"Mr. King is the man who single handedly gave you the Grand Orient of the United States."
Jeff Peace, Creator of this and other counterfeit 'Masonic' groups, posting as Antonius9, on the Golden State Masons forum on December 5, 2007, one forum, among many, from which he has been banned. (Note: Ed King has NEVER been banned from any forum of any kind, ever!)

"Not your Grandfather's Masonry"

Yep, that's their current/occasional tagline/slogan heading their now little-used website (see comment at the end of this section) - and, in fact, it pretty well explains everything you might want to know. Looking for the traditional organization that has weathered three centuries and will be around for another three and more? Want to be part of that group your grandfather or favorite uncle might have belonged to - to take the same obligations surrounded by men both old and young who will be your Brothers forever and will be there at your funeral and beyond? Want to join the group that makes up the Shriners and their Hospitals or those guys who collect toys and serve holiday meals or donate equipment to schools and civic groups? Don't look to the Grand Orient of the United States because they aren't it - and like all other groups formed for the sole purpose of being 'hip' or 'modern' or for the purpose of spite, they will likely fall by the wayside as they continue to flail through organizational changes and lack of direction. GOOFUS is not your grandfather's Masonry for sure; in fact, we believe (along with the rest of the regular / recognized Masonic world) that it's not ANYONE'S Masonry AT ALL!

Sure, it's easy to scorn the 'old fashioned' Freemasonry which, on the web, sometimes makes it look so very anachronistic and fuddy-duddy-ish. And it's easy to point out a couple of high profile incidents in regular / recognized Freemasonry that make it look like something to be wary of but remember: this group has their warts too and one need only to point to the 'removal' of their first two Grand Masters (see here) to know that all's not right here either and it might be a case of going from the frying pan into the fire!

Above we commented about their 'little used website': the new completely invisible 'Grand Master', Dale Brown from Alabama, apparently believes that clicking on pages all over the internet with the 'post to my Facebook wall' will show how important their organization is. Of course, it doesn't matter a bit if the pages have even the slightest relevance to Freemasonry: it's the activity that counts, right?

Free-Masonic Essentials

Anyone considering becoming a Freemason will generally have a lot of questions. Is the organization right for me? Will this change me in ways that I'm prepared for? What about all of the bad things that some people say and write about the organization? The way most folks get information today is through the internet and coming across a sleek, Star-Trek designed website of a (seemingly) national Masonic group makes quite an impression. However, when you look closely and actually THINK about what's there, you should begin to see that it's something quite different than it initially appears. Watch for the smoke and mirrors: there's LOTS of it!

Most people expect that every website with the words "Freemasonry" (or, in this case, "Free-Masonry") attached to to it is, in fact, the Masonic organization that has a building in your town or that your uncle or grandfather may have been a member of. In fact, when you encounter the so-called Grand Orient of the United States - on the web because your chances of meeting a real, live member are fewer than getting struck by lightning while riding a reindeer in a blizzard in Cancun on three consecutive February 29ths - what you'll find is completely and totally different from what you were probably expecting. Yes, you'll see websites (a dozen, more or less, though most are out of date and nearly all will be gone if you return at this time next year as shown on the chart on this page) which use the symbolism of what you have come to understand is 'Masonic': there are square and compass graphics, there's links to impressive sounding sites that also look Masonic (and one or two really are!) and there's an explanation that this group has ties to the Grand Orient of France which was derived from the original Grand Lodge of England formed in 1717.

In their December 1, 2010 web incarnation, they asserted the following:

OK. So they are like Lions and Rotary - except they don't have a stated charity program, no meeting requirements, no membership qualifications (except as they dream things up from time to time), etc. etc. AND you can probably send them your money from wherever you are and they'll make you a part of their group. So why not join them instead of regular/recognized Freemasonry (or the Lions or Rotary, for that matter)? We could give you LOTS of reasons but perhaps you might want to consider this: if you join the Lions or receive an invitation to join the Rotary, you can visit similar groups all around the world: millions of other like-minded people sharing the same goals and objectives, under the banner of an organization that has lasted for quite some time.

