Pittsburgh Freemasons
Friday, July 9th, 2010Masonic Partiality
Here we discover an extreme partiality among Masonic soldiers that gives privileges not afforded the average soldier. When the war was over, this partiality extended to their private and public lives. For example, a Mason often found it easier to find work than did a non-Mason. If venturing into business, a Mason was assured a loan simply by giving the proper hand- shake to a Masonic banker. Should a Mason choose politics as a career, he was guaranteed votes of all Masons who had reached the Royal Arch degree (13th degree in Scottish Rite and 7th degree in York Rite), which oath reads:
I will promote a companion Royal Arch Mason’s political preferment in preference to another of equal qualifications.
Once in political office, the Mason must vote the dictates of his Masonic superiors. In the Masonic book, Webb’s Monitor, we read:
Right or wrong his very existence as a Mason hangs upon obedience to the powers immediately set above him. The one unpardonable crime in a Mason is contumacy [insubordination] or disobedience.
Masonic partiality also permits Master Masons to commit criminal acts and find protection among Masons. The Master Mason swears:
A Master Mason’s secrets given to me in charge as such, and I knowing him to be such, shall remain as secure and inviolable in my breast as in his own.murder and treason excepted.
If a Mason is a defendant in court, Masonic partiality extends to the witness stand. In the Masonic Hand Book we read:
You must conceal all the crimes of your brother Masons, except murder and treason, and these only at your own option, and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason, be always sure to shield him. Prevaricate, don’t tell the whole truth in this case, keep his secrets, forget the most important points. It may be perjury to do this, it is true, but you’re keeping your obligations, and remember if you live up to your obligations strictly, you’ll be free from sin.
Masonic partiality extends to the jury box. The Blue Lodge degrees read:
Whenever you see any of our signs made by a brother Mason, and especially the grand hailing sign of distress, you must always be sure to obey them, even at the risk of your life. If you’re on a jury, and the defendant is a Mason, and makes the grand hailing sign, you must obey it; you must disagree with your brother jurors, if necessary, but you must be sure not to bring the Mason guilty, for that would bring disgrace upon our order. It may be perjury, to be sure, to do this, but then you’re fulfilling your obligation, and you know if you live up to your obligations you’ll be free from sin.
Once a Mason reaches Royal Arch degree, he is to conceal all crimes of brother Masons, including murder and treason. Royal Arch Masons swear:
I will aid and assist a companion Royal Arch Mason, when engaged in any difficulty, and espouse his cause, so far as to extricate him from the same, if in my power, whether he be right or wrong.. A companion Royal Arch Mason’s secrets, given me in charge as such, and I knowing him to be such, shall remain as secure and inviolable, in my breast as in his own, murder and treason not excepted.
Although there is an upside to being a Mason, which is preferential treatment of each other in every walk of life, including protection should a Mason himself commit crimes, there is also a downside. A Mason must agree to maintain silence of knowledgeable crimes committed by brother Masons, including murder. If summoned to court as a juror or a witness on behalf of a brother Mason being prosecuted, he must perjure himself.
Preferential treatment, partiality, and hiding crimes are contrary to Holy Scriptures that lay open on the Masonic altar. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Tim. 5:21-22, “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”