "Haviland (javalino) Oil" and "Fire Chief" gasoline. On the corner of Bloody Elm and Houston is the "Sexton Building." "Sexton" is heavily laden with graveyard connotations. It is closely associated to the beetles of the genus Necrophorus or Sexton Beetles, so-called because they bury the remains of tiny animals with their eggs. Bloody Elm, Main, and Commerce form a trident pattern in alignment with the triple underpass as any Dallas map will show. Many analysts contend that at least three assassins were involved in the crossfire ambush of Kennedy. It is a prime tenet of Masonry that its assassins come in threes. Masonic assassins are known in the code of the lodge as the "unworthy craftsmen." Because Masonry is obsessed with earth-as-gameboard (tessellation) and the ancillary alignments necessary to facilitate the "game," it is inordinately concerned with railroads and railroad personnel to the extent that outside of lawyers and circus performers, no other vocation has a higher percentage of Masons than railroad workers. Minutes after John Fitzgerald Kennedy was murdered three "hoboes" ("unworthy craftsmen") were arrested at the railyard behind Dealey Plaza. No records of their identities have ever been revealed nor the "identity" of the arresting officer. All that remains of those few minutes are a series of photographs which have reached legendary proportions among persons concerned with uncovering the real forces and persons behind the assassination. Dealey Plaza breaks down symbolically in this manner: "Dea" means "goddess" in Latin and "Ley" can pertain to the law or rule in the Spanish, or lines of preternatural geographic significance in the pre-Christian nature religions of the English. For many years Dealey Plaza was underwater at different seasons, having been flooded by the Trinity River until the introduction of a flood-control system. To this trident-Neptune site came the "Queen of Love and Beauty" and her spouse, the scapegoat in the Killing of the King rite, the "Ceannaideach" (Gaelic word for Kennedy meaning "ugly head" or "wounded head"). The systematic arrangement and pattern of symbolic things having to do with the killing of Kennedy indicates that he was a scapegoat in a sacrifice. The purpose of such macabre ritualism is further recognizable in patterns of symbolism culminating in the final "making manifest all that is hidden." There is - of course - more but this should give you some idea as to the lengths one will stretch similarities to make the point. Most Americans have heard the old saw about the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy's assassination also - so how does that fit in if Masons are indeed obsessed with the 'game-board world'? Too many things to think about we suppose! If you're a conspiracy 'nut', this probably is stuff you'd accept at face value and find truthful; for those interested in the facts, it's a combination of coincidences, irrelevancies, deceit and lies. Had enough? Return to top of page (1) In a work titled The Lodge at Fredericksburgh, A Digest of the Early Records by Heaton and Case and published in a limited edition by the Masonic Book Club in 1975, the records of the Lodge from 1752 through 1785 were analyzed. The authors note that "The lapse of time and devastation of war resulted in the loss or destruction of the minutes from 1771 until resumption of the meetings following the war between the states. So first hand knowledge of Lodge Activities for nearly a century is lacking." The authors of this book write that George Washington received the three degrees of Masonry in this lodge - but that he was only recorded as being there twice afterwards between then and his death in 1800. Five times in that lodge in his entire life! Hardly what we'd consider a 'meeting place' for George Washington. The Lodge records fail to reveal that Franklin EVER visited there and that George Mason - despite his name - was NOT a Mason. So which is it? We've only got three choices: The two Georges and Ben all hung out there in the Fredericksburgh Lodge regularly but nobody ever recorded it (though even then the conspiracy part is a bit loose if George Mason wasn't a Freemason!); They recorded these fellows regularly visiting but records were (conveniently?) lost YET the author somehow managed to know all of this WITHOUT the records and without anyone else knowing either; or this was yet another lie! Use your own intelligence and you should find the truth! Footnote: While it would be nice to claim that the famous Samuel Adams was a Mason, it simply isn't true based on available Masonic records so unless the author has some secret knowledge unavailable to Masonic researchers or the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, we'll stand by this quote from a Masonic Service Association publication titled "Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers" who said: In the September, 1924 Master Mason, Frederick W. Hamilton, Massachusetts Grand Secretary, showed that neither the great Samuel Adams, John Adams, nor John Quincy Adams could have been Freemasons. The name Samuel Adams appears three times in Massachusetts Grand Lodge records. One was a member of Trinity Lodge, Lancaster, an undistinguished person. Another was acting as Deputy Junior Grand Warden and the constitution of United Lodge at Topsham, Maine, then a part of Massachusetts. This was in 1805; the Samuel Adams died in 1803. Governor Samuel Adams was present when Grand Master Paul Revere laid the cornerstone of the State House at Boston in 1795; but nothing in the record indicates that the Governor was a Mason. Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers by Ronald E. Heaton ©1965. The Masonic Service Association, Silver Spring, Maryland So again: sloppy scholarship? Yes! A deliberate lie? Well, maybe there was something about Sam Adams that would make people think he was an evil conspirator of some kind but we haven't heard of it. Or was it this just more deceit, designed to confuse and obfuscate? Decide for yourself! Thinking about this theory of numbers, we began to have some fun ourselves. Look at all the places we found with a latitude somewhere in the 32 degree range (a degree of latitude is just under 70 miles so think about a swatch that wide running across the Southern US would be about 25,000 square miles. We notice that they dealt with latitude not longitude: the Atlantic Ocean must have some conspiracies, wouldn't you think?) Macon, Georgia - Sounds a little like Mason, doesn't it? Montgomery, Alabama - Hot diggity: George Wallace, Mason! San Diego, California - Home of that Mason who beats 'em up on the alt.freemasonry Usenet list. See? It is a conspiracy! Tucson, Arizona - There must be SOME connection but we couldn't think of one. Maybe we'll run a contest... Hate, New Mexico - Hmmmm.... Waco, Texas - Well, it's actually at 31 degrees 33 minutes latitude but surely we could bring poor Waco into this in light of the events there. Abilene, Texas - Another unknown connection. Wait: didn't Gene Autrey do a Western that mentioned Abilene? See - it IS a Masonic-related location!!! Dallas, Texas (as specified) - need we say more? and finally, Charleston, South Carolina where Albert Pike was. That proves it, doesn't it? And while we're on the subject of President Kennedy, we also note that some anti-Masons use the following quote by him in an attempt to demean Freemasonry: The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers, which are cited to justify it. President John F. Kennedy Address to newspaper publishers April 27, 1961

The world was shocked and frightened in early 1995 when a subway in Tokyo, Japan was inundated by a potent nerve gas. It was an act totally without precedent in history. 12 people were killed and about 5,500 were injured - some permanently - as a result of this act. The Japanese government soon raided 25 branches of a previously obscure sect called Aum Shinrikyo, which translates as Aum Supreme Truth. The sect, which started as a yoga school, focuses on the apocalypse to come - perhaps (as was stated then) as soon as 1997. MasonicInfo Note: Another apocalypse theory down the drain! While members of the sect insisted that they merely practiced a form of Buddhism, it was in reality a cult revolving around a long-haired, charismatic mystic, Shoko Asahara, described as a magnetic misfit who preached that government efforts to obliterate his movement will coincide with the beginning of the end of the world. Not too many years earlier, reported TIME Magazine, Asahara was simply a failed purveyor of health tonics. They said, " Bushy- bearded and usually pictured wearing satiny pajamas, Asahara, 40, admires Hitler, boasts that he can levitate and offers to bestow superhuman powers on his disciples. Yet a look at his life reveals a rather pathetic figure at war with the world because he could not find an easy place in it." TIME further reported, "As his fortunes prospered, Asahara seems to have grown more reclusive and obsessed with danger. The religion, nominally Buddhist but really a hodgepodge of ascetic disciplines and New Age occultism, focused on supposed threats from the U.S., which he portrayed as a creature of Freemasons and Jews bent on destroying Japan. The conspiracy's weapons: sex and junk food. The guru's sermons predicted the end of the world sometime between 1997 and 2000, and began citing the specific peril of poison-gas attacks." You can read more about the details of Mr. Asahara's life in the TIME article at this web site. In June, 1998, Ikuo Hayashi, 51, ex-Aum Shinrikyo cultist was convicted of the sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment; by the Tokyo District Court. Although the former heart surgeon could have faced the death penalty, his repeated apologies to victims' families and cooperation with investigators earned him the court's leniency for the terrorist assault that killed 12 people. TIME Magazine reports that despite calls to disband, the doomsday sect is growing again, and the Japanese press estimates it has some 2,000 adherents who follow charismatic leader Shoko Asahara. On July 6, 1998, Japanese prosecutors formally demanded the first death sentence for a member of the cult at the trial of Kazuaki Okazaki, 37, charged with the 1989 murders of lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and one-year-old baby son. The prosecution said Sakamoto was murdered for investigating the activities of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) sect ahead of the the subway attack. It was the first death sentence sought for members of the group and Okazaki was among six people, including sect leader Shoko Asahara, 43, charged with murdering the Sakamotos. The murdered lawyer was working for parents trying to rescue their children from the cult at the time he and his family were killed. Prosecution witnesses at the Tokyo District Court trial said Aum Shinrikyo cult members crept into Sakomoto's home as his family slept, injected them with lethal doses of potassium chloride and strangled them. In June, 2002, one of Asahara's top henchmen, Tomomitsu Niimi, became the eighth Aum member to be sentenced to death in connection with the chemical attack. An interesting Time-Asia Edition article which talks about current cults in Japan and mentions the "Supreme Truth" can be found here. In October, 2002, yet another member of the cult was sentenced to death. Seiichi Endo, 42, was convicted of playing a leading role in the group's study and production of various gasses and poisons. On September 15, 2006, Reuters News Agency reported that Japan's Supreme Court had rejected an appeal that the case against Shoko Asahara be suspended based on his mental incompetence. Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, was sentenced to death by a Tokyo court in February 2004 for murder and attempted murder. Japan does not announce dates of executions, which are by hanging, in advance of them being carried out. Asahara was also found guilty of other charges including a series of crimes that killed 15 people. Aum Shinri Kyo, which admitted involvement in the subway gassing, later changed its name to Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its leaders insist the cult is now benign, but Japanese authorities still keep its membership of more than 1,000 under surveillance. It is terrifying what irrational and unfounded fear of Freemasonry will do to a person. This is but one example....

One of the common deceptions used by anti-Masons, particularly the "Religious Intolerants", is the charge that Masons take "Bloody Oaths". Forgetting how they too might have said "Cross my heart and hope to die.", it's a wonderful catch-phrase for them to use since it's so emotionally charged. To someone who has never experienced Freemasonry, it can be more than just 'chilling'. Here, however, is the reality: Freemasonry is a three hundred year old organization founded on the principles of organizations which existed hundreds of years before that. It comes from a time when it was important to impress upon an initiate the solemn and serious nature of the work he was undertaking. In addition, Freemasonry teaches its lessons through the use of ALLEGORY whereby an example is explained or shown in a way which will impress upon the listener the point in a manner that words simply can't accomplish. And finally, Freemasonry's oaths are SYMBOLIC relative to penalties, a fact that the anti-Masonic faction would have you totally ignore. When a man joins Freemasonry, these concepts are discussed with him well in advance of his initiation. This is not unlike other instances in our lives where we encounter things which we might not have understood in their totality before they were presented to us. If you've bought a house, can you honestly say that you obtained and studied carefully each and every one of the mortgage papers before you signed them? More likely, you were handed some things and relied on your trust in others that they'd be appropriate. So too in Freemasonry: the individual seeks out the fraternity (not vice-versa) and at several points along the way, including just seconds before the actual obligations are conferred, he is reassured that what he obligates himself to will not interfere with any duty he owes to GOD, his country, his family/neighbors, or himself. Please pay particular attention to the order in which these assurances are made. One charge of anti-Masons is that Masonic obligations interfere with a Mason's duty to God yet should the Mason find any such contradiction, the obligation would not be at all binding! Fact is: there isn't! With these assurances in mind, the candidate is asked if he is willing to proceed. Only upon a positive, verbal statement does the ceremony continue. As anti-Masons will show, obligations used in the past (available to them from the many Masonic 'Exposures' written over the past 300 years) do contain penalties which - if followed literally - would be so heinous as to warrant the contempt of all. The difference is, however, that the obligations are allegorical in nature. The only penalties which can be imposed on a Mason are those of suspension, expulsion, or reprimand! As times change, the concept of allegory is becoming lost. The number of 'acceptable' nursery rhymes diminishes daily in an effort to be politically correct and as this happens, fewer and fewer people understand the concept of allegory. Consequently, many Grand Lodges throughout the world have changed or are changing their obligations to say, simply and plainly, that a Mason in times past obligated himself to various things (the 'Bloody Oaths') but that a Mason today subjects himself only to the penalty of being 'spoken to' or being asked to leave! Masonry's detractors, when confronted with this information, will suggest that the penalties - if they are meaningless in the first place - should be abolished. Why they are in a position to determine how an organization to which they do not belong should conduct its affairs is a mystery. Nevertheless, the penalties are mentioned since they emphasize the sincerity of purpose upon which the work is undertaken. It's hardly the stuff on which the planets turn, but to hear the anti-Masonic faction tell it, it's the most heinous thing in the world. Frankly, missing a mortgage payment can be far more hazardous.... As a further complaint, against the Masonic oaths, 'religious intolerants' will argue that an Oath made in God's name is inappropriate or that one swears to things unknown. Many (perhaps most) of those who make this objection have likely never served in the Armed Forces (although many like to 'play' soldier, being part of a self-created 'militia' movement). Had they served in the US military, perhaps they might have understood this comparison which appeared on the alt.freemasonry