Instead, join the self-created Grand Orient of the United States and you can - if you're lucky enough to find them because precious few are on the web - engage in fellowship with perhaps one of ten people locally if you're in the Cleveland, Ohio area or happen to run into the two people in Los Angeles <sorry, they're gone!> or manage to locate the current Grand Master in Florida who doesn't even appear to have a lodge but is, rather, a 'lone ranger'. But hey: there's almost 20 people world-wide with whom you can enjoy your so-called "Freemasonry". Pretty cool, huh?

But it all sounds SO real - and looks so alluring....

This is an organization formed by an expelled Mason (he has argued that he wasn't expelled but for all intents and purposes, he was 'tossed out' so let's not quibble about the wording, eh?) in 2005. The group he formed has less 'antiquity' than my neighbor's dog (who, at this writing, is two years older than they are!) and it's founder tossed out the two hand-picked 'Grand Masters' and was then himself thrown out - all in the short space of 5 years. Pretty remarkable, isn't it?

But those ties to 1717....???

OK. Here's the comparison: you're cruising around on Facebook and come across a very attractive girl from Poland. You become her Facebook Friend and ultimately, you're sharing phone calls on Skype. Now because of this, you start telling your family and co-workers (plus all of the half-dozen people who follow you on Twitter as well as your couple of dozen Facebook Friends) that YOU are Polish too.

Does this scenario make ANY sense at all? Why, yes: it does if you're talking about the Grand Orient of the United States. Their 'ties' to 1717 are just as tortured. Long story short: after forming in 2005, in 2008 they managed to convince the Grand Orient of France to let them use their rituals - and to do so in writing, notwithstanding that these can be bought in any market stall in practically any city in that country. Then, you use this 'agreement' to claim that you come from the same lineage as they do. As a famous Maine humorist would quip: "If a cat climbs into the oven and has kittens, you don't call them biscuits!"

Was the original Grand Lodge formed in England in 1717? Yes, it was. Was the Grand Orient of France a derivative of it? Yes, it was somewhat although the French never really accepted British Freemasonry as practiced there. From the outset, they wanted a Masonic oligarchy with a sole leader elected essentially for life. There is another very major difference, however: in 1877 (yes, that's 1877 - well before automobiles and airplanes), the Grand Orient moved away from the requirement of a belief in a Supreme Being, one of those things considered essential to regular/recognized Freemasonry today. Many US Grand Lodges as well as other Grand Lodges around the world had previously cut their ties with the Grand Orient and after that, nearly all did so save for the confusing period during the First World War when the Grand Orient presented itself as 'the real deal' to those unaccustomed to the often convoluted mechanics of Masonic recognition.

But it's with a straight face, they tried to claim they were part of the original line of descent. Now, because of their behavior, they've lost the right to use those rituals so - strangely - they've now bathing themselves in a cloak of patriotic Americanism - and the French be damned!

Isn't all Freemasonry the same though?

If you haven't read it already, you'll want to view our page about Fake Masonry. Essentially anyone can stand up and claim to be a Mason. If they can get people to join with them, they can claim to be a lodge. No one has a copyright on those Masonic symbols so they grab some photos from legitimate Masonic websites and they're in business. Does having an expelled Mason as the leader make it somehow more 'real'? Not the way anyone in the real world looks at this sort of thing.

The history on this is so very confusing...

Yes, because whenever someone re-writes history, they obfuscate to such a degree that you will be mislead. That's their entire goal. For example, GOOFUS's website stated "The original cosmopolitan form of Freemasonry that began in London and Paris has been the victim of much misinformation, especially in the United States, where there exists a religiously oriented version of the fraternity that was started in 1755. Thus, many Americans have been wrongly led to believe that a person must be religious in order to become a Freemason." In point of fact, there's no confusion at all. The 1755 date alludes to a brief schism in Freemasonry when the English Masons tried to keep out the Irish Masons who were then essentially 'invading' London. This matter was resolved but ultimately out of it came a much more clear understanding that having a foundational belief in a Supreme Deity was an essential element of the organization. While some Americans may have been led to believe that a person must be religious, it is the fault of anti-Masonic masonophobia and has no real relation to their claim above. Further, though, Freemasonry was NEVER intended as a haven for those who had no belief in a greater power than themselves. See our page on atheism here for more information on this topic.

