Why is that crazy? If 1/3 have been in it, it seems like the most logical thing in the world to ask. Don't let freemasons downplay the power of their organization. The lower-level guys with the freemason stickers on their SUVs don't matter, but the people at the top have a ton of power, and it's obvious this is the case with even the smallest amount of research.

The lower-level guys with the freemason stickers on their SUVs don't matter, but the people at the top have a ton of power

That's not how Freemasonry works. You can be Grand Master of Masons in your country (or state in the US) but there's no way to gain control of the Fraternity as a whole, very much by design. This is why we've lasted so long. Organizations that consolidate power tend to succumb to long-term instability. We're a collection of autonomous, democratic institutions that operate through a system of mutual recognition.

Anything is possible, but from the inside, I can tell you that the logistics just don't work. It would be easier to accomplish whatever goes some nefarious evildoer has without the Fraternity than with it. And what cause do we have to think that this logistical impossibility has happened? Really... nothing. Other than the fact that everyone loves to hate an organization that's dedicated to brotherly love and equality because they can't imagine that actually being the primary motivating goal of any organization, there's nothing all that interesting about Freemasonry from a conspiracy perspective.

Philosophically, intellectually, morally? Sure, the Fraternity is fascinating, but try getting 40 Masons together for dinner, and you'll immediately abandon any notion that they could be herded into some worldwide conspiracy...

See, but now lets try getting 40 top rank Masons together...

First off, there's no "top rank." The Grand Master of a jurisdiction might fit your idea of high ranking, but if you're a mover and shaker looking to run the world why would you want to spend decades tirelessly improving the Fraternity just to get elected Grand Master?

Freemasonry has been around since before the middle ages.

That's just not true. We allegorically talk about ancient Freemasonry, but the reality is that Freemasonry probably grew out of the craft stonemasonry guilds of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Surely they must have picked up some knowledge in that time frame that maybe outsiders don't know about

You would have to fill me in on what you mean.

The fact that you said anything is possible, is really all I needed to hear.

Of course. The goldfish fanciers could secretly be running the UN. The military industrial complex could be a front for a worldwide network of underground slam poetry. But what you have to ask yourself is: what is likely?

And in that sense, when I look at powerful people who were Freemasons, like Truman, Churchill or Hoover, I find it more likely that they were powerful people who were attracted to the Fraternity, not the other way around.

I understand. They're taught to think that way.

How can they think any other way? Go to any zombie bank, and ask anyone working there about the criminal machinations of their organization, and they'll think you are crazy. It isn't part of their reality, and there isn't anything you could say to them to make it so, because it isn't in their interest.

Free Masons do not rule the world. They are pawns to a higher power.

Most people who claim themselves Free Masons are probably low level. The higher ups influence things, but they are influenced by higher ups. I'm just saying, the pyramid goes higher. Free Masons, skull and bones, knights of Malta, etc etc are all pawns to a higher power. It's just compartmentalized, like the military. Many of these fucks think they have power, but they are just unknowing pawns.

I am glad there are other people who get how this stuff works. It's amazing the number of "open secrets" that people simply ignore because they're told to ignore it (or given the impression it's preposterous to even think about).

To this, I'd suggest you research the Mormon church. The guy that founded it (Joseph smith) was a Mason. Their temple rituals have a Masonic base. And their "religion" is very much based on power over the masses. You're absolutely right to ask questions and more people should.

Lol @ dick-nut

As I see it, Freemasonry is a filtering system to find the people who are psychopathic enough to join the main sects of the top ranks. There are tens of millions of freemasons in the world, but only a few hundred of them actually matter in terms of geopolitics, I would guess.

It's a society based on not asking questions and silently obeying the orders of your superiors. If you make it to the top of that, it's obvious you're psychopathic enough to do evil things because someone above you told you to, and never tell a soul.

In addition to 1/3 of the presidents being freemasons, almost all the astronauts have been as well.

Haven't more than 3 American presidents been a part of S&B? Or am I just thinking about politicians in general?

Yeah, we're all crazy here lol

I know it probably is just paranoia because I'm a nobody, but I'm waiting for the day I get sudden cancer or a sudden lethal virus. It's always the ones who do the research...

