Leftists and Masonry

[Richard Nixon]

How do leftists generally view Masonry and what has been the relationship between masonry and leftists in the past? From the little I know about the history of Freemasons many of seem to have been political liberals/radicals and as a result seen as a threat by many churches (including the Catholic Church) and the Nazis. Thanks for the answers.

[ind_com]

Trotsky became interested in freemasonry when he was in prison. He wrote about it in his autobiography.

[BOZG]

Trotsky became interested in freemasonry when he was in prison. He wrote about it in his autobiography.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/mylife/1930-lif.pdf (Leon Trotsky - My Life)

Chapters 8 and 9 if anyone is interested.

[Zostrianos]

A good friend of mine is an anarchist and a Freemason, I don't see any conflicts between the 2 either. I myself thought of joining not too long ago, but then came to the conclusion that it was kinda pointless - everything on Freemasonry is published (http://www.stichtingargus.nl/vrijmetselarij/frame_en.html), so you can study the symbolism on your own.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

My stepdads father was a Freemason most of his life. I don't know what they did but if it allowed people like him in it it couldn't be anything more than a glorified boys club with some secrets at this point.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

A good friend of mine is an anarchist and a Freemason, I don't see any conflicts between the 2 either..

You don't see a problem with a group that excludes women?

[Zostrianos]

You don't see a problem with a group that excludes women?

Co-masonry includes women:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Freemasonry

And while I don't agree with the men only stance, this was an order that was created in the 18th century when women had few rights, and unfortunately has not yet changed with the times. The rule is inexcusable, but must be placed in its historical context.

Aside from that, no I have no problem with Freemasonry.

[Rafiq]

It's a bourgeois cool kids club. It has nothing to do with communists. But Bordiga campaigned against it and a bolshevik suggested freemasons be kicked out of the Second intl. The soviet state made it illegal. Again, it's a bourgeois cool kids club.

[Althusser]

Salvador Allende was a freemason.

[graffic]

I don't like the freemasons. Business lords shouldn't hang out in secret in a way that isn't regulated by the media and public.

None of it makes any sense. If they want to "belong" to something and go through "rituals" why don't they just join a religion without all the secretive mostly male meetings at "lodges"?

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Co-masonry includes women:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Freemasonry

And while I don't agree with the men only stance, this was an order that was created in the 18th century when women had few rights, and unfortunately has not yet changed with the times. The rule is inexcusable, but must be placed in its historical context.

The historical context excuse might work if Freemasonry stopped existing after the 18th century, but as a still-extant organisation I don't think it washes. If the Boy Scouts had been founded in the 18th century, would you consider it acceptable for them to still discriminate against atheists and non-heterosexuals?

[Althusser]

I'll join a lodge and tell you all about it.

[#FF0000]

clubs for old dudes v:mellow:v

[graffic]

How do leftists generally view Masonry and what has been the relationship between masonry and leftists in the past? From the little I know about the history of Freemasons many of seem to have been political liberals/radicals and as a result seen as a threat by many churches (including the Catholic Church) and the Nazis. Thanks for the answers.

I remember someone telling me the philosophers in the enlightenment were all freemasons. That the USA and Israel were founded by freemasons. And that big business is mostly freemasons doing deals behind closed doors, "where there's money there's masons". It's all conspiracy bullshit.

But at a smaller level for all I know there might be deals going down at the lodges, small business owners getting certain jobs, policeman letting people off etc. I don't anything about it but if this thing goes on it shouldn't be happening in a democratic society.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

This

Salvador Allende was a freemason.
is really just a further argument for this:

It's a bourgeois cool kids club. It has nothing to do with communists. But Bordiga campaigned against it and a bolshevik suggested freemasons be kicked out of the Second intl. The soviet state made it illegal. Again, it's a bourgeois cool kids club.

[hetz]

What's it like in these lodges? Are there any conspiracies, wild parties, orgies, something?

[BOZG]

What's it like in these lodges? Are there any conspiracies, wild parties, orgies, something?

Funny handshakes!

[Althusser]

I heard they do a symbollic slitting of the throat or disembowlment. You never can tell though... Some conspiracy theorist was telling me that they have ritualistic gay sex and as a right of passage they tie a red ribbon around your penis and make you masturbate blindfolded for the other lodge members.

I responded with an unconfrontational nod. No point asking for sources in a situation like that. You just have to backpeddle away slowly without being noticed.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ORJ2sGqP2cQ/TneIB4Jj_9I/AAAAAAAACgI/-gIJ_KXpWkM/s1600/0112_allinone.jpg

[graffic]

The problem with freemasons is that the conspiracy theory bullshit is making it hard to argue against the freemasons because anyone questioning corruption and dodgy deals gets dismissed as a "conspiracy theorist". With the bilderberg meetings it's the same. Public officials and business lords obviously shouldn't be hanging out in a manner that isn't moderated by the media and the public but the NWO types are making legitimate criticism of the bilderbergers hard. Type in "New World Order" on google and see the barmy stuff that comes up.

[Astarte]

Freemasonry and the leftwing of the bourgeoisie have a long and illustrious history. Masonry itself came into being, partially, as a secretive spiritual rebellion by the early guilds against Catholic religious dominance during the late Middle Ages ... from this point it strongly attracted the nascent bourgeois class who used it as an instrument for the advancement of capitalist power relations over feudal. It was easy to turn Freemasonry into a vehicle of anti-feudalism since the bourgeoisie itself, again, at least partially, grew out of the guilds. Thus, the early Masonic lodges were employed extensively during the American and European bourgeois revolutions - I would even say that Freemasonry and Masonic-type organizations were the "intellectual vanguard" of the nascent bourgeoisie during the Enlightenment and epoch of bourgeois revolution. Kropotkin speaks about Masonic influence on the bourgeois revolution in his work "The Great French Revolution".

There, of course, have been many Lodges and Orders over the past several centuries with more or less reactionary or radical tendencies. On the whole though, I would go out on a limb and speculate to say that they are today fairly irrelevant.

[wilson]

I do not see any conflict with Freemasonry. I myself belong to The Order of Celtic Knight Masons.

[YugoslavSocialist]

What the hell is freemasonry

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Lol there's a lodge a few streets away from us. The folks rent it out to local groups (sports teams, language/martial arts lessons, etc.), and people don't notice them all that much (the catholics hate them though).

I agree with Rafiq that It's not really anything more than a rich people's 'no girls allowed' treehouse fortress. Regardless, they certainly aren't having promiscuous satanic homosexual intercourse as many christian-raised people would tell you - many of the members are bigoted rightist assholes, much like the churchies who want them out of town (what a surprise!).

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

What the hell is freemasonry

An old man's club with esoteric rituals thrown in to it.