newsgroup in August, 2001. An anonymous poster using the moniker "Maverick Ministries" wrote "So you have entered into "sacred" and binding vows with unbelievers/Non Christians if the only requriement is to believe in a supreme being which could be an alien is someone's mind and are therefore at the same table as Belial in an unequal yoke. Time to come out and forsake this mess." to which this reply was given: "I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) Here an oath is being taken. THAT I WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC; THAT I WILL BEAR TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE SAME; Allegiance is being sworn to a document written by man that is subject to change (although change is infrequent and takes a long time to approve). You will notice that the enemies are not enumerated. You will notice some enemies may be domestic. This means that one is obligated to fight enemies unknown to one at the time the oath is taken. AND THAT I WILL OBEY THE ORDERS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE ORDERS OF THE OFFICERS APPOINTED OVER ME, You will notice that obedience is sworn to the President and officers without naming them. This means one is obligated to obey persons most of whom are probably unknown to oneself at the time the oath is taken. ACCORDING TO REGULATIONS AND THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE. You will notice that regulations (which may as yet not be written) and the UCMJ are incorporated by reference. The UCMJ prescribes strict penalties including death for many crimes that have no civilian crime as a counterpart, such as quitting work without notice with the intent never to return. SO HELP ME GOD." Here God is called on to be an active part of the oath. This oath has bound many a believer and unbeliever together, even to the sacrifice of one's life for the other's, and is considered by many believers and unbelievers to be sacred.

Conspiracy theorists rarely, if ever, deal with a charge ("trick") such as this. The 'Religious Intolerant' though will find this convenient to use in an attempt to persuade others that Freemasonry excludes Blacks while their own church may practice the same type of discrimination they accuse Freemasons of doing. However, the charge of racism in Freemasonry seems to come primarily from the mouths and pens of the 'Self-Server' in the United States. Here's why: The United States began as a segregated country. It was segregated at first by religious groups (recall, for example, the founding of Rhode Island) and later - as religious differences blended - by the introduction of slaves whom many treated as 'property'. This is a fact that many accepted. Others acquiesced or ignored it completely (or as much as possible). A precious few spoke out against it - and they were nearly universally condemned for doing so. Masonry, like virtually all other organizations of the 1700's and most of the 1800's in the United States, followed the mores of society. Masonry today in the United States can be seen through the eyes of two different independent 'controlling entities' (grand bodies) which are - primarily - divided along racial lines. In the earliest days of the United States, white men and black men did not mix socially - in any way. In fact, this continued through the 1960s with segregation at virtually all levels of live. It is not unusual, then, to appreciate that this didn't occur in Freemasonry either. In other parts of the world, however, Freemasonry was and is quite integrated with race not an issue at all. We hold, therefore, that the charge of 'racism' is a mere ruse! Some historical facts about US racial divisions in Freemasonry A Masonic Lodge was chartered in Boston under the direction of a Black man, Prince Hall, who had received his degrees from a duly chartered military traveling lodge and who proceeded in accordance with the custom of the day for forming lodges. While there was no specific prohibition against Blacks in Freemasonry then or now, there was a phrase in the Masonic obligations that required a candidate be "free-born". This requirement harkened back to the days of apprenticeship where a new apprentice was not accepted unless he was free from bondage. Regrettably, this restriction - mirroring other such restrictions in society in the United States at large - was used to restrict membership of Blacks. But we're getting ahead of ourselves in the story.... In the days of Prince Hall and his companions, even the act of mailing a simple letter to another town required considerable wherewithal. During this period, the Lodge which Prince Hall had formed in Boston ultimately lost their contacts with the Grand Lodge in England from whom they were originally chartered. Here we must digress for a moment to explain that at this time, there were actually two Grand Lodges in England. This had come about because certain innovations had begun to appear in the development of Freemasonry and a group of 'traditionalists' calling themselves (ironically) 'The Moderns' split from the former group (who came to be known as 'The Antients'). In the early 1800s this rift was healed, however, and when the two Grand Lodges united (forming today's United Grand Lodge of England - UGLE), each dropped all of the lodges throughout the world with whom they had lost contact. African Lodge #459 in Boston met this fate. Nevertheless, African Lodge - following ancient Masonic tradition - continued to make Masons and grow as an organization. Soon there were two parallel organizations in existence but because of complicated rules regarding recognition of