Bastage:
To those who make claims about Freemasonry being Satanic or evil:
This is a fallacy handed down by the churches. Freemasonry promotes the right of every man to believe in his own god - be that god Christian, Islamic, Judaic or whatever. The churches don't like that. They think every man should worship their god and despise any group which promotes freedom of worship.

Look at the vast majority of Islamic countries and you will see that Freemasonry is banned. The authorities simply don't want people to think for themselves. Take a look at any dictatorship and you will see that the same thing occurs. Freemasonry only survives in countries where people are allowed to think for themselves.



Freemasonry is neither secret nor occultic in the sense of the word that you have used it (I doubt if you know what occultic actually means though). Chirstians, Jews and Muslims are not forbidden from joining unless they live in a despotic country. The excommunication thing does not happen any more but is a throw-back to the days when the Catholic Church was the tyrannical dictator of peoples' lives. God is referred to as a Supreme Being because a Lodge may be made up of many faiths. There is no point calling him Allah when there are Christians present is there? By calling Him the Supreme Being, everyone understands that he is the god of their faith.



There is no such thing as a 14th level master mason. All master masons are holders of the 3rd degree.



Simply not true. Freemasons come from all walks of life - from street sweepers to royal princes, from captains of industry to lavatory attendants. No freemason makes money from the fraternity. If he did so, he would be thrown out. To the contrary, Freemasonry costs the member money - he will pay fees to his Lodge and he will pay monies to charities - Freemasonry being one of the largest donators to charity in the world.



I don't know about cab-drivers (although that wouldn't suprise me), but in London the vast majority of police officers are not freemasons. Something like less than 5% of the judiciary are members. That's a lower figure than for almost any other profession. The fallacy that most police officers are freemasons is spread by those who want it to be seen as some sort of organisation working secretly for the authorities.



Manley Hall wrote his works before becoming a freemason so can hardly be considered an authority on the subject. Alistair "The Great Beast" Crowley never was a freemason. He tried to join but was refused entrance.



Ogboni confraternity has nothing to do with Freemasonry. What you may find though (and this happens a lot) is that other fraternities take Freemasonry ritual and adapt it for themselves. There are hundreds of fraternities out there that style themselves as either masonic or psuedo-masonic but have absolutely nothing to do with recognised Freemasonry.

Bastage:
To those who make claims about Freemasonry being Satanic or evil:
This is a fallacy handed down by the churches. Freemasonry promotes the right of every man to believe in his own god - be that god Christian, Islamic, Judaic or whatever. The churches don't like that. They think every man should worship their god and despise any group which promotes freedom of worship.

Look at the vast majority of Islamic countries and you will see that Freemasonry is banned. The authorities simply don't want people to think for themselves. Take a look at any dictatorship and you will see that the same thing occurs. Freemasonry only survives in countries where people are allowed to think for themselves.



Freemasonry is neither secret nor occultic in the sense of the word that you have used it (I doubt if you know what occultic actually means though). Chirstians, Jews and Muslims are not forbidden from joining unless they live in a despotic country. The excommunication thing does not happen any more but is a throw-back to the days when the Catholic Church was the tyrannical dictator of peoples' lives. God is referred to as a Supreme Being because a Lodge may be made up of many faiths. There is no point calling him Allah when there are Christians present is there? By calling Him the Supreme Being, everyone understands that he is the god of their faith.



There is no such thing as a 14th level master mason. All master masons are holders of the 3rd degree.



Simply not true. Freemasons come from all walks of life - from street sweepers to royal princes, from captains of industry to lavatory attendants. No freemason makes money from the fraternity. If he did so, he would be thrown out. To the contrary, Freemasonry costs the member money - he will pay fees to his Lodge and he will pay monies to charities - Freemasonry being one of the largest donators to charity in the world.



I don't know about cab-drivers (although that wouldn't suprise me), but in London the vast majority of police officers are not freemasons. Something like less than 5% of the judiciary are members. That's a lower figure than for almost any other profession. The fallacy that most police officers are freemasons is spread by those who want it to be seen as some sort of organisation working secretly for the authorities.



Manley Hall wrote his works before becoming a freemason so can hardly be considered an authority on the subject. Alistair "The Great Beast" Crowley never was a freemason. He tried to join but was refused entrance.



Ogboni confraternity has nothing to do with Freemasonry. What you may find though (and this happens a lot) is that other fraternities take Freemasonry ritual and adapt it for themselves. There are hundreds of fraternities out there that style themselves as either masonic or psuedo-masonic but have absolutely nothing to do with recognised Freemasonry.

