It is just the same here in Brazil. I remember when I was still an Active DeMolay and a Freemason used to tell us that "we can't even decide the pizza toppings for the after-meeting meal, how are we supposed to be running this world government?"
I'll give you a quick example of the funny kind of nonsense that goes around since ever. I remember in the late 1990s where there was this text running around, exposing the Order of DeMolay as a Satanic group. Are you ready for the proof? Well, "DeMolay" sounds like "Demo lei" in Portuguese, which supposedly meant "lei do Demo" = "Devil's law". Proven. Q.E.D.
I stand with you that "free thought" is a treasure that Freemasonry has defended for centuries and sits close to its heart. I have been in countless discussions with people all over the political spectrum, taking the stand that a "free market of ideas" is positive and that the solution for misinformation is not censorship, but shedding more light onto ideas.
Of course we should take note of bad actors, swindlers and conmen, but our efforts are better spent on good works than trying to stop other people from saying whatever they spin in their spare time. Our great forefather Pike writes on that a few times of "Morals and Dogma", still a great source of knowledge for us.
You misunderstand who is really spreading the disinformation. It is the powerful people who desire more power. governments that desire to stamp out organizations such as ours.
The new world order is real. But the mantra of the powerful, and all narcissistic types is to accuse others of what you are doing. If you are a cheater, accuse your spouse of cheating. If you desire power, accuse the biggest enemy of centralized power of desiring power. The new world order is a reestablishing of a global nobility like the Romanov and hapsburgs of feudal times. They are still about. Their great^10 grand children still pining for the days when they ruled all us peasants with absolute authority. Socialism is their new feudalism. A small class of royal/party and all others the servants/proletariat/serfs/peasants. Whatever you like to call them.
Some call me a conspiracy theorist for voicing this. They are stalins useful idiots who think socialism means everyone lives like Kim Jong IL, when in reality they will be surprised to find themselves on a cattle car to a gulag like the enthusiastic Astoria Finnish people who moved to Russia after the bolshevik revolution.
He spends a lot of his time debunking conspiracy theories and engaging on facts and details with the normal Taxil hoax derived nonsense. There are a bunch of other Freemasons online who do the same (wild amounts of activity on TikTok in this area) with varying levels of success.
I agree that misinformation will never be killed. I find it particularly tiresome that it's not even new/novel misinformation, it's usually just remixes of the same Leo Taxil stuff (which I suspect even he was remixing back in his day).
Standing by is certainly an option. But lately I've noticed how the younger masons who are pushing back online are actually _engaging with young men online_ and are being visible. So long as they keep their heads....well the game goes like this. Nobody's trying to convince the conspiracy theory nuts, but you might find it useful to use their garbage as a jumping off point to talk to everybody else who doesn't know the truth of the matter. I 100% do not think we're going to "convince" anybody. The point is just to give perspectives to the passive scroll-by audience who doesn't know anything. To put an actual human face to freemasonry, rather than to leave the issue at "one group of people thinks Freemasons are satanic blood-drinkers, and the Freemasons say nothing".
Most thinking people are smart enough to know those claims are hyperbolic and probably not true, yet there's still no actual human being to associate with what a Freemason is.
Good evening, my Broth.'.! I must confess I have never ventured into the strange land of TikTok and, therefore, was completely unaware of this "Modern Mystic Mason". I am not really the audience for this kind of media, so if one of us is there trying to engage and communicate with the youngsters, then godspeed!
Here in Brazil there are some who try to create YouTube or Instagram channels to talk about Freemasonry. Sadly, half of these are phonies, who are looking to self-promote themselves, while most of the other half are, truth be told, very boring channels - very institutional, generic interviews with high officers, photos upon photos of medals and diplomas being given.
I think we have to make ourselves available in this modern world, but, at the very same time, realize that most people will just not bother with an institution like ours - they just live in another reality, where our symbolism and our discussions are alien.
Thank you for providing the link! As someone who works in the political realm, where one of the very few things that both sides agree on is that TikTok is best avoided I'd not really seen all the Masonic activity taking place there.
This was good for me to see and know, and I've spent a fair amount of time exploring now.
Respectfully, both sides do not agree that TikTok is to be avoided. It's generational. It's a default tool used by the younger generation. I'm aware of the concern over Chinese surveillance. I'm not here to argue against that, but the reality is that the app has 1 *BILLION* monthly active users.
There is a decent sized and vibrant Masonic community there. It is so large, and so influential, that it's starting to scare Google. The Internet's infrastructure has turned over twice before (Altavista -> Google -> Social networking) and it's in the midst of happening again; TikTok is part of that.
