# Should the history channel have done a show on freemasons.



## Bboc (Sep 19, 2010)

Should the history channel have done a show on freemasons. Was it a good way to recuit or show everyone we are not satin worshipers. ( if you have not seen it they did a whole show 1 hour long about the fraternity and at the end showed a version of a ceremony. If you have not been raised yet please don't go looking for it. It will ruin your experience.)


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## tom268 (Sep 19, 2010)

Absolutely NOT! What do you want to show? Everything? Do you really think that conspiracy jerks really believe you when it comes on TV? No, they will think that it is propaganda, and they already know that the "REAL THING" - that is the baby eating, devil conjuring part of masonry - is hidden from the public, no matter what you show them.

The american brothers already show too much to the public in my taste.


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## Bboc (Sep 19, 2010)

tom268 said:
			
		

> Absolutely NOT! What do you want to show? Everything? Do you really think that conspiracy jerks really believe you when it comes on TV? No, they will think that it is propaganda, and they already know that the "REAL THING" - that is the baby eating, devil conjuring part of masonry - is hidden from the public, no matter what you show them.
> 
> The american brothers already show too much to the public in my taste.



Has there been anything like this on tv. Where your at.


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## tom268 (Sep 19, 2010)

There are documentaries about freemasonry, but they show no interna, no temples and such, just history and interviews. Ritual parts are added by the film makers, but without the support of masons, just with actors playing some stuff they got out of common accessable writings like Prichard or Duncans Ritual.

Such documentaries NEVER came out the way the brother wanted it.

Film makers want to sell a product, they don't do it because they like masonry. And selling a product means make it interesting, revealing, mysterious. We should not fish in such murky waters.


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## Bro. Stewart P.M. (Sep 19, 2010)

I don't really see an issue with it. Some of the shows are pretty educational and show the fraternity in a good light overall. it is obvious that whom ever supplied the show material was a bit confused or out of the Light...

Of course we as Masons should never give reference as to the accuracy or inaccuracy to the ceremonies shown. IMO any indicator would be a violation of our OB. I simply state that the show was good or educational.


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## JTM (Sep 19, 2010)

iirc, it's an installation that they show.  no big deal.


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## Blake Bowden (Sep 19, 2010)

JTM said:


> iirc, it's an installation that they show.  no big deal.


 
I don't think so. I have a copy of "Freemasonry Revealed" which aired on the History Channel and it boldly shows several scenes from the MM degrees. I think all of those guys should have Masonic charges filed.


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## Benton (Sep 19, 2010)

Could have simply been profane actors reenacting what has been read from one of many exposes done on Masonry. It isn't necessarily Masons breaking their obligations.


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## tom268 (Sep 20, 2010)

You refer to ones on Youtube.

It is difficult to say if they are masons. The ritual is full of strange stuff, but that could be the compromize between the lodge and the TV guys. At least I hope you don't wear glittering paper crowns in your ritual 
But to be true, I saw too many brothers, who got caught in the ego-trap after been asked by a TV channel or magazine and they start to be very open .... at least a bit more open than the last brother, because that will get you into the feature.

What is once out, you can never get it in again. What we give away will never be discrete again. We reduce ourselves to a bunch of guys with funny traditions. "nothing more than false beards and amateur acting" is it said in the documentary above. That does not help us in getting seriously interested men into the craft. No matter if the rest of the docu is positive or not.

No murderous rumor, no conspiracy story has ever shunned good men from entering us. The news that we are just silly amateur actors and nothing more may do.
Although, here in Germany, we are much more restrictive, our brothers usually try to convince the public, that we have nothing secret, nothing mysterious, nothing out of the ordinary at all. And then they wonder, why nobody is interested in joining.


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## JTM (Sep 20, 2010)

Blake Bowden said:


> I don't think so. I have a copy of "Freemasonry Revealed" which aired on the History Channel and it boldly shows several scenes from the MM degrees. I think all of those guys should have Masonic charges filed.


 
i dunno.  I saw one a while back that kept hyping "we're about to show an ACTUAL MASONIC RITUAL" and then just put up an officer installation ceremony.







I don't believe I've seen the one you're talking about.


