Masonry

[Dr T]

The mac n cheese was funny with teh exploding head. Gross but made me laugh. "Whatever is gross, disgusting...think upon such things" is that how it goes?

[Jason]

My favorite line:

"Dude, nobody cares that your Catholic."

[CrimsonKairos]

Except for the profanity and lame breast gags, that was hilarious. I love shows like the Simpsons that look stupid on the surface but utilize subtle and powerful satire at their core.

Favorite line was when the blue bull says: "That hat is murder!" or something like that in reference to the mock-mason horned-hats. Bwahahahahahahahaha.

Oh yeah, and the Star of David Death Star...hilarious! Anytime you can spoof Star Wars, go for it!

p.s. The "five Jewish bankers" gag is actually a compliment to Jews. The Rothschilds, et al, were brilliant financiers.

[orrinjelo]

Okay, that was...weird. Glad I'm not gonna see Sealab again.

[Dr T]

Star of David Death Star

Yes, I laughed at that.

[Palerider]

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I took it in good humor. They also mocked Catholics, animal activists, plastic surgeons, as well as Masons and Jews. (and watch out for the Mac and Cheese!)

Sealab cartoons mock everyone. It's like the Simpsons. Nobody's safe, and nobody's a real target.

Well in that case...I admit I found it amusing...to a degree.

...but I guess it's just not my kind of humor...I HATE the Simpsons and South Park.

we are in agreement on those shows....... B)

[Rize]

Masonry was a popular social scene in Illinois when the Saints arrived there. Joseph and others number themselves with the group as a gesture of friendship. The Nauvoo Lodge admitted many members who were not LDS. There were even ministers from other churches among the Masons there.

I equate the LDS Church's relationship to the Ancient York Masons in Illinois with the LDS Church's Modern relationship with the Boy Scouts of America, save the Boy Scouts are actually dealt with during Church meetings.

-a-train

Thats actually not an accurate comparison at all.

Joseph Smith became a Mason on March 15, 1842 and rose to the sublime degree the following day. This initiation took place in his upper business office or Masonic lodge room (History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 550-551). Only a few weeks after Joseph's initiation into Masonry, he taught the other LDS Church leaders in the same Masonic lodge room. Joseph's interest in Masonry spread and many Mormon elders joined, and within six months the lodge had 286 candidates.

He gave instructions on the Masonic rituals and temple ceremonies. (Ibid. vol. 5, p. 2) There is no doubt that Joseph's primary interest in Masonry was because of its ritual. Like Solomon, he became a temple builder. Joseph Smith's own temple records indicate his temple endowment took place on May 4, 1842, just seven weeks after his Masonic initiation. In Smith's own words he said: "In the evening I received the first degree in Freemasonry in the Nauvoo Lodge." The next day he stated: "I was with the Masonic Lodge and rose to the sublime degree." This qualified Joseph to be a Master Mason. (Ibid. 1842 vol. 4, p. 552)

Shortly after their temple endowment ceremonies, Joseph Smith Jr. and other Mormons were expelled from the Masonic order for violating their oaths. It was May 4, 1842 that Joseph Smith introduced the Masonic Ceremony as the Mormon Temple Ceremony and declared that it was "received as a revelation from God." (History of the Church, vol. 5, pp. 1-2).

Any research shows that there are very significant similarities between temple ceremonies and Masonic rituals, also the fact that temple ceremonies were introduced only weeks after Joseph Smith became a Mason is significant.

Its disengagement to compare that to the boy scouts. According to Joseph Smith early Masonic traditions had been corrupted and needed to be restored through divine inspiration. Joseph Smith said the Masons had corrupted the ceremony originated by God in Solomon's time by removing and changing many parts.

[Moksha]

For a real idea of what Masons and Mormons do, you'd better watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l86ugOGv6o

(And if you don't laugh, there's something wrong with you.)

I tried this old link, and what I got was This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by The Cartoon Network, Inc

[NDD18]

I've been looking into Masonry (the Free-Masons) for a while and I'm wondering if I should join the fraternity. It is a subject I ran into in Germany during and after my stay in Bremen (Bremen was one of the big places in Europe for Masons--tons of history). I also learned some of the history between Masons and the Church--not to go into much detail about that right now unless we need to...

Now my question that I've been wondering forever--why was Joseph Smith and several other Prophets of the Church free-masons?

I think Joseph joined after learning masonry claimed to use rituals that were passed down from the temple of Solomon. He used the rituals to make up the endowment, which was given new meaning pertaining to the plan of salvation and Jesus Christ.

I would guess other Church leaders joined sense Joseph Smith did.

My great grandfather was a mason, I was actually wanting to look more into my self sometime later in life. Other Christian churches are against it though, because they think it's pagan or Satan worship, which it's not. Actually I think you have to be at least gnostic (belief in God or higher power) to join (I'm not sure). But anyway, I would follow the advice already given, discuss it with your bishop first.

P.S. I think masonry has a pretty high membership fee.