In the broad arena of misinformation, misinformation about Freemasonry is the least of our problems. I don't know if there's more misinformation in our modern society or if the combination of social media and the never-ending new cycle keeps it all front of mind, but I do know people are getting hurt both physically and emotionally. Government intervention will be less than effective, and lack of intervention will allow things to get worse. I favor some kind of near term corrective measures.
Longer term there is a desperate need for better education and elevating critical thinking, and that's something that government already does. It needs to be done better and made more accessible.
MW Cameron: Your treatise on misinformation touches on the very soul of what’s chipping away at today’s society. It is a propaganda war brought to us by zealot’s, unenlightened and uneducated political leaders, and a very gullible population. Not only are we, as Freemasons at reputational risk, but all of society is facing a huge trust deficit as a result. This observation is based on the notion that many don’t even acknowledge the differences between facts and opinions.
At a recent Lodge meeting, the issue of trust was front and center of a discussion on culture and values of Freemasonry. The Master of the Lodge said, “What matters is how we treat each other, how we labor for the Lodge, being disrespectful to the Brothers and visitors, pointing fingers, just standing on the outside, not entering the arena, especially when this Lodge desperately needs your labor, and going around the chain of command is very damaging.”
“The East has zero tolerance for mistrust. Our direction is already being addressed, as I believe and as many of the young Brothers have expressed to me “I’d rather walk alone than with a crowd with no direction.”
This, unfortunately, is not unique to this one Lodge. I’ve seen it at others.
On a more global basis, misinformation breeds mistrust and we have a huge credibility gap across society. This is captured in an annual Trust Survey that is presented each year at the Davos Economic Conference. Read the research results at https://www.edelman.com/trust/2023/trust-barometer
Feb 28, 2023·edited Feb 28, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
Went on a few dates with a woman that eventually dumped me because I belonged to the masons. She just couldn't handle the fact that there were things I couldn't talk about and that really bugged her.
And yeah, the arguments claiming of some sort of illuminati conspiracy are stupid. Famous youtube video of a guy claiming to be a 90th degree mason, and he claimed there were higher ranks than that, and unless you're up that high you will never find the truth, and anyone that is that high up would never admit it. Such a perfect argument proving both nothing and everything.
While I don't think that particular bill will go anywhere, what frightens me is that someone thought it was a worthy enough idea to submit it. I have to think that although it's obviously aimed at right wing politics, they have to know that it can apply to anything on either side of the isle and that it is nothing but draconian tyrannical suppression of speech. And someone, or more than one someone, thinks that's ok.
I first learned about our Attorney General, Bob Ferguson trying to criminalize free speech and independent thought in our state from you, Bro Cameron. For those who wish to read it the bill its called SHB 1333. Under the bill government officials would decide whose words and whose speech would be subject to criminal prosecution. The Attorney General’s office would increase surveillance of citizens for perceived violations of words and speech prohibitions. This is a direct violation of our first amendment.
For those who fear the false allegations that Freemasonry is a cabal trying to take over the world, I say it would be better if that was true. Our country was founded by Freemasons who wanted to take the power out of the hands of government and religious institutions. The President of the United States in 1776 was John Hancock, also a Freemason who issued "equality to all mankind and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights. Should any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Another Freemason and President named Arthur St. Clair (1787), took the power away from Congress and cemented in the United States Constitution, which was signed by nine Freemasons. This Constitution was ratified in 1788 and in operation in 1789, when the most well-known Freemason & President came into office, named George Washington, who affirment "We the People" implying the Government of the United States exist to serve its citizens.
For our attorney general to make effort to dismiss our first constitution and re-write the law to allow government to decide what we can say or think is something that should grab everyone attention. The last couple of years our State Governor tried to censor a narrative based on lies with the pandemic, calling those who refuse to follow his orders of getting a vaccine as domestic terrorist. This included our first responders, such as the police and medical personnel. No government agency is to have power of the citizens it serves. Standing up to tyranny is our obligation as people of the world and as Freemasons.
