# Freemasons Rule the World!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347 "2001-11-20T04:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/21 "2001-11-21T03:52:42Z")
My great-grandfather was a Mason, as was my Great Uncle George (33rd degree). My girl cousins and great aunties were Eastern Star. I was a Jobie. Fear us and our Legacy of Control! (Nah, nothing to fear really. We’re harmless. Odd maybe, but quite harmless.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/22 "2001-11-21T04:51:49Z")
I laughed when I was approached and asked if I would like to join. I felt almost insulted. All the masons I’ve ever come across had one thing in common: mediocrity. None of them had reached the top level in his field. They were all a few rungs down from the top of the ladder and were all rather forgettable. They weren’t insiders in real life. Make that two things in common: they were also all perfectly decent (yawn) people. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/23 "2001-11-21T10:59:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hemlock \* > \*\*I felt almost insulted. All the masons I’ve ever come across had one thing in common: mediocrity. None of them had reached the top level in his field. They were all a few rungs down from the top of the ladder and were all rather forgettable. \*\* Open your eyes, man! It’s because they’ve got world domination on their hands and a low profile to maintain! ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/24 "2001-11-21T11:14:11Z")
The Mason organization, like any other organization, has its agendas, and its no suprise that political power is one of them. But that doesn’t mean that the lower members of the organization know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/25 "2001-11-21T14:58:36Z")
Hemlock: I have to say that I doubt very seriously your story about being asked to join the Masons. The Masons don’t ask folks to join; the deal is a prospective applicant must inquire of a Mason if he may join their organization. Tyklfe: Your two “points” gave me a great laught htis morning! First: Do you have any proof that the Bible used by every single President of the United States during inauguration is the very same book or do you expect us to take it as fact because you posted it as though it is fact? Second: Are you not confusing the idea of an individual who owns something with the concept of the organization to which that individual may belong owning something? Third: Why didn’t you just go ahead and post the entire crackpot conspiracy theory instead of just a tidbit or two? Eternal: The adjective form is “Masonic.” Other than that, my query about conspiracy theory to Tyklfe applies to you in regards to the political agenda you postulate. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/26 "2001-11-21T21:52:25Z")
Ah. Bibles and the Inauguration. To summarize: 1. The St. John Masonic Lodge #1 does own the “original” Bible. 2. Each President-elect gets to choose what Bible is used. 3. The “Masonic” Bible hasn’t been used that often. 4. Sometimes no Bible is used at all. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid\_1125000/1125080.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1125000/1125080.stm) > [@](#): > > When [George Washington] was first sworn into office, there was a scramble to find a bible after the chief justice of the New York state judiciary determined that an oath without a bible would lack legitimacy. > > But none could be found in Federal Hall in New York City where the first swearing in was held. A bible had to be borrowed from a Masonic lodge a few blocks away. [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/INAUGURAL\_arcana.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/INAUGURAL_arcana.html) > [@](#): > > As he takes the oath of office, George W. Bush will place his left hand upon the same bible his father, President George Bush, used while being sworn into office in 1989. > > Bush will use the King James version of the bible, resting his hand on an edition printed in 1767 and provided by the St. John’s Lodge of New York. > > It is, in fact, the exact same bible used by a number of presidents while taking office, including George Washington in 1793. Among the other chief executives sworn in on it: Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. [http://www.freep.com/news/inaug/platform/plat3.htm](http://www.freep.com/news/inaug/platform/plat3.htm) > [@](#): > > First to use two Bibles at the swearing-in – one his personal Bible, the second a Gutenberg Bible, Harry Truman, 1949 [http://www.webpresidentsusa.com/AP060413.htm](http://www.webpresidentsusa.com/AP060413.htm) > [@](#): > > Who was the only president to say the oath using a law book instead of the Bible? Franklin Pierce [http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/Family/html/inauguration1997.html](http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/Family/html/inauguration1997.html) > [@](#): > > Surrounded by members of Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, dignitaries, family and friends, the President stood net to his daughter, Chelsea, and rested his left hand on a family Bible held by Mrs. Clinton. [http://www.webpresidentsusa.com/AP0601.htm](http://www.webpresidentsusa.com/AP0601.htm) > [@](#): > > Is the presence or use of a Bible required by law? If an atheist were elected President of the United States, would he be required to swear on a Bible? > > Reply: The Bible is not required by law. Rutherford B. Hayes’ private swearing in was conducted without a Bible [BLSWH 42], as was Theodore Roosevelt’s first swearing in. [http://members.tripod.com/~candst/tnppage/arg11.htm](http://members.tripod.com/~candst/tnppage/arg11.htm) > [@](#): > > Nothing in this section requires that the oath of office be taken on the Bible. Neither do the words “so help me God” appear in the oath. While Presidents often include this phrase in their inauguration ceremonies, the words are customary; they are not required by the Constitution and have no legal significance. > > Presidents and other federal officials may swear on the Bible and say the words “so help me God,” but this does not make the Constitution any less secular. The Constitution requires nothing of federal officers in the way of religion. The framers saw no need to refer to God in the oath of office, and explicitly provided an alternative to the oath that guaranteed secularity. And, er, I might point out that the President of the United States is not sworn in “every year”, but “every _four_ years”. Minor nitpick, I know. 