Which is also why I believe he is not a true whistleblower. If he were, only the people that frequent this sub would know about him. My gf is an English teacher and she mentioned that her kids took some state test where the prompt was asking kids something along the lines of "should you have an expectation of privacy in the 21st century?" Fucking leading much?

I disagree man. Why is he the only whistleblower in modern history to receive that kind of media attention? Is it because you think the story was so big that the media couldn't possibly ignore it? You should know better than that. If they talk about something, they want you to hear a certain point of view. They demonized him but only in the same way that politicians demonize each other...it's all part of the show. You need the bad guy whistleblower, but you need him to be completely within your control or else you might get real information leaked like Bradley Manning with the Afghanistan videos and John Kiriakou who confirmed that the CIA was using waterboarding as a torture technique. Both of those people were jailed in special prisons. Meanwhile, Snowden is giving interviews to John Oliver. That doesn't make sense! That's not how they treat people who truly are a threat to the system. You know the concept of panopticon? Snowden's purpose was to implement the American panopticon. You start to change your behavior because you know you are being watched, you just can't see the person watching you. As you mentioned, a lot of the stuff he revealed was crazy, but ultimately, nothing huge has come of his leaks. He doesn't do the usual "dump everything I have" route that most whistleblowers take. To me, his actions just raise more questions than they answer and I see now that his revelations have only made regular people indifferent to surveillance.

Disagree highly. If 9/11 was proven with documents to be 100% an inside job, the fallout would've been magnitudes greater than what we saw with Snowden's revelations. Yeah, they were shocking at the time, but not enough to get anything to happen about it. They just go back and forth with it. "A judge said they can't spy. Different judge okays renewal of spying. New judge says they're overstepping bounds. Next judge says everything's good." We had direct, undeniable evidence that the government was spying on us. We didn't need Snowden for that. Yeah, he brought international attention to the issue, but again, what other whistleblowers have brought the same level of international attention to their cause? Our government is not that inept that he would get away. Even if he managed to get away initially, he wouldn't be on the run for this long if he were truly a traitor like the government tried to make him seem. Yeah I understand that he knows about communication, but cmon, you've evaded capture by the CIA for THIS long? No....not real. If the US government wants you dead or captured, you'll be dead or captured. You won't be giving interviews to John Fuckface Oliver.

That's my point: they don't let people get away with shit, so the fact that he did reveal so much and they aren't actively hunting him, that's highly suspicious to me. Do you remember Michael Hastings? Dead before he could say anything else. He happened to write an article for Buzzfeed about the section of the NDAA that removed the ban against using propaganda on American soil. So it's a fact that they've removed this limitation for themselves. So now we can ask ourselves, what kind of psychological operations are they conducting currently? What do you think? I could say a few things I think are part of directed psy ops, in addition to Snowden.

You believe something as grand as the idea that we have all been brainwashed since birth but Snowden....that guy was real. He wasn't part of the deception they're foisting upon you? I asked you for examples of the types of psychological operations you'd anticipate the government is running on American soil. It's an important question because if you live in America, you are likely being affected by it. So let's put Snowden to the side. You mentioned already something about ISIS. They're an excellent example. Just like Snowden, they are the boogeyman that was set up to implement changes in American behavior that wouldn't have been tolerated otherwise. Again, we see the government putting forth the idea that the government is too incompetent or that ISIS is too skilled as a network. When they convince you that ISIS is too skilled to be taken lightly, they get you to go along with increases in defense spending in order to feel safe. They create an event, tell you how to feel about it, and then get the bad guy when it's convenient for them (a la Bin Laden). Whether Snowden is a truly a whistleblower matters immensely because if he is controlled, then it's an obvious example of how far the government is willing to go to deceive us in order to change our political opinions. If he's a whistleblower, lucky for him he's not in jail. Another example of the psychological operations has been manipulation of the race relations between blacks and whites. When you remember that media is controlled, and you realize that they've only just now started reporting on whites who kill blacks (even though more blacks kill blacks than whites kill blacks), you can suspect that they are trying to influence your perception of the event or the people involved. The Charleston shooting combined the race relations narrative with the gun control narrative. That's two birds with one stone for psy ops. In my opinion, that's worse. It's one thing to watch me and to listen to my communication, but it's another thing to actively shape people's opinion to be that of the state-sponsored view. It's wrong. If we as Americans want to disarm ourselves, we should have that conversation naturally, and as a nation. We shouldn't be manipulated by media messages into giving up our weapons.