Guys, I looked up SHB 1333 expecting some Orwellian assault on free speech… and that’s not what I found. The bill creates a committee to study ways to address domestic terrorism using a public health framework and improve data collection. The committee itself is required to have bipartisan representation as well as broad participation from communities that have been historically marginalized. The only power the committee has is to study the issue and make additional recommendations to the Legislature. That’s it. It is not a big deal. Here’s a link to the bill summary on the Washington Legislature’s information system so you can read for yourself…
It does sound like a great Bill on the surface, but you have to take the interpretation of the letters further. If you read between the lines this bill does fit with the Orwellian concept in the way of defining the limitations and law. It can give government officials the authority to determine what is "domestic terrorist." Just last year our Governor called anyone who refuses to take the vaccine shot, a domestic terrorist (including those who serve in law enforcement and health care). With this bill anything the governor orders would be upheld by criminal prosecution from our Attorney General. This also could include but not limited to your religious beliefs, questioning authority, being labeled a far right or far left political adversary. Even peaceful protesting could result in being labeled a "domestic terrorist" depending on who's side you are on. This bill would allow draconian rulership and an end of free speech or right of assembly, because even words or intent against the governments orders can be labeled as an assault of extreme domestic violence.
This entire post is about combatting misinformation. I would encourage folks to compare the quality of the source - in this case information directly from the state legislative information system vs. one side of a debate over a bill published by a talk radio station - when drawing their own conclusions.
I think the main reason that people can't be dissuaded of whatever convictions they have about Freemasonry is simple. It is a deep seated human need to believe that somewhere, someone, or group of some ones have a plan and know exactly what they are doing and why. It is comforting in a very strange way. It is of course absurd. Mankind (this includes Freemasonry) has been winging it since Adam and Eve got the boot and always will be until the return of the king.
Perfect example of combating misinformation. You point out its about state legislation vs a radio station, and missed the meaning. Its about Interpreting Bills in ways that can be defined by the plain meaning of the law. As the article pointed out, it can be interpreted as a use against people by the government, and a measure to take away our first amendment. Simular Bill's have been introduced by the Biden Administration and shot down because of this. Either way it's worth anyone investigating for themselves. We all have the right to disagree and move on. The Founders believed that God-given rights precede human law, and they designed their government to secure those rights. The Bible teaches that man has freedom of speech because God did not give the civil government jurisdiction over the mind of man.
It is just the same here in Brazil. I remember when I was still an Active DeMolay and a Freemason used to tell us that "we can't even decide the pizza toppings for the after-meeting meal, how are we supposed to be running this world government?"
I'll give you a quick example of the funny kind of nonsense that goes around since ever. I remember in the late 1990s where there was this text running around, exposing the Order of DeMolay as a Satanic group. Are you ready for the proof? Well, "DeMolay" sounds like "Demo lei" in Portuguese, which supposedly meant "lei do Demo" = "Devil's law". Proven. Q.E.D.
I stand with you that "free thought" is a treasure that Freemasonry has defended for centuries and sits close to its heart. I have been in countless discussions with people all over the political spectrum, taking the stand that a "free market of ideas" is positive and that the solution for misinformation is not censorship, but shedding more light onto ideas.
Of course we should take note of bad actors, swindlers and conmen, but our efforts are better spent on good works than trying to stop other people from saying whatever they spin in their spare time. Our great forefather Pike writes on that a few times of "Morals and Dogma", still a great source of knowledge for us.
You misunderstand who is really spreading the disinformation. It is the powerful people who desire more power. governments that desire to stamp out organizations such as ours.
The new world order is real. But the mantra of the powerful, and all narcissistic types is to accuse others of what you are doing. If you are a cheater, accuse your spouse of cheating. If you desire power, accuse the biggest enemy of centralized power of desiring power. The new world order is a reestablishing of a global nobility like the Romanov and hapsburgs of feudal times. They are still about. Their great^10 grand children still pining for the days when they ruled all us peasants with absolute authority. Socialism is their new feudalism. A small class of royal/party and all others the servants/proletariat/serfs/peasants. Whatever you like to call them.
Some call me a conspiracy theorist for voicing this. They are stalins useful idiots who think socialism means everyone lives like Kim Jong IL, when in reality they will be surprised to find themselves on a cattle car to a gulag like the enthusiastic Astoria Finnish people who moved to Russia after the bolshevik revolution.
Relevant to this conversation, probably the most popular Masonic person online nowadays is WidowsMijo or "Modern Mystic Mason" on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@modernmysticmason?lang=en
He spends a lot of his time debunking conspiracy theories and engaging on facts and details with the normal Taxil hoax derived nonsense. There are a bunch of other Freemasons online who do the same (wild amounts of activity on TikTok in this area) with varying levels of success.
I agree that misinformation will never be killed. I find it particularly tiresome that it's not even new/novel misinformation, it's usually just remixes of the same Leo Taxil stuff (which I suspect even he was remixing back in his day).