But I like their style....

Well, just wait and you'll watch it change. Four years ago, it was all male and required a belief in God. Heck, at the outset, they required that you wear formal evening wear and own a rapier (a dandy, pointed sword). Now, they seem to be encouraging atheists (and eschewing those who have faith in a Deity) and their organization is ostensibly co-ed. Where once you needed a college degree and, supposedly, had to have a college degree and  personal interviews before admission, now they'll let you join via Skype so you can sit at home in your undies by yourself (hopefully) and share the warmth and fraternity of a so-called Masonic meeting.

It's hard to tell what ELSE they can do to make themselves look appealing. Perhaps they'll pay YOU to join next. You might want to hold out for something like that because it really might happen!

And in the final analysis, what's there today could easily be gone by tomorrow. The pages on this site about some of their so-called lodges (most are what they call 'Triangles' because they have "less than seven members" - which translates to 1 person who's pleading with others to come along) and their predecessor organizations that were going to be SUCH a big deal (all formed by the same person, intent on dynastic control, by all accounts), are worth pursuing if you want even more detail. They're in the margin at the top right of your screen. We would call your particular attention, though, to our page titled Dissembling Lodges so you can see a history of the 'here today ~ gone tomorrow' nature of their organization.

Can I join them AND my local lodge?

NO! Your local Masonic lodge considers them "clandestine" and "irregular". Freemasonry tries to maintain a certain standard and they don't believe that people should be putting on a Masonic apron and collar and heading out to the airport to protest the arrival of the Pope as the Grand Orient of France members have done on more than one occasion. That is NOT Freemasonry and if you're going to be a Freemason, accepted as such by the general body of Freemasonry the world over, then it's NOT appropriate that you should be part of this group too. Don't let them be 'mealy-mouthed' and say that you can but that your lodge might object. It's a lie and they know it - but their entire organization is built on obfuscation and deceit. Heck, their predecessor organization was trolling for members on anti-Semitic online hate groups at one point.

Sliding things in for a patina of credibility

One of the most curious things that happens with GOOFUS is that they're constantly and vigorously re-writing their own history - and slipping things in along the way. For example, this statement now appears on their new website revision:

Of course, the REALITY to this is that the entire affair consisted of less than two dozen people and there were NO "Anglo-American Grand Lodges" (at least in the context that they've used that phrase in the past, meaning 'regular and recognized Grand Lodges of the US who we don't have anything to do with') present. We would defy them to prove their point on this! Come on, Jeff: tell us WHICH "Anglo-American Grand Lodges" dignitaries attended. The online silence will be deafening, for sure.

So they're not "Traditional Cosmopolitan Free-Masonry" like they claim?

Traditional Cosmopolitan Freemasonry is, quite simply, an ADVERTISING SLOGAN!

Nothing more and nothing less. See for yourself: can you find a single Masonic essay or printed paper using that phrase? Despite the tens of thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) of Masonic articles online, a Google search on 24 August 2008 showed that particular phrase appeared online a grand total of only EIGHT (8) times. While we know that not every Masonic essay ever written was online at the time of our search - or even now - completely obscure and irrelevant Masonic phrases regularly pile up several hundred 'hits'. If this were REALLY a Masonic concept rather than someone's fantasy, surely someone would be writing about 'traditional cosmopolitan Freemasonry' over the last 300 or so years, wouldn't they? Was it a big secret that a guy in Georgia just discovered one day out of thin air? In fact, of those eight references, SEVEN were written by the group using it, the so-called 'Grand Orient of the United States', founded in late 2005. The other reference is to this very page! It is simply a 'catch-phrase' designed to recruit the unsuspecting into a group which is not now nor ever will be recognized or acknowledged by regular Freemasons anywhere.