I'm making factual claims, I just haven't put it together in a format that you might consider worthy of consideration. I don't think it's fair that you use the lizard analogy. "Snowden is not a true whistleblower" is not a theory that exists on the same level as "he's been taken over by a multi dimensional shape shifting lizard." Don't act like the second theory is just as good as the first theory. They both can be made without supporting evidence, but one is far more likely to be true, whether we are able to find the evidence to support it or not.

Basically, in case you didn't know, 14 out of our 43 presidents were Freemasons. That's 32.55%

This isn't shocking. Freemasonry stresses involvement in the community, charity and brotherly love. These are attributes that tend to make one inclined toward public service. I would expect Freemasons to be vastly more predisposed to public service in general for this reason.

Source: am a Freemason and conspiracy theorist.

They say it's no different than if 1/3 of our presidents were dog owners or something.

I disagree. I think it speaks to the powerful system of self improvement that Freemasonry brings to bear, long before the "self help" craze cheapened that idea into 3-hour seminars.

They might not control the world, but they have had many top ranking members rise to positions of power where they control the country. That's simply a fact, but they say it's a coincidence at best.

Well, keep in mind that the last Freemason to be President was Ford (and even an older guy like me barely remembers Ford at this point). Clinton was in the Order of deMolay, but he never went on to join the Fraternity. Before Ford, you have to go back to Truman, who was Grand Master of Masons in Missouri.

Also, keep in mind that Freemasonry isn't a monolith. Yes, there are Freemasons who are powerful people (and Rotarians and so on) but they're all members of essentially stand-alone organizations that merely recognize each other's legitimacy. Freemasonry in Massachusetts does not answer to Freemasonry in Florida does not answer to Freemasonry in England and so on. So, it's kind of hard to build a conspiracy within the Fraternity (not impossible... just very rare and very limited in their ability to affect other parts of the Fraternity).

Am I a dick? A nut?

Not at all. I asked these very same questions when I first started looking into the Fraternity.

Would you admit it gives you some type of power, even if it's only within?

On a local (Grand Lodge) level, Freemasonry can be a force to be reckoned with at times, but there are several problems with trying to apply that to grand conspiracy theories:

1. Men who come to the Fraternity do so for many reasons, and so there's no unifying political goals within the organization. We're every kind of man you can imagine. Young, old, conservative, liberal, gay, straight, rich, poor, every ethnicity, religion, etc. so what kind of goals would men like that agree on?!
2. If there's this need to keep everything secret from the rank and file, that makes doing anything extremely difficult.
3. Outside of the Fraternity, none of these restrictions exist, so if I wanted to manipulate, say, world governments, then the last thing I would do is try to involve Freemasonry. I'd ignore the Fraternity entirely because it would only slow me down.

1: Aren't atheists not welcome?

You have to have a belief in a supreme being of some sort, yes. I, for example am a deist. I've met Freemasons from every major religion and every sort of non-dogmatic belief.

2: Extremely difficult from your perspective, but impossible?

Define impossible. I'm not sure that I could think of something that I'd be willing to assume is impossible, but I'd find a worldwide conspiracy of Freemasons about as believable as a worldwide conspiracy of surfers.

3: Well a third of our presidents were Freemason, if it slowed them down it sure didn't stop them, from becoming leader of one government.

Again, there's that assumption that there's single organization called Freemasonry and that what one Freemason does is somehow related to what another Freemason from another jurisdiction does, but that just isn't so.

Again I don't mean to demean you.

I take very little in this sub personally, and you would have to be much more unreasonable to even make me grumble. Asking pointed questions is refreshing to me.

Well if there's nothing you could assume to be impossible, I gotta say, I'm in a time in my life where I'm just learning about these kinda rituals that powerful people in our world take part in.

So here's the thing. When you accept that anything is possible, you have to decide how you're going to determine what to believe. There's going to be some filter of what's reasonable to believe, and how you configure that filter is going to determine how you interact with the world.

Having three presidents in Skull and Bones, and what the hell is going on at the Bohemian Grove. Have you looked into these things?

Sure. First off, though, it's important to understand that these aren't Masonic groups. They're also not, IMHO, terribly interesting. Yes, when you are rich and/or powerful, it gives you entre into some very exclusive gatherings like Bohemian Grove. Yes, rich kids have their own frat at Yale. But neither of those is surprising nor do we need to read them as indicative of monsters under the bed.

