Archive for the ‘Freemason’ Category
Religion and the Founding Fathers
From Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry:
Washington was initiated, in 1752, in the Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the records of that lodge, still in existence, present the following entries on the subject. The first entry is thus: “Nov. 4th. 1752. This evening Mr. George Washington was initiated as an Entered Apprentice.” …On March 3 in the following year, “Mr. George Washington” is recorded as having been passed a Fellow Craft; and on August 4, same year, 1753, the record of the transactions of the evening states that “Mr. George Washington” and others whose names are mentioned, have been raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.
How is Thomas Jefferson a Diest? What is a Diest? – Yahoo! Answers
[...excerpt...]
Many of the leaders of the French and American revolutions followed this belief system, including John Quincy Adams, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison Thomas Paine, and George Washington. Deists played a major role in creating the principle of separation of church and state, and the religious freedom clauses of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution.
We have been unable to find estimates of the number of Deists in North America. Although both the U.S. and Canada census document religious affiliations, many Deists are listed under Freethinkers, Humanists, persons of no religion, etc. Many Deists who feel a need to join a spiritual community of searchers for truth become members of congregations associated with the Unitarian Universalist Association. [...More]
via How is Thomas Jefferson a Diest? What is a Diest? – Yahoo! Answers.
Report: Dan Brown’s next book not ‘The Solomon Key’
It’s been so long, I can’t even remember the who, what, when, where or why of the name “The Solomon Key.”
Just that it has always been “reportedly” the title of local author Dan Brown’s third Robert Langdon novel. The loooong-awaited follow-up to both “Angels & Demons” — which was published first, curse you, revisionist Hollywood — and “The Da Vinci Code.”
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But one of Dan Brown’s reps told a British journalist — who then called me — that “The Solomon Key” is “completely out of date” as a title.
Which opens Pandora’s Speculation Box of what else might be out of date.
Is the book no longer about masons? Has it been too long with too many people already filling in the gaps with their own “Solomon Key” freemason stories? Is the book even done?
Poor Ron Howard. When he spoke (out of turn, it seems) to Entertainment Tonight last February, the Dan Brown frenzy picked up.
On the set of “Angels & Demons,” Howard told ET that Brown had not only finished his next book, he was excited about it. That started a whole new slew of speculation about the release date.
Right now, for whatever reason, Dan Brown's Wikipedia page has the next book as “The Solomon Key” with a note reading “late in April is probable.”
Lost Crusaders’ Tunnels Found Near Palace on Malta
Lost Crusaders' Tunnels Found Near Palace on Malta
James Owen
for National Geographic News
March 25, 2009
For centuries it's been said that the crusading Knights of Malta constructed an underground city on the Mediterranean island of Malta, sparking rumors of secret carriageways and military labyrinths.
Now a tunnel network has been uncovered beneath the historic heart of the Maltese capital of Valletta, researchers say. But the tunnels—likely from an ahead-of-its-time water system—may render previous theories all wet.
The newfound tunnels are said to date back to the 16th and early 17th centuries, when the knights—one of the major Christian military orders of the 11th- to 13th-century Crusades—fortified Valletta against Muslim attack.
The tunnels were uncovered on February 24 during an archaeological survey of the city's Palace Square in advance of an underground-garage project.
“A lot of people say there are passages and a whole new city underground,” said survey leader Claude Borg of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project. “But where are these underground tunnels? Do they exist?
“We've now found some of them, at least.”