In their prior incarnations, the self-styled Grand Orient of the United States - GOOFUS - created other wordings designed to 'set them apart' and make the unwary think that they were just as legitimate as any group of Freemasons one might find. They began using the term 'Free-Masonry' (with the hyphen): an affectation somewhat similar to wearing an ascot instead of a necktie. They've also tried to use the terms "Modern Freemasonry" versus the (regular/recognized) "Ancient Freemasonry" but this phraseology seemed to fall flat on its face as peals of laughter greeted their abject lack of knowledge of Masonic history. (In the late 1700s, the 'Ancient' group were actually the modern, progressive group they were trying to claim they were.) We thought of putting a picture of Clara Peller here to make the point - but you can draw your own conclusions as to what 'Traditional Cosmopolitan Free-Masonry' really stands for: a long-standing way of practicing Freemasonry or a slogan created out of thin air by the founder of an organization to bring attention to his group.

What about their "several lodges declared independence in 2005" claim?

"What is today the Grand Orient of the United States of America began on December 27th, 2005 when several lodges declared their independence from the Anglo-American Masonic system and formed a confederation of lodges under the banner “United Grand Lodge of America”.

Baloney. Only ONE lodge "declared independence" and that wasn't until three years after this group was formed. It was a takeover by a small coterie of disaffected Masons in Cleveland, Ohio, USA whose online behavior has shown their 'true nature'. They wrested ownership of a large endowment and a huge building that had been neglected by a moribund lodge membership. After a court battle lasting into late 2010, the lawsuit was settled by mutual agreement with each party responsible for their own legal fees which surely cost each individual member of this 'lodge' a pretty penny.

But "several lodges"? No way! Several PEOPLE is more like it - and they 'declared independence' indeed, being (in most cases) expelled in the process but for some, leaving by demit so that they had an option to return when this all fell flat (not that their former lodges would take them back, mind you, but still....).

Now if you count the founder and a couple of his buddies in Georgia as a "lodge", you've got one - and then there was a guy in Birmingham, Alabama and a buddy of his that made two - but these weren't LODGES! They were individuals. Nothing more and nothing less. Further, this was nothing more than a re-naming of a previously unsuccessful but grandiosely named group with still fewer members called the "United Grand Lodge of America".

But their websites link to other apparently legitimate Masonic entities...

Yes they do - and those that they've linked to (which are not part of their stable) don't link back. Funny thing about that, huh? 'Shuck and jive'....

and they've got lists of Famous Freemasons...

Yes, and they've used a LOT of smoke and mirrors in this section: Ben Franklin was a part of the Grand Orient - but they don't mention that it was BEFORE the Grand Orient of France was declared completely irregular (a century before, in fact: strange they wouldn't mention that, isn't it?). Oh, and Voltaire was too - but they forget to tell you that he became a member when he was old and infirm, dying five months later and probably unaware of the group he'd joined since at that time in his life he was brought to every group that wanted to honor him. And the others? Well, they don't emphasize them in quite the same way because they have no tie whatsoever to this creation and wouldn't be caught (even) DEAD being named a part of it. They sure can't prove that anyone except the couple mentioned here was a part of the Grand Orient 'lineage' in any way, manner, shape or form.

One of their one-person 'lodges' that had an existence hardly longer than the life of a fruit fly had a lengthy list of names, about 15% of which were completely bogus: men who were not Masons at all but whose names were included to 'gild the lily'. We often find one or two 'stray' names on lists made by legitimate Masonic bodies but an error rate this high isn't just a misunderstanding. It's outright lying including the addition of atheist Carl Sagan just to 'pump up' their newfound love affair with lack of faith. (And incidentally, that list was created by a person who'd been Master of a regular and recognized lodge until he decided to 'come out' as an atheist so he certainly should have known better....) To rationalize their recently adopted (October, 2010, we believe) flirtation with atheism, they were also bringing up the name of non-Mason Thomas Paine. Propaganda and manipulation certainly have strange bedfellows.... Of course, this so-called 'lodge' (probably consisting of only one person who was inducted into GOOFUS via phone or email and immediately became a top officer because he spoke a foreign language was around for just a couple of months before he and it disappeared. So much for that....