Because to the average American, this all sounds crazy.

Not to me.

And about the knowledge Grand Masters might have picked up since the 16 century, man, I don't know at this point. Aliens?

If there are aliens, why would Freemasons be more likely to know that they exist than Tai Chi schools or Catholic monks or Oxford University? All of those institutions are older than Freemasonry. Why do we want to believe that Freemasonry knows the deep, dark secrets of our id?

How do you make sense of all this in the grand scheme of things?

I take the world as it comes and I try to find the places where I can make the most difference in people's lives.

The only similarities is having rituals.

Everyone has rituals. There's a ritual we perform when we make our breakfast. There's a ritual we perform when opening a session of the US Congress or board meetings or courts, etc.

Why does having a ritual worry you?

The thing is, these other groups take part in mock human sacrifices

Yeah, I don't buy that. S&B is purported to have a ritual that involves dealing with a human skull. I think that's kind of cute, but not really interesting. It's a school. They have tons of skulls available for their physiology-oriented classes because they have to. Using one in your little initiation ceremony does not impress me.

As for BG, my impression is that they're focused on cool performance art. It's an opportunity for the movers and shakers to go off and enjoy themselves for a weekend without having to be in the public eye. I think that's kind of cool, and sort of wish I could go to one.

They're also exclusively for people with power and influence in our society, and no one else.

Good for them. Why do I care if they have a weekend off or join a college frat?

To say Skull and Bones is just a fraternity for rich kids, would be incorrect. It's a secret society by definition.

You said "fraternity" and then you said "secret society." A fraternity is a secret society by definition. Unless they publicly disclose their initiation rituals, which no fraternity that I'm aware of does...

The Bush's aren't even allowed to admit they're a part of it

So? Again, why does that matter? I don't really care what clubs a politician wants to belong to. I care about what they do and how they justify it. If I think that's problematic, I'm going to give them hell for it, and you should too.

coming together to get naked...

Oh, I wish! Do you know how hot it can get in an unairconditioned Lodge room?! If I were allowed to take my tuxedo off, you better believe I'd be in my birthday suit in a heartbeat!

This would be more than just a little surprising to most.

Most people would be surprised by the fact that I dress up in a tux to go to a meeting twice a month with people that I would trust as much as I'd trust a family member, even though I met them all just a few years ago.

Surprise isn't an indicator of deep and troubling conspiracies.

The Secret Behind Secret Societies

Here is some light to help you see.

Keep studying. It all goes back to the Catholic church through the Jesuits. They're the Synagogue of Satan.

If I watered down the truth for you, you wouldn't be getting the truth. The fact of the matter is this is a war between Christ and Satan at its core. We have a sin problem. Immorality and corruption are rampant. Our problem cannot be solved by anything other than a completely sinless population, which requires burning the weeds and collecting the fruits. This world must come to an end and we must start again; so shall it be.

There will not be spot, nor wrinkle, nor stain in the new earth. Every individual will be in harmony with God's law of love. He is selecting the choicest fruits to place in a brand new basket.

Hey, I never got a response about why I was banned from /r/theworldisflat. Is it simply about censorship? Afraid to answer questions? Don't want your subs to have to show any critical thinking skills? Why are you banning everyone who doesn't side with you and uses math and science to show why your points are flawed?

It's not I who is issuing forth the bans, but I also haven't had much time to dedicate to the subreddit. I'm allowing /u/OurJesuitPaymasters to stand guard and am respecting his decisions thus far. If his bans start leaking outside of the TMoR stampede going on in our subreddit (and without reasonable cause), then will I begin to worry.

If you would like to start your own flat earth subreddit, feel free to do so.

You've turned it into a circle jerk, empty of any debate and discussion. He's handling the power you've given him like a child. The users I've seen be the most disrespectful in your sub are actually the flat earth contingency of it, especially when their claims are challenged. Congrats.

Nailed it!