😃 And it’s not necessarily on “the Masonic Bible”. Another nifty conspiracy theory, right down the drain. Sorry, guys. ---
**Author:** ![jabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@jabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/27 "2001-11-21T22:29:21Z")
All you non-believers better watch out. I know how to perform frontal lobotomies and I’m not afraid to use them. peace, JB ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/28 "2001-11-21T22:37:01Z")
Illuminati! ILLUMINATI, I TELL YOU! Hail Eris! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/29 "2001-11-21T22:38:54Z")
All hail Discordia! ---
**Author:** ![k.os](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@k.os](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k.os)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/30 "2001-11-21T23:50:01Z")
T.A.N.S.T.A.G.I. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/31 "2001-11-22T00:15:27Z")
**FUCKUP** is extremely troubled that **Hiyruu** has not entered the thread yet. ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/32 "2001-11-22T00:59:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Hemlock: I have to say that I doubt very seriously your story about being asked to join the Masons. The Masons don’t ask folks to join; the deal is a prospective applicant must inquire of a Mason if he may join their organization. \*\* Well, here in Hong Kong they do. Apparently they have something of a recruitment problem. It wasn’t “we want you” so much as an oblique “have you ever thought of joining?” from someone I know pretty well. I think the masons here are British-style. They don’t have the 33rd degree or any of that. Nor, from what I gather, do they involve wives and kids in their activities at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/33 "2001-11-22T01:03:45Z")
The OP is mis-stated. It should read "Freemasons Rule the **Parade**!! Damn if those Shriners in their little cars don’t steal the show every time. ---
**Author:** ![k.os](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@k.os](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k.os)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/34 "2001-11-22T01:24:40Z")
It’s all GRUAD’s fault. **Ewige Blumenkraft!** **Ewige Schlangekraft!** ---
**Author:** ![chuckster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@chuckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chuckster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/35 "2002-08-12T04:22:13Z")
I’m surprised to hear that Masons who are elected President swear on the Bible at all. After all, everyone knows the Masons are in league with the Devil in their plot to take over the world. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/36 "2002-08-12T04:58:52Z")
Slight hijack: **John Corrado,** since no one else seemed to get your joke as far as I could see, I just wanted to let you know… 😃 It’s been a long time since I’ve played the game. I wonder if there is an online version? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/37 "2002-08-12T07:02:08Z")
\*\*Steelerphan[\b] there isn’t an online version, at least not officially, but I’m sure that us dopers can figure out something. Let me go do something about that in MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/38 "2002-08-12T07:29:00Z")
I’ve just read a review for a book called _Them : Adventures With Extremists_ written by British writer and documentary maker Jon Ronson. The book sounds very funny and entertaining - can’t wait to get hold of a copy; sadly it seems to have overlooked the Freemasonry conspiracists. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/39 "2002-08-12T12:07:01Z")
I’ve read that book, **reprise** , it’s pretty good. However, it becomes less and less skeptical with them as the book goes on for a variety of reasons. And it also shows the weirdness of some legitimate organizations that try and oppose the extremists. Very good read. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347/40 "2002-08-12T15:50:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tyklfe \* > \*\*Oh, one more thing about the list I posted above - all the people in that list were or are 33 degree Masons. > > The 33 Degree being the highest rank a Mason can attain. \*\* 33? Dammit, I knew something was up with that number. John Cage came out with that “musical” piece _4’33"_. It is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Just silence, and he calls it music. Obviously, he is fucking with my head on behalf of the Masons and the title is a pun meaning “for 33”. Pure Evil. Speaking of titles, Title 33 of the US code regards navigable waters. The MASONS CONTROL THE SHIPPING LANES! And water has special signifigance to the Free masons, ever drink Rolling Rock? It’s watered down swill with a special “33” printed on every bottle. It’s an evil Masonic plot to desroy our beer. I’m on to 'em. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasons-rule-the-world/94347.md?page=3)