KAPTEN:
I am going to try and reply to the few posts after my last one on this issue.I usually don't do research for others, but if its to keep the facts straight I will do so.The only thing I would ask is refrain from vague accusations that cant be backed up.Saying its evil without giving your reasons is,   



As far as I know there is no reference to Lucifer in any Masonic ritual I am familiar with. I belong to many masonic bodies and have presided over lots of them.In fact I can count on one hand the bodies I dont belong to or have presided over.Bear in mind nobody speaks for Masonry. In fact no Grand Lodge speaks for the whole body. Your Grand Lodge only speaks for itself.In other words what your Grand Lodge says is only binding to members of its own Grand Lodge.

2) Rites being similar or imitative is certainly not the same as the original.I wont go into the ritual as posted by the other OP, other than to say its not the same with ANY Masonic ritual I am familiar with.There are tons of rituals used in masonic lodges and they are not all the same.Also there are lots of fake rituals that are imitative of Masonry.I have seen instances of rituals quoted out of context.There is no way a none Mason would know if its true or false, because you dont know what the real deal looks like.I can tell you that ritual as posted isnt used in a any regular Masonic Lodge.

3) Manly P Hall died a Mason.The fact you must realize is the books quoted by anti Masons were written many years before he became a Freemason.He was also into many organizations and many of his writings were influenced by these.Does he speak for the Fraternity, certainly not.

links that might be of interest to you: http://masonicfax.net/manlyhall.htm




I have been a Mason for many years now. How many isn't really a concern for you.I dont need to tell you what Lodge I belong to as it would serve no purpose to you.Just know that I've been a Mason long enough to go through the chairs of most Masonic bodies I belong to, and they are quite a lot. Many of them with no presence in Nigeria.I've never seen anybody or thing sacrificed to any God or Juju.I am in a position to know as I have presided over these Masonic bodies.If you know how Masonry functions you would know nothing can be done in the Lodge or body if the presiding officer isnt present.NOTHING.So trying to input that things were done in my absence is not possible.Trust me on this.

I've visited lodges in all parts of Nigeria ( North,South,east and West) and never saw any of these rumor people believe to be fact.I have also visited lodges in all continents of the world and never withnessed any of these unfounded allegations.

Contrary to what many people believe Masonry doesnt make you rich.Infact there is no magic button to press and get money apart from hard work.I am not rich but comfortable within my own means and struggle like everyone else to pay my bills.

I know of many people that have joined the Fraternity and left disappointed cos there is no money spinning button.

Its not enough to say Masons killed your father.Masons would never do anything like that (at least the Freemasonry I belong to that is present in most civilized countries of the world.)There is no magic or evil in Masonry so I wonder how they would have used some evil means to kill your Father( I really doubt your STORY).



Yes Freemasons exists in Nigeria. In fact they've been in Nigeria since the 1800's. The same White man that brought Christianity also brought Freemasonry. Most of the Colonial Masters and traders were Freemasons.Also a good number of early Nigerian Nationalists were Freemasons.Freemasons are in almost every major city in Nigeria. There lodges are not hidden and in plain view.Membership list is also available for those that really need to see it.The harsh truth is most of the early big Churches in Nigeria were built and maintained by Freemasons.



Do you have any proof that they are evil or you are just repeating what others have been saying without hard evidence?If you dont know what they do or how they operate how can you say they are evil

To wrap up this long post from me I would post a couple of links that you can read. It would answer most of the questions raised here and answer them if you would only read with an open mind.

http://masonicfax.net/manlyhall.htm (explains the Manly P Hall connection)

http://masonicfax.net/christian.htm (answers questions about Masonry and Christianity)

http://masonicfax.net/cults.htm ( answers why Masonry isnt a cult)

http://masonicfax.net/pike.htm ( talks about Albert Pike, one of the authors quoted out of context my those opposed to Masonry)

http://masonicfax.net/funerals.htm ( explains what a Masonic funeral is all about)

http://masonicfax.net/lucifer.htm (tackles that antis views on Lucifer and Masonry.)

http://masonicfax.net/writ-ant.htm ( explores the tactis used by many anti masonic authors,most copying from already discredited sources)

http://masonicfax.net/masonry.htm ( explains what Masonry is all about)

http://masonicfax.net/secrecy.htm ( talks about the so called masonic secrecy)

http://masonicfax.net/luciferian.htm ( same points on Lucifer and Masonry)

http://masonicfax.net/Whatwedo.htm ( what Masons do)

I hope this answers most questions. If not I am prepared to answer more, as long as they are reasonable ones and not some hearsay. I don't respond to that.

ckguy:
Is anyone here? Any freemasonry?

Jman06:
I wish we could replace Christian churches and Islamic mosques in Nigeria with more Masonic lodges.