There are the regular "joes" that frequent the blue lodge once or twice a month to recite esoteric doctrine in which 99% of them have no clue of the meaning or true origins of the words they recite, nor the ritual they perform. There are a handful of masons that do their studies with superficial effort and have a grasp of what the higher ups (elitist/existentialist) would have them perceive as to the true motives and efforts of the craft.
Their are a select few that consume all freemasonry has to offer and walk through the many doors presented, in which he finds many other truths to be explored. This becomes a life study in all the mystic teachings known to man, comparative religion, theology, theosophy, Gnostic, Judaic, buddhic, Taoism, Confucianism, lost gospels, cults of Egypt, Sumerian texts, pyramid studies, Coptic research, cuneiform research, cults of Europe, magick, numerology/gematria, Roman history, Greek history, mythology, all major works of philosophy, native american studies, rituals, shamanism, Hebrew language in parallel with the Talmud, cabala, zoaroastriansism and the Yahweh cult. Studies then get into alchemy, metaphysics, energy, laws of nature/universe etc..

Most of the interest grows once a brother gets beyond the 3rd degree and joins the Scottish rite or York rite.
There are clandestine Masonic organizations that are not recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England but may provide a more conducive atmosphere for education; as this is a major factor thst contributed to clandestine lodges forming in the states.

There are politics at the highest levels of the craft. I don't care to expound on at this point. I am a 32° Scottish Rite Mason potentially in exile :)

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IMO, it's likely that Anunnaki watchers, immortals as far as we're concerned, occupy the tip of the pyramid, and are locked in a proxy rivalry over the fate of humanity, the planet, and possibly the inner solar system. The enemies of mankind grow desperate, and flog their human servants forward, as their long-period homeworld, and subsequent rule of law, once again approaches the inner system.

Sounds like science fiction, and maybe it is. But I think we can be certain that affairs between beings with IQs over 1000 are likely to be something we wouldn't really understand anyway.

We need to know where those bloodlines lead to really know what they mean. The Sumerian "gods" put a big emphasis on it, and the entire Sumerian mythology is based their incestuous relationships with their human creations.

Edit; Sumerian gods taught them both religion and banking, and controlled their civilization with those institutions.

I come from a long line of Freemasons. It's just great for networking. Hell half my clients for marketing firm are masons. Makes sense if you want to succeed in business or politics. It's all who you know not what you know.

If you're really worried about it just join up, and ask questions. It's not that big of a deal.

Edit/ just to answer your post you're not crazy. Many Freemasons have a lot of power. But its their power, not the masons.

there are lizard aliens with magical powers ? :O i knew it!! Minimisation

see this only makes me think that freemasons do not rule the world , they are a conTROLLED group to rule over us who in turn are ruled by lizard aliens with magical powers...

see this is what turned me off david icke , he said people interbreed with them , no one really knows what level of tech this planet had thousands of years ago , for all we know the human race of the past could have been advanced as it is today ( or more ) .

we have descriptions of ancient wars of gods destroying man kind etc perhaps they beat us ? biggest lie in the history of the modern man is the history books .. and the biggest weapon of our time will be surveillance and oversight of the military industrial complex who are working for our space monkey over lords ..

sorry " lizard overlords "

you know .. when i was a kid my mother used to watch T.V with us and say things like "they said they wouldnt do that" or "they said that wouldnt happen" she used to say it more and more through out the 80's and i asked who "they" were , she was born in the 40's and was raised in Belfast ,

Belfast 1970's - a country with a new war .. a war with bombings on the street daily , murder was rampant .. mi5 were on the streets .. everyone knew and every one knew of occult rituals and murders connected to the occult but hidden in the name of the new war , police , doctors , lawyers found a way to hide occult rituals and their victims , my mother told me all about it in the 80's after asking her who "they" were , the occult is in the fabric of the human race but never spoken about , it is woven so deep into the fabric of British society that they will stop at nothing to keep it hidden . multidimensional you say ? these people worship Baphomet not Satan , they laugh when you say Satan but you say Baphomet and watch their face .. ask a doctor or cop about Baphomet and occult where you live , chances are they will look at you "what do you know bout it?" Lucifer is another name to ask about , keep the name Satan out of it .. i feel for david icke i really do , hes half way to the truth but keeps connecting the wrong dots ..

Sumerian texts have a bit to say about the anu, which might give you the relation to aliens you're looking for.

You don't understand because you have a false sense of what Freemasonry really is. Freemasonry is more of a social and charitable organization than anything political. In fact, politics are strictly forbidden from being discussed in a lodge meeting, as is religion.