AND both that lodge and the parent body (the "Grand Orient") use pictures of famous people to make you think that they too are somehow involved with their claim to be 'freemasonry'. Does having a big blog post about Facebook's founder, the Time Man of the Year, complete with his picture - even though he has NO ties to Freemasonry at all - seem a bit disingenuous? You decide - but it's a regular occurrence so we encourage you to read the fine print, including the fine print that's not written!

I'm a military veteran. I've talked to them and this sounds great....

Regular/recognized Masonic lodges have always appealed to vets because of the closeness and camaraderie similar in so many ways to that found during your military service. The 'shared experience' of Freemasonry with BROTHERS is very much like the shared experience of having served in the military. In fact, it's often closer since joining Freemasonry requires the unanimous consent of the lodge; there's no such 'culling of membership' in the military.

Many regular/recognized lodges and Grand Lodges in the United States, for example, are currently having special programs for military personnel and their families. You may have even learned something about Freemasonry because of such a program. However, you shouldn't look for such things with the 2005-created Grand Orient of the United States. Of their entire two dozen members, it appears only their immediate past Grand Master has ever served his country in either the military or any other type of 'service corps' program. We'll be happy to post an update here should such information be offered but don't hold your breath. [After seeing this page, they bleated that I was wrong and that there were MANY veterans among their membership - but they failed, as usual, to provide any proof except to make that unsubstantiated claim! We learned later that there might have been TWO who'd served.]

Here's the 'real skinny': while in the military you may have bitched and moaned about various political situations and now think that what GOOFUS espouses matches closely with what you personally believe, remember that whatever it is WASN'T their published position as recently as a few months ago and might well not be in another few months. Things change rapidly - perhaps even more rapidly than your orders in the service! {For you present/former sailors, this is the straight scoop from the Senior Chief!} - and when you're on the opposite side of what the founder likes today, you may find it pretty uncomfortable. Your choice. Remember too that when/if you later decide to join regular / recognized Freemasonry - the kind with honest veterans like yourself in it - you will, at the very least, find it more complicated and difficult and you might even be barred completely. It's something to consider carefully.

And what about leadership?

Military men understand the concepts of leadership. Would you be surprised to learn that the founder of the Grand Orient of the United States spent more than a decade in the Masonic lodge he now decries - and was never even a junior officer in it, much less being Master? It would be like making someone right out of Boot Camp as the Chief of Staff for the service. Actually, the comparison is even a bit more scary: in this case, it's a person who was tossed out of that service, formed his own Army and Navy and now wants you to believe that it's better than the other, real one. It's really NOT that far-fetched - and those fancy aprons, collars, jewels, etc. can be bought in a large number of places so if they want to play dress-up in regalia that the 'common Masons' would never be able to wear, they can. Hey, get yourself a uniform and four or five stars: you can be a general or admiral too!

Some sites they link to don't work...???

And there's a reason for that: in most cases, they just can't keep up with things. It's not as if they've got a person in every one of their so-called lodges who helps out with the web work, after all. They buy domain names, slap a free web theme on them and then pretend that yet another lodge exists. It's like the old vaudeville act of spinning plates. They keep adding more and more and eventually, the earlier ones fall over. A close examination will show that they've got one lodge (all of you from Cleveland, raise your hand. Let's see....  Hmmmm....) and two guys in Los Angeles who seem to have gotten tired of playing the game. {Yep. The Los Angeles group has thrown in the towel and apparently feel pretty silly about getting suckered in - but that's ok. No reason for YOU not to get suckered in too.}

That's it. There's nothing more going on. Truly. Look at their Facebook page. What's there? NOTHING about the organization. Just links to other websites and platitudes about various issues that they think will garner attention. None of that blather has a thing to do with GOOFUS. A check on 17 July 2013 showed their last FB post to be January 1st. Guess they haven't got much too brag about....???? (Their last Tweet was 2 weeks before that and their last blog post was over a year ago in April, 2012.) For a 'progressive' organization, looks like they've pretty much dropped the social media ball, eh?