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## Dave in Waco (Sep 20, 2010)

I don't think it did anything other then to get people to watch.  It's not an accurate ceremony, so it really doesn't give away our secrets.  It doesn't help any would be candidate learn about our ceremony since it isn't accurate.  And the conspiracy theorist already "know" everything about us anyway, so that won't believe it.  

I do agree that they shouldn't even try to show any of our secret rituals.  It just confuses those wanting really know, and it gives more ammunition to conspiracy theorists who exploit rumors and innaccurate facts that are already available to them.  Personally, the best part is when they showed 2 high ranking members of the Scottish Rite Supreme Counsel that couldn't even agree on some things.  Plus add to the the best quote quote, "We can't always decide if we are going to have ham or turkey sandwich at Lodge, how are we going to decide to rule the world?"


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## owls84 (Sep 20, 2010)

I am all for it. The more these things come out the more traffic my Lodge site gets. We have so many people join and stay when these air because after watching they get curious and begin to search the net on Masonry. We just need to be ready to answer when the knock on the door happens. 

The day The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown came out we had ove 20 people contact us through our lodge page and out of those probably 6 got petitions. We rode a wave of 5 - 10 petitions for several months consistantly last year. Just wait until the Tom Hanks movie about Twelve Mighty Orphans comes out in a couple of years.


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## rhitland (Sep 20, 2010)

Keeping it secret or making it public does not change what masonry is or has to offer.  Times change and while it was once required to keep our art a secret those times are long gone.  We need to be proud we do spiritual rituals and tell the world so they can come and get'em a pull of Masonry.  We will no longer be deemed heretics for what we do.  I love watching them anyway so keep them coming.


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## mark! (Oct 13, 2010)

The ones I have seen on the History channel were actually really entertaining.  They pertained more towards the history of Freemasonry, and the only ritual I recall is an installation.  The history is very interesting.  I was watching one show, i'm not sure but it could have been "Secrets of Freemasonry" or something to that effect, that had those who believe we are a cult, or satanic organization on there, however it also showed those who were not Freemasons, and not against what we do that defended our name.  I believe it did a swell job on showing both sides.  I dislike of course anything that puts Masonry in a negative light, but it is entertaining to watch some of these people come up with all sorts of things saying this is bad, or that's bad.  Like the $20 trick with the Twin Towers, people stating it was a government conspiracy and such because if you MANIPULATE <<<key word, the $20 bill it shows smoke and such.  People can manipulate things they don't know or understand, and there is a lot about Masonry that is not understood by the public, and that is unknown to them.


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## JohnnyFlotsam (Dec 7, 2010)

rhitland said:


> Keeping it secret or making it public does not change what masonry is or has to offer.  Times change and while it was once required to keep our art a secret those times are long gone.


Agree on the "does not change what masonry has to offer..." part, and it's true that the secrets we keep are no longer likely to earn one a death sentence for heresy, but I do like to think that the promise to keep certain secrets is an important part of the lessons of our order. You know, character, discipline, and all that. 
As for the teevee shows, I don't lose a minute's sleep over them. First of all, the publicity is a good thing. Bring it on. Second, it's not like the "secrets" they expose aren't available to anyone curious enough to look. Third, and most important, the "real" secrets were not shown on any television shows about Masonry that I've seen. Such subject matter doesn't make for good teevee program material so it's not surprising that we haven't seen much of it.


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## jwhoff (Dec 7, 2010)

come on guys!  we're in vogue ... ride the wave.

if Hitler and French King Frank couldn't get it out of us, they won't.


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## Dave in Waco (Dec 8, 2010)

Personally, I liked the new Decoded show they had about the missing White House Cornerstone.  They came in with this wild theory that Freemasons had removed it.  They went to the House of the Temple in DC, and talked to Arturo de Hoyos and others there who gave them access to the library.  When asked if they had gotten special privledges to access the library, they were told no, it's open to anyone.  They then looked through everything and after researching they not only failed to connect Freemasons to it being missing, but concluded that it still had to be there, plus found out the cornerstone for the Capitol building is missing as well.  But they asked questions and were given very frank and factual information.  Talk about debunk a rumor.