Standing by is certainly an option. But lately I've noticed how the younger masons who are pushing back online are actually _engaging with young men online_ and are being visible. So long as they keep their heads....well the game goes like this. Nobody's trying to convince the conspiracy theory nuts, but you might find it useful to use their garbage as a jumping off point to talk to everybody else who doesn't know the truth of the matter. I 100% do not think we're going to "convince" anybody. The point is just to give perspectives to the passive scroll-by audience who doesn't know anything. To put an actual human face to freemasonry, rather than to leave the issue at "one group of people thinks Freemasons are satanic blood-drinkers, and the Freemasons say nothing".
Most thinking people are smart enough to know those claims are hyperbolic and probably not true, yet there's still no actual human being to associate with what a Freemason is.
Good evening, my Broth.'.! I must confess I have never ventured into the strange land of TikTok and, therefore, was completely unaware of this "Modern Mystic Mason". I am not really the audience for this kind of media, so if one of us is there trying to engage and communicate with the youngsters, then godspeed!
Here in Brazil there are some who try to create YouTube or Instagram channels to talk about Freemasonry. Sadly, half of these are phonies, who are looking to self-promote themselves, while most of the other half are, truth be told, very boring channels - very institutional, generic interviews with high officers, photos upon photos of medals and diplomas being given.
I think we have to make ourselves available in this modern world, but, at the very same time, realize that most people will just not bother with an institution like ours - they just live in another reality, where our symbolism and our discussions are alien.
Thank you for providing the link! As someone who works in the political realm, where one of the very few things that both sides agree on is that TikTok is best avoided I'd not really seen all the Masonic activity taking place there.
This was good for me to see and know, and I've spent a fair amount of time exploring now.
Respectfully, both sides do not agree that TikTok is to be avoided. It's generational. It's a default tool used by the younger generation. I'm aware of the concern over Chinese surveillance. I'm not here to argue against that, but the reality is that the app has 1 *BILLION* monthly active users.
There is a decent sized and vibrant Masonic community there. It is so large, and so influential, that it's starting to scare Google. The Internet's infrastructure has turned over twice before (Altavista -> Google -> Social networking) and it's in the midst of happening again; TikTok is part of that.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/12/google-exec-suggests-instagram-and-tiktok-are-eating-into-googles-core-products-search-and-maps/
In the broad arena of misinformation, misinformation about Freemasonry is the least of our problems. I don't know if there's more misinformation in our modern society or if the combination of social media and the never-ending new cycle keeps it all front of mind, but I do know people are getting hurt both physically and emotionally. Government intervention will be less than effective, and lack of intervention will allow things to get worse. I favor some kind of near term corrective measures.
Longer term there is a desperate need for better education and elevating critical thinking, and that's something that government already does. It needs to be done better and made more accessible.
I suggest reading Journalism In Tennessee
by Mark Twain
There could be nothing worse than government deciding what the truth is.
http://fullreads.com/literature/journalism-in-tennessee/
MW Cameron: Your treatise on misinformation touches on the very soul of what’s chipping away at today’s society. It is a propaganda war brought to us by zealot’s, unenlightened and uneducated political leaders, and a very gullible population. Not only are we, as Freemasons at reputational risk, but all of society is facing a huge trust deficit as a result. This observation is based on the notion that many don’t even acknowledge the differences between facts and opinions.
At a recent Lodge meeting, the issue of trust was front and center of a discussion on culture and values of Freemasonry. The Master of the Lodge said, “What matters is how we treat each other, how we labor for the Lodge, being disrespectful to the Brothers and visitors, pointing fingers, just standing on the outside, not entering the arena, especially when this Lodge desperately needs your labor, and going around the chain of command is very damaging.”
“The East has zero tolerance for mistrust. Our direction is already being addressed, as I believe and as many of the young Brothers have expressed to me “I’d rather walk alone than with a crowd with no direction.”
This, unfortunately, is not unique to this one Lodge. I’ve seen it at others.
On a more global basis, misinformation breeds mistrust and we have a huge credibility gap across society. This is captured in an annual Trust Survey that is presented each year at the Davos Economic Conference. Read the research results at https://www.edelman.com/trust/2023/trust-barometer
Went on a few dates with a woman that eventually dumped me because I belonged to the masons. She just couldn't handle the fact that there were things I couldn't talk about and that really bugged her.