Aren't you being too harsh on them? Everyone has growing pains....

Perhaps you could liken this to starting up a new restaurant: it's opening week and they're still trying to get their wait staff trained, their recipes perfected, the suppliers to deliver things on time, etc. You could perhaps also forgive missteps had they not claimed to be better than all the other restaurants in the world - ever! But heck: today you walk in and there's only Mexican food on the menu. You go back next week and they've changed to a steak house. The following week, it's vegan only - despite the pictures of happy cows the staff refers to fondly still hanging on the walls. The next, it's Polynesian although the wait staff can be seen out back trying on Tyrolean hats because they're about to undergo yet another change to 'the way it should be'. Oh, and wait: didn't you come here initially because you saw those big golden arches outside and thought you knew what to expect inside? Would you have done that if you knew that nearly everyone involved - including four past presidents, one of whom started the whole foolishness (in six years, each with a 5 year term of office) - were fired or resigned folks from that well-known place with a world-wide presence and now holding a grudge against cooked food? {And on and on....} This is NOT exaggeration, folks, and this really is what has been happening here. Ego and pride built the organization - in our opinion - they'll do anything to succeed in order to prove that they were right and the REAL Freemasonry was dead wrong. Thus the Grand Orient of the United States moves on. Because of fancy (and - many will agree - deceptive) advertising, there will be a continued appearance of activity but watch closely and you'll see that those with independent ideas are soon tossed aside in favor of complacent and adoring sycophants. When they 'see the light', they're gone. Just ask their former "Grand Masters" or their "Grand Secretaries" who got tossed out - or try to find their "Grand Secretary" now. Do they have one? (Do they even need one with so few members?) "Same fine food. Better cuisine. A constantly changing staff for your pleasure. We're never the same place twice!"

In summary:

This has been the 'pocket abridged version' of the Grand Orient of the United States, an organization created in 2005 by a former Georgia, USA Mason named Jeff Peace who was removed from regular/recognized Masonic membership 'for cause' - and has apparently been 'tossed under the bus' a couple of times by by the organization he began. It {sort of} lasted until 2014. You can see how we've followed their history at length on this page but the simple fact is that this group never would have ever been a regular/recognized Masonic body. Those who joined would NOT be allowed to attend meetings at their local Masonic hall, join with the Shriners to work with burned and crippled children or do ANYTHING that's a part of 'the real deal'. Truth be told, except on the internet when they'd pass themselves off to the unwary by using a lot of "Brother" stuff, they'd be shown the door darn quickly should they ever attempt to take part in anything involving a 'real' lodge.

We'd formerly written: "You are certainly free to join with them if you wish and should you feel that they will provide more than regular / recognized Freemasonry can offer you, that is certainly what you should do. Feel free to write and regale us with your wonderful experiences - and when the party's over, we'll still listen but even more sympathetically because, well, everybody makes mistakes." but now, just finding the corpse of their existence will be a problem.

Created 26 November 2010 and released prematurely. Done correctly on 20 December 2010.
This page has not been designed to stop any person or persons from joining the so-called Grand Orient of the United States. It simply traces more of the organization's history than the organization discloses while clearing away some of the misleading material that is found on the internet. It is provided without rancor or motive. This site's author stands for regular / recognized Freemasonry, because even with the occasional wart or problem which now will often appear writ large online, its principles and purposes always tend to overcome and despite everything else, after 300 years, still endures.
Updated August 16, 2011, October 20, 2012, January 2014, May 2014 with obituary written October, 2014.

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