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## jim9361 (Dec 8, 2010)

Brothers, 

This show or one like it is what lit the fire under my *poor blind butt*. What I saw was a negative slant on free masonry. I was already interested in the craft but knew nothing of it. The show I saw on the History Channel at least opened it up a bit and I really never believed or interrupted any of the information given as bad or evil. I found the conspiracy theories and other crack pot ideas comical. 

It made me go ahead and seek out some masons. I was surprised to find out who were masons that I already knew. That is I was pleasantly surprised to see the common theme of all of them being men of good character.


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## MasonicTexan (Dec 9, 2010)

The History Channel debuted a new show titled Brad Meltzer's Decoded.
The premiere covered the topic of the "missing cornerstone" from The White House.
http://www.history.com/shows/brad-m...e-house#brad-meltzers-decoded-the-white-house

Do you think shows like these shed a better light? Or do they join the ranks of the other one-sided shows?


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## jwhoff (Dec 10, 2010)

I saw it.  It probably didn't play well with the disinterested population.  Wild accusations tend to paint the accuser into the corner.

Curiosity about the craft never hurts.  Up until a few years ago, I didn't hear much from the profane world about masonry. I do get many comments from folks who see my ring.  And it's most always favorable.  Most of the men express interest.  In fact, several have asked for petitions.  

There's new interest out there.  We need to be ever vigil on who we are attracting though.


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## JJones (Aug 7, 2011)

No, it's a horrible idea.  People seem to think that showing more and more to the public will make more people want to join us or something.  Why would anyone want to join when they see everything?  The bottom line is it's just cheapening to the fraternity and it does more harm than good.

Also, like Brother Tom mentioned, trying to convince people that we aren't evil is pretty pointless.  People who have made up their minds wont be swayed by some TV special.


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## jwhoff (Aug 8, 2011)

"trying to convince people that we aren't evil is pretty pointless. People who have made up their minds wont be swayed by some TV special."

Brother JJones, I heartedly agree with that statement.  I would like to see more "people who have made up their minds" staying away from the fraternity.  This is a brotherhood in quest, that's hard to follow when you've already got all the answers.


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## Mac (Aug 10, 2011)

I must admit that such a TV show is what got interested in the Fraternity.  Prior to that, I thought the Freemasons was just another Knights of Columbus, VFW, Lions, etc...

In other words, a bunch of old fuddy-duddies that I had no interest in joining until I had received my AARP card.  

Full disclosure: watching From Hell, I saw the initiation scene and that really made me wonder what we were all about, so I started looking into it even more and eventually submitted my petition.


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## jwhoff (Aug 10, 2011)

... 

Very good idea!  Wonder if I can sneak an AARP discount past the lodge once or twice.  

Seriously, we *only need* more seekers of light in this brotherhood.


Thanks for the post Bro Mac.  Thanks indeed.


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## jermy Bell (Jul 14, 2021)

The sad thing is, that everyone loves those shriners,  they have parades,  even a circus that comes to town. They also have free hospitals for children. These are some up standing men. But I remind people all the time, that these men are also Mason's.  Then that's when the deer in the headlights  look kicks in. Sometimes is funny and other times just frustrating.


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## coachn (Jul 14, 2021)

(almost made it ten years... almost... <sigh>)


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## Winter (Jul 14, 2021)

I don't even recognize almost everyone in this post! LoL
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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## Glen Cook (Jul 14, 2021)

tom268 said:


> There are documentaries about freemasonry, but they show no interna, no temples and such, just history and interviews. Ritual parts are added by the film makers, but without the support of masons, just with actors playing some stuff they got out of common accessable writings like Prichard or Duncans Ritual.
> 
> Such documentaries NEVER came out the way the brother wanted it.
> 
> Film makers want to sell a product, they don't do it because they like masonry. And selling a product means make it interesting, revealing, mysterious. We should not fish in such murky waters.


UGLE and GLScot both participated in documentaries showing the temple and parts of ritual.


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## Jay Thompson (Jul 15, 2021)

Bboc said:


> Was it a good way to recuit or show everyone we are not satin worshipers.



Satin?! Great, now I have to get rid of 5,000 yards of silk.


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## Thomas Stright (Jul 15, 2021)

When was the last time the history channel produced anything of quality


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## Winter (Jul 15, 2021)

The History Channel's credibility in one photo.


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