When people think "secrets" they assume the worst. That said, the sole purpose of the secrets is to prevent people who aren't members from pretending to be one; these are called the Modes of Recognition. In fact, the Modes of Recognition are the only secrets in Freemasonry.

As for our meetings, these are more for social gatherings and lodge business. I like to think of Freemasonry as a great way to meet new people, challenge myself intellectually and continuously learn from others that work in all different kinds of professions.

My guess is that a high percentage of presidents were members because people in their social circles were. In addition, before television, the internet, radio, etc. it was another way to socialize and entertain yourself.

Sorry to spoil your thoughts of world domination, but until you've become a member and seen brothers bicker over where to donate $25 you won't understand :)

Source: I am one.

Keep studying. It all goes back to the Catholic church through the Jesuits. They're the Synagogue of Satan.

I disagree man. Why is he the only whistleblower in modern history to receive that kind of media attention? Is it because you think the story was so big that the media couldn't possibly ignore it? You should know better than that. If they talk about something, they want you to hear a certain point of view. They demonized him but only in the same way that politicians demonize each other...it's all part of the show. You need the bad guy whistleblower, but you need him to be completely within your control or else you might get real information leaked like Bradley Manning with the Afghanistan videos and John Kiriakou who confirmed that the CIA was using waterboarding as a torture technique. Both of those people were jailed in special prisons. Meanwhile, Snowden is giving interviews to John Oliver. That doesn't make sense! That's not how they treat people who truly are a threat to the system. You know the concept of panopticon? Snowden's purpose was to implement the American panopticon. You start to change your behavior because you know you are being watched, you just can't see the person watching you. As you mentioned, a lot of the stuff he revealed was crazy, but ultimately, nothing huge has come of his leaks. He doesn't do the usual "dump everything I have" route that most whistleblowers take. To me, his actions just raise more questions than they answer and I see now that his revelations have only made regular people indifferent to surveillance.

You believe something as grand as the idea that we have all been brainwashed since birth but Snowden....that guy was real. He wasn't part of the deception they're foisting upon you? I asked you for examples of the types of psychological operations you'd anticipate the government is running on American soil. It's an important question because if you live in America, you are likely being affected by it. So let's put Snowden to the side. You mentioned already something about ISIS. They're an excellent example. Just like Snowden, they are the boogeyman that was set up to implement changes in American behavior that wouldn't have been tolerated otherwise. Again, we see the government putting forth the idea that the government is too incompetent or that ISIS is too skilled as a network. When they convince you that ISIS is too skilled to be taken lightly, they get you to go along with increases in defense spending in order to feel safe. They create an event, tell you how to feel about it, and then get the bad guy when it's convenient for them (a la Bin Laden). Whether Snowden is a truly a whistleblower matters immensely because if he is controlled, then it's an obvious example of how far the government is willing to go to deceive us in order to change our political opinions. If he's a whistleblower, lucky for him he's not in jail. Another example of the psychological operations has been manipulation of the race relations between blacks and whites. When you remember that media is controlled, and you realize that they've only just now started reporting on whites who kill blacks (even though more blacks kill blacks than whites kill blacks), you can suspect that they are trying to influence your perception of the event or the people involved. The Charleston shooting combined the race relations narrative with the gun control narrative. That's two birds with one stone for psy ops. In my opinion, that's worse. It's one thing to watch me and to listen to my communication, but it's another thing to actively shape people's opinion to be that of the state-sponsored view. It's wrong. If we as Americans want to disarm ourselves, we should have that conversation naturally, and as a nation. We shouldn't be manipulated by media messages into giving up our weapons.

Would you admit it gives you some type of power, even if it's only within?

On a local (Grand Lodge) level, Freemasonry can be a force to be reckoned with at times, but there are several problems with trying to apply that to grand conspiracy theories:

1. Men who come to the Fraternity do so for many reasons, and so there's no unifying political goals within the organization. We're every kind of man you can imagine. Young, old, conservative, liberal, gay, straight, rich, poor, every ethnicity, religion, etc. so what kind of goals would men like that agree on?!
2. If there's this need to keep everything secret from the rank and file, that makes doing anything extremely difficult.
3. Outside of the Fraternity, none of these restrictions exist, so if I wanted to manipulate, say, world governments, then the last thing I would do is try to involve Freemasonry. I'd ignore the Fraternity entirely because it would only slow me down.