And yeah, the arguments claiming of some sort of illuminati conspiracy are stupid. Famous youtube video of a guy claiming to be a 90th degree mason, and he claimed there were higher ranks than that, and unless you're up that high you will never find the truth, and anyone that is that high up would never admit it. Such a perfect argument proving both nothing and everything.
While I don't think that particular bill will go anywhere, what frightens me is that someone thought it was a worthy enough idea to submit it. I have to think that although it's obviously aimed at right wing politics, they have to know that it can apply to anything on either side of the isle and that it is nothing but draconian tyrannical suppression of speech. And someone, or more than one someone, thinks that's ok.
Scary shit going on in this country.
I first learned about our Attorney General, Bob Ferguson trying to criminalize free speech and independent thought in our state from you, Bro Cameron. For those who wish to read it the bill its called SHB 1333. Under the bill government officials would decide whose words and whose speech would be subject to criminal prosecution. The Attorney General’s office would increase surveillance of citizens for perceived violations of words and speech prohibitions. This is a direct violation of our first amendment.
For those who fear the false allegations that Freemasonry is a cabal trying to take over the world, I say it would be better if that was true. Our country was founded by Freemasons who wanted to take the power out of the hands of government and religious institutions. The President of the United States in 1776 was John Hancock, also a Freemason who issued "equality to all mankind and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights. Should any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Another Freemason and President named Arthur St. Clair (1787), took the power away from Congress and cemented in the United States Constitution, which was signed by nine Freemasons. This Constitution was ratified in 1788 and in operation in 1789, when the most well-known Freemason & President came into office, named George Washington, who affirment "We the People" implying the Government of the United States exist to serve its citizens.
For our attorney general to make effort to dismiss our first constitution and re-write the law to allow government to decide what we can say or think is something that should grab everyone attention. The last couple of years our State Governor tried to censor a narrative based on lies with the pandemic, calling those who refuse to follow his orders of getting a vaccine as domestic terrorist. This included our first responders, such as the police and medical personnel. No government agency is to have power of the citizens it serves. Standing up to tyranny is our obligation as people of the world and as Freemasons.
Guys, I looked up SHB 1333 expecting some Orwellian assault on free speech… and that’s not what I found. The bill creates a committee to study ways to address domestic terrorism using a public health framework and improve data collection. The committee itself is required to have bipartisan representation as well as broad participation from communities that have been historically marginalized. The only power the committee has is to study the issue and make additional recommendations to the Legislature. That’s it. It is not a big deal. Here’s a link to the bill summary on the Washington Legislature’s information system so you can read for yourself…
https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1333%20HBR%20APP%2023.pdf?q=20230304000823
It does sound like a great Bill on the surface, but you have to take the interpretation of the letters further. If you read between the lines this bill does fit with the Orwellian concept in the way of defining the limitations and law. It can give government officials the authority to determine what is "domestic terrorist." Just last year our Governor called anyone who refuses to take the vaccine shot, a domestic terrorist (including those who serve in law enforcement and health care). With this bill anything the governor orders would be upheld by criminal prosecution from our Attorney General. This also could include but not limited to your religious beliefs, questioning authority, being labeled a far right or far left political adversary. Even peaceful protesting could result in being labeled a "domestic terrorist" depending on who's side you are on. This bill would allow draconian rulership and an end of free speech or right of assembly, because even words or intent against the governments orders can be labeled as an assault of extreme domestic violence.
https://610kona.com/a-new-bill-could-make-free-speech-illegal-in-washington/
This entire post is about combatting misinformation. I would encourage folks to compare the quality of the source - in this case information directly from the state legislative information system vs. one side of a debate over a bill published by a talk radio station - when drawing their own conclusions.
I think the main reason that people can't be dissuaded of whatever convictions they have about Freemasonry is simple. It is a deep seated human need to believe that somewhere, someone, or group of some ones have a plan and know exactly what they are doing and why. It is comforting in a very strange way. It is of course absurd. Mankind (this includes Freemasonry) has been winging it since Adam and Eve got the boot and always will be until the return of the king.
Perfect example of combating misinformation. You point out its about state legislation vs a radio station, and missed the meaning. Its about Interpreting Bills in ways that can be defined by the plain meaning of the law. As the article pointed out, it can be interpreted as a use against people by the government, and a measure to take away our first amendment. Simular Bill's have been introduced by the Biden Administration and shot down because of this. Either way it's worth anyone investigating for themselves. We all have the right to disagree and move on. The Founders believed that God-given rights precede human law, and they designed their government to secure those rights. The Bible teaches that man has freedom of speech because God did not give the civil government jurisdiction over the mind of man.