"Grow your
tree of falsehood from a small grain of truth.
Do not follow those who lie in contempt of reality.
Let your lie be even more logical than the truth itself,
So the weary travelers may find repose."
Ceslaw Milosz (b. 1911), Lithuanian-born Polish poet.
Millions deceived
On the cover of his book, Freemasonry, the words "Millions Deceived in a Secret Cult" appear. From this, we should - apparently - conclude that everyone's getting it wrong about Freemasonry except Mr. Harris. Presumably those "millions" include everyone on our list of Famous Freemasons? However, as you'll see from the information below, Mr. Harris never does quite understand what's going on around him it would appear.
Other anti-Masons have tried to evade things written on book covers (see Jim Shaw's refutation of the claim that he - Shaw - was a "Top Leader" as an example) so we won't linger on the Harris falsehood. Instead, let's go directly to some of the things he has talked about, not only in his book but also in his appearances with anti-Mason John Ankerberg and in other venues.
For an exceptional book review of Harris' work "Freemasonry", click here.
Was he lying then or now?
Mr. Harris was a Mason. In fact, he was actually elected Master of
a Lodge. He wants everyone to know that. He writes, "One evening following a meeting,
the Chaplain closed his prayers with the phrase, 'in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
An objection was given to this closing, usually a universal quotation from the Masonic
Manual (blue book) is given at the beginning and end of all prayers. I was shocked by the
objection. I always thought that wherever God is worshipped and reverenced, even in the
lodge room, a prayer should never exclude His Son, Jesus Christ."
But let's look at the irony which appears when we 'do the numbers': here's a person who was a Mason from May, 1961 to May, 1972. He claims he was installed as Master of his lodge in January, 1968. He reports having accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. At what point did the meeting described above occur? At what point did Jack start listening to what was going on in the Lodge room? At what point did he actually listen to the prayers said during the opening and closing of the Lodge and during degree ceremonies?
Mr. Harris' story,
told with the fervor of one who feels betrayed, can easily cause the casual reader to miss
some very significant facts:
Thus, during a year as an officer, a Mason would be expected to (conservatively) be at about 16 meetings and rehearsals. Even if the officer missed 1/4th of these (something which would likely preclude election as Master), that's still 12 meetings per year. With 2 prayers (opening and closing) at each (ignoring the fact that there might be more in the process of 'rehearsing' as well as prayers when candidates receive their degrees), that's a BARE MINIMUM OF twenty-four times a year a Mason serving his Lodge as an officer hears prayers - and in some jurisdictions, they're proscribed in the ritual so there's nothing extemporaneous whatsoever. Every word that the Chaplain speaks (except for grace before a meal) can be read in plain text in the jurisdiction's ritual book. Any officer simply attending meetings and rehearsals at his own lodge might easily hear double or triple that number of prayers or more during the course of a year. If one were to count prayers heard at initiations, at visitations to other lodges, at social events held by the Lodge and other Lodges, and at District or Grand Lodge events, it's reasonable to expect that an officer hears prayers offered about fifty (50) times a year EASILY. And most officers, simply because of circumstances (they're called upon by the Master, for example) usually always wind up being called upon to offer prayers a few times themselves during the course of their progress up through the officer's line. Now we must wonder: at what point does someone actually LISTEN to what they're hearing? At what point do they realize that those prayers are 'non-denominational'? When did Jack Harris - during all of these years - first notice that Jesus' name wasn't being specifically spoken? Was he deaf and suddenly got his hearing after several years? Was he so pitifully stupid that he wasn't listening all that time - each and every time - a prayer was spoken? Does a person realize this - what Mr. Harris now claims is a huge problem - after the first year as an officer (35-50 prayers)? Does it dawn on someone after 3 or 4 years as an officer (a couple of hundred prayers)? Or does one only realize it during or after they're in 'control' of the lodge as it's Master (some three hundred or more prayers later) and would normally be more concerned with the functioning of the lodge rather than sitting back idly musing on something they've heard several hundred times before? If someone is really that obtuse, do they warrant our attention as credible sources for explaining what 'really' goes on with and about Freemasonry? Heck, if you show a three year old something two hundred times, they'll recognize it; we must wonder why it took people like Harris and Washum so long? One theory they might propose is that they were deceived; if so, what's to say they aren't deceived now as well? As we encourage throughout this site: consider reality and then decide! In fairness, you can read what Mr. Harris has to say about all of this at his website here. |
This is a LEADER to follow?
We wonder how Jack Harris actually arrived at a point of leadership in his Lodge
considering his clear lack of perception. We
also wonder how a person so totally oblivious to things going on around him for 11 years
is now able to 'perform' with absolute certainty and perfect
clarity the ritual work which he claims to have
learned. If his learning is evidenced by the attention he paid to what went on around
him (as explained in the box above), one must certainly have cause to wonder
about his credibility now.
In his book, Mr. Harris presents nothing except his personal opinion and his interpretation of the Bible buttressed by a few who have expressed similar opinions. He ignores the weight of evidence that Freemasonry is neither a cult nor a religion.
Mr. Harris can often be seen in a video as well as on cable television channels late at night 'performing' his little Masonic ritual act during programs by other religious intolerants. Yes, the fellow who didn't seem to know what was being said during meetings is now showing the world how he thinks it was done! The Ankerberg 'ministry' has made extensive use of Mr. Harris to further their campaigns against Masonry as well as many other organizations and individuals. If you're 'channel surfing' late some night, you're liable to find Mr. Harris in his tuxedo and top hat playing at being a Mason.
Many will wonder how anyone who didn't 'notice' what was going on around him for some eleven years could suddenly become such an authority on these matters ....
Oh, and if Harris were really involved in a 'cult', how is it that he's been allowed to 'escape'? That's not mentioned in the book either.
If you're interested in Mr. Harris' book, you can get it from Amazon here.
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