other Masonic bodies, the various lodges and Grand Lodges formed from that original lodge with Prince Hall soon found themselves somewhat outside the larger body of Freemasonry. The problem was further compounded by - ironically - the growth of the United States from its colonial roots to the broad expanse of territory from coast to coast. As new territories were admitted into the Union, a concept of 'exclusive jurisdiction' peculiar to the United States was adopted. This concept allowed for only one Grand Lodge within the boundaries of a particular state's borders. Because of this, recognition of Prince Hall Grand Lodges which were founded there was precluded since they were always created after the 'mainstream' Grand Lodge and were not part of the 'covenant' which created the territorial exclusivity. Which brings us to more modern times.... Freemasonry was separated by what appeared to be clearly a racial divide. Although this was not the plan in the 1700s, the hardening of racial divisions leading up to the US Civil War made the progression inevitable. Thus, arriving in the 1950s, a 'Black' and a 'White' Masonry co-existed, both knowing the other existed but neither recognizing the other as a true "Masonic" body. Being traditionalists, some 'mainstream' Masons reminded others of the 'free-born' requirement or pointed to the loss of Charter and subsequent inappropriateness of creating new lodges when not a lodge itself (in their eyes). Other Masons, however, saw a division as plain as the color of their faces - and as a result, worked tirelessly to remind Masons that the matter of a lost document in the early 1800s should not be the cause of remaining at a perpetual distance - and that the concept of territorial exclusivity, unique in the United States, should not interfere with the sharing of Masonic fellowship. However, because each organization now had over two hundred years of tradition, it was difficult to see how the bodies would reunite. After considerable effort on the part of some, recognition has occurred beginning in the 1990s and the United Grand Lodge of England (recognized by all Masonic bodies as the 'senior' grand lodge and thus due primacy in these matters) restored recognition to the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1994. Within the week, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts had extended similar recognition. Now the details of such recognition processes continue throughout the United States and the world and both parts of Freemasonry are working more together as a team. A majority of 'mainstream' Grand Lodges have recognized their Prince Hall counterparts and vice versa. Some still remain at a perpetual distance due to long-standing fears, personality conflicts, or procedural issues. Nevertheless, the direction of the movement is clear and soon Prince Hall Freemasonry will fully and completely take its place within the world-wide fraternity of Masons once again. As we enter the the 21st century, we continue to see the charge of racism leveled against Freemasonry but we believe that it's a false one and can be dismissed. Regrettably, though, some Grand Lodges in the Southern United States have clung tenaciously to their segregated ways thus exposing the racism charge further. We believe that this is a temporary situation and within the next few years will be resolved. Freemasonry is, if nothing else, an organization that places great weight upon tradition. Couple this with a section of the country which does likewise (and is often very reluctant to change, regardless of the reason) and we see 4/5ths of the U.S. accepting Prince Hall while the remainder drag their heels. We have a listing of Prince Hall Grand Lodges on our site here. Prince Hall Masons have a long and proud tradition and the charges of racism are now a mere ruse to discredit Freemasonry. There's an interesting article by noted Masonic author Allen E. Roberts titled "Who are these Prince Hall Masons?" here. The earliest attempts at recognition between Prince Hall and 'mainstream' Freemasonry began in Washington State in 1898. The then Grand Master, William Upton, urged Washington Masons to adopt recognition of Prince Hall Grand Lodges - and they DID!...but only for a brief period of time. Owing to the concept of exclusive jurisdiction, pressure was brought to bear and the GL of Washington rescinded their recognition shortly thereafter. Grand Master Upton declared that no headstone should be placed on his grave until his Brothers - of whatever color - could march side by side. On June 8, 1991, over 400 Masons, black and white, marched together to Upton's grave and there placed a headstone with Masonic emblems! In light of the above discussion, a non-Mason might well wonder why Prince Hall and 'mainstream' Freemasonry in the United States don't simply join their lodges together and eliminate any issue years and years ago. The answer has nothing to do with race but is wrapped up in the rich heritage each Grand Lodge now has. With mutual recognition, the bodies can and will work together yet retain their history and culture. Those choosing to join Freemasonry will do so in lodges where their ancestors did. This will allow the traditions and histories will weave into the fabric of their lives. Joining together risks the loss of that tradition in future generations and thus it is unlikely at this time that any such joining would ever be contemplated. Perhaps in centuries to come things will be different but for now, Grand Lodges are pleased to share fellowship and fraternalism while maintaining their independence and historical lineage.